To Create A Fashion Company, Five Major Entrepreneurial Experiences Must Be Read.

New York, USA -- at Parsons School of Design in New York, Parsons, director of Instagram fashion partnership, Chen Yihua (Eva Chen) said, "you have great products. This is very good.

But if there are still great stories, it's much better. "

This is from Chen Yihua.

Brothers Velliesc founder Aurora James, directly facing the consumer luggage brand Away founder Jen Rubio, Losangeles brand Everybody founder Iris Alonzo and Carolina Carolina joint participation in the seminars tickets sold out, in nearly 500 students and young entrepreneurs before the audience, discuss business, brand building and entrepreneurship in the climax and low.

In a dialogue hosted by Lauren Sherman, editor of BoF Fashion Business Review in New York, the founder and leaders of the aforementioned brand shared frankly how they built and continued the development of fashion companies in the future.

This group discussion is part of the long term partnership between BoF and Topshop, and it is the second similar event we held after London.

About creating fashion companies, here are the five major entrepreneurial experiences we have summed up for you.

Chen Yihua and the audience took the self timer after the meeting.

1. find a market gap that fills you with enthusiasm.

"Two years ago, I knew nothing about the luggage except that I had several suitcases," said Jen Rubio, the founder of the luggage brand Away. She encouraged the audience to think deeply about the products that they needed but couldn't find them in the market, and put forward a solution: "what I first thought about was not" creating a brand of travel equipment that directly faces consumers, it will be great, "but" ah, my bag is broken, "and it will be very annoying to buy new things again.

Brothers Velliesc's James has a similar experience: "for me, it is to prove that Africans can also produce all shoes on Net-a-Porter.

Matching luxury. "

2. prepare for hard work.

James frankly speaking, the details of Brothers Vellies's early business were described in detail.

She said: "you must be very committed, very determined, ready to give up everything, throw everything away, ready to face all the doors will fall in front of you."

Although her brand is developing and gaining recognition from the industry (she won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2015), sales growth is still a big challenge.

"Even if you feel you have broken through and designed the best things in the world, any fast fashion company can do the whole thing faster and send things faster to store shelves," she continued. "Winning a fashion fund does not mean that you are the best, and things will get even harder."

3. understand the hot and cold business.

"How many people here know what RTV is?" James asked the audience.

There are few people who raise their hands, which proves James's point of view. There are still many things to learn when it comes to building fashion companies.

For example, RTV, or Return to Vendor, is a common practice in major stores. If the product does not sell a specific quantity, it can return the product to the brand and ask for a refund.

"Some companies went bankrupt because of these things," said Alonzo, founder of Losangeles brand Everybody. She and Crespo, another founder of Crespo, spent most of their career in American Apparel, while American Apparel sold only through self operated stores and e-commerce channels.

"It's simpler to control your own destiny and control your own supply chain," Alonzo said. "We are now making pre order, which is a great tool, especially for small businesses like ours."

4. building a symbolic style in social media is the key.

The brand that drives sales through Instagram has long been sharpening the way of using visual recognition to resonate with consumers.

Chen Yihua said, "I can recognize Mansur Gavriel's Instagram post a mile away."

Now there is the Instagram Stories function that will disappear automatically after 24 hours, and now there is room for growth in those content.

Chen Yihua said: "it is really important to have original voice and loyalty to the brand and to the people themselves."

Rubio reminds viewers not to underestimate the power of paid advertising in social media that can expand content influence.

"If you are good at creating authentic content in the Internet world, and doing well, then using Instagram and Facebook related tools to magnify your content is amazing," she said. "These platforms make everything very simple and easy, and you can get large amounts of data."

5. embrace failure

"To succeed, there is no way to go." Rubio counted the different jobs that he had taken over. "You go to see other people's things, and say," how can I get to this level? "This is really too easy.

Chen Yihua agreed, recalling the setbacks he encountered in the magazine Lucky. At that time, Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of the American version of Vogue, a Nash group in Kangtai, sent her an e-mail, which contained several words: "go forward".

She hopes that the students in the audience can also remember this proposal.

"Every time I fail, I learn something," she said. "No experience is a waste of your life."

Always remember to stride forward. "

Inside the Industry is the BoF Fashion Business Review and Topshop aims to nurture the next generation of the world.

Part of Future VOICES, a long-term partnership that has been developed by talents.

Inside the Industry is based on the common mission of partners, and helps to promote the democratic and open process of fashion industry by helping future industry leaders to connect with, understand and cultivate the industry.

Please pay attention to the next event we held in London in September.

For more information, please pay attention to the world clothing shoe and hat net information report.