A new arising sector within the fashion industry is childrenswears. As the consciousness of garment choices have grown for all demographics, the inclusion of dressing children and babies have also become prominent. One reason why the boom within the children clothing industry has come to the surface, is due to the rise in celebrity kids evolving their styles, as a representation of their influential A-list parents- North West and Stormi Webster being the most stylish kids to date, on behalf of the Kardashian Jenner family.
Instagram is now an influential platform for mothers to be and parents styling their little ones. There has been rises in the use of social media and the creation of children’s instagram accounts, fixated on the styling of their children. What could this mean for childrenswear businesses?
WHO’S YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
The market segmentation of childrenswear begins with your audience. Who’s going to buy your designs and is it trendy? The childrenswear niche is definitely current. It’s evolving rapidly. Looking at your target market is key to distinguishing who your consumers are.
The clothing industry for children is a hard industry to crack. Children and babies are not the ones handing over the money, so who do you have to appeal to? As well as the kids wearing the clothes, their parents, their aunties and their grandparents are those who you have to persuade.
Matters to take into consideration:
- pricing strategies (whose your audience)
- Quality for your money
- Trendy? Fast or slow fashion
COME UP WITH A BUSINESS PLAN
Considering these points could differentiate the difference in brands. Each consumer within your market have different criteria’s when branching out looking for childrenswear, one being those who aren’t too picky- parents looking for affordable clothing. The durability of the clothing and the concept of lasting until the child grows out of the clothes, is where your thought process should lie. On the contrast, people on the lookout for designer clothing, look for trends. Pricing isn’t too much of a priority, but how stylish it’ll make their child look.
Besides what mum and dad want to dress the child in, the appeal must also flatter the child itself. What does the child want to wear? What programs are trending? Characters?
Background experience from within the fashion industry doesn’t always determine your success. Many start a childrenswear clothing brand with great drive and passion, but unfortunately fail due to the lack of interest in the garments from the child. Market mapping can help businesses distinguish whether there are any gaps within the market. This concept has derived some of the best clothing kids brands- honing in on this alongside your own experiences could be a great starting point.
You don’t need to have everything set in stone before starting your business. A business plan with your aspirations could be a great start. Minimalistic ideas can be less overpowering, being a great starter for those new to the business.
What to include in your business plan?
- Meeting consumer needs (market research)
- Figure out who your target market is
- Consider your competitors
- Building budget guidelines, then analysing it as you go along (variance analysis)
- What’s your marketing strategies?
- How is your production and operations controlled?
- Forecast your financial capabilities
This information might be quite overwhelming to consider when thinking about starting your own childrenswear brand. However, you probably have an idea of what you are looking to achieve and the steps necessary to take to get there. Here you will detail your ideas and get a realistic outlook on how you could potentially achieve them.
COMING UP WITH YOUR BRAND AND DESIGNS
Your selling point will be the products that you provide within your brand. It is essential to get the branding of your products right initially in order to appeal to your potential customers- this will be heavily influenced on your target market. Like many high street brands, making a positive impact on consumers is vital to success and distinguishes whether consumers make repeat purchases.
Computer aided design (CAD) such as the Adobe software e.g. adobe illustrator, can be used to draw up sketches for your brand and assist the start-up process. A tech pack can be quite useful in order to help fashion manufacturers produce their designs, and can help to provide the specifications and provide accurate guidance for your product portfolio. Measurements, fabric choices and seams are all carried out into the first fitting stage.
HOW TO CHOOSE A FABRIC FOR BABYWEAR CLOTHING?
The choice of fabric is vital when producing childrenswear. It is important to make clothing durable and satisfactory in order to meet your niche of each age group. Cotton being quite breathable has comfort levels for children’s clothing. Other common choices of fabric include polyester and cotton blends, and fleece material for warmth purposes.
We as a Babywear Manufacturer in UK, can guide you through out your production as well as post production process while taking your every needs into consideration.
When sourcing fabrics for children and babies, the following should be considered:
- Durability for the designated age group
- The state of the fabric- stretchy fabrics
- Ease of washing
- Breathability
- Comfort on skin
Another significant factor to take into consideration is colour. The colour separation of pink and blue for girls and boys is now outdated. Ensuring the adaptation of fulfilling both a creative niche as well as a open-minded one is necessary in helping to define your niche.
After the completion of the initial steps, the production process is the next stage. Choosing a suitable clothing factory is important. However, Clothing Manufacturers UK has made it easier for you by providing various articles to enlighten you further with information regarding clothing manufacturing. If you require more information please contact us via our contact page.
WORKING WITH YOUR GARMENT MANUFACTURER FOR KIDSWEAR
Clothing Manufacturing UK provides specialist knowledge fixated around the cut, make and trim (CMT) of the garments during the manufacturing process. For start-up brands, Full Packaging Production (FPP) is a good option to consider. This option allows businesses to partner up with a factory with an all inclusive process from start to finish- this is great for those businesses who have little experience on the whole process. FPP can however be more expensive than CMT, since it only involves the end production price. When considering which is the best option for your children’s line, look at the manufacturing’s CMT and FPP to help distinguish the right path for you.
Communicating with your clothing manufacturer can be an important element in order to fulfil your desired result. Another important aspect is comprehending the fashion terminology and being able to compromise throughout the process. Having knowledge of the entire process is important despite the clothing manufacturer doing its best to accommodate your necessities.
Key points to consider when consulting with children’s clothing manufacturers:
- Requesting samples to check the quality
- Discussing timeframes of the whole production
- Understanding the number of minimum units (cost per unit, economies of scale)
- Knowledge of basic terminology.
THE SELLING PROCESS
Once you’ve receive your final product, it all comes down to selling it. When you set your business plan at the start of the process, you should’ve had an idea about the type of sales that you’re expecting to gain. Through the use of E-commerce and operating online, this could be quite effective when trying to build a customer base- Shopify could be used in order to reach new customers. With the right marketing strategies and target market, you could see your business grow rapidly.
Another option could be opening up a physical store to operate in. This is likely to be a more effective way in connecting with consumers who prefer to see the physical products before purchasing. Operating online alongside this will be quite effective in order to gain an even greater customer base.
NEXT STEPS
It’s important to constantly look ahead and forecast the businesses handlings, creating budgets to stay on top of finances and planning future marketing strategies.
What to plan for in the coming future:
- Reconsidering prices
- Successful and failed marketing strategies
- Possible future deals and promotions
- Internal operations like customer service
- New childrenswear clothing collections for upcoming seasons and series
The diversity within the childrenswear sector makes clothing for children exciting. By following the steps listed above, you’ll hopefully be all set for your future successes within the childrenswear niche.