How to start a clothing brand step-by-step

Why starting a clothing brand is in style

For fashion enthusiasts and entrepreneurs alike, starting a clothing brand can be an exciting venture. You get to express your unique creative vision, gain loyal customers, and potentially achieve financial success in a growing industry with strong demand.

Running your own clothing brand also offers the flexibility of being your own boss and turning your passion for fashion into a thriving business.

While it requires hard work and strategic planning, starting a clothing brand today is a great opportunity to tap into the latest fashion trends, influence style, and make your mark in the world of fashion.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• A step-by-step process for starting a clothing brand
• How to establish your clothing brand with Amazon
• How other clothing brands got their start and their Amazon success stories

3 steps to start your clothing brand

Step 1: Design your brand identity

Begin by clearly defining your target audience and the specific niche you want to serve. This will guide all your branding decisions, from your company name and logo to your brand voice and values.

Next, create a unique brand name that’s memorable and reflective of your brand personality. Consider incorporating words or phrases that evoke the emotions, values, and style you want your brand to represent. You can also play with wordplay, alliteration, or rhyme.

Next, design a distinctive logo and color palette that visually communicates your brand identity and helps you stand out from competitors. Keep your logo simple, versatile, and easily recognizable. Remember, it should look good in various sizes and contexts, from clothing labels and hang tags to website headers and social media profiles.

Finally, establish your brand voice and messaging to consistently convey your unique story, values, and mission across all touchpoints. This is the time to differentiate your brand through your brand story. For example, highlight your purpose, passion, and the unique value you offer to customers.

Step 2: Draft your business plan

A meticulously designed business plan will guide your clothing brand’s growth and help you secure seed funding from investors if needed. So you’ll want to make decisions about your business structure and learn about who could be potential customers.

Determine your business structure

Choose a business structure, like sole proprietorship, partnership, or LLC, and register your business accordingly. It’s best to consult with a business counselor, attorney, or accountant to see which structure is best for your business.

Here’s a breakdown of some types of business structures:

• Sole proprietorship: This can be the easiest type of business to start. You’re the only owner and oversee everything. The downside is you’re also responsible for any problems or debts your business might have.
• Partnership: In this type of business, you share ownership with one or more people. You work together and share the money you make and any losses. It can be helpful to have partners, but sometimes partners can disagree on things.
• Limited liability company (LLC): An LLC is a popular choice because it protects your personal stuff, like your house and savings, if your business gets into trouble. You can also choose how you want to be taxed. It’s a bit more complicated than the other types, but many small businesses like the protection it gives.

Identify your target market and marketing strategies

Your target market is the specific group of people who are most likely to buy your products based on factors like age, gender, income, lifestyle, and fashion preferences.

To identify your target market segments, start by evaluating your clothing designs and brand identity. What kind of person would be attracted to your style and values? You can also conduct market research through surveys, focus groups, or online analytics to gather insights about potential customers.

Once you have a clear understanding of your target customer segments, develop marketing strategies that will reach and engage them. These strategies should aim to build brand awareness, attract new customers, and foster loyalty among your existing customer base.

Examples of strategies you might consider, include:

• Social media marketing on platforms where potential customers are active
• Influencer partnerships with people who have a following that aligns with your brand
• Email marketing campaigns that offer personalized content and promotions
• Targeted advertising on websites and search engines that your ideal customers visit
• Incentives like discounts, free shipping, or loyalty programs to encourage repeat purchases and word-of-mouth referrals

Calculate your startup costs and pricing strategy

Make a detailed list of all the expenses you’ll incur to get your business up and running. These are your startup costs.

Startup costs can include:

• Fabric
• Trims
• Labels
• Production costs, like pattern-making, sampling, and manufacturing
• Equipment costs, like sewing machines, pressing equipment, or design software

Also consider expenses related to marketing and promoting your brand. This might include costs for:

• Building and maintaining a website
• Creating promotional materials like lookbooks or business cards
• Attending trade shows or fashion events
• Running advertising or social media campaigns
• Shipping and packaging materials to get your products to your customers

Once you have a comprehensive list of your startup costs, create a pricing strategy that accounts for these expenses yet allows you to make a profit.

