When I first arrived in NYC I knew that I wanted to be in fashion, but I did not know exactly what I wanted to do inside the fashion industry. After trying a little bit of everything, I started working in product development and discovered my passion for helping designers to achieve their fashion dream. I worked in the same company for years and built my way up from intern to production manager. After developing years of experience in this area, I saw a need in this market that goes further than only assisting designers with production management services. So I started a blog, where I wrote about my experience inside the fashion industry. I had great results in the first year of my blog and decided to turn my experience into a business.
Creative minds tend to be everywhere. Fashion designers are no different. That is why the biggest fashion brands do not have a creative director as the CEO. Fashion is a business like any other and planning, strategizing, and organization is needed when developing a clothing line. That is one of the main issues in the fashion industry: the lack of guidance during each step of product development and how to launch a successful fashion business.
Different companies provide coaching services, but there is always a commitment of one month or three months retainers. Some designers are good at planning and developing a collection, but they need help with particular steps of the process, like fabric sourcing, pattern making, managing production, etc. So they seek help through hourly consultations or hourly contracts, which is not cost-effective nor brings the results needed.
BARBARA SESSIM was created to englobe the traditional 1-on-1 coaching program where designers can work directly with me, Barbara Sessim, or they can buy particular online classes with the content that is most valuable to them. These options give each client the opportunity to choose what fits best in their budget and what will help them to achieve the results they are looking for.
Along with the coaching classes, it will provide additional production management services. Such as:
- creating mood boards
- designing your collection
- technical sketches
- fabric and trim sourcing
- tech packs
- pattern making
- sample making
For all additional fashion design services, an extra fee will be charged on top of the coaching classes fee.
There is a potential market internationally, but to start selling online classes in English, the target market is in the US and new designers, smaller brands who are looking for guidance during the product development or would like to hire help to handle production management while the designers can focus on what they do best: being creative and growing the business. The goal is to grow the company internationally and offer online classes translated to other languages (starting with Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian) within the first two years.
As an e-commerce website where clients can choose between online services or 1-on-1 coaching services, here is how the company financials will be directed:
a. $8,500 for online video content - 12 classes obtaining content about each step of product development along with templates and resources.
b. $1000 for accountant fees and setting up the business EIN.
c. $500 for website online store.
d. $500 for monthly expenses - such as Illustrator, Sales Navigator, Makers Row.
e. $4,500 for advertising and marketing materials - this will be split within the first three months.
The goal here is to not only provide fashion services but provide a lifestyle and a life story that people will relate to. My business is me, my journey as a fashion designer, fashion production manager, and how I can help designers to achieve their goal of starting a successful fashion business.
Contact Information:
Barbara Sessim, Founder & CEO
+1 (929) 228-6974
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