Careers w/ denim

[wvpv]

Any of you members that post on sufu in the denim manufacturing/processing industry? Run your own local shop? Have your own line of denim products?

I'm interested to know where people have started out, or just simply share with the forum where you work at a clothing/denim shop or where you want to be in 5-10 years with it

[satchelbmoore]

hey,

i run a shop in saint paul called BlackBlue. My hands are always blue. i got into it by being super enthusiastic, learning everything i possibly could (these forums are good for that) and convincing people that they needed better fitting jeans. We plan on continuing to grow the business and increasing the raw denim presence in the twin cities.

there are ton of brand/shop owners here. Christian from Left Field, Kiya from Selfedge, William from Tender, Andrew from 3sixteen, Blue Owl workshop etc... they all follow/participate in the threads related to their brand/shop pretty actively.

Edited July 12, 2012 by satchelbmoore

[wvpv]

hey,

i run a shop in saint paul called BlackBlue. My hands are always blue. i got into it by being super enthusiastic, learning everything i possibly could (these forums are good for that) and convincing people that they needed better fitting jeans. We plan on continuing to grow the business and increasing the raw denim presence in the twin cities.

there are ton of brand/shop owners here. Christian from Left Field, Kiya from Selfedge, William from Tender, Andrew from 3sixteen, Blue Owl workshop etc... they all follow/participate in the threads related to their brand/shop pretty actively.

thanks for the reply. ive already learned a lot already too and want to learn more about the business aspect of it

did you start off working retail and basically learning the ropes as you went through experience?

[satchelbmoore]

both the owner, steve, and i have degrees in business. i worked at the levi's store for about 9 months and hated it because chain retail protocol sometimes makes no business sense...and they didn't have any nice jeans.

steve had worked at an outdoor goods shop for a few years during school.

i got the job by just loitering at the shop and talking business/jeans with steve and convincing him that i could help grow the business.

i'd definitely look into taking some business classes. it helps you get into the right mentality although you clearly learn a ton from just doing it.

totally geeking out and knowing everything about an item or process is a great start but some business basics and capital really help.

the owner started the shop with the long term goal of using the shop as a jump-off for his own designs. that's the future outlook at the moment.

Edited July 16, 2012 by satchelbmoore