To create a pricing strategy:

1. Calculate the cost of goods sold (COGS) for each product, which includes the direct costs of producing the item, such as materials and labor.
2. Add in a markup percentage that covers your overhead costs and allows for a profit margin. The amount of markup will depend on factors like your target market, competition, and industry standards.

When setting your prices, strike a balance between covering your costs and remaining competitive in the market. Research the prices of similar products from other brands in your niche to ensure your prices are in line with customer expectations. Keep in mind you may need to adjust your prices over time based on factors like changes in material or production costs, or consumer demand.

It’s also a good idea to create financial projections that estimate your revenue and expenses over the first few years of your business. This will help you determine how much funding you’ll need to get started and how long it will take to become profitable.

Plan your production and inventory management processes

As your clothing brand starts to take off, it’s important to plan how you’ll handle the production, inventory, and shipping of your products. Having a plan in place will help everything run smoothly as your business grows.

For production, decide if you want to manufacture your clothes yourself or work with a third-party manufacturer.

• If you plan to make the clothes yourself, figure out where you’ll do the sewing and other steps, what equipment you’ll need, and how many people you’ll need to hire to help.
• If you work with a manufacturer, find one that can meet your quality standards and production timelines.

Next, think about how you’ll manage your inventory. This means keeping track of how many items you have in stock, ordering more when you’re running low, and storing everything properly. Having too much or too little inventory can cause problems, so it’s important to find the right balance.

Finally, figure out how you’ll get your products to your customers, which is called fulfillment. Will you ship orders yourself from your own location, or will you use a fulfillment center that stores and ships your products for you? You’ll also need to decide how you’ll package your items for shipping and what shipping carriers you’ll use.

Step 3: Dress up your online presence

In today’s digital world, you need a strong online presence for your clothing brand because it’s most likely how you’ll connect with potential and existing customers. It also happens to be a great way to showcase your products and drive sales.

Showcase your brand with a website

One way to connect with customers is through a website. Your website is the digital home for your clothing brand, so make a great first impression. Use high-quality product photos and videos to highlight your designs. Write compelling descriptions that capture the essence of your brand and the unique details of each piece. Also consider what search terms your audience is using to find products like yours and work those into your descriptions to optimize for search results.

To ensure your website is easy to navigate, provide clear sections so customers can:

• Browse your collections
• Learn about your brand story
• Buy your clothes and check out securely

Also remember to optimize your site for mobile devices, as many shoppers will be browsing on their phones or tablets.

If you decide to sell with Amazon, use an “About” page to tell the story behind your brand and what makes you unique. Remember to include product reviews and testimonials to build trust with customers.

Engage with potential customers on social media

Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are powerful tools for clothing brands to connect with potential customers and build a community around the brand.

But don’t worry about being on all platforms. Choose the platforms where customers are most active, and create visually appealing accounts that reflect your brand’s aesthetic to engage with them.

Here are a few tips to engage with customers:

• Share a mix of product photos, behind-the-scenes glimpses, styling tips, and other engaging content.
• Use relevant hashtags and respond to comments and messages.
• Consider running social media contests or collaborations to increase engagement and grow your following.

Expand your brand’s reach through influencers

Partnering with social media influencers who align with your clothing brand’s values and aesthetic can be an effective way to reach new audiences and build credibility. Here’s how to get started:

1. Identify influencers in your niche who have an engaged following that matches your target audience. Offer them free products or compensation in exchange for creating sponsored content that features and promotes your clothing brand.
2. Encourage influencers to share honest reviews and styling tips, as their authenticity is key to building trust with their followers.
3. Consider running influencer giveaways or collaborating on a capsule collection to generate buzz and excitement around your clothing brand.

Nurture leads and customers with email marketing

Email marketing keeps your clothing brand top-of-mind with your audience and helps nurture relationships with both potential and existing customers.

Here are some strategies:

• Offer incentives like discounts or free shipping to encourage people to sign up for your email list.
• Send regular newsletters featuring new product launches, styling tips, exclusive promotions, and other valuable content.
• Segment your email list based on factors like purchase history, location, or engagement levels so you can send more relevant and personalized messages.
• Use email automation to send abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups, and other timely messages that guide customers through the buyer’s journey.

Weave your clothing brand into Amazon’s fabric

After putting in the hard work to start your clothing brand, it’s time to think about expanding your reach even further. Two ways to do that are by registering your clothing brand with Amazon Brand Registry and selling in the Amazon store.

