Becoming a fashion designer and brand owner is a dream for many aspiring creatives. This exciting career offers the opportunity to shape trends and build a personal brand.
We caught up with Cami Rush, Co-Owner and Founder of Fenntessa Swimwear, one of the hottest women-owned swimwear brands taking the beaches by storm. Cami took us through a typical day on the job, as well as the challenges of brand ownership and the key skills needed for success.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to elevate your existing brand, this guide will help you navigate the journey toward becoming a successful fashion designer and brand owner.
What Does a Fashion Brand Owner Do?
An average workday for a fashion brand owner is diverse and fast-paced, filled with various tasks that keep the business running smoothly.
Cami walks us through a typical day in her shoes. “Fenntessa is a small business so I wear many hats and there’s a lot of variety in my day. I do everything from production to marketing to design. I have a small team now, so I’m involved in checking in with my teams to cover all corners of the business.
I start with emails and customer service. Then I check in with my production team in Columbia, making sure everything is running smoothly with production. Communicating with my production team is ongoing, whether it’s working on new samples, reorders, or alterations.
Then I check in with my marketing team. I have three people on my marketing team and we go over our weekly strategies for socials and emails. We also go over the analytics of our sales strategy.
After that, I meet with my design team. There are three of them and we’re constantly working on innovating new prints and perfecting the fits of styles. Then I pull orders to end the day. Usually, I start at 9:00 in the morning and finish around 8 pm.”
Whether you’re a small brand or have a big team, here’s a look at the day-to-day activities that fashion brand owners are regularly involved in:
Pulling Orders
• Quality Check: Inspecting items for quality before packing
• Packaging: Carefully packaging orders to ensure they reach customers in perfect condition
• Shipping: Coordinating with shipping services to dispatch orders promptly
Meeting with Design Teams
• Concept Development: Brainstorming new design ideas and seasonal collections
• Review Sessions: Reviewing designs, prototypes, and final designs
• Trend Analysis: Discussing current fashion trends and how to incorporate them into new collections
Meeting with Manufacturing Teams
• Production Planning: Coordinating production schedules and timelines
• Material Sourcing: Ensuring the procurement of high-quality materials
• Quality Control: Overseeing production to maintain quality standards
Administrative Tasks
• Inventory Management: Keeping track of stock levels and reordering supplies as needed
• Financial Management: Managing budgets, invoices, and financial records
• Customer Service: Handling customer inquiries and resolving any issues
Marketing and Promotion
• Social Media Management: Creating content and engaging with followers on social media platforms
• Marketing Strategies: Developing and implementing marketing campaigns to promote the brand
Balancing these diverse tasks requires strong organizational skills and passion, ensuring that every aspect of the brand reflects the owner’s vision.
The Journey to Owning a Fashion Brand
Rewinding to the beginning, Cami shares her background and how Fenntessa Swimwear came to be.
“I have a visual arts background, so I’m an artist at the core. I went to visual arts school and I realized that I didn’t want to be a painter. I’d always loved fashion and I loved the marriage between art and fashion. I went to school in Milan for one year, and I studied fashion design and I worked in Italy for a year as a fashion designer for a very small company.
Then I moved from Italy to Peru. I lived in Peru for two years and I taught fashion, design, and fashion illustration at a fashion school. While I was there, I was exposed to the manufacturing world, which just blew my mind. I just love building things and creating things from initial conceptualization to a finished product. And the manufacturing side of things really interests me.
I returned home and I remember casually chatting with my old roommate from Milan, and she was Colombian and kept telling me, (because I was interested in swimwear) “Oh, you’ve got to go to Columbia. They’ve got the best swimwear manufacturers and Colombian swimwear brands are incredible.” So I went with my sister, and then that’s when we founded Fenntessa. So we started it in Columbia through my roommate who lived in Milan.
You never know who you’re going to know in your life and how that’s all going to come back. The schooling in Italy was great, but what I really took from it was the friends that I made in my classroom and the connections with them. My major connection was my roommate and that’s how Fenntessa started.”
Challenges of Owning a Fashion Brand
Owning a fashion brand presents a variety of challenges. Managing finances and maintaining cash flow can be stressful, especially in the early stages. Keeping up with fast-changing trends requires constant innovation and creativity.
