Examine the textile market

Before creating a clothing brand, it's essential to know the textile market. A market study is therefore essential to ensure the viability of your project. Various factors need to be analyzed, including competition, consumer buying habits, suppliers and market balance.

This study allows you to put aside preconceived ideas and check the relevance and feasibility of your idea in real life. After this stage, you'll have a clearer vision of the field and the items you'll want to sell. This is how you'll be able to position yourself in the market and build your brand identity.

 

Define your clothing brand identity

Once you've understood the textile market, you need to define the elements that will form your brand's identity. The brand name is particularly important. It must be original, but above all in keeping with the garments you wish to distribute and your future customers.

Developing a brand identity means knowing how to distinguish oneself from the competition, both in terms of the ranges offered and in terms of operations and communication strategy. This is achieved through a catchy name, a unique logo or a graphic charter that defines the brand's universe.

Once this information has been determined, you will need to register your trademark with INPI in France to ensure its protection. A trademark for the INPI is a sign that can take the form of a logo, a slogan, a name or even numbers. It should be noted that certain signs cannot be protected, and an existing trademark cannot be chosen.

Assess your needs to create your clothing brand

Many entrepreneurs often overlook human and material needs before setting up their company. However, this aspect must be taken into account to define a correct budget.

Human needs

The creation of a brand generally involves several players. It is therefore essential to integrate human needs into the financing plan. This will enable you to accurately determine your capital and financial needs at the outset. Human needs include, among others, a community manager, photographers, a website developer...

Material requirements

If you want to set up a physical business, you'll naturally need to rent commercial premises where production will take place. You'll need to budget not only for the rent of the store, but also for the furniture to be installed. And let's not forget the fabrics and sewing materials that are essential to the creation of a clothing brand.

Draw up a business plan for the creation of your clothing brand

Writing a business plan is essential before setting up a company. It's a summary of the market study, a document that highlights what you have in mind for your company. The business plan must include a range of information, including

  • your ready-to-wear field,
  • all your needs,
  • your marketing strategy,
  • your means of financing,
  • an example of a garment from your collection, etc.

The business plan includes a business model that demonstrates your brand's ability to create value and be profitable. To do this, you need to consider daily and weekly revenues, as well as overall expenses. This is an opportunity to estimate the salaries to be paid and the brand's pricing policy.

Choose the legal form of your company

The choice of legal form is one of the essential steps in the process of creating a clothing brand. It depends on how the brand will function and the role of the people involved in the fashion project. Will you have associates? Partners? Employees?

These include sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, microenterprises and more. To make the right decision, you need to consider a number of aspects, in particular the tax, legal and social consequences.

Because the risks are high, we strongly advise you to call on a professional who can guide you through this stage. A specialist in domiciliation will help you build your brand on an appropriate legal basis. Status, registered office... he or she will be able to guide you in your choices and offer sound advice to help you avoid any setbacks.

 

Registering the clothing brand

Once you've completed these steps, you'll need to protect your trademark by registering it with INPI in France. This gives you exclusive rights to operate, manufacture and market your products. Your products are thus differentiated from those on the market. In the event of imitation or counterfeiting, you have the weapons you need to legally defend your brand.

To register, take care to draw up a precise list of your clothing brand's products. You must then make sure that the chosen brand has not yet been registered by carrying out an availability search with INPI. This can be done online. Finally, you can register your trademark by filling in an online or paper form.