Hey @shoplumiereusa ,
I’d suggest the first thing you need to do is to validate that your designs resonate with your target audience and that they have the potential to turn into a viable business.
If you look at how Airbnb started, they validated their idea by putting some ads on Craiglist (google it) to see if strangers would be willing to stay in their spare room (prior to Airbnb, staying with a stranger was just weird!). This gave them the evidence/validation to suggest they were onto something. You’ll notice that they didn’t build any software, or do marketing or anything else. Just validated their main value proposition (because if this was wrong, their business idea would be dead).
For your idea, I’d try to think of some experiments that would show you are onto something.
First thing, figure out who are your target audience (the more niche the better) and then offer them your product. You could just put some images of a product (without the real product existing) on a website/marketplace and see if anyone attempts to buys them. If they do, print it on demand, if they don’t, you know there isn’t demand for what you’re offering. Its not important that you sell loads, you’re just trying to validate your hypothesis that people want them.
Or an online ad where you get people to click on the link, but they land on a ‘coming soon’ page. If no one clicks on your link, maybe you need to change some things or it’s not the right target audience. If they do click, then it is a signal that people are interested.
Also, I’d not think of it as starting a ‘clothing brand’, as you’re setting the bar too high. I’m not a fashion expert, but I’d imagine it takes years before you could be considered a brand. Instead think of it as a product that makes people feel good about themselves (personal identity, social belonging, status, etc)and figure out who are those people, and how do your clothes make them feel good about themselves.
Until you put your hook in the water to see if anyone will take the bait, you’ll only be able to speculate, so get out there and hussle!
