Mary GehlharThe Fashion Designer Survival Guide, Revised and Expanded Edition: Start and Run Your Own Fashion Business

I will admit-- I chose this "how to start a fashion business" guide book over the other ones because it's more famous. And because of the Diane Von Furstenberg foreword, Tim Gunn review, and many little interviews with actual designers. Lets not forget the great price (w/ free shipping if $25 is spent).This book is definitely a good read-- its full of practical information and great advice and real-world examples of situations designers go through (designers going bankrupt, exclusivity of certain production factories, problems with selling to certain stores, etc). Its a very "real" look at fashion from a well thought out point of view.All that said, when I began to create my business plan this book was little help. I mean it certainly gave me a great summarized outline, but it lacks numbers. I just wish it had more number examples, you know more "averages". Like the average or sample amounts of material cost, production, and overhead cost for an emerging designers. How many pieces are recommended for a new designer and if they choose to sell to a store-- whats the average amount of pieces they sell the store and how many of each sizes (ie: 20 dresses? size 2(2) size 4(2) size 6(4) size 8(4) size 10(4) size 12(4))I know averages can greatly differ, but I wish they would have made-up or created a fake fashion line, and created a very modified business plan with numbers, just as a sample. (That alone would have made this book perfect.)It also needed more equations. The only equation was COGS. The book was great, but it seriously lacked numbers and tangibility. As in I was thinking this book would be a onestop shop, but it wasn't. This book gives you direction and an idea of how your mindset should be when creating a line and it gives you alot of pointers and warnings. Making this the perfect book for someone who isn't in the fashion industry. But as a person who's been to business school and studied at a fashion school I just expected a little more, I'm probably asking for too much, but what the hey- why not? lol.I look at this book as a great complementary to a more detailed book. I haven't read these, but from what I can see in Amazon's "look inside" and from some of the reviews: "Fashion Unraveled", "Fashion for Profit", and "How to Setup and Run a Fashion Label" may be great compliments to this book. For my fashion marketing class I had to read "The Business of Fashion, Designing, Manufacturing and Marketing". That's a textbook and does offer great detail as well, but it comes at a much bigger pricetag. I just wish I kept it instead of giving it back after my class was over.As a person in the industry I'll say that this book definitely solidified alot of my own thoughts and gave me many great tidbits that will be helpful and will come to mind as I'm creating my line. Just don't expect "numbers" and financial examples from this book. Just view it as a insiders guide to the business of fashion with accompanying examples and summaries of the experiences of other designers. Because of the low pricetag and solid examples I would definitely recommend purchasing it, but keep in mind that you will still need to find books and search the internet for number and business plan examples. (And, lets just say with all the junk out there its hard to find everything on the internet it takes soooooo much time digging through sites and sites and fake sites that lead you to sites that want you to pay hundreds just for a numerical overview of the women's retail market... oops sorry, I think I'm venting now, lol).This book is great, I recommend buying it. But I suggest Mary Gehlhar make a revised version in a year or two that has numbers because if she did it would be like the Bible for starting a fashion line.PS- This book really is like a wake-up call for people who just say to themselves "I want to start a clothing line", you know, people who aren't in the industry and just think it'll be this fun easy thing to do. It gives those type people ALOT of perspective. For someone who already has an idea for a line, is well-versed in fashion, and aware of the climate of the retail industry and fashion market this book has its shortcomings. But it is still helpful though, so thats why it's a useful book to have around.

