Interview with Vicki: Our Journey in Building a Sustainable Petite Fashion Brand

Hi everyone! 👋 It's so great to meet you all face-to-face! While I'm feeling a bit nervous, I wanted to express my gratitude to all of you who have helped me in my fashion journey so far. 😊

Back in March, I had the pleasure of doing a 16-minute interview with Vicki (IG: @thefashionbusinesscoach), where she shared invaluable insights on our brand journey and provided tips for aspiring fashion entrepreneurs. 🎥

Having gone through similar experiences herself, Vicki's expert guidance has given me a clear roadmap with actionable steps towards launching my own fashion brand. It's like having a supportive mentor cheering me on every step of the way, which is especially helpful as I balance building my brand alongside a full-time job. I'm excited to see where this journey takes me!  🚀

Speaking of Vicki's courses, she's currently hosting the annual Free 5-Day Fashion Design Challenge for aspiring fashion entrepreneurs, giving you a taste of what her courses have to offer and helping you determine if they're the right fit for you. (Trust me, you won't be disappointed! 👍 Here is the link to sign up for the 5 Day Free Challenge!)

{Update - 5/24/2023} Although Vicki's Free Design Challenge has ended this year, you can still stay connected by following her on social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. There, you can continue learning about fashion entrepreneurship and stay updated on promotions and valuable content. For now, please enjoy Vicki's Free Masterclass and her two informative fashion courses. What's great about these courses is that they include Q&A sessions, so you won't feel alone: 1) The Fashion Startup Online Course; 2) The Fashion Marketing Course.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy our interview! 😊

Linda

16-Minute Video Interview

Transcribed Text of the Interview

(At 00:04.4) Linda:

Hi everyone, it's wonderful to be here with you all!

My name is Linda, and I'm the founder of Chocolat Couture, a sustainable petite clothing brand that I'm excited to share with you all. Our capsule wardrobe is all about eco-friendliness, with a focus on helping you find your own unique styles.

As someone who has always loved sewing and knows firsthand how challenging it can be to find clothes that fit petites, I'm thrilled to offer a solution that prioritizes sustainability without compromising on style.

Today, I'm joined by my dear friend Vicki, who also happens to be the founder of The Fashion Business Coach, and also our Business Consultant and Technical Designer. She's an expert in the fashion industry and has been instrumental in bringing our first collection to life.

During our chat, Vicki will share her insights on our brand journey from inspiration to reality, as well as provide some helpful tips for aspiring fashion entrepreneurs. In fact, I personally benefited greatly from Vicki's online fashion startup and marketing courses, which she offers through her website.

At the end of our interview, I'll share an affiliate link for anyone interested in learning more about how to start their own fashion brand. So, let's get started!

(At 01:32.9) Vicki:

Linda, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. And that's so, so kind of you to say all those wonderful things you are amazing to work with and such a nice person. So really excited to be here. 

(At 01:41.9) Linda: 

Thank you. Thank you so much, Vicki. I'm really excited for our topics too, and I'm, sure our audience will find this insightful. And before we dive in, I just wanted to let you know that some of the questions really intend to pick your brain, so please your time for your answers and if you need to take the break, feel free to do so. And, if you need to take a sip of water, feel free to do so as well. 

(At 02:07.9) Vicki: 

Amazing. Thank you so much. You're so thoughtful. I love that. 

(At 02:11.1) Linda:

Thank you so much. Okay. I'm going to check my notes for the question.

Speaking of your expertise, I wanted to share a recent conversation that we had. As a newcomer to the fashion industry, I'm always looking to learn and grow. When I was considering expanding on size range, you gave an invaluable advice on the importance of focus on petites, and providing them with the best bit possible.

Can you elaborate on why this is so important and how it helps us connect with our target audience?

(At 02:50.6) Vicki:

Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, it's such a common thing because so many new brands, they wanna cater to everyone. They wanna be really inclusive, and I love that. I'm a big strong advocate for inclusivity and trying to cater to as many people as we can.

But as a small brand, it's usually better to focus on the people who are essentially most in need of something. And in your case, you know, as a petite customer, you've seen that there's that need there. There's things that you've wanted to buy. Things that you wanted to have as a sustainable option that haven't been available. So that's why I was saying for this first, this first iteration, this first collection, to really focus in on those petites, because you know that market so well as a petite woman yourself, and also you know how much of a struggle you found buying things that you love sustainably.