Production issues, such as sourcing quality materials and ensuring timely manufacturing, can disrupt schedules. Marketing effectively to stand out in a crowded market demands strategic thinking and significant effort. Balancing creative vision with business realities often involves tough decisions.
Additionally, handling customer expectations and feedback requires excellent communication and adaptability. Overcoming these challenges necessitates resilience, dedication, and a passion for the fashion industry.
Cami shares some of the struggles she experiences as a brand owner. “One thing that I didn’t realize about being an entrepreneur is that it can be lonely because you’re often working by yourself or making decisions by yourself.
You don’t always have that built-in team camaraderie that you have when you’re part of a big company. There’s more of a team spirit when you’re working for someone vs. being in charge yourself. But I’ve coped with that through joining entrepreneurial meetups and connecting with my small teams.”
Cami tells us about another challenge that comes from other businesses around you. “Not comparing yourself to others can also be tough. You see other brands with big budgets behind them—big marketing spends and angel investors and stuff like that. And they’re taking off. But instead of comparing their situation to mine, I try to remember that there’s room in this world for everyone to grow.
We need to think more of a collaborative mentality than a competitive mindset. I really try to focus on that—we’re all in this together, so let’s grow together and help each other out. I love that way of thinking and it takes a struggle as a small business owner and turns it into a positive way of seeing things.”
Another challenge that comes with being a brand owner is all the non-fashion-related tasks on your plate. While many people think working in fashion is all glitz and glam, Cami shares that this is far from the truth.
“It’s not glamorous at all! There’s a lot of inventory management, a lot of math, and a lot of spreadsheets—so much of my time is spent with spreadsheets. I’d say it’s 90% business and 10% creativity. For me, the least glamorous part is pulling orders and packing. I spend time in the warehouse pulling orders. counting suits, mailing out shipments, and receiving deliveries. The warehouse side of things is definitely not glamorous.”
Highlights of Owning a Fashion Brand
Owning a fashion brand offers numerous rewards. Creative freedom allows you to bring your unique vision to life, setting trends and influencing style. Building a brand from the ground up provides a deep sense of accomplishment and pride. Engaging directly with customers and seeing your designs worn and appreciated is immensely fulfilling. The opportunity to innovate and experiment offers continual growth and excitement.
Cami enjoys the constant variety of days filled with different tasks, and she shares the best parts of her job with us. “I love making women feel good in their bathing suits! I love helping women feel comfortable and confident in swimwear because swimwear is the most cringey thing to wear and try on. I’m trying to change that. When I was growing up, being comfortable in a swimsuit was so important, and I could never find suits that made me feel comfortable and confident. So I think that’s also why I was attracted to designing swimwear and helping women feel their best.
I also love working with creatives and creating things from scratch. I feel like I’m putting something out into this world that wasn’t here before, and that, for me, is the creative process and what it’s all about—making something in the world. I work with local artists—we worked with three local artists this past year to make prints. And through the prints, we’re almost creating works, not works of art, but I just love to create.”
Key Skills for Fashion Brand Owners
A diverse skill set is essential to being a successful fashion brand owner. As Cami shared, wearing many hats is par for the course. There’s no telling where your day will take you, but there are a few skills that you’ll need to master.
Decision Making
As a brand owner, you’ll need to sharpen your ability to be decisive, quick, and efficient to keep your business running smoothly and without delays. These are some of the core decision-making areas that fashion brand owners deal with daily:
• Strategic Planning: Making informed decisions about the brand’s direction, including market positioning and growth strategies.
• Problem Solving: Quickly addressing and resolving issues that arise in production, distribution, or customer service.
• Financial Decisions: Managing budgets, pricing strategies, and investment in new collections or marketing initiatives demand sound financial judgment.
Cami highlights the importance of strong decision-making as a business owner. “It’s all about making decisions and being confident behind them and learning to make decisions quickly yet correctly. Listening to your gut instinct is a huge part of doing this.
If you take too long to make decisions, things aren’t going to get done. And you can also get decision paralysis where you’re second-guessing every decision to the point where you can’t choose which way to go.
Confidence in decision-making is critical because you’re the one that has to make the hard choices, whereas, when you’re not the business owner, they’re often made for you.”
Communication
For Cami, strong communications are a must-have for running one of today’s best swimwear brands. “I’ve learned that you can never be too clean in communicating with people, especially on the production side—just communicate, communicate, then over-communicate.
I just had an experience where I thought it was very clear, but there was a miscommunication in production. We have this shell print, and all the diagrams I provided had the shells facing one way, but they ended up making the shells going the other way. In the end, it comes down on the business owner when you don’t communicate enough. You need to spell it out, like shells go vertical or shells go horizontal—whatever the details are.
If you think you don’t need to communicate it, communicate it twice. Make it foolproof so no one has to guess what you want.”
Other important communication areas for fashion brand owners are:
• Team Collaboration: Effectively communicating with design, production, and marketing teams to ensure everyone is aligned with the brand’s vision and goals.
• Customer Interaction: Engaging with customers through various channels, addressing their needs, and building strong relationships.
• Networking: Establishing and maintaining relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, and industry professionals to foster beneficial partnerships.
Attention to Detail
Failing to pay attention to even the smallest details can derail your business operations. Cami warns against letting little things slide because every detail is important. “It’s the littlest things that can cause problems and snowball. Nip every problem in the bud as soon as you can and don’t let anything go because it just goes down this spiral.
So if there’s an issue in production and you don’t deal with it right away, then it’s gonna hit you when you get into wholesale or retail. It’s hard to stay on top of every detail but it’s so important to be in control of every aspect.”
In addition to detailed production processes, these are some other operational areas that require careful attention:
• Quality Control: Ensuring every product meets the brand’s high standards, from design to final production.
• Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent brand image across all platforms, including social media, packaging, and marketing materials.
• Trend Monitoring: Keeping a close eye on fashion trends and incorporating relevant elements into your designs while staying true to your brand’s identity.
• Project Management: Coordinating various projects simultaneously, from collection launches to marketing campaigns, requires strong organizational skills.
Advice for Starting Your Brand
For aspiring fashion brand owners, believing in yourself and your ideas is crucial. Confidence in your vision will drive you through the challenges and uncertainties of building a brand.
Cami shares two pieces of advice for getting started. “The first step is just to do it. So many people hem and haw at the idea, and I know so many entrepreneurs who have ideas that don’t execute them, but you’re never going to be totally ready. You’re never going to have it all figured out, but if you don’t take steps, it will never happen. So you might as well take steps and learn as you go and fail.
That leads to the second step: being willing to fail. I failed a lot when I started and that’s how I learned. But I’ll keep going. I’ll hit an obstacle. And it’ll put me back. I’ll learn from it. I’ll keep moving forward. You have to really love it and be passionate about what you’re making or doing. Because it’s going to be very challenging.”
In addition to taking Cami’s seasoned advice, these are some other actionable tips for getting your brand off the ground:
1. Believe in Yourself: Confidence in your unique perspective and creativity is essential. Trust your instincts and stay true to your vision, even when facing skepticism or setbacks.
2. Start Small: Begin with a focused collection or a few key pieces that showcase your style and craftsmanship. This allows you to refine your designs and gather feedback without overwhelming yourself.
3. Create a Business Plan: Outline your brand’s mission, target market, and financial projections. A solid business plan will guide your decisions and help secure funding if needed.
4. Build a Strong Portfolio: Develop a portfolio that highlights your best work. This will be essential for attracting investors, collaborators, and customers.
5. Network: Attend fashion events, join industry groups, and connect with other designers and professionals. Networking can open doors to valuable opportunities and collaborations.
6. Use Social Media: Leverage social media platforms to showcase your designs, build a following, and engage with your audience. Consistent online presence can significantly boost your brand’s visibility.
7. Learn Continuously: Stay updated on industry trends, new technologies, and business strategies. Continuous learning will keep you adaptable and competitive.
8. Take the First Step: Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Start designing, creating, and promoting your brand. Every small step brings you closer to your goal.
Cami also shares the importance of staying current in the fashion industry when you’re running a brand and there are some easy ways to make it a regular and beneficial business habit. “I stay up to date on what’s happening in the industry through Instagram and TikTok and I use it in a productive way to see what’s going on. I like to see what’s going on instead of using it as a tool to compare myself to others. If you look at it from more of a trend-forecasting tool, it can be a fantastic resource.”
Tips for Networking Success (and Why Networking Matters!)
Networking is crucial for fashion brand owners as it opens doors to opportunities, new markets, creative collaborations, and industry insights. Building a strong network can significantly impact your brand’s growth and success. Let’s dig into why networking is non-negotiable and how to cultivate a network to help your business grow.
The Importance of Networking
Networking has several key benefits as you grow your brand:
• Opportunities: Networking can lead to partnerships with retailers, designers, and influencers, expanding your brand’s reach.
• Industry Insights: Staying connected with other industry professionals keeps you informed about trends, market shifts, and best practices.
• Support System: A strong network provides mentorship, advice, a sense of community, and support during challenging times.
• Visibility: Networking increases your brand’s visibility within the industry, attracting potential customers, retail partners, and investors.
Cami sees networking as a must as she grows the Fenntessa brand, even though it can be challenging. “I think networking is the most important thing. But it’s not always easy. Right now, Fenntessa is working on getting into the U.S. market. So I’m going to trade shows and I just came back from one last week in Los Angeles. Everyone knows everyone and it can be so hard to get in. But once you’re in, you realize it’s a small world. That’s the thing with the fashion industry—it can be hard to get in, but once you do, you start knowing everybody. And it’s like this tiny little network. You just have to get in the door.”
Tips for Building a Strong Network
Having a great network to draw from doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s not just a matter of mass-connecting with everyone you can think of on LinkedIn. Cami sees networking as a long-term strategy that requires a soft approach vs. aggressively pitching yourself and expecting instant results.
“Just like building a brand, networking takes time. It doesn’t just happen and opportunities rarely appear out of thin air. Celebrate your small little wins. At the last trade show I went to, I didn’t walk away with a huge number of new accounts, but I met one really solid contact and I met that person because of someone else I’d met previously, so it was a really organic connection.
Don’t expect big results right away. Instead, focus on planting your seeds—networking is like planting your seeds and they’ll eventually grow. It’s the same with moving to Vancouver—you can’t just make 100 friends right away. Networking is the same.
Also, your connections need to be authentic, genuine, and reciprocated. You’re not just selling something at someone. You want it to be a relationship where they’re equally excited to buy or provide a service or whatever it is. It has to be a win-win situation for both sides.
That’s my main thing, I’m all about building a business on that mutually beneficial standard. So hang in there and maintain whatever connection you have with that person, but don’t be expecting anything from them.
When trying to make a new connection, think about what’s in it for them instead of what’s in it for you, and I feel like you’ll go further. For example, if you want a favor from someone, think about what you can give that person. What can you do for that person in return to develop a relationship that benefits both of you.”
By actively networking and building strong connections, you can enhance your brand’s reputation, gain valuable insights, and attract opportunities for growth and success. With that in mind, here are some tips for building a strong network as you launch and grow your brand:
1. Attend Industry Events: Participate in fashion shows, trade shows, and industry conferences to meet professionals and showcase your brand.
2. Join Professional Groups: Become a member of fashion associations and online groups to connect with like-minded individuals.
3. Collaborate: Partner with other brands, designers, or influencers on projects or events. Collaborations can introduce you to new audiences and strengthen your network.
4. Follow-Up: After meeting someone, follow up with a personalized message or email. Building relationships requires consistent communication.
5. Offer Value: Be willing to share your knowledge, help others, and provide value to your network. Reciprocity strengthens connections.
6. Stay Authentic: Genuine relationships are more valuable than superficial ones. Be authentic in your interactions and build trust.
7. Express Gratitude: People like to feel valued and appreciated. When you make a connection or someone in your network helps you out, always take the time to thank them. Being grateful in business helps you stand out and makes for memorable interactions with the people in your network.
The Bottom Line
Being a fashion brand owner is both challenging and rewarding. The journey requires hard work, perseverance, and a blend of creativity and business acumen. Overcoming obstacles like market competition, financial constraints, and evolving consumer trends is part of the process. But, the fulfillment of seeing your designs come to life and resonate with customers makes it all worthwhile. Embrace the challenges, stay resilient, and work hard to build a successful brand that stands out.
Special thanks to Cami Rush from Fenntessa Swimwear for contributing her expertise! Check out Fenntessa on Instagram to follow along with their success in the swimwear industry.
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Jeanine Gordon is a freelance content marketer with a passion for creating stellar strategies for global brands and small businesses alike, specializing in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.