As another reviewer said, this book is best suited to those designers who want to be the next big high fashion thing. I'm not taking stars off for that fact because some people don't want to be a smaller, more independent label, and to have a book geared towards them makes sense. This is the type of career I'm after so for that purpose, this was the right book for me to choose. I started reading it before I knew ANYTHING about actually running a fashion label; I knew about fashion but I didn't know about the business side. This book provided the basic introductory information I needed and I did learn a lot. I'm in a much better position to start my business than I was before.Having said that, Gehlhar's approach is downright unpleasant. If we're invested enough in starting our own labels to research and read in order to further our education, it's likely that we are WELL AWARE of "The Reality" she so thoughtfully placed in the very first chapter of the book. In fact, it's likely that this "advice" has been pounded into our heads since the very first moment we told someone we wanted to work in fashion. If we're at the point where we're taking the initiative to study the subject on our own, it's 100% unnecessary for this "wisdom" to be included at all, nevermind reiterated in every freaking chapter. Being told that it's hard serves zero purpose; what does telling us we *might* fail do for us in the long run? It's such a myth that "preparing" young hopefuls for the failure that might not even come is constructive. If things end up not going the way we had planned, what will having read it in a book beforehand do for us at that point? Nothing. Conversely, being told a million times over that you might fail before you even begin can convince you on a subconscious level that you absolutely WILL fail, which might actually CAUSE that failure. Ironic, right? Veterans of the industry just LOVE to give us that "bad news" and I've honestly had enough of it. Encourage us to be optimistic and driven right from the start, and we'll have a better chance at success. There is literally no downside to doing it this way, and I kind of can't believe that even needs to be said.Another huge issue I had with this book was the fact that Gehlhar is absolutely INSISTENT that you work under someone else before you do something as cray-cray as make your own way (the horror!). Her incessant pushing of this throughout the book is obnoxious. If working for someone else for 5+ years while you could be running your own business is not what you want to do, just cross that sh*t out and keep reading.A couple notes to the author:1. Rework your first chapter. It sets a downtrodden tone for the rest of your book and I'm sure that's not what you want (right?). Encourage your readers. Tell them that most other authors would try to kill their spirits but you're not gonna do that because you believe in them. Don't worry, it won't do any harm!2. Cool it on the "GET A JOB FIRST!!!!" angle. To insinuate that's the only way one can be successful is just irresponsible. Remember that the people reading this book are likely entrepreneurs and have been for a long time, if not their whole lives. And there's nothing wrong with this! Present working under someone else as an option and that's it.To wrap up, I do recommend this book to those who want a career like Alexander Wang or Stella McCartney or Rodarte, and know next to nothing about how to get started. I have many many pages flagged and highlighted, and I'll definitely be going back through once I've started my business. If you want to start and stay small or if you know quite a bit about the fashion industry already, skip it.Lastly, don't let this book discourage you. Don't let those bitter veterans try to sink your ship under the guise of "tough love". Absorb the technical information you need and ignore the rest, because you are not everyone else, and you are not this author. Believe that you can do it, because you can.

I AM A SELF-TAUGHT FASHION DESIGNER, FROM THE AGE OF 12 YEARS OLD, AND HAVE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS OF: DESIGNING FOR MY OWN FASHION SHOWS, AND WELL AS FOR PRIVATE CLIENTS, AND FOR MYSELF AND MY DAUGHTER FOR MANY YEARS NOW, AND I CAN HONESTLY STATE: "MOST OF THE THINGS IN THIS BOOK, I FIGURED OUT AND HAD BEEN DOING, ALL EXCEPT THE INFORMATION TO "FORGE AHEAD" WITH THE "BUSINESS SIDE (MONETARY) OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY" WITH A PURPOSE. FROM THE BEGINNING, THE AUTHOR GETS RIGHT TO THE POINT OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF KNOWING EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FASHION INDUSTRY, AS PAINFUL AS IT MAY BE TO DIGEST, AND HOW TO BE A SUCCESS. ALSO, THE TIPS ON IMPROVING ONESSELF IN EVERY AREA. ALOT OF TIMES WE THINK WE ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH, BUT WE'RE NOT, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT IS HINDERING US, WHICH MOST TIMES IS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE/INFORMATION IN OUR FIELD. OVERALL, THIS IS WHAT I HAVE GOTTEN FROM THIS GREAT  The Fashion Designer Survival Guide, Revised and Expanded Edition: Start and Run Your Own Fashion Business BOOK.

Very good book, explaining the inside workings of the fashion design world to beginners. Lots of tips and first hand opinions and advice from people working in the industry. Only small downside for me was it is oriented in the US system and not everything applies worldwide but I don't think this could be avoided in any way. Definitely worth a read if you are trying to find your way in fashion design.

