#47. How to Launch a Sustainable & Ethical Fashion Brand with Shannon Lohr

Dec 6

“You can't launch to crickets. The most important thing you need to do before you launch is: build an audience."
- Shannon Lohr

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Download | Duration: 41:36

Hey you wild women!

As the founder and CEO of Factory45, Shannon Lohr works with idea-stage entrepreneurs to launch clothing companies that are ethically and sustainably made.

She got her start in 2010 when she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that was featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com and Yahoo! News.

To date, Shannon has worked with over 250 entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion space, many of whom have gone on to launch some of the most transparent supply chains in the fashion industry.

Shannon has worked as a consultant for crowdfunding projects that have surpassed their goal amounts by as much as 300%, and has worked closely with startup apparel companies from all over the world to create ethically-made products with a focus on environmentally-friendly materials and transparent supply chains.

Shannon is a strong advocate for increasing supply chain transparency through sourcing, localization and storytelling. She’s been named a thought leader for the future of fashion by Triple Pundit, and she writes to thousands of subscribers weekly about conscious consumerism and the intersection of fashion and environmentalism.

In this episode you will learn about:

Why sustainable fashion is so important today
The role fashion plays in climate change
What constitutes ‘sustainable fashion’
How ‘fast fashion’ is contributing negatively to our environment
The role Gen Z plays in supporting sustainable fashion practices
Common myths about starting a fashion brand (hint: you can launch a fashion brand without a ton of money)
The first steps to starting a sustainable fashion brand
Who is Factory 45’s ideal customer?
The #1 mistake new fashion brands make when launching
The importance of the validation process and building your audience
How to build an audience before launch
Relationship building and the time investment required
Why you must focus on building an email list
The importance of providing value prior to ‘the ask’
The role Instagram plays for fashion brands
- How to decide the volume of content you should be creating
- Your content mix and the type of content that resonates with audiences
How to balance creative time with administrative tasks
- The best technique to spark creativity

What it means to be a wild woman:

“The ability to be unapologetically free to be yourself. Who I am is going to resonate with some people and not with others. And that’s ok.”
- Shannon Lohr

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