Fabric of success: starting an apparel business takes more than cutting-edge designs. It requires research, contacts, and a whole lot of cash

Black Enterprise, Feb, 2005 by Wendy Harris

"Trend forecasters will travel to different fashion markets. They will go to Japan, London, Paris, and Australia. They may even bounce around the U.S., to see what the trends are, and give you several trend, color, and fabric directions so that you have some sense of what's going on in the market," he explains. "The designer's job then becomes to look at their target audience and decide which one of the trends actually fit in with that audience."

Whatever colors, fabrics, or styles you choose, check out the competition before making one stitch. Go to the stores. See what's selling and what's not. Find out what fabrics are being used for certain types of clothes. The owners of RyanKenny were quick to compare their idea for a couture line with the collections of their fashion counterparts. After looking at the fabric quality, craftsmanship, and style of their competitor's garments, they knew they could match it, but they also knew it was going to cost them.

Starting a clothing label seemed to be a natural progression for the RyanKenny owners. Glover, 34, is the co-CEO of a music publishing, production, and artist-management company. Burns, 32, is co-owner of Studio 43 and a former record company vice president. As for Dudley, the 33-year-old is an executive with Artistic Control Management. These longtime friends and business partners know music and, like any good music mogul panting after the next big production, starting a clothing label seemed to be the obvious choice.

The RyanKenny owners say their biggest challenge has been getting the fashion industry to take them seriously as high-end couture designers. Glover says getting recognized is an ongoing process that started with having conversations with "everybody we felt could help us move our dream along further, but we had to put the product in front of them so they fully understood the vision." Glover adds, "But at the end of the day, we're still not where we are going to be. We're not on top of the world with our flag like we conquered fashion. Every season, we will probably pick up a new fan or two who has been stuck in the old couture mindset of 'If it doesn't come from Europe and it hasn't been made for the last 50 years, it's not really high fashion.' That kind of mindset is not going to be extinguished in a season."

Getting that recognition has taken cutting-edge designs, a celebrity following, relationship building, and a lot of time, but the RyanKenny owners say it has been worth the effort to be able to create clothes they love.

Of course, no matter how great the clothes, convincing retail buyers to take a chance on three unknown designers is never easy. Luckily, through Glover's wife, Tameka, a clothing stylist, the partners established a relationship with the owner of Blue Jeans, a chic boutique in Atlanta. After showing the owner their samples, Blue Jeans placed an order for 125 shirts. The shirts, which retail between $170 and $1,000, hit the racks of Blue Jeans on a Friday in spring 2004. By the following Monday, more than half were sold.