Angela writes:
From the book I decided that Fall 2007 would be the least painful time for me to jump into now, but looking at some of the archives/comments; I get the feeling it has changed, and buyers want to have products close to the
selling season.
I’m assuming you’re making clothes but I don’t know what kind of products they are. Typically, Fall is the best season for everybody which is why I recommend that in the book. Yes, the market is changing and buyers are happy to look at goods closer to the selling season but there’s still a lot of wiggle room. If you’re a start up and have yet to produce your first production run, it’s not likely that you’ll get many takers in January anyway, assuming you were good to go right when the fall markets opened. Therefore, I don’t think you should worry about taking orders in January through March for Fall. Be ready to sell for fall in April and May which I know is cutting it close. And I already know that some people out there are going to say not to wait that long either because the buyers won’t have any OTB left by then.
Now, when you say that Fall would be best for you but you’re reconsidering because buyers want to see stuff closer to season, does this mean you’re considering entering a market previous to Fall? Your options will really depend a lot on what you’re making. Obviously if you’re making something like coats, you’d pass on anything but fall. Kids clothes, I’d say fall as well. Juniors and misses sportswear or dresses? Maybe spring would work for you, the problem is, you’d have to be ready to show now. Spring markets opened in June and will be going on through the end of October. And I don’t even know of which of those shows you’d even want to show at; venue matters. The Vegas shows are considered to be the biggest and most popular but those closed last week. Zoe our co-blogger was there as well as some of our regular visitors.
Visitors: what spring/summer show venues do you recommend? Or barring spring or summer, what would you recommend for a first launch?
Related:
Timing of seasons
When are markets held
Buyer’s timing calender
Who sets delivery dates?
in the men’s market, you are not going to be taken seriously if you don’t have samples ready for New York editions of The Collective/Project — these kick off the season. MAGIC is pretty much the end of this market although some later orders will trickle in.
If you get orders later than that you will have trouble getting them made in time anyway, unless you have some special factory that works just for you — and remember, deliveries windows are moved earlier and earlier every year. I read in DNR that some department stores took fall suit deliveries in JUNE (yeah, you read right).
now you could get at-once orders anytime, but that would mean you’ve produced inventory on spec and we all know — because we’ve read kathleen’s book — that’s a bad idea for a young company.
My company is in the exact same situation. What we are doing is gearing up to sell FW07 at the shows(specifically project vegas and agenda) in spring, and have a few items as immediates(or close to immediates, things we can get quickly at least), like tees or whatever for summer. We are not sure about project new york. i live relatively close to vegas and we do better with west coast accounts right now, because they are easier to maintain with my friends that work out of LA for me.
FOR MY SUMMER 2007 ACCESORIES COLLECTION, AM I TOO LATE IF I SHOW IT AND START SELLING IN END OF OCTOBER-NOVEMBER?
WHAT IS THE LATEST MONTH I CAN OFFER IT?
natty — sounds like a good plan.
just for the record i did an event at Bloomingdale’s Friday — the store manager confirmed that in men’s, ‘pre-fall’ deliveries arrived early June. Most suit labels shipped their first fall delivery for end of JUNE in-store.
This is the brave new world world folks — get used to it.
Could someone print the months that each season begins for buyers. Thanks.
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Yes, this info would be VERY helpful – thank you in advance!
Tell me if i’m correct – February Magic is not a good time to present a spring/summer t-shirt line because sellers have already sold buyers spring/summer line during the fall showcase?!
What shows would be the best to present a new t-shirt line and when are they?
Hi Brad
It’s getting more and more difficult to get tee lines into markets; there are so many of them now. For specific info on just tee producers, you might consider visiting the the t shirt forums.
Hello everyone,
This is my first time on here. I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer.
Where can I find a textile show between now and November?
Is it to late to try to pitch a spring line to boutique owners?
Textuile show: today and tomorrow (Sept 19 20) at the Rio in Las Vegas
LA Textile: end of October
On Spring:
no, not late at all.. in fact many boutique owners buy for immediate delivery as needed, so often you can sell a season DURING that season
If I open a boutique for shoes, accessories and some apparrel (like outerwear), can I do this in February effectively and have enough between seasons? Can someone explain the full calendar of buying for the seasons? So, by October/November, it seems everyone has bought for spring but doesn’t spring start in April? In other words, what do I put in my store for Feb/Mar? Resort wear? End of winter stuff? I live in the midwest. Thanks so much.
Hi there,
This is great info. I would love to get an idea of the selling seasons for women’s better to moderate categories. We are trying to figure out the timing of our launch and an overview of the selliing months for each season would be really handy. I’d really appreciate the info.