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10 Questions for a Fashion Designer – Radenroro
By admins | March 17, 2009
We have managed to get the scoop from one of our favorite designers, on what it takes to start your own fashion label. Liquica Anggraini is the talented designer behind the label Radenroro. If you have not heard of Radenroro it is a magnificently inspired label of women’s wear featuring sumptuous fabrics and an exotic attitude. Liquica is originally from Indonesia where her love of fabrics and vintage soon developed into her own boutique and a small clothing line. A few years later she moved to NYC to attend FIT and subsequently launch her line Radenroro.
1) Do you feel your formal fashion education at FIT helped prepare you for creating your own label?
Yes, any prior experience and education when can get will always be helpful. If nothing else you learn the vocabulary of the industry and some fundamentals about the production side of the business. However, I think it’s very hard for any school to truly prepare one for all that’s involved in running one’s own business. Creating your own label is really one of those things where you have to take a deep breath and jump in headfirst. If you’ve taken the time to properly research and prepare beforehand you will save yourself some growing pains but at the end of the day, as cliché as it might sound, you have to just “do it”!
2) What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion?
I will be blunt because so many people answer questions like these with vagaries.
1. Before you even consider starting your own line, you need at least $150,000 of liquid capital. This can be savings, a line of credit, or even a combination of the two along with some low interest credit cards. Going in to debt should not be taken lightly but sometimes it’s the only way to start. If you’re fortunate enough to have a deep-pocketed financial backer with high risk tolerance, that’s even better.
2. If you’re a creative person you also need a hard-nosed business person to be your partner, ideally someone with a solid knowledge of the industry, and extensive experience negotiating deals and handling legal and financial issues. I think many people starting a fashion business think primarily about the wonderful things they are going to create and ignore or belittle (at their peril) the amount of hardcore business development that’s required. In your first season alone you’ll deal with various suppliers, factories, financial institutions, buyers, showrooms, stores, press, etc. Unfortunately you may even find yourself in Small Claims Court.
3. Unless you have prior relationships with buyers, I’d suggest that you ONLY accept credit card orders in your first season. This is the only way to be sure you will be paid for the merchandise you produce. Even COD leaves you risk exposed as stores can bounce boxes and cancel orders after you’ve paid to produce the goods. As a brand new line, you likely won’t have another account lined up to take any excess inventory so you’ll be stuck with the merchandise and out the cash you paid to get it produced.
4. Last but definitely not least, go buy the book “The Fashion Designer Survival Guide” by Mary Gehlhar. If I’d read and assimilated the information in this book when I first started I’d likely have saved a lot of time and money. It’s very pragmatic and easy to read; there’s not a lot of fluff and theory, just solid practical advice on nearly every topic of relevance for a new designer. It should be required reading for any new designer and his/her business partner.
3) Have you ever worked for another fashion company or had a day job while getting your line of the ground?
I had a boutique in Indonesia before I came to the US and I did spend some time in the US working various jobs while I sorted out immigration issues. But I never had any noteworthy jobs in the fashion industry before I started Radenroro.
4) Where do you get your inspiration?
From my own life experiences both in the US and in Indonesia, from great vintage styles of the past, from other brilliant creative people, and from the world in general. I never spend a lot of time stressing about what sort of “theme” one of my collections is going to have. The ideas are always there and ready to flow when I start sketching. I’d say my inspiration is truly “organic” in nature… it often evolves out of seeing a single button or fabric or trimming which triggers an idea for a new style.
5) Where do you like to shop for fabrics or vintage inspiration in NYC?
Where I buy my fabrics is top secret, but I love Allan and Suzi for vintage inspiration. It’s this unbelievable vintage store on the UWS.
6) How do you like living in NYC, are you glad you made the move?
I love NYC except for the winter weather and subway crowds at rush hour. Indonesia will always have a special place in my heart and sometimes I get homesick (especially for the food!) but NYC is the place to be when you’re trying to make your mark in the fashion biz.
7) How did you get your first pieces into stores?
We got our first order when we attended our first tradeshow. Even though the show wasn’t well aligned with our brand, we did manage to open up at least a few stores. The most important lesson we learned from this first show was that one absolutely must walk a tradeshow before deciding to exhibit. Tradeshow websites give very little useful information about what sorts of lines should exhibit at the show, what types of buyers attend, etc.
8) What is the most difficult aspect of running your own label, i.e. design, production, sales, finance, advertising?
The most challenging (and least fun) aspect has to be the financial side of the business. I’m not sure many people realize just how expensive it is to properly launch a new clothing line. It requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it through your first few seasons if you intend to seriously build your brand, hire a good sales rep, retain a PR firm, attend tradeshows, take quality photos and print quality materials (look books, line sheets, biz cards, letterhead, etc). One can certainly cut corners on these expenses and start for less but it will be much harder to gain national (and international) exposure and be noticed by top stores.
The only exception to this might be if the person starting a line has strong existing connections within the fashion industry. Unfortunately, I didn’t when I started and had to climb the ladder based solely on the merits of our product and our tenacity in pursuing success and raising awareness of the Radenroro brand. One reason why we’ve survived, even in these horrific economic times, is because we run an extremely lean and efficient business. Our few core employees are all multi-talented which cuts down on 3rd-party costs and we’ve minimized overhead in every way possible.
My advice to any new line, even one that’s reasonably well capitalized, is to start lean and scale your expenses (particularly recurring in-house expenses like salaries, rent, etc) only when revenue is growing at an even faster pace.
9) What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry?
I will add that everyone will tell you this is a nasty business and they are right. People will refuse to pay you, lie through their teeth, and try to take advantage of your status as a newcomer in every way possible. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow your dreams and start your own line, just make sure you (or your business partners) are tough and clever enough to defend your business. I feel strongly that any new designer should have a partner who is completely business oriented, ideally someone who is a tough negotiator with basic legal skills, and a willingness to do what it takes to collect what people owe and protect your interests. I’m thankful to have such a partner and it allows me to stay focused on the creative side of the business.
10) What trends do you see being big for 2010?
I think sophisticated draping will make a comeback. I also think we’ll see more “mix and match” looks, with people thinking outside the box regarding patterns, prints, and colors. I also think we might see more people using metal and wooden beads to embellish their looks.
Radenroro’s gorgeous clothing is available at many boutiques throughout the country and NYC including our favorites, Big Drop NYC and Cantaloup. For full details and to view the collection please visit the website radenroro.com. Plus Liquica has her very own blog too, so check it out.
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Topics: Blogs, designers, fashion industry, trend | 9 Comments » 
Email This Post
March 17th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Great interview, thanks so much. For once somebody said more than, “you just need a passion for fashion”! Thank you Laquica, you have my dream job and your clothes are stunning!
March 17th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
What a gem, I love her exact and direct answers.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
What lovely clothes, and thanks so much for addressing the $$$ issue!
March 19th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
very interesting perspectives from a current designer!
March 21st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Thank you to Liquica, who as many of you pointed out, gave us her honest opinions and some very real advice!
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
Thanks so much for posting this. I’m always interested in exploring the business side of fashion. People dream about becoming a designer or owning a boutique, but don’t exactly know what it takes to get there.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Love this! Next time I’m at big drop I’m trying her stuff on!
March 29th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Love this! Thanks so much for the great interview.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Wonderful read, thanks so much for the honest info!