Today we have with us the knowledgeable Toby Meadows. He is a fashion business consultant and a visiting lecturer at the London College of Fashion where he teaches the course Starting your Own Fashion Label at Dubai Design District.
Toby Meadows writes articles for different media publications, including Financial Time and is also the author of the best seller book “How to set up and run a Fashion Label”. Do you want to win a signed copy? Read on and join this great giveaway.
THE INTERVIEW
THE JOB OF TOBY MEADOWS AS FASHION CONSULTANT
Toby answered all our questions. In the podcast, he will explain us what he does as fashion consultant and how he guides designers to mix creativity and develop a good business eye to make their business sustainable and exciting for the markets they want to operate.
“My best advice for new designers: Do your research.”
He advises designers to learn how their business would operate from every angle. He recommends also to do a proper research about competition, price points, etc. The so-called comparative shopping and what other brands would you want to see your brand together with is key to position your products.
ABOUT LONDON
He will share with us the secret recipe of how London became the fashion hub that is today. London has been able to attract amazing talented designers from all over the world thanks to its very supportive environment.
With high quality schools, government, public and private sector and with a fashion tradition all backing up creativity. He is concerned about the fragility of this ecosystem.
With the uncertainty that Brexit is meaning to the UK and Europe, we can only wait to see how it could affect the booming designing scene.
ABOUT DUBAI AND THE MIDDLE EAST
We are not going to deny that Dubai is working hard to be in a similar position to London. The city and the region will benefit greatly from it.
We ask him how are middle eastern designers perceived overseas. He says that the ones that are breaking the walls now have a huge responsibility. They are paving the way to the ones who will follow later. We have to put the region on the fashion maps … and it is not easy. But we are getting there. Fashion Forward, Dubai Design District, Dubai Design & Fashion Council and the many creatives blooming on the region are doing their part.
His advice for these pioneers to check where their creations are relevant and overcommit. Why? Because if you are the same as everyone else, you won’t get noticed.
You have to stand out in creativity, quality… and make sure you blow people away. Toby Meadows recommends the use of influencers if that is going to make people notice your work. Of course, it is key to select the right influencer.
NURTURING TALENT: THE INCUBATORS
Toby Meadows is also part of quite a lot of Talent incubators around the world. In London, the CEF (Centre of Fashion Enterprise), Fashion Incube in Istanbul, Fashion Forward in Jakarta and Inkubaator in Tallinn.
He shares with us that the most important requirement for him when it comes to select which designers will receive the support of the incubators is the personality and attitude.
It is critical that they join the incubators for the right reasons. They really have to have the passion, drive and also humility to listen and learn. At the incubators, they receive a lot of guidance and help but there is no guarantee of success.
WIN THE BOOK: HOW TO SET UP AND RUN A FASHION LABEL- COMPETITION ALERT!
If you are thinking of starting your own fashion brand, we recommend you to buy Toby Meadows book. It forces you to think on every aspect you need to consider to make it work: marketing, sales, production, financing, logistics, supply chain… We tend to concentrate on what we like most, but if we want to have a sustainable business in the long...