thread's not dead - doITlab

Glamour Kills
magazine ad by
Mike Zimmerman
Never Say Die
Going big-time requires hustle and dedication and a never-say-die attitude. It’s
not for everyone. You should ask yourself how much of your life you are willing
to dedicate to your brand because it’s going to require lots of long hours and
sleepless nights to get there.
Most of the successful “big-time” brands will tell you it wasn’t easy getting to
where they are and that there’s no formula for success. But you’ve got to be
willing to tough it out, deal with rejection, and be ready to ride the roller coaster.
You must also have the capabilities to manufacture hundreds or thousands
of shirts. For those wanting to go beyond the side project phase and go bigtime,
read on.
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley
“The thing I wish I had done from the start was run my cloth-
ing company as more of a business. In the beginning I was
designing, printing, and shipping all the shirts. Now I don’t do
any of that. I know designers that are better than me that I
get to design my ideas.” — JON KRUSE, MEDIOCRE CLOTHING
Getting Help: Outsourcing
and Employees
At some point you’ll realize your t-shirt line is taking off. You’re getting popular
and shirts are steadily selling. You have had to restock shirts multiple times
and you find yourself spending more time keeping up with demand and less
time innovating. You might have considered hiring some help so you can focus
on designing or building your brand.
Outsourcing
A lot of clothing companies will first start by outsourcing their designs to other
artists. If you’re an artist, it’s sometimes difficult to let go of the reigns. But if
you’ve been doing this for a while and want to take it big time, consider working
or collaborating with other talented artists to keep your line fresh and relevant
so you can focus on other things like marketing, branding, sales, etc. It’s also
good to use artists who have a big name or a following because that equals
good exposure for your brand.
Going Big-Time 75