Benefits of selling with Amazon

Selling with Amazon can open a whole new world of potential customers for your clothing brand. Here are a few reasons to consider selling with Amazon.

Sell in a store more customers trust

Ranked one of the most trusted brands by US consumers in 2022, the Amazon brand can help you attract and reach more customers.

Sell with tools and programs that help you succeed

We provide every Professional seller with a full toolkit for listing, pricing, and promoting products. We also offer fulfillment options, advertising solutions, specialty programs, and much more.

Sell with high-impact, optional services

We provide sellers of all sizes with a range of optional services at a great value—services that are often only accessible to larger businesses. That includes Amazon Brand Registry, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), and Amazon Ads.

Benefits of registering your brand with Brand Registry

Brand Registry is a free program that helps you protect your intellectual property (IP), manage your listings, and grow your business—whether or not you sell in the Amazon store. It protects your product listings from issues like counterfeits and unauthorized sellers. It also gives you more options to improve your brand experience and monitor your progress.

How to enroll your brand with Brand Registry

Start the registration process by visiting our Brand Registry page. To enroll your brand, you’ll need to provide information about your brand’s trademark and photos of your brand name or logo on your product packaging.

Tip: Enroll with your existing Amazon Seller Central account credentials. If you don’t have a seller account yet, you can create one. We recommend signing up for a Professional selling plan so you have access to tools and programs offered through Brand Registry.

When listing your brand’s products in the Amazon store, make sure enter your brand name exactly as it appears on your trademark.

Accentuate your clothing brand with Brand Registry tools

Create an immersive destination with Amazon Stores

Enrolling in Brand Registry unlocks a suite of brand-building benefits that can help you manage your brand, one of which is creating an Amazon storefront. With an Amazon storefront, you can create a dedicated, immersive shopping experience just for your clothing brand.

This free, self-service brand store lets you:

• Curate your full brand experience. Go beyond basic product listings by designing a unique, multi-page online store tailored to your brand’s aesthetic. Use templates and drag-and-drop tiles to create a digital space that fits your brand—without writing a line of code. You can modify the layout, look, and flow of your storefront, allowing you to organize products into thematic collections, categories, and even virtual “rooms” that reinforce your brand storytelling.
• Share your brand story and inspiration. Use enhanced brand content and modular page designs to weave your brand narrative throughout the shopping journey. Dedicate pages to share your mission, highlight your commitment to sustainability, or give a behind-the-scenes look at your design process.
• Provide a seamless branded journey. From the branded navigation and persistent brand imagery to the consistent look and feel across all pages, your storefront provides a cohesive branded experience that stays with shoppers as they explore your full product catalog. You can even customize the store URL to reinforce your brand name.

Showcase your brand story with A+ Content

Go beyond basic product descriptions with A+ Content by adding enhanced images, brand stories, product details, and more to showcase what makes your clothing line special. With A+ Content, you can craft visually compelling brand stories and immersive product experiences right on your Amazon listings.

Think of A+ Content as your virtual lookbook or lifestyle catalog, a place to bring your clothing brand’s identity and designs to life through rich imagery, videos, enhanced product details, and on-brand messaging.

A+ Content lets you:

• Showcase your products in context. Use A+ Content to feature lifestyle photography that displays your apparel as part of fully styled looks. Incorporate comparison charts to highlight different fabric options, fits, or other variations.
• Highlight what makes your brand unique. Use different modules like image hotspots and enhanced marketing copy to call out the special details, premium materials, ethical manufacturing processes, or other differentiators that make your clothing line stand out.
• Share your brand story and inspiration. The brand story section of a product detail page lets you go beyond product descriptions and share the deeper purpose, creative vision, and values behind your clothing brand. Include behind-the-scenes videos, designer interviews, mood boards, and more to give customers a window into your brand’s world.

Increase visibility with Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands is an advertising tool designed to help shoppers discover and engage with your brand within the Amazon store. These ads grab attention with rich, visually compelling creatives that put your brand front and center.

With Sponsored Brands, your brand logo, a customized headline, and a curated selection of your products are prominently featured. This helps you tell a cohesive brand story that drives product awareness and consideration.

Sponsored Brands ads are strategically placed in highly visible locations across Amazon’s shopping experience, including at the top of search results pages, within product grid results, and on product detail pages.

