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Fashion Designing Skills + Entrepreneurial Strategies = Successful Fashion Entrepreneur

Your fashion designing skills are outstanding, and all your creations are sold like a hot cake. You think out-of-the-box, ahead of the times, and global fashionistas love your collections. Your last runway show was a big big hit. Your dream of becoming a prominent fashion designer is now a reality. Motivated by all these achievements you’re currently planning to make a label and venture into entrepreneurship. You want to be revered as a successful “Fashion Entrepreneur.”

But wait!

Do you have the qualities of a true entrepreneur? Can you bear the brunt of fierce competition in the fashion world? Are you well-versed with your niche? No? Don’t fret! You are at the right place at the right time. Because here you’ll learn some sure-fire ways to own super successful fashion enterprises.

Focus On Your Market

Just like in every business, the customer is God. For you, your clients are your almighty. Know who your customer is. Who is she? Where does she live? What’s her age? Get a complete understanding of the market you’re planning to focus on. Whenever you’re creating something for her, make a buyers persona and stick to it. It’s like a rule-book that you got to follow at every stage. Never ignore her personality, interests, likes, and dislikes as she’s the one who’s going to give your business. She’ll be the reason for your success, so never neglect her.  Also, pay attention to quality and on-time deliveries.  The wining process starts from the moment you start designing your collection and ends when it’s sold in the shops.

Forget Profit-making

When you’re a fashion entrepreneur, profit takes the backseat. There’ll be times when you’ll have a terrible business. But if you have got a brilliant brand value, your hard work will pay off. That too substantially!  Make the most of photo shoots and try to leave an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of your target audience. Showcase your creations as much as possible and take advantage of all forms of social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

All in all, it takes perseverance and persistence to make it big. Add designing proficiency, accuracy, and entrepreneurial know-how, and you’ve one maverick fashion entrepreneur right in front of you. Keep motivating yourself by the inspirational stories of Indian and global fashion entrepreneurs. One day you’ll pass with flying colours. It’ll be the day when all the budding entrepreneurs will read your success story.

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A Secret Formula That Turns Fashion Designer Into An Entrepreneur

Running a successful fashion business is super-easy!

Sounds like an oxymoron?

No. It isn’t, Period.

You can always start, supervise, and survive in a fashion designing industry if you have these essential entrepreneurial skills. Your creative abilities can contribute to a promising start. But your great entrepreneurial techniques will lead to your survival in the fierce fashion world.

If you know these strategies, you can manage and supervise everything like a maverick entrepreneur. It’ll not only lend a hand in paying your bills, mortgages, or buying a house but also setting up an appealing fashion label that catches them. So go on, beat the odds by holding on to these fool-proof strategies and rule the fashion world like never before.

Discover a Right Niche

Find a well-suited area where you can focus and flourish. Decide how you want to build a sustainable business in the long run. Is it a fashion you’re centering upon? Or you’re directing your attention towards an affordable label? It’s difficult for designers to create a niche in high-priced merchandise. So if you’re opting for it, make sure to concentrate on the highest of quality and have a unique selling proposition. As the number of consumers who can afford high fashion is less, your idea needs to be top-notch to catch their fancy. So before everything else, discover a corner in which you can excel and expand.

Focus

In every business, the focus is the key, and the same goes for a fashion entrepreneur. Make a point of emphasizing on all the essentials. From the way you design your pieces to the marking approach you opt for selling, every step has to be directed. Keep your eye on day to day fashion updates. Regularly research the market and keep an eye on every move of your competitors. There will be zillions of distractions in the journey to a thriving business. Entrepreneurs move beyond them. They have a clear vision and keep reminding themselves about their goals. Sometimes, things are impossible, but they persevere and stay focused.

Make the Most of Social Networks

Be a go-getter and never miss an opportunity to showcase your collection. The times have changed. You’re no longer restricted to runway shows. There’re many avenues to flaunt your collection. Shoot a look-book or create an online portfolio. There’s the big-giant – Instagram to flaunt your masterpieces. Then there’s Facebook where you can create your page, launch or display a fashion line. Reach out to people on LinkedIn and crack great deals. With these marvelous avenues, owning a successful fashion business is extremely easy.

Get the good times rolling, you “the Great Fashion Entrepreneur”!

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JOY OF GIVING

October’s second week was appeared a lot special as International College of Fashion celebrated ‘JOY OF GIVING WEEK’. All the students teamed up and went to the different organizations and orphanages to celebrate this moment with a lot of essential stuff. They organized Art Competition and other few activities to make this event even more interesting. All the students donated stationary items, their clothes, funds and obviously the sweets for the kids. We even noticed that how much enthusiastic our kids are and have the urge to learn more.