Only a reader who knows how can criticize a How-To book. Therefore, nobody who reads a book to learn How-To is qualified to review it.My reason for buying this title is to acquire an overview of the small fashion designer industry so that I might set my scene with verisimilitude in a novel I am writing about three young women who form a company. Leslie has access to unlimited funds and a degree in corporate law, Fei Di has a family with global mercantile distribution, and young Hedy is a small town artistic genius who will design everyday apparel and make the patterns. For my purpose, Mary Gellhar's compendium explaining the operations of the rag trade answers all my questions, after several other purchases proved inapplicable.Ms. Gehlhar's book is not intended to teach wannabee's How-To do anything, but to tell what a small entrepreneur needs to do well to survive in a business competitive as a dinner party for piranhas. Giving a line to each topic in her check list will extend 5% of the book's length. What a wannabee cannot do for one's self must be outsourced to trustworthy hirelings. The Fashion Designer Survival Guide is worth reading by everybody who dreams of building socio-economic independence in one's own business. Anybody who survives the gauntlet has an education superior to multiple doctorates in the industrial arts, business administration, and cut-throat politix --- and much more practical.The 8" x 10" soft cover is well bound, well printed, well organized, well edited for its conversational voice, well illustrated with drawings and photographs, many in colour, and well laid out to fill its 275 pp with all the information that can be packed without compromising ease of reading. Never mind aspiring couturiers, anybody with a How-To manuscript to publish can benefit by submitting to KAPLAN in New York; consider their editorial judgment a standard to achieve.

If your aim is just to be a fashion designer who makes pretty clothes that have no commercial value, and you have no intention of making a business of your creativity. Then this book is not for you.However if your objectives is make money from your designs and generate a healthy net profit, then this book is for you. The book is written in plain simple English. You do not have to be a rocket science to understand what the book is all about. The book is wealth of valuable information for the budding fashion designer who wants to set up a business and make money.The book suggests that you first set up a Ltd company and then licence your fashion label name to your company. This way you are protected if your fashion company goes bankrupt. So many fashion designers have lost the use of their name due to lack of business acumen.If you are going to sign a distribution/licensing deal with anyone make sure that you do your due diligence on the company you are signing with, and make sure that you fully understand the agreement.Copyright. Most fashion designers are not clued about what can actually be copy righted. You cannot copy right a style of dress that you have designed. You can only copyright a print design or logo.After reading this book I would highly recommend this book and give it a five star rating.

Great book for beginners in the Fashion industry such as myself. Being a very practical and easy to read book it aims at highlighting some of the most important elements to keep in mind both at an operational and psychological level when you are staring to build your fashion brand name. From the perspective of a business man/entrepreneur, I particularly appreciate the fact that it is written in a clear and readable manner to those who don't have a fashion industry background/education and want to learn the insider tricks/tips to enter the market.Finally, a last chapter filled with invaluable resources such as business models, financial support, sourcing, associations, etc, makes this book a must-have to early fashion entrepreneurs.p.s. It is important however to alert that this book is already from the 2000's and lacks a more "internet oriented" approach, focusing mostly on the offline aspects of the industry and ignoring the benefits that can be reaped from e-shops as well as how internet and social media can be used to leverage a designer brand value.

Excellent quality, arrived quickly.Such a wonderful book with great advices from successful fashion designers + fashion experts. Explains what to expect and to do. Tells the truth about the fashion business about difficulties etc. Absolutely must read if you want to run your own business!

Bought this for my girlfriend as a present. She has a very young company where she designs professional dance dresses and luxury women's clothing.Since she received this she reads it all the time and says that it's probably one of the best gifts she's ever received from anyone. The insight that the book provides into the fashion industry and survival of your own business in this context is incredibly helpful and sometimes overwhelming and capable of bringing you down.It's definitely a reality check that every young fashion entrepreneur NEEDS!N.B she's a read a lot of the books regarding this theme.