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18 Fashion Startups You Can Build from Your Home Office

How Fashion Entrepreneurs Working From Home Can Change the Future of Fashion with Innovative Fashion Startup Ideas

Work from home has become the new norm. Many are looking to set up small businesses or become freelancers. As the fashion industry adjusts to post-pandemic necessities, opportunities come with remote creative jobs. Virtual and augmented reality, social media, and the rising demand for personalized solutions enable editors, marketers, designers, fashion stylists, and fashion entrepreneurs to carve out their path to success online.

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Have a fashion startup idea but need artistic talents? Look for fashion designers and brand consultants online to help bring your vision to life!


Best Fashion Business Ideas For Fashion Entrepreneurs & Digital Nomads Working Remotely in 2021!


#1

Try Fashion Resale

With tons of unsold fashion inventory available as a result of the pandemic recession, there is a market in reselling. Sell fashion items you have in stock through apps and websites like Thredup and Depop, or partner as a small boutique with third-party vendors like Etsy, eBay, and Poshmark.

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Upcycled fashion is in vogue! Luxury womenswear designer Christian Siriano creatively sourced clothing and textiles from Thredup for his Fall fashion show.

#2

Join an Online Fashion Marketplace

Farfetch and Bulletin are supporting small businesses during the pandemic. If physical fashion retail isn’t an option anymore, offload past collection items online. Then, continue operations as an online boutique via marketplaces like Asos and Zalando.

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Fashion brand Karl Lagerfeld collaborates with supermodel Amber Valletta on an eco-conscious accessory range, and is sold through online marketplace Zalando.

#3

Build Your Own Online Fashion Store & Sell Directly

Nowadays, it is more profitable to make direct sales, because the cost of creating an e-commerce website or app couldn’t be lower. You can earn over 20-30% on the clothes you sell through your network! There are many no-code, template-based website builders that can help you easily build your online storefront.

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It’s as easy as drag-and-drop! Wix website builder has been endorsed by Karlie Kloss in her Kode with Klossy initiative.

#4

Open an Instagram Store

Enjoy the best of both worlds by combining social media marketing with retail! Did you know that 130 million unique users tap on an IG shopping post every month? Social shopping is the future of e-commerce. Power up your IG store with e-commerce platforms, so that you can process orders and receive payments.

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Ecwid allows you to build an Instagram store and make your IG posts “shoppable”.

#5

Earn a Living with Dropshipping

As explained by Shopify, using a dropshipping supplier means saving money on inventory space and not paying for products until you have sold them. A great example is Printify – a print-on-demand business model that enables you to virtually add your print design on any item, then sell! Other dropshipping platforms include Oberlo, Fondmart, and Griffati. These platforms pack and ship for you, and the product goes directly to the customer!

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Dropshipping is a thriving market due to the mainstream importance and popularity of e-commerce. It’s not too late to get in the game in 2021!

#6

Thrive as an Independent Fashion Designer

Your fashion startup can be accelerated online through fashion designer incubators. Not Just a Label is a platform that scales innovation and talent. It provides you with an online showroom and store, plus direct access to acclaimed stylists, buyers, celebrities, and editors. If you kickstart a fashion brand, Nineteenth Amendment is a pre-sale marketplace powered by N.A.bld that operates with the model of “see-now-buy-now-make-now”. Through this platform, you submit your collection samples, get bids from manufacturers and orders from clients, and produce on demand.

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Not Just A Label is a fashion professional community that brings the innovative work of rising fashion talents to e-commerce shoppers worldwide.

#7

Become a Fashion Book Writer

Fashion lovers with writing skills can showcase their knowledge! Receive guidance from the book “How to Become a Fashion Writer” by Malene Jorgensen, or attend Anna Wintour’s online Masterclass. Once you have drafted your fashion masterpiece, contact Bloomsbury, the leading publisher in the fashion field, or self-publish your eBook/ paperback for free with Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.

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Take online courses to upskill and pursue a fashion writing career.

#8

Freelance as a Fashion Writer (or Start Your Own Fashion Blog)

If writing a fashion book sounds too intimidating, you can build up your credibility and experience as a fashion writer first. Fashion brands, online boutiques, and e-magazines need content for their newsletters, posts, trend reports, and product descriptions. Find large pool of clients on Upwork, Fiverr, and Flexijobs. Alternatively, host your own fashion blog. Chiara Ferragni’s The Blonde Salad is living proof of how successful a blog can get!

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Chiara Ferragni is every fashion entrepreneur’s inspiration –from being a blogger, fashion influencer with her own documentary, to building her own fashion brand. Starring Chiara Ferragni’s brand collaboration with Nespresso.