The people handling those organizations deserve a salute from us for creating an energetic youth for the country. These organizations and day led us see the reality of life. Seeing them enthusiastic, our students became excited too and they loved to support and help them. The Joy of giving Week made us realize that we do not require any special occasion to help anyone or bring smile on anyone’s face. We can do it wherever and whenever we realize it.

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Sarojini Fashion from Sarojini Nagar

On 3rd October, 2018, We the students of BBA(F.E.) first semester visited the Sarojini nagar market to do a market survey. We all reached the place around 11 in the morning, which is usually the time when the market opens. We all collected as a group in front of a store called Big C, which is a popular showroom of clothes in the area. Then to effectively work as a team, we all divided ourselves into smaller groups and began searching through what the market had to offer.

The Sarojini nagar market is a fairly huge market to cover as a whole in one day, with shops offering the latest off-run branded clothes. These are clothes which are rejected from high rise showrooms like Zara, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, United colors of Benetton, etc. just due to a minute production defect which cannot be sold at the prices and clothing standards such brands offer. Such clothes then trickle down to markets like Sarojini, where they are sold for a lot lower prices but are totally wearable.

Apart from a large number of large sized showrooms for various international and local brands, the crux of the market is formed by street side shops which sell accessories such as footwear, belts, jewellery and garments of all sizes, designs, and colors. In fact, the most famous Export Bazaar/Market for clothes is located in the backstreets of the Sarojini Nagar market. It is surrounded by 3 markets –Subzi Market, Central Market and Mandir wali side. This place is a hub for the trendsetters of colleges, from students with a tight budget, to bored housewives, tourists from other Indian states and even from abroad– they all converge here.

When it comes to shopping in budget, Sarojini Nagar undoubtedly stands to be the perfect destination! It is one of the Delhi’s famous and imperative markets and off course, a fashion destination for every girl who hunts for trendy clothes at killer prices. Right from designer bag to fashionable clothes, Sarojini Nagar never disappoints. And yes, what’s the madness behind shopping without the healthy dose of bargaining? There is no other place that can be as cheap as Sarojini Nagar.

Moreover, the concept of bargaining can be very well experienced at this place. Have you ever thought of purchasing a Mango or Zara apparel at 1/4th of its original prices? If not, then I have to suggest you to visit Sarojini Nagar. Furthermore, it will always stun you with the latest fashion trends, may it be in terms of cuts, style or color – Sarojini Nagar will turn out to be a mindboggling destination. It is always a win-win situation for you and if you’re looking for accessories, belts, clothes, shoes, sling and many more things just at the cost of your pocket money!

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Abhilasha sharma

BBA-FE(2018-21)

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WHAT’S NEW IN JANPATH…

We all know that we live in world which changes around us every second and in fashion, every micro second. Our way to explore is not only caged up with the internet, we like to roam around. And that what we we did in Janpath, in all the shops till our feet got pain and box of mind got full of ideas. We moved to the handloom house there and saw the kanthas, phulkaris and many more works with their history and process.

The people told us about the region it belongs to, their work, and the role of our textile ministry in it. When we ever move to the street markets like these, we never feel the help of our internet to know trends. We saw a lot of accessories and handloom with vibrant colors blooming this year in the market.

Janpath itself taught a lot about the mix and match and tricks of the communication that sellers use. Following the trend from last year, this time as well we could see  a lot of mustards, turquoise, blues, neutrals and pastels appearing in the markets. Basket weaves, tucks and pleats in a-lines, straights with the ruffled and bishop sleeves mostly will make this year colorful and elegant and that’s what Janpath market’ told us that day.

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Ritika Raj

BBA-FE(2017-20)

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AMAZON FASHION WEEK

Talking about this week, yes it’s special. Infact, very special. The India Amazon Fashion Week is happening so who wants to attend the classes! Barely anyone! So we all headed up to the fashion week and attended almost every possible show we got to grab all of it.

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The world out there is another dimension in itself where every character is unique and has its own style of complimenting the society. Every season, this week creates a lot of employment as well. It’s not only about hitting the ramp, but there are a lot of hopes, excitements, enthusiasm, creativity, efficiency, rebel and confidence. I am different and many more moods just appear together in this week.

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The social media gets crazy with the postings and uploading. A lot of people, who cannot make up to the event, wait eagerly for the images to get uploaded on social media so that they can see their admirer in beautiful attires at the earliest. Every celebrity, entrepreneur, socialist, models, journalists and what not, you meet every possible person you ever wanted to meet out there.

The hard work of the designers shows the dedication of what people will like.