So just being able to focus in on that and that way with everything that you do with the brand, you've got some amazing content on the blog that really speak to those experiences that you've had and and trying to help others in those positions. But also when it came to things like designing the collection and the fit, it meant that you could really tailor it specifically for petites. Cause what I've noticed, and I'll be honest, I'm on the total opposite end of the spectrum. I'm super tall, but what I've noticed happens for me in the tall sector and then petite women, often brands will just design a collection. And then for the taller people, they'll just make it a bit longer. And then for the shorter people, they'll just kind of chop the hem off a little bit. And it doesn't really, that's not really a solution, right?

When we are petite, we've got all these different considerations. We don't wanna have something that's just been chopped off at the bottom. We need to think, well, okay, we're a petite frame. What about the waistline? That's gonna have to move up as well. What about the armhole drop that needs to come up as well. And there's all of these different parts to tailoring the fit specifically for a petite woman, which is why I thought it would help to focus on them so that we can get it perfectly right for them. 

(At 04: 44.6) Linda: 

Yeah. I really like that you bring up the topic of getting the right proportion for different frames and , that's why we spend so much time on the Tech Packs. And so, that actually bring up my second question.

When it comes to fashion manufacturing, just want to introduce to our audience, when it comes to manufacturing, a Tech Pack is like a manual that outlines the important details for creating clothes such as the materials, colors, and the construction methods. And thanks to your expertise and your excellent work in perfecting our Tech Pack, we can ensure that we produce high quality clothes that not only look great, but also lasts a long time. And that actually is our goal, is to give our customers a product that is premium.

Can you share some of the key details that we consider in our Tech Packs to ensure our customer satisfaction? We would love to hear about you for this.

(At 05:49.7) Vicki:

Yeah, great question, and I love that you wanted to do tech packs because so many people think, oh, we'll just skip that. It's not important. But when you're really committed to the customer and making a great product for them, you want to make sure that all of those little details are thought about and not just laugh to someone's imagination or whatever they feel like doing on that day. So that tech pack really meant that, and I know you've done so much extensive research, and then I've obviously done a whole lot of measuring to see what's happening in the market, to make sure that the measurements in the products are as close to perfect as possible, and then as you go through the sample development phase, that'll get adjusted and, perfected even further. And yeah, the idea really is to just make sure that everything was completely tailored.

I know that you've got Siobhan, who's an amazing print designer on board as well. (P.S. I did a 'behind the designs' interview with Siobhan. For more insights, feel free to check it out!) And just thinking about things like the scale of the print and how that's gonna sit on a petite frame, and I know you've got some amazing blog content on that as well, like the styles and things that suit petite frames. So just making sure that all of those things were detailed in the Tech Pack. So everything from the measurements to the type of sewing that we're using to the print scale.

What else have we got in there? The fabric choices. A lot of different things that we had to think about and just make sure that they're all meeting those two standards of, the high quality for petites and also that sustainability aspect as well.

(At 07:13.5) Linda: 

Thank you so much for your insights and I really love to hear that . Everyone in the team put a lot of effort, so I really appreciate that.

And so continuing from my previous question. At one point during the Tech Pack phase, we spent a lot of time perfecting the elastic detail for the dress. We even research and compare different materials like shirring elastic thread, and the regular elastic to ensure we make the right decision. This process is very time consuming, we know, but we knew that it was important to create a premium product that it would last.

Vicki, could you please explain to us why it's important for us to make a premium product and, how the design iteration process we went through for the elastic waist help us achieve this?

(At 08:11.0) Vicki: 

I love that you're bringing that to everyone's attention because I think, you know, when someone buys one of your amazing products, they're not gonna think, oh, like I bet this elastic was well thought through. You know, it's just like, oh, there's some elastic in it if they even register it at all. And that's one thing that really has to go into a great product, that there was such detailed conversations about every little aspect of the design and the elastic was one that came up because it was very integral to your original design, both from the style that it creates, but also so that we didn't have to have like bulky fastenings in. It was easy for people to put on and things like that. So it was very integral. But then at the same time, it's amazing how something can cause, um, I wouldn't say big problems, but more like all of these different conversations.

And I'm guessing you coming into the fashion industry probably didn't imagine you'd have such long conversations about elastics specifically. Um, but essentially what it came down to was, That the thinner, elastic types, the customer would be able to see part of them. And then trying to get a color match so that it wasn't, you know, sometimes, I don't know if you've ever looked at like a cheap product and maybe it's got like a waistband in one color, and then the pant legs are in another color and it doesn't match, and it just make you, maybe don't think, oh, these colors are off, but there's something about it that doesn't feel premium, doesn't feel high quality.

And that's why we had all these conversations about the Elastic, because we wanted that confirmation from the supplier that they could match the colors and it would look and feel premium for you, dear customers. But we weren't convinced because of the process of dying different materials, it gets extremely complicated and quite scientific, and they just couldn't achieve it.