#9

Design Easy-to-Sell Items

While the one-size-fits-most fashion concept of Brandy Melville cannot be applied to the letter, it can inspire you to start a fashion brand. Most accessories don’t have size constraints, so they are easier to sell out of a limited inventory. T-shirts are also size-flexible and gender-neutral. There is also a rising trend in handmade crochet or knit apparels. Brands like Tanja’s Crochet and SHOP FLUFFY are often sold out – and customers don’t mind the long lead times when they know that they are getting high quality, handmade products.

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Find your niche! Kandy Store makes dessert-inspired, personalized accessories that are made-to-order.

#10

Offer Services as Virtual Personal Shopper or Wardrobe Stylist

Pursuing a career in fashion styling is more attainable than ever! Follow stylist Bree Jacoby’s footsteps to offer your service, or apply through platforms like Stylelab, Carlisle and J.Hilburn. Wishi, co-founded by celebrity stylist Karla Welch, is an app that offers real-time personal styling services with items from clients’ closets.

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Cabi provides online training for aspiring fashionistas on how to become a digital stylist.

#11

Become a Social Media Fashion Influencer

Create an Instagram business account and find a social media marketing company like Promoshin that creates engaging content, or do it yourself. You can monetize your following via brand endorsements and sponsorships. One of the top influencers for 2021? Camila Coehlo with 8.9m followers! Fashion brands like H&M are also looking for micro influencers to become their brand ambassadors.

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Reach out to agencies to match you with the right brand. Former Dutch field hockey player Ellen Hoog landed a Samsung brand partnership through IMA.

#12

Build an Online Fashion Rental Business

Rent the Runway takes the lead in this field – but who says you can’t do a rental website yourself? Software tools like Rentle and TapGoods already have the technology covered.

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Louis Vuitton Petite Boite Chapeau retails for $2,458. Fashion startup Style Lend allows you to rent it at $250 for 7 days! You can also lend out designer apparels in your closet to make passive income!

#13

Create Your Fashion Podcast

One of the trends that endure is podcasting, and fashion is definitely a popular topic! Podcast platforms like PodBean and QuilPodcasting can help you secure brand sponsorships and ads.

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Luxury fashion houses like Hermès, Gucci, Dior, and Chanel have all jumped on the podcast bandwagon to get more engagement with consumers worldwide.

#14

Organize Virtual Fashion Events, Shows, and Presentations

As a fashion PR or fashion designer, you can streamline your client’s fashion events via Instagram and YouTube. BrandLab360 offers bespoke virtual reality solutions and an immersive digital platform for events.

Menswear brand oqLiq hosted a digitized virtual show at NY Fashion Week FW21 that points to the future!

#15

Become a Fashion Publicist

Fashion PR for small brands is a great WFH fashion job. Reach out to magazine editors, style directors, and celebrity stylists on behalf of brands you represent to land editorials, red carpet looks, and collaborations.

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Fashion & lifestyle PR agency People’s Revolution by New York fashion PR legend Kelly Cutrone helps fashion startup brands get featured on high profile celebrities and magazines.

#16

Launch a YouTube Fashion Channel

Post engaging videos with tips, trends, and fashion-related themes. The more followers you have subscribing to your channel, the greater the likelihood of you securing paid advertisements and brand sponsorships. Aimee Song of Song of Style is one of the top fashion YouTubers spicing up her content with the Californian lifestyle and her own fashion line!

@the.navarose

Reply to @buttermaster_ istg Quinn is me ? ib: @wisdm8 ##shego ##quinnmorgendorffer ##trixietang ##sammanson

♬ original sound – thenavarose
TikTok is the new generation of social media to hop on. Fashion influencer Nava Rose has a whooping 5.3M followers on TikTok, and 1.25M subscribers on her YouTube channel!

#17

Upcycle Fashion Items

In the era of sustainable fashion, altering clothes via embroidery, patchwork, painting, knitting, and other techniques is both environmentally responsible and profitable. You can partner with platforms like Reture to sell your upcycled fashion creations online.

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Greek queen of upcycled fashion design Celia Dragouni creates beautiful, limited edition masterpieces.

#18

Sell Your Craft, Literally!

For those with artistic talents, apart from selling handmade products like clothing and accessories, you can also help other fashion-lovers customize their favorite apparels with bespoke artwork. From hand painted Nike sneakers to Louis Vuitton trunk, the world is your canvas!

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FRE Customs is the leading fashion entrepreneur providing sneaker customization service worldwide.