Building the Boutique

Over the past couple of years I’ve spent so much time explaining buying concepts that, I feel, are more complicated, that I’ve kinda forgotten to cover the very basics. Which is why I’m glad these readers asked these particular questions.

What exactly is a Showroom for fashion? and how does a designer do showroom and who do designers invited to these showrooms?

It’s similar to any other showroom, whether it be for cars or furniture, but for buyers and not retail customers. The sales reps operate the showrooms, not the designers themselves. The current line is housed in the showroom, and it’s where buyers go to review the collections and write orders (there are no invitations; you call the sales rep and make an appt. or walk in if it’s market week). Some showrooms are corporate and some are multi-line and rep several different collections.

I am looking to open my own boutique in Spring 2012. I have attended a few seminars, did LOTS of research online, etc. but, still cannot figure out if my store is not open yet and I haven’t applied for my tax ID, etc. how and where do I find places to purchase my inventory? I don’t necessarily want to carry “name” brands, just affordable, different clothing and accessories. I would love to attend some of the trade shows too but would I be able to without actually having my store open yet?
It looks as if you really know your stuff about this industry and would appreciate any help you can offer!

Well you can’t operate business with out your business license, tax ID and wholesalers license. You can definitely work without your store being officially open, but you’ll probably need to show some proof that you’re working on getting it open, like a letter of intent or a deed or something of the sort. Some trade shows are more strict than others; if you want to get into MAGIC, you will definitely need these things.

It sounds like the garment district in downtown LA is a good place for you to start, based on what you’re looking for. Definitely check out the trade shows and showrooms too; you can find some affordable gems there as well. Look into Coterie and Intermezzo in NY, D&A and Select in LA. Best of luck!

Q: Hi Kim! It’s pretty easy to find what’s hot currently even two-three months from now isn’t hard, but with the trade shows six months in advance… How do we know what’s going to be “it” fashion in 6 months? You always seem to know!

A: Very good question! Trend forecasting isn’t always that easy, but it’s not necessarily as hard to do as you think — all you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open. You really do need to immerse yourself in fashion, which shouldn’t be hard to do if you love fashion enough to open your own boutique. Pay attention to the runway shows — this is key. It’s pretty convenient since fashion happens before most of the markets. If you watch closely you’ll start to notice repitition. If you don’t notice anything, just log on to thefashionspot.com and visit their trends forum. You’ll see threads starting (and some bumped) about all the new trends people are spotting at fashion weeks.

Also, a lot of trends carry over from the year before or earlier in the year. For example — how long have booties been hot? Since I was in COLLEGE (I graduated 3 years ago, people). How long have open toed booties been hot? Eh, about 2 years or so? And what about cut-out booties? Since, say, last year. Trust me, they aren’t going anywhere come fall/winter.

So to sum it all up — watch fashoin shows, read TFS, shop a lot, read lots of fashion magazines and celebrity gossip blogs too. The last tip seems weird but honestly I’ve found at least half of the designers I carry through celebrities. And all trends cycle, so if you can think of a trend that was popular, say, 10 years ago, and a lot of other trends from that time have already come back into style, you can bet that one is about to step up to the plate again (I mean, hello leather pants and one shoudler tops that were all the rage when I was a Freshmen in high school).

Want to ask me a question (or a ton of questions) anonymously? Use our FormSpring page to do so! Just enter the question in the box and I’ll answer within 24 hours (hopefully).

http://www.formspring.me/oohlaluxe

Q: I want to start an online store and I also was thinking about selling on Ebay, to have mulitple online prescene. I thought since Ebay has such a huge following, than I do currently, it may prove beneficial. Would you reccommend selling on Ebay in addition to having an e-commerce store, why/why not?

I would only recommend Ebay for clearance merchandise you absolutely have to get rid of. People on ebay are one step above the “yard sale” crowd, meaning they’re dirt cheap. Most things won’t even sell for the wholesale price on there, and once you factor in fees it’s even worse.

Q: I was wondering how long someone just starting their business can expect to wait before they see a return? Would it be best to keep your career and begin working on starting an online boutique at the same time? And do you feel that it is best to take some form of fashion courses or would any business/marketing background be helpful?

They usually say it takes 3-5 years before your business starts to make a profit. I would definitely advise keeping your job while you’re working on your online store. Once it’s up and running, it won’t take a ton of time to manage outside of shipping on a daily basis.

You should absolutely take business/entreprenuer classes, it will help you avoid a lot of mistakes nad it should help with your businesss planning. If you can take classes in buying, planning, retail math and retail enviroment, I would highly suggest that as well.

A couple of really good reader questions came in recently and I thought I’d share the answers with everyone

Q: I live in the Caribbean,meaning, only summer clothes and shoes is what I need during the whole year. So if I go to shows and showrooms in winter time can I still get summer dresses and sandals?

A. The answer to the first question is a big, huge YES. First off, most high end lines do Resort/Cruise collections, which are usually the first two deliveries of the year (right after holiday). The idea behind it is that people with money jet off to their exclusive resorts (the Carribean is probably one of those places!) and need swimsuits, shorts and other summer clothes. And even if you’re talking October/November/December, it’s still possible to get summery clothes, depending on the brand. See, I have the opposite problem that you have a lot of times; I have trouble finding warm clothes and sweaters because all the lines I work with are selling sheer dresses, maxi’s and halter tops during this time of the year. So don’t worry, it won’t be a problem at all. Just choose the right brands!

Q: I am planning on opening an online store next summer for fall, but am wondering how early I should start contacting reps? Do you have an office space or do you run it out of your home? Also, do you ever notice some brand reps who will not work with brand new stores? Thanks so much for your advice, you should write a book!

A. Buyers generally work 4-6 months ahead of the season. The Fall collections generally will start to show in mid February at MAGIC in Las Vegas (note that NYFW is also that month) and then they’ll show the next month in Los Angeles and New York. You’ll pretty much have that Febraury-April window to purchase for Fall, but I would recommend contacting the reps ahead of time to introduce yourself and find out what they’ll want to see from you in order to buy. That way you can have it ready for market.

I run everything out of my home. I do have RETAIL space now and I keep 90% of my clothes there and the rest I keep in my home or the trunk of my car!

It’s always different with reps, and it depends on the type of lines you’re looking for, and how exclusive or high end they are (but not, necessarily, how well known they are). And I’d love to write a book someday. Hopefully I will.