StartUp Fashion

Emily Blumenthal

Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host , emily Blumenthal , handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother , where we cover everything about handbags from making , marketing , designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag . Welcome , nicole Giordano , to Handbag Designer 101 , the podcast . So happy to have you . Thank you for having me . You are a founder , ceo , creator of everything startup fashion . Is that correct ? To say Sure , yeah , that's lovely to hear . Thank you , I mean , you started it , so I'm sure you talk about it all the time . What exactly is Startup Fashion ?

Nicole Giordano

It is a community , an online community , that is focused on helping independent fashion brands to launch and grow in the early stages .

Emily Blumenthal

Okay , so what exactly does that mean ? How do people approach you ? Talk about the whole holistic process that is started , asha .

Nicole Giordano

Of course . So most people find us online . We started a blog in 2009 . So we've been around a long time and have a lot of content . So most people find us online and they are looking for guidance . You know around information , right . You know how to do product development , how to think about pre-launch marketing . You know the how-tos around business . You know fashion accessories , all of that .

Nicole Giordano

But what I find is that they're also even though they may not know it in the moment they're also really craving a lot of encouragement and support and kind of like that , that like best friend next to you , like you can do this , cheering you on , and it's a therapist and so , yes , exactly , and so , as you , of course , very well know , and so a lot of what happens is they come to us looking for the educational bit which we offer in our membership , but they wind up really staying and being a part of the community because of that encouragement . I've always said I'm in the business of encouragement , so we are a membership-based platform . We launched that in 2013 , well before subscription and membership was a thing . So it's been around for a while and in that membership there is , like I said , lots of educational videos , workbooks , templates , all of those things , but there's also time spent with me and a lot of mindsets . We have an entire module that is focused on getting behind the mindset , or understanding the mindset around launching and running a business .

Emily Blumenthal

So , and the brands that you work with are specifically fashion-based , correct they're ?

Nicole Giordano

specifically fashion-based , whether that's apparel or accessories or what have you , and they're specifically independent . So we're not People . What's that ? Our people , our people .

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , exactly .

Nicole Giordano

Exactly Because it's wonderful if you have investment or you have a lot going , but then you can hire the team . You can really build that out . We are really focused on those who are bootstrapping , trying to get this together and launched and a profitable business and successful , however you just decide , is successful when you don't have all those resources at the ready .

Emily Blumenthal

Right , right , right right . So how did you stumble into doing this ? Had you started your own brand ? Were you a designer ?

Nicole Giordano

What's your background that led you to saying , like , okay , I think this needs to happen and I think I'm the one to do it , yeah , so my background is in textile design and I had a handbag brand myself where I was hand weaving all of the fabric which I'm making yes , clutch bags and all of that and that was my name many years ago . It was just under my name , it was just Nicole Giordano , and it was very much a like . You know , like everybody , I don't know what I'm doing . I just know that I want to try this . And it actually started because when I graduated from college , I had all of these , you know , 15 by 15 or 20 by 20 swatches of hand woven fabric and I was like oh , what should I do with this ? I've got this back . So I started making one-offs .

Nicole Giordano

Boutiques in the city where I was at the time were interested . So I started selling and I sort of stumbled into that part of it . I was like and I really like this and I want to do it . And I did that for a couple of years . But what happened was I was also realizing how much I didn't know about any of this , and so I was doing other work to learn things . So I worked in operations for a textile distributor . I did sourcing in the garment district in Manhattan , I did e-commerce , marketing . So I wanted to learn all of these things and then , as I was starting to learn them , I started sharing them on that blog , and so it became this place where I was just sharing what I was learning as an independent brand . And then I ultimately realized I enjoyed that more than the actual bag brand , I think , because my stuff was all hand woven . It was so much work that I lost the joy in it .

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , that is not cool to do at all , not one bit yeah , exactly .

Nicole Giordano

So for me and that's not always the case , but for me , when I really reflected , it was like okay , I have a lot to offer in terms of everything I've learned .