So by changing the elastic, we could make sure that yes, we could get the match that we needed, we could get the functionality that we needed. And people wouldn't be thinking, oh, this elastic looks really cheap. It's the wrong color. Anything like that. So, and again, that's just one example, isn't it? There was a lot of different details in the designs that we had to really work through to make sure that it was the best that it could be for the customer and the end product.

(At 10:17.5) Linda: 

Yes, that's why I really love your work. Cause you always bring up the topic of building trust between us and the customer. And I think that is actually a very important topic, not only for fashion brand, but also for other areas.

And that actually bring up to my fourth question. And, and I would love to get your insights on ensuring customer satisfaction through the order fulfillment process. We take pride in delivering high quality clothes to our customers and have several steps in place. For example, careful packaging and quality checks.

We would love to hear your insights on any additional steps that we can take to ensure customer satisfaction. We believe that this will not only benefit our customer, but also help other brands like us to improve their own order fulfillment process.

(At 11:16.5) Vicki: 

Yeah. And again, it's one that's really, really important, but a lot of customers wouldn't think about it. They just click the button to buy online and then the parcel magically turns up a few days later. But the reality is there's a lot of processes that go on behind the scenes and. For example, even just having that fabric going from one place to another, and then the production happens.

That's usually been passed through a few different people. Cause we've got lovely prints that are on the products that need handling by one person. So, and by another then of course to make it to yourself, Linda, and then to go out to other people. So through all of these different processes, we've got steps in place to make sure that we're checking the quality each step of the way.

And that Tech Pack that Linda referred to earlier, that's basically got in there all these different checkpoints for different things and our expectations, our quality expectations. And so when somebody at the factory or a distribution center, whoever it might be, is looking at that document and then looking at the product, they.

Check things off essentially and make sure, yes, this print does look like what it's supposed to look like. Well, it, it does match the color reference that we've given. Um, the seams are finished like this. So there's all of those different little steps that, that everybody on the project goes through, whether they are on the factory side of things, on the customer fulfillment side of things.

Or me just working remotely. we can all stay on board and we're all looking at that same document to make sure that all of those decisions that we've spent very many hours over, um, are being followed. And of course, every product's, you know, getting looked at, getting checked to make sure that it goes through all of these different checks to make sure that at the end of the day the customer's happy, which is what it's all about.

(At 12:59.9) Linda: 

Thank you so much for your insights. Yeah, as someone who has come from a history of being a customer to a brand owner, I have to walk in the customer shoes when I am doing my business and yeah. And also bring up that trust topic again.

So, my last question for you is, as someone who went from being a customer to a brand owner, I know firsthand that is not always easy to take that leap and, but if you have a dream and a passion for fashion, It's definitely worth pursuing.

Vicki, as someone who has years of experience in the fashion industry, I think our customer would love to hear your advice for those who are thinking about starting their own fashion brand. And if you could share just one piece of advice, what would it be?

(At 13:55.8) Vicki: 

Uh, it's not a very glamorous piece of advice.

I'm sorry, but it's the truth, honest answer and that is to put in the work because a lot of people, and you are not one of these people, Linda, you've been amazing, but a lot of people, they get attracted to fashion by the luxury and the glamor and the lifestyle. And don't get me wrong, that part is amazing.

However, there is a lot of stuff that needs to happen to get there. I guess my advice is be a little bit realistic about the hard work that comes before the payoff. And like I said, you've been amazing at that. You've always put in the work and put in the effort. And I've always, as a coach, like I love nothing more than people who are nice and excited to put in the work and the effort.

So that's the main thing. It's definitely, as you've experienced Linda, it's not an overnight success type industry. There's a lot of little things that we have to work out first off, before we can go ahead and enjoy that glamor and that success, if that's what you're into. But yeah, putting in the work for sure. But if you are willing to do that, I truly believe that anyone can have a successful fashion brand. It's just a case of taking it step by step and not trying to skip any corners or cut any corners I should say.

(At 15:05.3) Linda: 

Thank you so much, Vicki!

(At 15:06.6) Linda: 

I hope you all found our conversation insightful and informative. 

As promised, I want to share with you the affiliate link to Vicki's step-by-step fashion startup and marketing courses on her website, thefashionbusinesscoach.com. 

I want to be transparent and let you know that this is an affiliate link. If you decide to join Vicki's courses, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. However, I only recommend products that I would be happy to use myself.

As someone who has a full-time job and not enough time to do extensive research, I found Vicki's courses to be incredibly beneficial. They provide a clear roadmap and actionable steps towards starting my own fashion brand. It's like having a recipe to follow! 

If you're interested in pursuing your own fashion dream, I highly recommend checking out her courses. 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. Thank you again for joining us, and have a wonderful day!