Ritika Raj

BBA-FE(2017-20)

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INKTOBER

Here comes October or I should say ‘Inktober’! In 2009 Jake Parker started Inktober, a popular annual celebration of ink drawing during the month of October. In 2014’s Inktober, over 100,000 inked images were tagged on Twitter by participating artists. Inktober continues to be a popular social media phenomenon in 2018, with people appreciating the positive drawing habits and creativity that the concept of Inktober brings out.

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INKTOBER RULES…

1) Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).

2) Post it online

3) Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2018

4) Repeat

Note: you can do it daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. Whatever you decide, just be consistent with it. Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.

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VIJAYA ASWANI

Vijaya Aswani is an illustrator who belongs to Bangalore. She is a great observer yet creates a pun in her every illustrated art. This Inktober, Vijaya participated in an exhibition in Bangalore where she came up with her creations like bookmarks, stamps, cards, and many more. Vijaya has an ability to just observe the people and illustrate its funny side instead of portraying them. She has her Instagram account named @spreefirit and owns a website www.spreefirit.com with 6,850 followers following her.

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She says that, ‘Spreefirit is the heart child of Vijaya. She expresses feelings and emotions through her weapons of mass creation viz. pencils and E-eccentric sense of humour.

Her aesthetic celebrates our idiosyncrasies and imperfections, making quirky drawings of feelings the real portrayal of humans, free from all existential dread.’

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According to Vijaya, an illustration is a way to express oneself with a pun in it that makes it attractive and expressive. People like Vijaya Aswani have taken art to another level. Inktober is a time of year where all the ‘arty’ people participates and celebrates it with the INK.

Ritika Raj

BBA-FE(2017-20)

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Alliances: The vision of future fashion industry

In an industry known for its aggressively viable and fast moving spirit, designers, retailers, brands and manufacturers need to welcome collaborations in order to stay alive.

Alliances through high street retailers, as per WGSN report, has been a stimulating way for brands to strike into modern fashion – or a celebrity’s fashion statement of the time. So why do the industry biggies so resist a collaboration both at the fore front or the back-end of the businesses?

Alliances will always impact businesses on the whole from day one. From merchandise, sources, practices, trades, philosophy to maintaining the business. At every phase of the existing workflow, it becomes critical to look at more spontaneous, imaginative and collective interpretations for the teams involved.

The need for partnerships arises at the initial stages, where style and inspirations unite music, art, photography and consumer-led muse with marketing acumen, business practice and not to forget the ‘gut feeling’ for the magical mishmash: freshness and salability.

Brands that have methods or structures to enable partnerships build ethos of adding up and empowering effortlessly – finally resulting in the quality of merchandise. When players are given noticeable prominence, and have easy ways to collaborate, the way that merchandise created is well-organized and driven, with energies and facts brought to line and allocated promptly.

More so, the capacity for brands to buy merchandises that actually sell and do not end up on sale or in landfills, is a critical issue. Figures shown in various reports talk of brands like H&M destroying £28M of stock in FY 17/18, or the $38Bn dead stock projected in the US every year reveal the real costs.

Hence, there is a rudimentary prerequisite for organizations and alliances around the stocks utilized – currently, right from designs, samples, or even yarns etc. are stacked away into distinct divisions and saved as compendiums or records.

What is being overlooked by the industry by not creating its own ingenious partnerships, allowing the coordination instead of perplexing or protecting their own assets?

This organically takes us through an imperative and crucial want for an enduring evolution of the way we work and how have our past systems influenced on the sustainability of the fashion industry. Procedures that have steered the production means and yields have created havoc, not only on the climate but also transversely towards societies overhauling the fashion industry. Only if the digital age today has educated us on something, it is how much more answerable we have to be with the tangible resources that we have, along with the valuable means it takes to create them.

This subject has always been in question in the past on whether or not the end customers worry on how the reserves are utilized – Thank god it’s beginning to change. We all recognize that it is not for the user to choose how the industry works – it is for the industry to be preemptive and make mindful choices that will revolutionize the effect and after-effects of our ways of work. Fashion however is a global business that has always worked through pool resources at some point or the other. The potential of the Fashion industry is hinged onto the industry to take inter-business alliances to new statures – with new ambitions.

Gulbash Duggal

Associate Dean, ICF

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ORIENTATION WEEK MBA FE 2018

Our ICF orientation story began with the instant connection we had with our mentors and were immediately made comfortable. Everyone bonded over the fact that although ICF was a small campus, we were all just as lost and confused. It was fairly easy to make new friends during orientation because despite where we all came from, we were experiencing things we’ve never encountered before, together. Despite not getting a chance to get to know every single person at orientation at a personal level, we merely felt at ease when we later walked through campus and recognized those same friendly faces which we found kind and approachable.

Our first tryst with our future in the world of fashion started with a tête-à-tête with the Industry leaders, addressing our wondering thoughts on our careers in the fashion industry.

