My AGILE Fashion Manifesto

The agile action is already in use. In IT businesses, this attitude has been working well for many years. Many methodologies have been created, such as extreme programming, lean development or scrum. All of them focus on elasticity and collaboration with the customer. The Fashion world hasn’t learned this skill yet, small designers in particular must deal with this problem. They can’t identify the customer, they invest all their savings in a collection without knowing what to do with it. That’s why I appeal to you: stop, move in small steps and listen to your customers. Save time, money and energy where possible; invest where the risk is worth taking.

Why create a collection?

Why create an entire collection if you can’t be sure it’s going to sell? I propose that you create 1-2 projects first, to show them to the world, to communicate the brand around them. Talk with boutiques, customers, gain feedback and use it all to find your style (or place). Before you create an entire new collection, you should familiarize yourself with the data: use Google Vertical Trends, WGSN Style Trial or EDITD. Check the trends, find out what should be created for the markets in which you’re going to sell, inspect the market, needs, yearnings and trends – and respond to them ALL.

Learn about the Minimum Value Product and Product/Market Fit – these notions, as well as lean development and scrum, are very popular when it comes to startups. Get familiar with them, understand them and use them in practice. When creating your first product, use a canvas that can help you understand your vision, the customer and the market.

At the beginning, you don’t need a website. A landing page with a sneak peek at the collection and invitations to contact you is more than enough. It must be communicated well, so you should test several Adwords campaigns and check what communications best match your target group, and what group converts best. Try selling on Allegro for example, where over 80 percent of sellers are brands or their official resellers – this way you can learn from the best. Don’t build a store if you have nothing to sell. Don’t look for PR opportunities at all costs – if a celebrity wears your clothes that’s great, but it’s neither your purpose nor a guarantee of staying in the market. Focus on the customer and on a compromise between your vision and his/her needs. You can do all this without big investments. When you have communication, an income earning product – you can start to think about developing your business.

When your product earns for the collection