How do I start a swimsuit line in 5 steps?

If you are willing to work hard to build your business, then you will want to follow the key steps to creating a successful brand. Starting a swimwear line takes a lot of hard work, dedication and most importantly, passion. If you ask any entrepreneur, starting a business can present quite a few challenges. 

 Starting your own swimwear line is an exciting adventure. Designing your own swimwear provides you with the opportunity to create beautiful collections that showcase your creativity and style. The global swimwear market is a $20 billion per year industry that is expected to grow steadily in the coming years. This article will help you understand how to start a swimwear company from scratch.

STEP 1 - How to name your swimwear collection

It's important to find a catchy name for your swimwear collection so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your swimwear collection.

1. Avoid names that are difficult to spell: you want to provide your customers with names that are easy to remember and spell

2. Do a search to see if anyone else in the space has the same name

3. try not to choose a name that limits your business growth opportunities (i.e., if you decide to expand into other product lines)

4. Once you have some idea (or ideas) of a name you like, register the domain name as soon as possible!

Your business name will always be useful in the following ways.

1. Your customers' first impression

2. Your business identity

3. The power behind the type of customers your brand attracts

STEP 2-Design sketches for your swimwear production

Many people will say that the first step in creating your own swimwear company is to first establish the business end. They will tell you to first create a business plan for your clothing line. I'm going to show you a different approach that I believe will be more beneficial to you in the long run and less costly. You may want to make an exception before creating your design sketches. If you plan to purchase software like Digital Fashion Pro to create your designs or use Adobe / any design tool that you have to pay for - then you will need to register your company first. By doing this, you can write off any business expenses on your taxes. I refer to registering your new business as step zero. If you decide to invest in software for creating swimsuit sketches first before registering your business, just register your business in the same calendar year that you purchased the software.

So why is it important to use swimsuit clothing design software? The reason why using fashion sketching software is important is because manufacturers prefer to provide their customers with professional digital fashion sketches so they can better explain the look of their swimwear designs. Digital fashion sketches can help your swimwear manufacturer or sample maker to create your designs more accurately. Using the software on hand sketches can also help you easily swap fabric choices, create different versions, and easily share and catalog your designs. Plus, if you're not good at drawing or can't draw at all, a fashion design program like Digital Fashion Pro lets you create professional fashion sketches, even if you can't draw. For designing your own swimwear - it's great for beginners and professionals alike.

Now that's why your primary focus when starting a swimwear collection should be on design. Design is where the magic happens. It's where you get to know if you're good at designing swimwear. This is where you can bring your passion and creativity to each design. It's also where you begin to hone and refine your signature style. How do your designs differ from those currently on the market? What are your signature colors, prints and fabrics. At this stage of launching your own swimwear collection, you need to do something that inspires you. Do the new designs you create excite you? Does the logo you created for your brand make you excited about putting your designs into practice? Do your design illustrations get others excited when they show them to you? During the design phase, you will gain the energy and inspiration to really get moving on launching your swimwear collection. If your collection will use prints - you can purchase prints from a printmaker or even make your own prints for your designs. Using swimwear design software can greatly help you incorporate fabrics, prints, logos and artwork into the illustrations of your designs.

STEP 3 - Create a business plan for your swimwear company

Now that you've created some swimwear sketches and gotten people interested in your line, you should start planning your business. Think of it this way. When people go to fashion school, they learn how to design before they think about actually starting their business. That's why I recommend focusing on design first. Now you want to create your business plan, which is also your action plan. Your clothing line business plan will include items such as building your team, getting investment, how you will return investors, marketing your product line, how you will sell your product line, profitability, costs, delivery, manufacturing, quality control, labeling, tagging, taxes, forecasting and hiring employees. Creating a business plan for your clothing line will be an ongoing real-time document because the only way to answer some of these questions or goals is to actively work on creating your company. For example - how can you talk about how much it costs to produce a swimsuit if you don't have a sample of the swimsuit being made? So if you don't know how much a swimsuit will cost, how can you talk about how much to charge for your swimsuit?

STEP 4 - Sourcing inventory for your swimwear collection

In the beginning, it is important to start with overhead to gauge people's needs.

Remember - if you order a line of items that don't sell, it's almost impossible to recoup the money lost.

Buying the right inventory takes research and planning to get it right.

Determine your target audience: Determine the age, gender, and annual income of the people you are selling to. This is the deciding factor in ordering the right inventory that will be sold.

Research your competition: Conduct market research and determine the different types of styles, price points, and materials used. This will help you understand trends and ways in which you can improve/maintain a competitive advantage.

Create an inventory wish list: Determine what you need to launch your business and create a budget. Remember, it's okay to start small.

Finding suppliers ensures that you first compare prices and analyze different options.

Lead times: Schedule inventory deliveries to match seasonal and trend buying seasons

Pro Tip: Depending on your own fashion preferences, it can be easy to be biased about the type of shoes/clothing you want to buy. This is where many fashion businesses go wrong. It is important to make buying decisions based on current buyer behavior, market trends, and your niche.

STEP 5 - Launch your swimwear collection

Now it's time to launch your swimwear collection. You can choose to launch a limited edition collection (budget friendly) or create a mass produced collection. From your business plan, you have determined how best to market your clothing line. You want to make sure you have a website set up where people can view and buy your collection. You want to have a presence on social media. In fact, you should be building leads and interacting with them right from the start. Show some of your design sketches (not the actual content you made for confidentiality reasons) to generate buzz and interest on social media. After you get your swimsuit samples, you may want to take a photo to get a picture of the model in the swimsuit. Create your digital lookbook. You also want to create your own bio. What initially inspired you to create your own line. What makes you a unique designer. Why is your collection unique? What type of client is your collection created for? What problem does your swimwear solve? These are all items that can help you succeed when launching your own swimwear collection. Be sure to check out the resources on how to start a clothing line.