Fashion design entrepreneurs need to develop a product strategy to satisfy market desires and, at the same time, reinforce business profitability. Today we share some ideas on how to create a fashion product development strategy.

In fashion, garments have always been at the heart of the business. In today’s global landscape, fashion products are in the spotlight of the consumer, who demands to know the details of sourcing and manufacturing processes. New fashion brands or lifestyle projects must offer efficient, accurate, and planned management of fashion products to avoid waste and lack of transparency in the supply chain. 

The fashion business is the business of trends and aesthetic tastes, therefore, a fashion collection must respond to a brand concept, including style, shapes, and the quality of the garments. 

The collection must respond to a strategy aligned with the brand’s values and its singular aesthetic. Strategic product development is a set of material, symbolic, and service attributes that are expected to provide tangible benefits and measurable satisfaction to the consumer.

A proper fashion product responds to emotional, psychological and, of course, social factors. Fashion design in commercial terms is based on giving the customer what they want, even before they realize they want it.

Fashion products possess attributes that differentiate them from any other consumer product. For example, fashion collections are created from the point of view of design, quality, and utility. In addition, the collection must have a degree of novelty, and a price in line with the symbolic attributes of the brand. 

The product mix for any fashion company is extremely important. Inside the product development, intrinsic aspects of the product are involved such as fabric, sizing, applications, finishes, patterns, design, or fittings.

When developing our product selection, we must take into account the classification that our brand has or wants to achieve. Also, the range of products that should appear in the collection, for brand and target coherence.

Product planning will be different if we specialize in leather, for example than if we specialize in knitwear. The seasonality of the product is also another factor to take into account, it is not the same to produce a swimwear collection as it is to produce a winter sports collection. 

The brand’s product range is another factor to consider. If we create tailor-made products, we will have a different product planning and strategy than creating ready-to-wear collections.

The use occasion of the products is a key aspect when you define the aesthetic of a collection, besides the combinability of the garments and their depth range of pieces for production volume.

Product Strategies for New Brands

There are no magic recipes when we are fine-tuning a fashion collection. The strategy is multifactorial, firstly due to the standard variability of the fashion business and secondly, due to the specific wishes and aspirations of the customer we are targeting.

Below, we explain some product strategies that you can apply to your brand and the steps to follow to focus on your product strategy. 

Perform Product Reviews Integrating Multidisciplinary Teams

A product review is necessary to understand what we are designing and manufacturing from a 360-degree perspective.

It is worth setting up meetings before, during, and after the creation of a fashion collection, bringing together the design team, the sales team, the communication team, and the marketing team, as well as the managers. Remember that a collection plan is an ongoing, modifiable, and adjustable process. All opinions are welcomed.

Internal teams can bring a different vision that enriches the fashion collection. Either increasing the commercial vision of the collection or ensuring that the product created is on-brand for promotion in fashion shows or communication campaigns.

Structure the Product Line of Your Collection According to the Market

Strike a balance between product creativity, novelty, and realistic sales expectations. The worst thing you can experience when launching a new brand is reaching the end of the season with an excess of stock. To avoid this, your production must be flexible, and partner with manufacturers that help you create small and fast product runs.

You must take into account the extension of the brand’s lines. For example, many new brands want to sell menswear and womenswear simultaneously. Perhaps it is desirable to start in just one category and see how the professional buyers and the final consumer respond to it. Focus your efforts on a single product line and expect growth -organically- step by step.

Inject Novelty Into Your Collection, but Build a Recognizable Product

The best product strategy is the one that takes into account four product objectives to create inside a collection: the fashion products, the basic products, the classic products, and the products developed for the press. This mix of categories can help you define the variety of your product range, as well as introduce updates to your classic products. You must focus on seasonable fashion and press coverage without leaving the commercial aspect behind. The ultimate challenge for a new brand is to create the best-selling product; the one that works commercially and, at the same time, can become your signature product. 

Fashion product development strategies for new brands must be flexible, dynamic, and creative. Testing the product is the only viable and accurate way to refine the collection and improve it over time.