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

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.

i read this book overnight, could not put it down, brilliant, i wish i had this book before i start it. every step is well descibe, at some point it feels a bit overwhelming but this is what we all need, real information, what to expect, what to look for, where to go etc. This book reffers a lot to american fashion designers but you can learn a lot from it, so yes i highly recommend this book!!!

Nice book, wife found it quite useful so happy with the purchase. Good information inside for a newbies.

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.

Nice book. Bought for my daughter for Christmas. See has enjoyed reading the book.

Not as relevant for the European market but still very informative. It's very word-based so don't be expecting fancy pictures!

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.

Bought it as a gift, was told it was a great read and quite informative.