Emily Blumenthal

I'm going to shift into this space and been doing it ever since . Yeah , it is not hard to find , it is a constant . How do you look up a word if you don't know how to spell it , kind of thing . Right , you're like , okay , now I'm getting into manufacturing . What does that mean ? Where do I go ? What's my baseline ? How do I know ? How do I know what to ? How do I talk to a sample maker ? What's the difference between a sample maker and a manufacturer ? And all these basic things , and how to show up prepared for a manufacturer , and so forth .

Emily Blumenthal

I actually created an online masterclass just for that alone , because , again , the same thing , like in terms of dealing with designers who , and so much of them and this seems to be an ongoing story that dump so much of their money into their very first sample maker , not knowing what to do with the sample maker , I don't want to say takes full advantage , but you know , if you're coming in with someone who's got hopes , wishes , dreams and joys about how to make a handbag , and then they come in and you know it's funny , and I know some sample makers have started to charge in terms of working with them one on one versus .

Emily Blumenthal

I'll just make what you give me , because even if they just make what you give them nine times out of 10 , it's not functional , it's not usable . It's like dealing with a four-year-old asking them what they want for dinner . You're going to end up with like hot fudge sundae with macaroni and cheese together and like that's just not doable , because when you finally get it , you're like ew , I can't use this , I don't want this . So it's turned into this whole thing where it's an educated customer , which is essentially the people we deal with , are the ones that you're giving them an opportunity to truly be much more successful .

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , and I think that's so right on , and I think beyond the like okay , you've dumped all of your money into that first sample . Obviously you're going to and then you have no money left . You have no money left for it . You're not even thinking ahead . Like what about pre-launch marketing ? How are you talking about what you're doing ? Oh , what's that ? Right , and I hear it over and over again .

Challenges and Changes in Fashion Industry

Nicole Giordano

Before people join Startup Fashion where it's like well , I was just so focused on getting the product made . What do you mean ? I had to talk about it and market it before I launched it , and then they don't understand that during launch week , it's like crickets . And it's like because you're not and you need some money for that . You can't just be like okay , I'm going to post a few things on Instagram and then everybody's going to buy my bag , right , and so you know , that's a big , huge part of it .

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , and the other funny thing I have found so much dealing with designers is that they also think that by default , because they made it , people will want it and they haven't done enough research in terms of competitive analysis and diving into pricing and recognizing that if you cross over a certain price threshold , people won't even want to touch your brand because you priced yourself out .

Emily Blumenthal

And now you're a label , now you're branded , you think someone's going to buy you over Louis Vuitton . And this narrative of saying , like , oh , it's a limited edition , it's one of a label , and now you're branded , you think someone's going to buy you over Louis Vuitton . And this narrative of saying , like , oh , it's a limited edition , it's one of a kind , and I know well enough after a billion years of doing this , that means you couldn't figure out how to replicate it and your customer , who does not care about you and knows you to be a nobody , is not willing to spend the one off $800 . So you make a profit off of that one bag and therefore can make your money back and justify that . You've told everybody that now welcome , I'm a handbag designer , I'm a brand , right .

Nicole Giordano

And a lot of that is like that backwards approach to costing and pricing , right when they come in and they're like we're going to do this , I'm going to do this , and it costs me this much to make . So I'm just going to triple it and now I can sell it right ?

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , because they start there and back in Right Because they heard that oh , what's markup ? Just double it , just triple it , because that's what they do with the stores and it's like uh-uh , that doesn't work . I had a funny story of a designer who had won for the Handbag Awards and I want to say it was like 2010 , 2011 . And they had the most spectacular bags . Like it was mind blowing , it was amazing . It was such a unique approach , which is very , very rare . Like they had zipper detail and it was an oversized bag . Like everything about it was like ooh ah .

Emily Blumenthal

And their prize was to get picked up by Saks and Saks was our retail partner at the time and I can't remember if it was Bendel's or Barney's , but it was one of the other retailers had came to the awards , saw the you know , participated , you know , saw the whole thing . We had a lot of retail people that came and reached out to them and said we want to carry your bag and without even flinching , they said yes and , without even flinching , had already shipped to said retailer , which I can't even remember , shockingly enough , and therefore the designer came to me hysterically crying and said Saks doesn't want us now and I said yeah , of course not . And she's like what do you mean ? Wasn't the whole thing of , like , what we won , so everybody should want us ? And I said , no , there's an element of you know , you have to have a relationship and build this relationship with the retailers so they kind of get first right of refusal , at least with that one bag . I mean , we have a whole press story around that they're the ones who are getting this winning bag . You need to come shop .

