A N A C T I O N P L A N F O R Y O U R F A S H I O N L A B E L

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1 A N A C T I O N P L A N F O R Y O U R F A S H I O N L A B E L W W W. J M S O D T. I N C O N T A C T :

2 Introduction: Ideas don t mean anything. Execution is the game. As you begin the process of exploring what it would be like to become a fashion designer there are several action steps that we have included here that you can go through which will help you get a brief idea of what skillsets you will need to acquire to become a successful fashion designer. Now, at JM we don t expect any of our students to have any kind of prior experience in fashion when they join. Most of our students, 70% of them have no background experience in fashion when they join us but are yet able to design their own garments within a few months of joining the course. This is because all our courses begin from the beginner s level. We start with the basics with every students thus enabling them to develop a strong foundation. That being said, here are the different action steps we have planned for you: Designed by one of our alumni student Sindhu Livingstone who comes from a tech background at Flipkart

3 1. Get a Fashion Journal: Thoughts lead to action. More so, thoughts on paper have a higher chance of moving you towards action. The fashion journal is a place for you to put down different things that inspire you, it could be a picture that you ve seen in a magazine or a dress worn by a celebrity or it could even be a picturesque place you ve been to, a museum perhaps? The list goes on and on. What inspires you is different from what inspires another person. A fashion journal is a place for you to put down your thoughts, ideas, dreams and inspiration. It is the beginning point of developing your fashion business. This is crucial for you as you begin to ideate what kind of a clothing brand or boutique you may want to build. Designed by one of our students Maria Theresa who comes from an MBA background.

2. Start Developing Your Tailoring Skills: Before you decide to build your fashion career it is important that you develop some tailoring skills.

4 2. Start Developing Your Tailoring Skills: Before you decide to build your fashion career it is important that you develop some tailoring skills. Now, it is not important that you become an expert tailor but it is important that you get some understanding of how a garment is constructed, how to spot mistakes in the garment, how the different parts of the garment are meant to be stitched and how to draw different patterns to get the desired fit. Many designers tend to overlook pattern making, tailoring and garment construction because they feel like they can hire master tailors and pattern masters to do the work for them. While this should be the goal for any designer it is imperative that the designer get some knowledge in the pattern making and garment construction process so they are able to guide their teams without seeming to be uninformed. Unfortunately too many designers start boutique businesses or clothing lines with complete dependance on their master tailors and pattern masters. And master tailors prove to be unreliable in this particular industry putting designers in a tough position for their businesses. Therefore, as a designer it is important to equip yourself with as many fields of fashion design as possible.

3. Pattern Making: It is really important that you understand how to make your own patterns so that you know how to make well finished garments paying attention to every single detail.

5 3. Pattern Making: It is really important that you understand how to make your own patterns so that you know how to make well finished garments paying attention to every single detail. It s the detailing in couture that really makes the dress. Pattern making is one of the most important processes in the design process. It helps you design the perfect fit, taking care of the various dart manipulations, dart eliminations and advanced level adjustments. If you don t know how to make these paper patterns then you are gambling on expensive fabric where you are prone to lots of trial and error which leads to wastage of fabric, time and ultimately leads to a loss for your business. So when you focus on mastering these paper patterns you will drastically reduce the error on the fit of the garment you want to make. At JM you will learn how to take accurate and detailed measurements that will increase your likelihood of creating well fitted garments. These measurements are then used to create the pattern for the garment.

6 4. Sketching: In order to start designing your first collection you need to have some basic sense of sketching. You need to be able to figure out how to bring out your ideas for your design onto a sketch. This will bring shape to your brand as it will help you begin the first step of launching your own collection. Understanding how to sketch will bring your ideas to reality and so it is very important that you learn how to sketch in order to become a successful designer. Especially if you want to get into the couture business it is very important that you learn how to sketch a design for your client. Perhaps your client wants to wear the exact same dress that Priyanka Chopra wore to the Cannes Film Festival but with a twist to it. You need to be able to know how to show the sketch of this design to your client on paper. It allows you to bring the idea or fantasy in your client s mind into reality and thus can help you kick-start the design process.

5. Inspiration: Inspiration is different for different artists. For an artist to truly become successful especially as a fashion designer they would need to constantly inspire themselves.

7 5. Inspiration: Inspiration is different for different artists. For an artist to truly become successful especially as a fashion designer they would need to constantly inspire themselves. This means they need to move around, see places, experience things, cultures and find out what truly inspires them. The beginning point of any collection is inspiration. A designer is incomplete without inspiration. As an aspiring designer try to find out what inspires you, make it a priority to find inspiration for yourself because it is inspiration that will fuel your creativity. Anita Dongre recalls how she used to spend many of her childhood days at her grandmother s home in Jaipur. She remembers how the different colors and patterns of Jaipur shaped her design thinking process and a lot of times inspired her towards developing her collections. Designed by Vimica Serrao, Content Specialist at Swiggy

