Setting up a company has never been easier, as all you need is a computer, an internet connection, and your own website. Once you know who your target audience is, you can start creating and buying in stock to please that demographic.
To help you figure out what’s popular at the moment, we have a couple of clothing store types to give you inspiration, along with their clothing startup success stories.
As more and more of us become conscious of the amount of waste we produce, the demand for eco-friendly items has risen. To help avoid fast fashion many of us buy long-life clothing, but there is a whole new market opening up for eco-friendly options.
Pangaia has designed clothes that are made from recycled plastic bottles or bio-based fibers, thereby creating a biodegradable clothing collection and being responsible with any plastic they need to use.
You don’t need to create or sell items that are expensive to make either. Eberjey, for example, sells silk and woolen clothing, using well-established materials. This market is still growing, which means starting now will give you an advantage when mainstream sellers catch on to your eco-friendly alternatives.
If we say “tech-based”, your first thought might be a watch or an unnecessarily wired coat. However, we are thinking about software development, not hard tech.
There are a number of startup companies combining 3D technology and augmented reality to create avatars online which are based on real people. This helps the buyers see their bodies on a computer screen and then place the items they want to buy on them.
This aids the shopper to understand what the clothing will look like in real life, without having to buy it and send it back if they aren’t happy.
Companies such as Holition and Raybans are leading the change, but the idea is still new enough for other startups to make a real dent in the market.
Instagram and Twitter already have dedicated accounts for specific TV shows and Movies which help to recreate the outfits that the characters wear. The idea is to complete a “soft cosplay” where no one really knows that you are wearing the same outfit as that character, but you.
Many people use this type of account to figure out their style, as they enjoy what the character wears and want to model their tastes after that person. The same can be said for celebrities when they go on talk shows.
There are some websites already jumping into this market, such as Filmgarb and Worn On TV. Filmgarb goes down the cosplay route, while Worn On TV picks out famous faces and redirects you to the store which sells the items. Because Instagram and Twitter accounts are hugely popular, making the jump to selling the items yourself will open you up to this high demand.
The items of clothing don’t have to be exact either, as the people looking through these accounts simply want help creating an outfit or want to capture the character’s vibe.
Depending on the type of clothing start-up experience you want, you can either make money through advertisements and redirect your customers to the right shop, or our clothing startup can sell the items yourself for a more direct approach.
Lastly, following in the same lines as the eco-friendly clothing shops which have started to pop up, another method to help avoid fast fashion is a clothes swap. Instead of buying something new, you buy someone else’s pre-loved items.
This helps keep the clothes in circulation for a while longer before they are scrapped. Shops such as Swopped ask their customers to send their items to their HQ. They pay the customer for the item once it has been valued, and then add it to their store to sell.
The shop makes money through the difference in payment and selling, while the original owner gets money and the new owner has a discounted price.
This item helps the planet and helps people buy good clothes without breaking the bank.
Summary
If you’re selling your own clothes, then you probably already have an idea of what you want to create and who you are aiming these creations towards. However, if you know you want to join the clothing business, but don’t know which direction to go in, take inspiration from the clothing startups ideas above.
Each of these ideas can become a successful startup business.
