How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Alison Hoenes | women's apparel patternmaker
126 episodes
1 day ago
How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
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How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
The Benefits of Retail Experimentation and Collaboration For Independent Fashion Brands with Elizabeth Solomeina of Flying Solo
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
58 minutes 59 seconds
6 months ago
The Benefits of Retail Experimentation and Collaboration For Independent Fashion Brands with Elizabeth Solomeina of Flying Solo
If you’ve ever dreamed of having your products in stores but are hesitant to dip your toes into retail because of high overhead, lower wholesale margins, or lack of retail experience, Elizabeth Solomeina has a solution.
In episode 116, Elizabeth shares her refreshingly different approach to retail. Her multi-city retail space and press showroom, Flying Solo, is designed just for independent designers to grow their brands and community. It is a collaborative retail space where designers get to control how their collection is presented, get feedback directly from customers, and make higher margins without the traditionally long wholesale lead times.
Elizabeth Solomeina is the co-founder of Flying Solo, a revolutionary fashion retail and PR platform based in New York and Paris. With a background in design and entrepreneurship, Elizabeth has built one of the most influential independent fashion platforms in the world — supporting thousands of emerging brands over the years and redefining how fashion reaches the market.
This episode explores:
Fitting the customer
Who the Flying Solo customer is
How Flying Solo presents diverse designers, collections, fits, and sizing cohesively to customers
The future of retail amidst today’s gloomy retail headlines
Fitting the lifestyle
What Elizabeth and her team look in the designer they stock
How brands can best prepare for a successful retail experience
How creatives can thrive by working together
How Flying Solo’s retail model gives so much more freedom and flexibility to designers
Fitting the values
Why Elizabeth believes so strongly in the value of collaboration and community
The benefits of creative experimentation for designers
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
Flying Solo website
Flying Solo Instagram
Elizabeth’s LinkedIn
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How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting® is the podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.
In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.
In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.
How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?
