Holly's Dream: Vein Apparel
For as long as I can remember, I have had dreams of running my own business and working for myself full time.
I grew up in an artistic family, and my entire life has been about art, planning and organization. From an early age I attended comic conventions with my parents, who work in the industry. At the age of fourteen I began managing my own art tables, promoting various books and pieces of art I had created.
In 2011, I started the multi-media performance and life drawing event “Drawn and Plastered ”, an energetic undertaking which had me collaborating with others on monthly or bi-monthly productions for two years!
Unfortunately due to the nature of my entrepreneurial ventures and the city in which I live; these projects have never been enough to sustain me in anything but passion.
My day jobs have consisted mainly in retail environments and after years of experience in the field I long to open my own store.
Enter: Vein Apparel.
Vein will provide high quality, affordable clothing to women between the ages of 18-45. (but hey – we love to see women of any age wearing leopard print or skulls!) Focusing on customer input, easy returns and Canadian shipping rates; we guarantee a happy experience!
The Vein Customer is ahead of their time. They think for themselves, are a little “out there”, dream of adventure even it it’s confined to their imagination and may be just a little stubborn at times.
The end goal of this venture is to have a vibrant physical storefront, but the business will intially launch online (Think: Nasty Gal ) to keep overhead costs low and build a customer base.
Goal brands to start with include: Widow, Iron Fist, TUK and MinkPink.
My estimated startup costs come to a grand total of $7,028
The itemization is as follows:
$5,700 for inventory (based on minimum order rates of the four brands listed above)
$288 for the first year of website hosting payments
$840 for the first year of phone service
$200 for shipping materials
*Funding goal rounded up due to exchange rates between USD and CAD*
What is different about Vein?
-If you're Canadian; you will finally have access to a large multi-brand retailer without the hassle of paying duties!
-Ever looked at a clothing website, thought something looked great on that stick-thin model only to order it and have it be all kinds of awful on you? I have. Vein will have a different model for every size of clothing offered and you will be able to pick out the one most similar to you and see what the clothing will actually look like on you!
-On top of known brand names, Vein will host startup designers; creating a community based on accessibility and equality much like I did in the past with Drawn and Plastered.
Inevitably I will continue having new ideas to show you so you can further understand my dream; but until then to wrap this up: thank you in advance for your help, it means the world to me!
Fashion: It's in our veins.