Emily Blumenthal

We were talking about having an in-store shopping event and poof , it was gone , just gone . So , yeah , and they kind of , you know , shot themselves in the foot , for lack of a better word and here today , gone tomorrow . And you know I always say basement to Beyonce . But now I'm gonna start using Kanye as an example that you are not a Kanye , you are not a handbag designer . Nobody cares Like . You can get this product anywhere .

Emily Blumenthal

There are always going to be new people coming and this is the long game . If you're trying to do this truly yeah , absolutely so in terms , I'm like , yeah , we like get it . It's like a therapy session back and forth . Like you get it , I get it , we all get it . So , in terms of some of the challenges that you think they deal with , designers deal with from the get-go and it's so interesting that , because I know well , I knew you were a handbag designer .

Emily Blumenthal

I remember because I archive all of this how , in terms of the evolution of startup fashion , that you think the needs of designers have changed . Based on you know where it was to where we are now post-pandemic , you know shopping habits have changed , needs have changed . Based on you know where it was to where we are now post-pandemic , you know shopping habits have changed , needs have changed , pricing has changed . I mean there was such a glut in the market as a result of the shipping buildup , of the ports being clogged where people couldn't get their stuff , and then old season material all season units were there . Can you talk a little bit about that in terms of you know how and what you think , industry-wise , what we can do ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , so it is , and it's a big question , there's a big span there . So there's like keep going , just keep talking . From the evolution of startup fashion , the changes I've seen , of course and there are different changes since COVID , but I think that when I first began startup fashion I you know to toot my own horn a little I think I was one of the first . I was one of the first saying , like you don't have to do it this way , that everybody's been doing it forever , right , and I think that over the evolution of startup fashion , over the years that I've had this , I have seen more and more brands embracing that realization Like all of that you know huge orders , producing too many things , that to be in department stores is the only way that you need major , major press , like that mindset has shifted a lot , which I think is for the better , because I also think that what has shifted is what defines success and I think that so many brands now , especially since COVID if we're going to bring COVID into this conversation the mindset has shifted to this idea of like .

Nicole Giordano

I'm not necessarily trying to build an empire here , I want to . My time means more to me . I've realized over the past you know two years that I've been in my house . What's really important ? I want to find balance in my life , and so what I want this business to do for me is I want it to be like a lifestyle business . I want it to be a business that pays my bills , that I really . It's a successful business financially in terms of I'm not struggling , but I'm also I'm not always in the hustle right and that is so like , and so I have seen a lot of that , and it's not that people aren't or these brands are not taking their work seriously . It's not that they're not launching real businesses or wanting to launch real businesses , but it's the shift that I have seen most , whether we're talking about COVID or just time in general . Over time in general has been a shift in what this business looks like for them and what success is , and I think that's a fantastic thing .

Strategic Approach to Retail Success

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , I think you hit the nail on the head with that , even more so . I mean , I don't think the desire of being in retail will ever go away . I think the construct of saying , oh , I'm sold at Zax , I'm sold at Neiman's , I'm sold at Bloomingdale's . And it's funny about that because , you know , when I started a billion years ago , the idea of being on QVC was offensive . And then eight , nine years in and I was like I would love to be on QVC . That would be a dream . To be on QVC , I will do anything .