8 6. Leveraging Social Media: There is this cliche that suggests that you need a lot of investment or money to start a new business. Truth is you don t. You need a great product to start a new business. Social media can provide you with lots of effective marketing tools if you know how to use them well. Starting a Facebook and Instagram page is free of cost. Let s say you have 500 friends on your Facebook friend s list and you invite them to like your new business page that you ve just created. If they are impressed with your page or think that the page might bring some kind of value to them they are probably going to like it. Perhaps 100 of your friends may take the trouble to actually like your page. Send a personalised message to each of these friends and let them know that you value their support. This way you get a chance to talk to them about your business and one of them might just turn into a new client. Now, when they like your page their friends get to see it too and once again if your page is really well designed they might like it as well! Social media is so crowded these days. Just scroll down your Facebook or Instagram page and you will see hundreds of posts on your news feed screaming for your attention. So it is really important to find ways in which you can make your page look attractive and unique. Study Facebook and Instagram and find out how it can help grown your fashion brand or boutique. But this isn t the best part of social media. You can use social media to drive actual revenue for your business. People see the kinds of dresses you make and they might just want the same done for them. When you get your first new client take great pictures of them share it on your facebook page and ask at least 5 people to share your picture especially your client. Word of mouth is powerful and there are few things that are more convincing than a satisfied client.

9 Designed by Vimica Serrao, Content Specialist at Swiggy 7. Online Store: Setting up a brick and mortar store is expensive. These stores involve unnecessary startup costs that could be used for marketing purposes or for the research and development of your clothing line or boutique. The smarter way out of this is to have your own online store spending 1,800 Rs. per month on Shopify as rental costs instead of spending 50,000 to hire a web developer. Starting a business in today s World has become so much more cost-effective than it was 10 or 20 years back. Make use of it. The website on Shopify is easy to build and anyone can make it. Just drag and drop. Now, this doesn t mean to say that actual physical stores are completely irrelevant. It is important for a designer to eventually have a physical store. But to start things off it s not a requirement. It will help you save cash and invest more in places where your money can actually provide a return for you. If you really feel the need for a physical store partner with a local boutique store and pay them a commission for every garment you sell.

THE JM ADVANTAGE At JM we are passionate about equipping you with our unique tailoring method to help you increase the accuracy and finishing of the garment construction process.

We show them how they can develop a craft so they can get a return on their investment. We encourage our students to start earning even while they are doing their course here.

10 THE JM ADVANTAGE At JM we are passionate about equipping you with our unique tailoring method to help you increase the accuracy and finishing of the garment construction process. What we equip you with at JM is a craft. We provide you with a craft that you can develop to actually help you start earning money. We don t just teach students. We show them how they can develop a craft so they can get a return on their investment. We encourage our students to start earning even while they are doing their course here. What we mean by this is that students start marketing their work and start developing a clientele that will eventually help them get a return on their investment. We are passionate about helping our students get a return on their investment. When a student joins our school we see that as an investment that they have made with us and therefore it is our mission to help our students realize their fullest potential by enabling them to see their course work as a craft that they are developing to start a business. We ve had a number of students who have started to earn even while studying and we look forward to helping and empowering many more designers to start and grow successful businesses. OUR FOUNDERS JONATHAN MICHAEL ELIZABETH ISAAC

11 STUDENT REVIEWS: "JM is one of the best institute to learn fashion. I joined them six months back to do a Diploma in Ethnic fashion. I started with no idea on Fashion/sewing but now I have transitioned myself to making dresses for kids, my husband and me. The course curriculum is really well planned. Their method of teaching is excellent; the personal attention that you get makes you feel that the course is customized for you at your pace of learning. Now after completing my 1st course, I will be joining them shortly again for a more detailed flagship course. Along with teaching, the institute also guides you in setting up your own platform. If you are looking for learning fashion/sewing in Bangalore this is a definite place to visit." - Swapna Ranganathan "I loved this place so much. Atmosphere in the institution is really positive. Instructors are so good,they are ready to explain things again and again without any hesitation. The main thing I liked about the institution is they are giving classes individually, so we can learn things in our own pace. Even though it's taking 1.5 hr for me to reach the institution,still I like the place so much. I will recommend this place without any doubt." - Anila Thomas "JM school has a very well put together curriculum in fashion learning and pattern making+ garment construction. They offer students/fashion designing aspirants a variety of course syllabus, designed with extreme precision to choose from, to help them understand and avail immense value with ease. Thank you JM school for giving me this experience." - Khyathi Jadhav "Currently enrolled in the intermediate course (which i opted for after starting the basic), i have been enjoying every minute of it. Their global approach to pattern making and construction including their guidance with beginners is one i admire. The Tutor (Beth) has an enthusiasm that is infectious! You truly wont need any previous knowledge/experience to join...just make sure you bring your passion along with you." - Sandhya Bhaskaran

INTERVIEW FASHION BLOGGER CASSANDRA LIU 12 th of April, 2014

INTERVIEW FASHION BLOGGER CASSANDRA LIU 12 th of April, 2014 Cassandra Liu is the founder and the voice behind the fashion blog Wear2day! Wear2day is a blog about fashion and style, a place where you can