So You Think You Want to be a Fashion Designer - What's Your Vision?

It's one of the first subjects we cover in my Business of Fashion class at Emily Griffith Technical College.  C'mon - even Ralph Lauren didn't start off making men's, women's and kid's clothing, linens, jewelry, sunglasses, dishes, shoes.........he started off making men's ties - ONLY!

Most people start out thinking about a product they want to make - great - but if you want to build a brand around it, you need to dig deeper.

A great place to start is to look inside yourself.  What's important to you?

1. What do you enjoy doing most?
2. What do you need to do on a regular basis to feel fullfilled in your work?
3. What are your most important values?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your weaknesses?

OK - you're off to a good start.  Now start thinking a little more externally.....

1. Create a vision statement for your business that incorporates your personal vision
2. Now create a mission statement.  (Wal-Mart's Mission Statement is: "To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.")  Your mission statement can be long or short to start - but it should encompass the overriding philosophy under which your company/brand will make decisions.

Obviously, there is a lot more detail that goes into creating the vision for your brand and communicating that to your customer so that they understand and can identify with your great product!

Here's how it might look once you have it all fleshed out: