How to start a Clothing Company

I saw this great article by Jimiyo and had to share it.
Art Doesn’t Sell
In my experience as a designer and curator, there is a truth about the apparel world that has become apparent. If my hunch is correct, this probably spans the whole world of art:
Artsy fartsy doesn’t sell in a mass consumer market.
I don’t [...]

This article was originally posted on Go Media’s blog by  Jeff Finley.
The Project:
You’re hired to create a “sick” t-shirt design for a major label Metal band. Their fans also listen to Metallica, Slayer, Slipknot, and Mushroomhead. Describe how you would make something that would appeal to those fans and sell at stores like Hot Topic [...]

This was the first shirt tutorial I came across when I was starting out. Jeff Finley and Go media have written some really great articles but this is the one that initially made me researching t-shirt design more.
Check out their site it really has a lot of great resources for designers.

Design a band T shirt [...]

Ray from Lowdtown wrote another good article about setting up your artwork for screen printing. I put in two comments below.
What I’m real confused about is the printing method. I’m just about to have a real small launch and I don’t do ANY designs. I’ve hired an artist to do my designs, but if I’m [...]

This question comes up a lot and I think it really needs an article about it.
I remember printing my first shirt, live every week like it’s shark week, and I was asking the same question. I asked people what sizes I should order and I also unwisely asked what size people wanted to buy. I [...]

When you need to create something with that hand-drawn look but you’re on a tight time line – this is one way to do it fast. The project I was working on was a t-shirt design for Black Ace Clothing. They’re great guys and pay us well so I am not normally rushing through their projects. But on this particular project I had already completed a large hand-drawn illustration for the back of the shirt. They wanted an additional illustration for the front of the shirt, but I was concerned about the total budget for one t-shirt, so, I busted out this little trick of mine. It saved me time, and saved them money!

I’m sure most of you are scratching your heads like I did the first time I heard about this concept but after reading this article by business week it should make more sense.
Fail Fast, Fail Cheap
Get your idea into the marketplace, and learn from customers
by Doug Hall
The development of a [...]

Over the past few months I’ve been fortunate enough for the opportunity to have some lengthy discussions about the t-shirt industry and get to know one of today’s top and one of my favorite designers. Chow Hon Lam (aka Flying Mouse) is revered in the t-shirt design world and you’ve no doubt seen his awesome work all over the internet. In the past he has been awarded newcomer of the year and most printed artist on Threadless, has took up the recent challenge of creating a new design everyday and now is branching out with his own clothing line.

A few questions with Johnny Minardi of Snakes and Suits about his company and advice he would give to those looking to start up a similar venture.
Snakes & Suits is a clothing company from Chicago, IL. The brand launched on November 23rd, 2007. The company was started and is run by three friends with a [...]

Dance Party Massacre is a small clothing line with its roots based in Boston, MA. Drawing inspiration from film, music, pop culture, and nightlife, it’s a youth-oriented brand with an independent spirit. It’s conceptually-driven with the main focus based upon horror elements, and juxtaposing them with a fun edge.

Started in 2007 by designer Alex Dakoulas, [...]

One of the most overlooked details in t shirts are their tags. When I say tags, I am specifically talk about the tags hidden away on the inside of your shirt. The tag that never sees the light of day, and is usually an afterthought. So after coming across some incredibly creative tags that in my mind add value and personality to a brand I decided to put together a list of companies that do an incredible job with their custom tags.

oday I’m reviewing a new e-commerce store system called storenvy which offers a free stores to everyone. It is most similar to big cartel which charges $10- $20 a month for it’s services but also includes a bunch of social networking stuff to get your site seen.