Emily Blumenthal

And I had patented my silhouettes for no particular reason . I just decided , okay , that makes sense , it's a unique design and as a result of that , I was able to license it out from the get-go . I was able to knock myself off and then create and then get a partnership with a mass manufacturer and then we were able to sell it at that lesser price point to get on QVC . And I think you know so many designers don't even know that the DTC sales , the direct to consumer sales , and the need for traction is what these big retailers demand , like I know that models can't even get picked up by agencies without them looking at their social , and you know stickiness and traction and so forth . How do you handle that in terms of strategically with designers and saying like , okay , you have to build up your D2C before you even dare to enter any of those stores or even try to ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah . So a big part of it , I think , and what I recommend to my people is getting off of just your website right . So , yes , selling on your website is important , but I think that too many designers hear that like , oh , you have to build up your online sales , your e-commerce or your D2C , you have to show demand . Essentially , you have to show these retailers that people care about your stuff before they're going to pay attention to you . And I think when they hear that it becomes this , well , like , oh gosh , okay , now I have to like get my SEO going and I have to like do all this . And those things aren't bad although SEO is a long game , so it's not going to solve anything like that but it's like get out from behind the computer , start doing pop-ups , start doing trunk shows , start getting out there getting creative right , like . I have seen so many brands just independent brands really start to think creatively about like , even for a while , I've seen a lot of in-home shows . This was pre-COVID , but , like you know , oh , the shopping parties are .

Emily Blumenthal

they are the money gate , Like the in-home shopping events where I always made the most amount of money .

Nicole Giordano

Exactly , literally the most amount of money . Exactly , yeah . And so I think that , or what I suggest to them always , is really getting in there and start finding ways to get out to DTC sales . Get your DTC sales up , not just online , because , to be frank , nobody's finding you on your website in the beginning right , like it's going to take a lot , and it's also a mindset shift .

Nicole Giordano

Right , it's this idea of , okay , well , I know what my goal is over here , I've got this goal to get into this particular store , which is a wonderful goal to have , and , rather than constantly feeling this , like I'm not there , this lack , this like I'm doing something wrong , shifting your brain to strategically start thinking about all right , what am I doing right now to get to that and all of this stuff that you're doing , rather than feeling like it's a distraction , it's no , these pop-ups , these markets , all of this is getting you closer to that goal , and I think that that's really important too , because it can often feel like , well , I'm not in these stores yet , so I'm failing , right , like I'm not doing the right thing .

Nicole Giordano

I'm like I'm not a real brand yet or I'm not a real business yet . And if you can shift out of that , start thinking about all the things you're doing to get you there . Yeah , it's going to be a big , big shift and you'll get there . You will get there , but you've got to understand what they're looking for . Like you just said , emily , this is what they want to see , so start doing it .

Emily Blumenthal

You know , I think and this is a deeper conversation , obviously about the ROI , the return on investment of trade shows , but whether or not a small designer or an independent designer should spend the money , because and it's funny , I'm in talks with several trade shows about this idea but to spend a lot of money on trade shows when you don't even have the collection to fill up a booth and then you're put at the sap little table of the independents or the emerging I hate the word emerging , it makes me cringe . But I think what I always tell and I don't know if you're familiar with Sage Jobry , she is an amazing case study on this is , I always say become a hometown hero and go around to your local boutiques , do not sleep on your local boutiques , refriend them , speak to them . There are enough people who want to still run boutiques , which is mind-blowing to me because there's so much work . But that's where you want to go , that's where you want to start , that's how you want to introduce yourself . If you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and didn't know where to start , this is for you . If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design , this is for you . If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction , this is for you .

Emily Blumenthal

I'm Emily Blumenthal , handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother , and this is the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass . Over the next 10 classes , I will break down everything you need to know to make , manufacture and market a handbag brand . Broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process , but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes . For the past 20 years , I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City , wrote the Handbag Designer Bible , founded the Handbag Awards and created the only Handbag Designer Podcast . I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course , from sketch to sample to sale . Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start or begin , or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction , the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass is just for you . So let's get started and you'll be the creator of the next it Bag . Join me , emily Blumenthal , in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass . So be sure to sign up at emilyblumenthalcom slash masterclass and type in the code PODCAST to get 10% off your masterclass today .

Emily Blumenthal

You go to them during a time slot , never on a weekend , because that's obnoxious and selfish . Because just because you're available , that's when they're busy and you talk to them and what are you looking for and what sells best for you , and you get them invested and then you offer them . I would love to host a shopping party . If that's okay with you , I will pay for the booze , the wine , the cheese , whatever . If you can invite your customers to come in so I can have one-on-ones with a , meet the designer . And to your point about I would say have a friend-in-law event , because you need two people removed to have a home shopping party , because you can't have a friend or a family person host it , because they're way too close , because they're either too supportive or too critical and then neither are good .