Excited about the experience, we stepped into the campus the next day greeted by the seniors, who were there to make our first day at the campus a flawless experience.

The entire week was well planned by our mentors to walk us through some Industry know-how, scenarios and networking with the professionals and our subject guides.

Day 1

Meena Balija

Ms. Meena Balija: Founder of Hand in Hand, visited as guest speaker for our first day of orientation week. We all were extremely delighted by her knowledge and thoughts. She very well explained how to start a business by pre-planning with the right resources. We all were very glad to have her gesture.

Day 2

We were blessed to have this day included in our orientation week. As it was Teacher’s Day we came to know about our college faculties better.

Altogether, it was a fun day with lots of dance, drama and determination.

Day 3

Praveen Tiwari

This day was more about interaction with our guest speaker and college faculties. Firstly, we had Mr. Shivraj, owner of Label AASK. He began the session by introducing himself and gave a brief on his label. Further up, we had an interactive session in which students asked questions which they had in their minds related to fashion and entrepreneurship.

Day 4

Vikas Malik

As we moved along time to our orientation week, it was more into creating enthusiasm. Firstly, we had Mr. Vikas Malik, the owner of label ‘House of Tara’, as our guest speaker today. He portrayed his journey in a very mesmerising manner that we all were charged with positive vibes. It will definitely help us to go through to all ups and downs in our entrepreneurial journey.

Next up, we had Mr. Praveen Tiwari, a weaving technologist, to introduce us to the textiles and how to identify them. Weaving was in the bloodline of their generations. He explained about Indian Handlooms and Power-looms with samples, he also introduced us to the varieties of textiles.

We enjoyed our orientation week. It was very learning and inspiring from all the guest speakers and faculties. Hope their words will be throughout with us in our own entrepreneurship journey as well.
Ananya Singh
MBA-FE(2018-20)

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ORIENTATION WEEK BBA FE

In the week of fashion’s orientation, the students are really excited to learn more and more! And like every year, ICF here gave it’s students a warm welcome. On the Monday of our orientation’s week, all the students went to Delhi Haat to learn, explore and find out what their stream of interest is. Students were really enthusiastic and curious to know about the product from the scratch till its final version. The outing was totally filled with explorations, observation and not to miss the shopping and food.

 OUR LAST GENERATION OF THE 90s[TASK]

As they are the last generation of the 90s, they were supposed to give a presentation of their role models in fashion and were supposed to dress up like 90s. The fun part in the air of ICF was the appearance of students in 90s. They were literally in their role.

DAY1

Manu Sachdeva

On Day 1, our newcomers met two renowned designers Manu Sachdeva and Bharti Mishra. Manu Sachdeva shared the journey of his designing career till now. The journey enlightened a lot about the struggle, hard work and the tasks the students will have to perform in their everyday life to grow in the fashion world. The session was really helpful for our students and even encouraged them a lot. Bharti Mishra, who is specialized in textiles, told them about the fabrics by relating the culture of India with the techniques and colors of our country.

DAY 2

Kriti Mehta

The second day was really enthusiastic and fun. Students met their own reality that how creative can they become and what can they do with their skills. Ms. Kriti Mehta, faculty of ICF, helped out the students to open up and to feel free with their ideas by a game named ‘GO ON’. The game was about to make something and hide it partially so that the second person continues it by creating something else. At the end of the day, they met a designer Mona Kapoor again with an interesting story.

DAY 3

Day 3 was fun to go out. Our newcomers went to the Doll Museum to explore the art in their surroundings with faculty with a heart of ‘let’s look something for fun’, Mrs. Sunita Chauhan. Apart from this, the guest speaker for the day was Ms. Oshana Kewal, Photographer and Multidisciplinary Designer. She graduated from NIFT Delhi in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in fashion communication. Ms. Kewal addressed the class with her experiences and gave a lot of tips regarding fashion.

DAY 4

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Day 4 it was! This day was somewhere more special, as it was started by our Prof. Gulbash Duggal, again with a fun activity. The day went forward with a guest speaker  Mr. Mayank Sehgal, an ex-Pearlite, who has his own designer label. He explained a lot of interesting elements of the struggle of a designer’s life. The day ended well with a small talk by Mr. Vinod Kaul. He is a really experienced man in the industry and has worked with a lot of known brands like Louise Phillipe, FDCI, Benetton and more.

Day 5

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The last day of the orientation week came up with a sunshine as the students got addressed by designers Ms. Sneha and Ms. Ankita. These designers ended up the orientation week with a bag full of knowledge for our newcomers.

We wish our newcomers all the very best for their journey with ICF and hope that they make the most out of the opportunities that they’re going to get in here and make ICF proud.

Ritika Raj
BBA-FE(2017-20)
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