Sabine and Tamar Ijian Share Insights on Embarking on Entrepreneurship in the Global Fashion Industry
The global fashion fraternity takes pride in the Ijian sisters, who have transformed aesthetics with their flare and galore in fashion since the past fifteen years. The entrepreneur dream-team, Sabine and Tamar Ijian have run the Boutique Camomille, taking the supreme legacy of their family to a further step.
A business relationship that is at times very difficult to function with your kin, but in the case of Sabine and Tamar, they are aligned and in balance. Boutique Camomille is headquartered in Montreal and opened one in Brooklyn Williamsburg in 2013.
Sabine, being the older sister, is leading a variety of projects, but when it comes to innovation and communication, Tamar takes over the department.
Sabine and Tamar love to fly, apart from holidays in Turkey, Dubai or any island in Greece, to travel 2–3 times a year to Italy and Turkey for business, as we all know Milan is Fashion City.
Launching your clothing brand can be a lifelong dream. However, the following fashion because you love it is different from creating your clothes. And developing your brand is different from selling it. Fashion is a rich universe, and you need to prepare for it before taking the plunge.
Design, creation and inventiveness are the necessary assets to launch a brand of clothing, jewelry or accessories. But fashion is also a business. A creative business, of course, but a business all the same. Numbers and analysis are parameters that will need to be considered before and throughout your adventure, if you want your business to be viable. In this regard, we take exclusive insights from Sabine and Tamar Ijian on the prospect of entrepreneurship in fashion:
Know yourself well and know your project
Identifying your project is essential before starting. Fashion is a big business; asking the right questions will not be a superfluous step in establishing a common thread to hang on to. It will also be the identity of your brand. The care that you will bring to your project will allow you to know it in-depth, to take care of the details and to sell it better when you are brought there.
A whole battery of questions, therefore appears to be essential: what ready-to-wear line are you launching? Who do you want to sell to? Will you create a single product line or several? What positioning will you adopt? Is the chosen market receptive? Will your products be low-end or luxury? Do you specialize in a specific niche? Will you dress men, women or both sexes equally? What materials will you use? What values do you want your products to reflect? What aesthetic do you want to give them? What price range will you choose?
All these questions can be summed up in one last: what is your goal? Get to know your ambitions, the life project you want to give to your business and the compatibility with yours. Do you want to work in simplicity or create a fashion empire? Are you negatively or positively sensitive to stress? All of this thinking determines the business you are going to create as well as its desired size. It will also inspire you to be comfortable with your project and not get caught up in something that might be wrong for you.
Keep a close eye on the market
In the start-up phase, it is essential to understand the market in which you will operate and to understand what the trends and opportunities are, whether local, national or international — all: appropriate for your project.
To better allow you to know your market, meet potential customers whether they are individuals, retail stores or textile suppliers. They are the ones who are going to make the trend to which you will have to stick. So keep in mind their needs, the reasons why they buy a particular item of clothing or jewelry rather than another. Knowing what buyers want will allow you to sell what they need. Also, think about margins in addition to the cost of production. These are the profit margins that will keep your business going.
Give yourself the means to know the competition. Analyze the segment in which companies are located, what their prices are, the style of their ready-to-wear, the partners they work with, the material they use and the quality of their fabric. Accredit yourself with as much information and stories of professionals as you want to be like in a few years. Their stories will comfort you in the idea that the galleys are legion and that the challenges are almost daily. Also, note that it takes about two years to gain notoriety in the fashion world.
Get in touch at least virtually with fashion platforms that regularly provide news from the sector. You will find targeted studies and an economic observatory of the textile industry. Build your network in the field. Count on the internet, and its haven of intangible innovation networks for industry aims to promote within the fashion, textile and related industries an increased use of innovation and creativity in the broad sense.
Surround yourself with competent people …
Starting a ready-to-wear brand requires skills in several areas, which may lead you to surround yourself with people to help you in the construction and implementation of your project. Stylist, graphic designer, lawyer, accountant, salesperson are all roles that you will be asked to play or endorse. Choose people you trust who will be able to give you relevant advice and support you in your project. Having legal counsel to help you with the accounting and give you advice could be a wise investment. Associations also offer their services and help with the procedures. Get as close as possible to them.
… before you start
From the start of your project, protect your brand by registering the logo and name, which guarantees you a monopoly of operation on the territory for years, renewable indefinitely. If your store is not yet online, however, be careful to proactively protect your brand by purchasing the name of a URL with your brand, which will allow you to develop your site later.
Outsourcing production or keeping it in-house will depend on several factors: your expertise, the quantity, the material you are going to use, the cost of production, the type of clothing, the number of products. You can also start with a small audience by building your business slowly and getting noticed through markets, fairs and shows before opening your e-shop or boutique, which will require more capital to hire — a local. If you start alone, the basic equipment is cutting tables, cutting machines, sewing machines, press. You will have to manage your stocks and your shipments.
Remember to use an internet presence. Promote your products via social networks on a page specific to them, for example. Also, look after your professional profiles on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, etc., and use blogs to showcase your clothing line. Contact with the blogging community is also very beneficial.
On a larger scale, you may need to canvass stores that agree to purchase the range of clothing you intend to produce. Emphasize links with your network. Also, have a portfolio and perseverance while keeping in mind the identity and what makes your brand unique.
You can reach out directly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boutiquecamomille/
Website: www.boutiquecamomille.com