Nicole Giordano

You need somebody to do it all .

Emily Blumenthal

And to say like I'll host same thing wine , cheese and grapes and I'll pay for everything . If you can invite some friends over and I'll give them a deal and , honestly , anything beyond what you pay , is you making money to get feedback ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , absolutely 100% . I love that you brought up the local , because I say the same thing to my people that local community that you build can skyrocket you to the other areas when you're ready , but don't overlook that . Spend time in your space , and I think it's just , yeah , very smart strategy .

Emily Blumenthal

What do you think in terms of how do you approach marketing ? Because marketing per se has evolved so very much and you know what I teach my students is . It's such a broad spectrum of what that means and I've had to verbally smack them on the hand every time . They say oh okay , and I'm going to place an ad , and I'm going to do this , and that's not marketing , that's advertising . So how do you approach if nobody knows who you are ? What can you offer on that ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , I think a lot of it is about relationship building . To your point , advertising versus marketing . So marketing is the way you make someone feel and so if you start thinking about ways that you can make these connections even on a smaller scale and I think that's what the problem is I think it's this again , this shift in how you're thinking , where they're saying things like , well , I'm going to place an ad because they're thinking like I want to reach a lot of people and this will help get my business out there and I'll have conversions and blah , blah , blah . But instead if you shifted away from that and understood kind of back to this like local community , all of that , you start thinking about marketing on a smaller scale without feeling like that's a bad thing . That is a really

Building a Brand With Personality

Nicole Giordano

important place .

Nicole Giordano

A personality , like understanding that your brand has to have a personality and then not being afraid to use that personality and which means you're going to push some people away . Like I said , just like when you meet a person , if your personalities don't click , that's okay , you weren't meant to be and you move on . But if you as a brand can , you know , have a way of thinking , an opinion , a point of view , like whatever you want in terms of just how you're putting yourself out there and not be afraid to do that . You're going to naturally bring people in , and I think it also has to do with remembering that you're not always talking about the product , While , yes , it comes back to the business . You know you obviously you need to make sales to be in business . When you are marketing , you're thinking about like conversation .

Nicole Giordano

One tip that I always give my people in our lessons is like when you're trying to come up with copy or something for marketing , take your phone and leave a voice note and say what you want to say , as if you were telling your friend first , and just record yourself saying that so that some of the words it becomes just a more personable thing . And then take that copy and if it needs a few tweaks , okay . But it's about this like loosening up , and I think marketing has to , as opposed to advertising . I think advertising is like you know you're looking at these numbers and you're doing this and , yes , you want to understand numbers and stuff with marketing , but when you're talking about what you're putting out there or how you're doing it , it's like you got to loosen up a little , You've got to not be afraid to come across as unprofessional . Some personality , get local , think on a smaller scale , so you can create deeper relationships that will then blossom and grow and can spread , and I think that those are some of my top tips for that .

Emily Blumenthal

No , I couldn't agree more . And I think it's a twofold where A lot of designers say well , I am going to outsource , I'm going to pay a publicist , I'm going to , I can't sell , I'm not meant to sell , I'm the creative . I need to find a partner for that . And the unfortunate reality is that you must be a jack of all trades , because you cannot outsource until you know what the landscape is . You cannot do that until you know the players , until you've done a deep dive . And I'm so happy we're talking about this , because when you and I started a billion years ago , there were still magazines like there were still physical magazines , and you know that was like . You know you would have desk sites with editors and sit there . And now you know everything .

Emily Blumenthal

Now online is transactional , where you can't get a story unless you have backlinks to sell or if you're on Amazon . And it's this interesting dance that you know you have to be laser focused , even more so because the journalists quote unquote are trying to pump out so much content right now that they are spending less time in terms of the journalistic point of view , at least editorially , from what we do that they're just trying to get the content out . So it's like okay , do you check these boxes ? If you do , hand it to me , I need to know what are the price points . Who's the customer ? Where are you sold ? I need to have one retailer online that you can say that they can get it anywhere . You're not on Amazon .

