Plenty of people will tell you not to start a fashion business. Negative people exist in all walks of life. But to keep the naysayers at bay, what are some compelling reasons you should create a fashion business?
The five reasons why you should start a fashion business are:
- To express your art
- You enjoy running a business
- You enjoy making people feel good no matter their size
- To keep fashion industry competitive
- You enjoy innovation and ideas
If you’ve ever told anyone you were thinking about starting a fashion business, you may have been met with some disbelief. People will be happy to tell you that starting a fashion business is way too tricky; it requires a lot of startup capital or one of a hundred other reasons why it is a bad idea.
But in reality, the world needs fashion businesses, just like it needs scientists, doctors, accountants, and basketball players.
Why not fulfill that demand? The value of the worldwide fashion industry is $3 trillion, which represents about 2% of the gross domestic product of all countries in the world combined. Customers pay about $380 billion annually to get their fashion fix in the U.S. alone.
So, what gives? Why aren’t you out there starting your fashion business already?
In case you are just waiting for an extra push, here are five reasons you should start a fashion business sooner rather than later.
Express Your Art
Artists are born, not made. If you have a unique vision and a desire to express it to the world, your artistic tendencies are one great reason to start a fashion business.
Ready-to-Wear

If you like to create clothes for everyday wear, you likely fall into the prêt-à-porter field of fashion. You will find clothes in every type of store, from Amazon to high-end Rodeo Drive boutiques.
Just because these are everyday clothes doesn’t mean they take any less of an artistic flair to produce. You can make ready-to-wear clothes in every style from work jeans to fancy dresses and suits. Just think of ready-to-wear as being something you would have in your closet.
Haute Couture
Have you ever watched a fashion show and wondered who would wear that?
You have taken a glimpse into haute couture or high culture. These are clothes you wouldn’t precisely wear on the street.
Yet clothes for the sake of art can net you as much or more money than coming up with a tremendous ready-to-wear line.
And some of the haute couture isn’t that inaccessible. Chanel does a great job mixing high art with clothes that people would wear, albeit not on the street but maybe to a fancy wedding.
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You Like Running a Business
If you like doing your own thing more than being told what to do by others, you should consider starting your own fashion business.
Control Your Hours
The best part of starting a fashion business is you get to work when you want. Whether you’re a night owl or work best in the early morning, you can decide what hours you like to work.
Though you’ll probably work a lot of them, according to the Score blog, which the U.S. small business administration runs, 39% of home business owners work more than 60 hours per week.
But owning and running your enterprise brings a satisfaction you can scarcely find elsewhere, making an effort well worth it in terms of your self-actualization.
Home Tax Deductions

Another great thing about starting your own business is the ability to write enterprise-related expenses off on your taxes. As a fashion business owner, these deductions can include home office deductions like utilities, insurance, mortgage interest, and rent. You can even write off its depreciation as a home business expense if you own your house.
You can also write off magazines, books, courses, and travel to conferences—basically, any expense that legitimately supports your fashion business. This helps keep your adjusted gross income (AGI) lower than if you did not write off these expenses. That means you’ll end up paying less federal and state taxes.
Navigating tax write-offs can be tricky, so make sure you verify the eligibility of the deductions at the IRS website. If you can, consult a tax professional, especially when you begin running your own business. In addition, they can help you take advantage of all the tax deductions available to you and your business.
To Make People Feel Good
Speaking of self-actualization, what makes you feel better about yourself than making others feel good? Starting a fashion business can give you the satisfaction of helping your customers feel and look good.
Fashions for All Body Types
Part of what makes us unique is our body types. Good fashion helps us make the most of our assets while minimizing the less desirable aspects of our bodies.
Whether you specialize in plus-size fashions or make clothes for more athletic types, you perform an invaluable service to help people build their self-confidence by looking their best.
How important to your health is having a positive self-image? According to the Mayo Clinic, a positive self-image can go a long way to helping us live longer, healthier lives.
So, by starting a fashion business, you are saving lives.
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Contribute to Shared Sense of Culture
Fashion is also important because of its contribution to culture. Style helps us achieve a shared sense of culture, making us feel like we are not alone.
Fashions don’t last forever. They capture a crucial moment in time, and they come and go. What better way to help people commemorate the beautiful parts of their lives, the here and the now, than with great fashion?

To Keep Fashion Competitive
Another reason to start a fashion business is to help keep the field competitive. Competition is healthy. So, one way you can contribute to the art and science of fashion in the long term is to start your competitive fashion enterprise.
The Importance of Competition in the Economy
According to economists, competition helps consumers keep quality high and prices low. When companies compete for business, they do a better job delivering a quality product.
According to this White House blog post, the decrease in competition has caused issues for the American economy, most prominently the lack of competition in key sectors.
When supply chain issues occur, they are due to a lack of diversity in businesses offering similar services.
By starting your own fashion business, you can help keep the fashion industry diverse, and the American economy is humming.
How Competition Makes Us Better
If you want an example of how fashion makes people better, look no further than HBO’s new fashion competition show, The Hype. In this show, streetwear designers compete against each other to design new fashions for the biggest names in entertainment.
As the competition advances, you can see first-hand how the competition between the designers results in better products.
You Like New Ideas
If you like new ideas and innovation, the fashion industry is suitable. Why? Because more than any other industry in the world, fashion is constantly changing, evolving, and going to the next step.
You Only Live Once
You only live once, right? Why work in a stagnate field like a corporate office when you could work in an industry that demands people constantly change and perform at their creative best?
Fashion is perfect for people who can’t sit still and get bored quickly since it is constantly changing. Lots of people who enter the fashion industry have short attention spans, but with the constant changing landscape find themselves engaged more than they would be at a normal job.
And fashions aren’t the only part of the equation in constant flux. Fashion technology is also rapidly changing. From artificial intelligence to novel fabrics, 3D printing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the newest industries are also profoundly affecting the fashion industry.
Data Analytics

At the forefront of fashion technology, you can use data analytics to understand where the fashion industry is now and where it’s headed next. Don’t restrict your love of innovation to the fashions themselves. Incorporate the latest technology and into your business practices as well as your designs.
Machine-to-machine technology is changing how clothing manufacturing deploys new products and fills new orders. These are a type of data analytics that will profoundly impact product quality and analyze customer needs.
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Related Questions
What should I do to become a fashion designer?
To excel at starting your own fashion business, you may want to consider applying to a Fashion Degree program. This will give you the education, credentials, and networking opportunities to best position yourself for success.
What is the average salary for a fashion designer?
If you decide to work for someone else instead of starting your own business, you can still make a respectable living as a fashion designer. According to Indeed.com, the average salary for a fashion designer is $74,410 per year.
To learn more about how to start your own fashion clothing line check out my startup documents here
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.

Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Fashion Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a designer or boutique owner at a craft fair, farmers market, retail location or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Fashion Business Boss: I want to help fashion business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.