Engage shoppers with Amazon Posts

Amazon Posts is a branding tool that lets you showcase your products and connect with shoppers through engaging, visually-rich content. With Posts, you can capture attention and inspire purchases by sharing lifestyle imagery, product demos, and educational material that brings your brand narrative to life.

Posts appear within the Amazon store’s Brand Feed, Related Feeds, Category Feeds, and Style Feed, so your brand content becomes an integral part of the browsing experience. As shoppers scroll through these feeds, your brand’s posts will organically blend in, piquing interest and driving product discovery.

Best of all, Posts is a free self-service tool available to brands enrolled in Brand Registry. It provides an organic way to elevate your brand content and messaging without paid advertising.

Runway successes on Amazon

While launching a popular clothing brand requires many different things to go right, taking full advantage of what Amazon offers can open new opportunities. These stories show how Amazon has helped take clothing brands to new heights.

Fabletics

Co-founded by actor Kate Hudson in 2013, Fabletics has cultivated a premium, aspirational activewear brand that resonates with its 2 million+ active VIP members globally. With a robust physical and online presence, Fabletics understands the importance of delivering a consistent brand experience across all channels, including Amazon.

With Amazon, Fabletics mirrors that coveted “Kate-approved” experience through strategic use of brand-building tools. Enrolling in Brand Registry safeguards their intellectual property and ensures accurate brand representation. Fabletics has also created an immersive Amazon storefront so shoppers can explore their full range of activewear collections and tap into the brand’s empowering storytelling.

To provide a cohesive look and feel, Fabletics uses A+ Content with enhanced product details, imagery, and lifestyle marketing that aligns with their aspirational identity. From studio-quality videos to inspirational workout shots, these rich content elements reinforce Fabletics’s motivating, high-performance aesthetic.

Fabletics ensures their customers receive their signature experience no matter where they shop by prioritizing brand consistency in the Amazon store through these key tools and strategies.

Fresh Clean Threads

Fresh Clean Threads, formerly known as Fresh Clean Tees, is an apparel brand offering basic, solid color t-shirts for men at affordable prices. Founded in 2015, the brand experienced early success with Amazon selling their crew neck and V-neck tee styles, and has since expanded their offering to include other essentials like polos and joggers.

While their website portrays a minimalist brand identity, Fresh Clean Threads has used Amazon’s brand tools to elevate their presence. Their product listings seamlessly integrate simple lifestyle photography through A+ Content that highlights the fit and fabric compositions of their core cotton and cotton-blend tee offerings. This visual approach allows shoppers to easily envision how the basic t-shirt styles could integrate into their everyday wardrobe.

To engage shoppers, Fresh Clean Threads also uses Amazon Posts to share basic imagery and product shots, giving customers a look at the brand’s core offering. This streamlined content aims to cater to customer’s seeking basic apparel basics at a reasonable price point.

Combining this focused Amazon product marketing approach with data-driven advertising strategies has helped Fresh Clean Threads to rapidly scale from a small subscription box service to a multi-million-dollar ecommerce business.

True Classic Tees

What started as a $3,000 investment in 2019 rapidly transformed into a $250 million revenue company by 2023, thanks in part to True Classic Tees’s presence in the Amazon store. Their premium, fitted t-shirts made with soft, breathable fabrics at an affordable price point resonated with customers seeking elevated basics.

True Classic Tees’s rise can be attributed in part to their strategic optimization of product listings, advertising campaigns, and operational efficiencies in the Amazon store. Enrolling in Brand Registry gave them access to the tools that helped ensure their brand was accurately represented and protected. Engaging A+ Content showcased their signature tee designs through rich visuals and storytelling. And their Amazon storefront provided an immersive branded experience for shoppers to explore the full collection.

From eye-catching branded content that inspires purchase consideration to operational mastery that delights customers, True Classic Tees unlocked the formula for skyrocketing an apparel business with Amazon.

Finishing touches on starting your clothing brand

We’ve covered the key steps to launch your clothing line, and shared how enrolling in Brand Registry can help you build your brand.

Now, as you prepare to start your clothing brand, remember that differentiating your brand through your story, values, and one-of-a-kind designs will help you stand out in today’s competitive market. So be courageous and let your creativity and authentic brand personality shine through every touchpoint. The world of fashion awaits.

Launch your clothing brand