Nicole Giordano

Best of luck , and that's tricky , yeah , so there are two things that came up for me when you were saying that . One is that I think , when the default is to say , oh , I'm going to get an agency to do this , like whether you're talking about a publicist or whether you're talking about , like an ad , like a marketing agency to run ads .

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , exactly , you're doing that . And what you're not understanding is that you need to take time , as the founder of this brand , to really understand who your customer is . All of this , when you immediately outsource , you're paying them to figure that out , which is expensive , right , they don't know If you can't hand them this information and say , okay , we've been selling for this amount of time , we're really looking to up-level . If you don't know , then you're not going to know and they're not there , exactly , and they're expensive . So that's like the first thing I try to remind people .

Nicole Giordano

And the second thing is just , oftentimes I find that this immediate like oh , I'm going to get a publicist or I'm going to get in a show where I'm going to a lot of that comes from fear , right , because it's like well , I'm scared to pick up the phone and call a buyer . Well , you need to get over that . If you're scared to pick up the phone and call somebody , if you're scared to put yourself out there in any way when it comes to your marketing , any of that , there's a deeper issue going on here and you need to back up and see what are some of these blocks that you're having . Where's this fear coming from ? What's causing this ? Because just hiring someone to do these things . One , financially , I'm telling you right now you can't afford it . And two , it's going to just lead to a bigger problem down the road because you're not addressing things that are way deeper than oh , I'm not a salesperson , yeah .

Emily Blumenthal

You know and like , this is one of my unfavorite topics to talk about , where I've dealt with creators who stumble into something that they have determined as a hole in the market and then they dump a butt ton of money into developing said product and then they spend a lot of money outsourcing a publicist . And then I get on the phone with them or meet with them , or you would per se and you look at the product and it's so flawed , it is so not ready for the market . You know there has been no test drive to see , okay , but do you realize that , number one , you're not your own customer . This is never going to work . Or you know where you think this product would be sold will not be sold just because you like Louis bags . These are not in the same place . They won't be sold in the same place , and you know . Then they get mad at you for you giving the feet and then they just keep going on .

Emily Blumenthal

And I've had more people pay me for my thoughts and my feedback and I always have to preface this and I'm like you may not like what I have to say . Are you prepared for that , number one ? Number two , you have to realize , like what I'm saying . I've been doing this for 20 years and you know it's like going to a doctor you can take my advice or you cannot take my advice . I'm just telling you what I think and if you choose to do that , great , and if not , not . But this is what I'm telling you right now and they're like yes , ok , I'm , I'm like okay , so let's get started , get a pen out . This isn't right . That's not right . Here's the reason why this won't be well received . Did you look at the drop ? This won't fit . You know , is your customer plus size ? Is your customer , does your customer have disability ? If you're trying to create something with disability , have you taken into consideration that they may only have one hand to open it and can they work across ? And if it's somebody and you know that there's countless , like even dealing with , I've dealt with female photographers . I've had three customers , three clients of mine who are female photographers , who said there are no camera bags for women that are pretty and I said , okay , well , you know , you got to think of the price point and how much they are if you go to a photo place versus what kind of camera , and the camera bags are evolving .

Emily Blumenthal

Like my first bag was a bag that was a hold everything bag to go in the palm of your hand . And you know , at that time bones were flip bones and guess what ? The bones kept evolving and evolving and then they got bigger and bigger and bigger and then , like , my amazing little invention no longer served a purpose because the phone you couldn't zip it . My amazing little invention no longer served a purpose because the phone you couldn't zip it . You know , you can no longer hold your keys , your ID , your cash and your phone and a lipstick . And then you know , for good measure , I threw in a condom because it was like a ferny bag . Plus I got a condom sponsorship . So I was like , hey , I'll throw that in to like it just doesn't fit .

