So a few months back I made a post here about how I tried starting a clothing brand in college and it flopped pretty hard lol. I got a lot of good advice from you guys and I’ve been thinking about giving it another shot but this time I actually wanna do it right

The first time I just kinda jumped in blind. I made a few retro sports wear designs, printed them with a local shop, and prayed people would buy. Some did, most didn’t. I didn’t have a real plan, just vibes

Now I’m treating it more like a small business experiment. I’ve been researching how to start a clothing brand properly.. like doing preorders, validating designs, and maybe focusing on a smaller niche at first. I’m also learning a bit more about marketing and email lists because last time I completely ignored that part 😭

I’m thinking of using print on demand again just to test new designs before investing in bulk. I tried Printful before and it actually worked fine for samples, so I might stick with that for a bit

My question is, what would you do differently if you were starting a small clothing brand right now in 2025? Would you focus on design, branding, or just pumping out content first? I feel like there’s so much info out there that I don’t even know what’s worth doing anymore

Appreciate any advice or tough love. I’m trying to make this work without going broke again lol