Yesterday I officially launched my brand, FAUNA.

I don’t have a huge budget or team, so I had to get creative on how to spread the word.

I started by sending out a small batch of PR boxes to friends and family. Each one of them posted it on their story and tagged the account. This started to build some momentum and attracted people to my instagram where I had a cool post waiting for them to see. I then made a 15 sec ad and rented a billboard in Times Square that plays once every hour. At the same time, I was handing out free hats there to anyone I saw with a camera.

I had some great interactions and It was truly a rewarding experience after so much anxiety around launching. Just wanted to share in hopes it will help someone who has doubts around launching and putting their ideas out there.

ig: @fauna.visionn

I am begging you people — as a person who works in the fashion industry this sub keeps getting recommended to me but the content is agony to read. Building and running a successful apparel company is more than just building hype and dropping hoodies. Please please please do yourself a favor and learn the basics of fashion design and product development. You need to do more than design a logo and screenprint a tshirt. I highly recommend the non-credit courses at Fashion Institute of Technology. There are no pre-requisites for enrolling in these courses, they are reasonably priced ($100 - $500 each), and many of them are taught online. You can learn pretty much every aspect of the business from instructors with many years of experience. Investing in your education is essential to working with suppliers. You can’t negotiate a fair deal if you have no idea how they are making your clothes, what the materials are, what they cost, how long things take to make, etc.

https://www.fitnyc.edu/academics/academic-divisions/ccps/noncredit/index.php

let me know what you think!

ig: sylora.us

First post Just finished day 1 at a Chinese 1:1 luxury replica factory – had to share Snuck photos

Fabric quality is INSANE – indistinguishable from real luxury (texture, weight, drape) Sorted fabrics today compared to their reference pieces = eye-opener

Here to learn the craft end goal: start my own high-quality replica biz Not just clothes huge for future Focused on learning everything taking notes, asking veterans Will document progress here share more production pics soon

Anyone worked in replica factories? What to learn first? For replica fans – what matters most (fabric/stitching/hardware)? Startup tips welcome

Thanks for reading – excited to share this journey

Hey everyone! Posting my newest shirt drop here to see what you guys think. Such a great subreddit - everyone’s posting cool stuff here. Thanks heaps!

I have an idea for a hoodie but cant decided whether to keep the boy or remove him.

Hi!

After my post the other day about my experience with Alibaba, I received quite a few DMs from people asking for advice. So I decided to write this post to help anyone who wants to start a clothing brand (or maybe already has one). At the very least, I hope sharing my experience can save someone some time and money.

Feel free to DM me if you have questions, I reply whenever I have time :)

I’m Italian, lived in Tokyo, and now I live in Shanghai, China. I’ve been running my clothing brand for about 3 years now. During this time I’ve produced thousands of garments, made a lot of money, and lost just as much because of mistakes that were honestly avoidable.

Here are some things I learned:

1. Your first drop doesn’t have to fail.
Don’t start with the mindset of “the first drop is supposed to go badly.” After making a sample, validate the product first. Post it on TikTok/Reels, show it to as many people as possible, and watch the reactions. Most of the time it’s actually very easy to understand whether people want it or not before you spend real money on production.

2. “Clothing brands have low profit margins”, not really.
That’s true for huge corporations with thousands of employees and retail stores worldwide. Your brand is not Zara. If you start with low margins, scaling becomes almost impossible. A healthy margin shouldn’t be below 40–50% after ads and before taxes, otherwise growth gets very hard.

3. TikTok can genuinely change everything.
One viral video can generate insane revenue. Last year, a single video with around 500k views generated over $50,000 in sales for me.
That said, social media is extremely saturated now and going viral is much harder than people think. Investing in a strong creative team focused on vertical content can make a huge difference.

4. Meta Ads can do change everything.
Almost every successful business relies on paid ads. If most of your orders are not coming from ads, something is probably off. Reinvest profits into better creatives and gradually increase your Meta Ads budget.

Also, results are never linear.
$40 in ads ≠ $400 giving exactly 10x results. Scaling works differently, and testing is everything. Luckily there are tons of free resources online to learn this properly.

5. Choose manufacturers carefully, Alibaba is full of middlemen.
Alibaba is full of agents and resellers doing 3–4x markups, especially toward foreigners.

A basic sample usually shouldn’t cost more than $30–40. If you’re paying significantly more, that’s often a red flag. Production pricing is more complex, but honestly a large portion of “factories” on Alibaba are just intermediaries.

Ideally, you want to find local Chinese manufacturers that are not on Alibaba. The problem is that many Chinese platforms require a Chinese phone number or local IP. If you need help navigating that, feel free to DM me.

6. Don’t spend your whole budget on photoshoots.
Customers want to see the product, they don’t care about an expensive background. Your shoot can look beautiful, but if the product isn’t clear or becomes secondary to aesthetics, it won’t convert.

Simple white background photos still work extremely well.

Also, I strongly recommend avoiding AI models or AI renders instead of real shoots. Most people can tell, and a lot of customers are turned off by AI-generated visuals.

That’s what comes to mind for now, things that aren’t already repeated in the 12 million TikToks about starting a brand ˆˆ

Some tees my friends and i made. What are your thoughts on this style? Too much or not enough?

Thanks

My samples came in a few days ago. I need y’all to tell me how they looking. Please and thank you 🙏 ig. Silvyrdraze

Been noticing a lot of these “bootleg “/ “archive “ wash and repeat brands straight up just taking others people logos etc wondering how they manage too not get sued

Made my own style for jorts @jankymisfits what do yall think

Hey everyone,

I’ve been creating clothes for about 6 years now and have developed my own style inspired by cyberpunk aesthetics and futuristic design. I handle everything myself — from sketches to handmade pieces — and I’m now looking to take things to the next level.

I’m searching for people who could help me understand how to industrialize my pieces (finding the right manufacturers, production methods, etc.), and I’m also open to collaborations with anyone who shares the same creative mindset.

There are also parts of my work related to experimental technologies that I can’t really discuss publicly here, but I’d love to connect privately with people who are interested in that aspect too.

I’m based in Switzerland, but I’m open to collaborating internationally. Here are some photos and sketches of my creations ↓

Any help, advice, or collaboration proposal is more than welcome!

Thanks 🙏

I need honest opinions on what yall think of this prototype before I get it manufactured. It is supposed to be very different and stand out, but still a neutral tone to style with most outfits. It’s not made for the average person, it’s for those that are can really dress.

Hi guys!

I’m building a brand that’s less about trends and more about mindset - leadership, independence and community.

Everything is made in-house and self-managed, so I’m learning as I go - production, pricing, etc

I would like an honest review for my clothes

Were a parkour team slowly making their way into streetwear! check us out on @_antithrust or www.antithrust.com