If you really want the nitty gritty of starting a line, I suggest visiting the Fashion Incubator site. Kathleen Fasanella, who started this site, really knows her stuff. She doesn't blow smoke and make it all sound like a walk in the park. She's realistic and tells you what you need to know to succeed. If only more people would do that. Her book, "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing" is really good. I bought it when I was first starting my line and it offered some great, hardy info on the more technical side of starting a fashion line. I think I read it in one sitting...I was so in awe and clueless.


Speaking of sewing...unless you absolutely love it, leave it to the professionals. Being the control freak that I am, I thought I could sew my own bags and avoid the cost and time of having a contractor do it. I sewed this little beauty for my first leather collection. It's not bad, but would you pay $450 for it? I knew it had to be better. Plus it took me about 15 hours to make it! I ended up wasting alot of money on expensive material and scads of time that could've been spent doing more useful things. Trust me...hire someone to sew for you!