CFDA INTERVIEW with Mary Gehlhar
You already know the The Fashion Designer Survival Guide — a bestseller and must-read for anyone looking to start a fashion brand or trying to maintain one. As designers face a whole new set of challenges and opportunities, author Mary Gehlhar released the third edition.
Featured Tips and advice in the book comes from designers including CFDA members Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Cynthia Rowley, and Aurora James.
“The Fashion Designer Survival Guide,” said Christian Siriano, who wrote the foreword for the book, “is packed with essential knowledge and advice from industry experts and experienced designers to set you on the right path. These insights will give you the solid foundation to create a plan and make smart decisions.”
Published by Barron’s Educational Publishing, the book is now available available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and local bookstores.
We caught up with Gehlhar – who was Fashion Director of Gen Art and now serves as adjunct faculty at the Parsons – about the book, why the time was right for a new edition, and how the meaning of survival has changed.
Take us back to the first edition. What motivated you to do The Designer Survival Guide?
In the early 2000s, being an independent designer was still very grass roots and there were few resources. At Gen Art, I was meeting hundreds of different designers each year from New York to Miami and LA and regardless of their training or individual approach to design, they were all struggling with the unexpected reality of being an entrepreneur. They were all trying to solve the same problems such as choosing a production partner, understanding wholesale agreements, finding suppliers with low MOQ and managing cash flow. I wrote the book to address these issues all in one place and to provide a general understanding of the reality of launching and running a label.
Why did you feel the time was right to do third edition?
For the past two years, when young designers from around the world emailed me to say they just bought the second edition, my gut reaction was to tell them to put it down! The fundamentals of how to approach this industry have completely changed and there is so much more to know. Technology altered the ways we buy, sell, make and communicate. Social media alone opened the door to reach customers globally without the gatekeeper of the retail buyer or the magazine editor. But now in addition to design and production, designers must create content, manage customer service and fulfillment, develop multiple sales channels and stand out in a crowded field. They also need to take time to assess their impact on the planet and consider sustainability at every stage of the life cycle of their product. This issue alone added an entirely new chapter to the book.
What changes did you find between the first and third edition?
There used to be a very specific path to follow. Unless you were going to open your own store, the only option was to wholesale, to follow the industry calendar and decide what to do during each market week. Now designers can work on their own timeline. They don’t need to follow the seasons or produce a certain number of SKUs, they don’t have to put things on sale or make full collections. They can negotiate real partnerships for production and wholesale and build community around their way of doing business. The biggest challenge is to stay focused on that individual path and not get distracted by what others are doing.
How has the meaning of survival changed since?
Survival depends on how you define success. In this latest edition, I emphasized the importance of knowing what success means to you before you start. It can be different for everyone and there’s no wrong answer. Success can mean building a brand, scaling and cashing out, it can mean outfitting the most glamorous people in the world. But for others, it means preserving a handcraft, supporting the development of new materials or solving a problem for a very specific demographic. For many, it is staying small, living a modest lifestyle, and having creative freedom. The important part is to be very clear on what you are setting out to achieve and be realistic about the economics involved so you can make the right decisions for you.
Faced with the economic fallout from COVID-19, what advice do you have for designers to survive now?
This is a time to stay really close to your customers and true to yourself. I interviewed dozens of independent designers for this edition and when asked “What is most important to your relationship with your customer?” almost all of them replied “TRUST.” Many designers in the book have used these last months to bond with their core customer – even calling them individually. They have taken a step back to look at every aspect of their business and focus on what they do well, to hone their point of view and ask themselves tough questions such as “Why am I making this? What’s the real value it provides?” In some cases, survival can mean putting the business on hold and taking time to regroup and come back stronger. But as things continue to evolve, I believe the smaller brands are the ones with the creatively and agility to innovate, experiment and respond quickly to change and opportunity.
What surprised you the most when working on the new edition?
The rules are gone and there are so many ways to approach the business now. While some designers are entirely focused on e-commerce, others are relooking at wholesale as a marketing play. Designers are planning road trips, exploring live selling, offering pre-order and producing on-demand. They are realizing it’s better to be ‘sold-out’ than ‘on-sale.’ The creativity being applied to business now is definitely as exciting as the creativity in the product. Everyone is collaborating and sharing. I am expecting to see a lot of really fun post-pandemic pop-ups and events.
What do you hope will be its biggest takeaway?
We all know the world doesn’t need more and small brands cannot compete on price, reach, or speed. But it’s the independent designers who bring the creativity and experimentation which keeps the industry fresh, relevant, and exciting. The key is to be very focused, make it special and stay customer obsessed.