Emily Blumenthal

So you know , to do this kind of research in this deep dive , like you have to be prepared before you get the dirty update . So if you want to be in it , you have to actually look at it from a big picture and realize like there's so much I don't know and I can't outsource . So the last client I had who came up with another solution bag , and she was so angry and so defensive and like well , I've already hired and I said , please tell me , you haven't hired a publicist yet . And she was so angry and so defensive and like , well , I've already hired . And I said , please tell me , you haven't hired a publicist yet . And she's like , of course I have . This needs to get out . I'm going to get so much press . I'm like , okay , but then where's it going to go ? You know the product is not ready and you've already spent all your money on bespoke leather out of Italy , where the product doesn't need bespoke leather from Italy because that's not what the customer is .

Nicole Giordano

Right , yeah , that is a very common scenario , as we both know .

Emily Blumenthal

Just got all worked out and all hot and bothered talking about that . But yeah , press is definitely something tricky nowadays because , in terms of where you think you can get coverage and you know back in the day , there's so few magazines left Like what's . The only magazine that I think actually is still in print is probably the only one that comes to mind is Vogue , because that one's still one of the only ones that you can still carries that kind of heart . It's like I was in Vogue , the physical magazine . Here's a tear . Here's the crossover from it online . There was a story , the whole thing , or maybe the times , but that's also another issue . But in terms of expecting getting sales as a result of press has gone down tremendously . Like you know , back in the day you got on Sex and the City , you could guarantee being sold out . Well , there isn't a show that does that anymore .

Nicole Giordano

Yeah yeah , I agree , and it's an area that I don't spend a lot of time teaching in our community , especially because it's like I'm helping them get to the point of launch . Worrying about press right now . To me it's just not . You have so many other things to do , it's just kind of like . So , I agree , it doesn't have the impact it used to have .

Nicole Giordano

And while it can be nice and it can make you feel really good and there's nothing wrong with that jumping a bunch of money or all of your time , like you've got two main resources right when you're trying to launch a business , you got time and you've got money . If you don't have one , you better have the other . It's great to have both , but that's rarely the case . So value of money in itself . So it's kind of like you need to really zero in on what matters right now to get to these long-term goals of getting you financially stable so that you can continue to grow . And I think at this point , changes over the last 15 years , press isn't one of the things that's going to get you financially stable , so you're better off focusing your attention on just the other things that we were talking about , that local marketing , all that

Key Points in Fashion Brand Launch

Nicole Giordano

kind of stuff .

Emily Blumenthal

Can I ask you just one of the key points before we get close to wrapping up ? When you're working with your community , how do you present this ongoing challenge of production ? So did you teach that get your first three samples done and then start shopping them around getting out , or do you say do a short run of production and start selling them ? How do you handle that whole chicken and the egg situation ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , so I tend to lean towards doing a small run , mainly because I'm not focused a lot on getting into stores early on , because , again , so much of my community they're trying to launch , and , like you mentioned , stores these days they want to see that you have some traction and so I'm a big proponent of smaller collections , short runs of smaller collections and getting them out there in that D2C way , scheduling some trunk shows , some pop-ups , those kinds of things . I'm sorry , did you mean shopping them out to the manufacturers ? Is that what you meant ? Like to get feedback ? No , production .

Emily Blumenthal

Well , no , in terms of , like you know , you find a sample maker , you find someone who can make a sample . Now you have said bag , now so many designers immediately go into production without any sales . Oh , I see , I see what you mean . Do you recommend them , you know , to get feedback before they get , before they go into production ? Like to tell this like methodical timeline of what you recommend to do next , like , okay , now you have a bag .

Nicole Giordano

Yeah , so I think that , like , it still applies in terms of I don't necessarily they can shop out to buyers , but I think in terms of retails . But I think that's going to be difficult . I do very much love the idea of , if you're open to it , this idea of a pre-sale it's . You know , there's a lot of caveats to that , because I think too many designers think that's the easy way to do things and it is absolutely not in any way . It's a job for many months to do this , however , and you need money up front . It's not a way to get all the money you need in order to produce something . It's . You need money , you need a fabulous photo shoot and with the sample , and you need a video and you like . There's a lot to go into it . But the value in launching it that way to really like start listening to customers and potential customers and seeing what they have to say and seeing which ones they gravitate towards it before you do a run of the you know the bag in three colors . Maybe one of those colors gets dropped because ultimately , it just wasn't a thing right ? So I think that that can be a really nice way to do things too . Or , if you're not .

Nicole Giordano

I'm open to the idea of a small run production , but having those things planned because this is the other thing I teach you don't go into a small run doing production . You've got your completed sample , then you run , you do a short production but you have no idea how you're going to sell it . You're figuring that out before you put in that PO , right , and you are like maybe you go to one of the local boutiques with that sample and you say , hey , I'm about to do . You know , can we do a shopping event Like your suggestion , like you get all these things lined up so that when you do this run then it's like , okay , I've got ways that I am planning to sell it . You know what a full on mark email strategy . You know , do you have people on your email Like all of that is pre-launch marketing , right ? So you've figured that out before you send in that PO . Absolutely .

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , and that's 100% what 99.9% people do Don't do . While they do that , they just go in . Now I've made a bag . It's amazing . My close circle said they love it . I've done it in 12 different colors because obviously I need one for every season , one for every mood , you know .

Emily Blumenthal

And realizing , like I always say , certain colors are great for the front of a store , they're great for a photo shoot , they're great for a magazine , they're great for PR , but they don't sell . So in understanding , like yellow is a tricky one , Purple is a very tricky one . Personally I hate purple , that's just me . But you know it's like in terms of sellability , realizing , like , what core colors you need . Can you afford to do two core colors and a pop color ?

Emily Blumenthal

And realizing that you know from a material standpoint that pop color is going to cost you more because you're buying less but you have to sell it at the exact same price as the core color . So you're going to take a hit on the pop color and taking all that into consideration way before you even get started , is there's so many missteps on all of that in terms of what that means and the money you're going to spend ? Absolutely . One more thing I actually wanted to ask you about Number one . What do you constitute as a short run , number one and number two ? How do you deal with designers who want to go non-leather versus leather and do you recommend a combination for customers and so forth ?

Nicole Giordano

Oh , so short run . I think , honestly , a lot of that depends on what you can get your factory to do . So it's a lot of negotiation there . But I mean , if you can do a handful of styles and do anywhere between you know , 30 and 50 pieces and you kind of , that gives you enough to start collecting feedback and getting out there . It gives you enough to sell , but it's not a huge financial . So it really it's a balance there . But I say you don't want too few , because then you're kind of there's not a lot of market research to start collecting as you start selling . But you want enough to , but you don't want too many because then you're putting too many .

Nicole Giordano

So , having that discussion with the leather versus non-leather , I mean it's the kind of thing where , like , everything comes back to knowing your customer . So it's this idea of like , who are you serving ? Like , clearly , if you are entering into a space where you know , you feel like maybe you have a very like , sustainable , vegan , focused customer , ditch the leather , right . I mean that's an obvious one . But it's this idea of like , okay , who is your customer and what's important to them ? And yeah , I think it comes down to that . So I don't feel strongly about one or the other . It's a debate that is often like which is the more sustainable , so I think that that's a big part of it . But to me , my answer is always tell me more about your customer . If you're , as a designer , and flip-flopping between do I do this a lot , or do I do it not a lot , or do I do it as combo , who are you serving here ?

Emily Blumenthal

Yeah , nicole , this was like a healthy breakfast of education . I feel inspired to possibly start a brand all over again . Just kidding , how can designers find you , find your community , reach out ? What is all that good stuff ?

Nicole Giordano

Yeah so StartupFashioncom and we've been around for so long that all of our socials are at Startup Fashion we got in early so , yeah so StartupFashioncom is is our blog and it's full of helpful information to really get you started and , you know , really shifting your mindset . So if I can give one piece of advice , it's this idea of how you think about yourself and the business you want to build and the goals you have , and just checking in on how you want to feel as you move forward in this business , because it's not only about the making of money yes , that's a part of it , it's a business but also why are you doing this and how do you want to feel as you launch and run this business ? And just doing those check-ins ?

Emily Blumenthal

That's amazing . Wow , Nicole . Thank you so very much . I know everybody should absolutely go check out Startup Fashion . I look forward to continuing this conversation because I just I dig it . It's so much fun . Thank you so much . Thank you so much . Take care . Thanks for listening . Don't forget to rate and review , and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer . Thanks so much . See you next time .