Love Lorn Lingerie is a handmade brand specializing in bondage-inspired leather harnesses, lingerie and gothic accessories. I’m forever looking for ways to transform the standard “bdsm” look into something higher end, influenced by fantasy, feminism, and self-aware cynicism.
My customers tend to be women who like to feel good and look good, for themselves more than for someone else’s gaze. They are women who chase their own pleasures, who are comfortable in their own skins, or are working their way to becoming comfortable and confident. I hope that my brand can help outfit them on their journey.
At the moment, this business is still a side hustle. Between my online store and the in person events I do, revenue averages to about 1.9k per month. Not bad for something that was started on a whim!
A Complete Lingerie Shop Business Plan: A Key Part Of How To Start A Lingerie Store Ebook By In Demand Business Plans
At the time, I just wanted a job that could support my life in New York City - stability, a salary, healthcare, that whole thing. While I’d have loved to get a job in costume design, that’s tougher to get into without connections.
Being able to change is, in and of itself, a trust in your innate abilities to grow in ANY field, rather than shackling yourself to one particular look.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have connections, but what I did have was student loans and rent that needed to be paid. I was lucky to find a decent job in intimate design. But a few years in, I realized just how creatively stifling a “corporate” fashion job was - in short, I was bored. In 2014, a friend gave me a shoebox full of black leather scraps. I made my first few designs (a simple harness bra, a body harness, and a collar) and threw them on Etsy just to see what would happen. One of them sold within a few weeks (faster than anything else I’d tried on Etsy and I’d dabbled in it since I was 16). And then another piece sold. And then I got a great review. This was enough for me to continue making, to continue designing and merging my current experience in the lingerie industry with my past experience in costume design.
Lingerie Shop Business Plan Sample [2023 Upd]
Then (and now), it was a side hustle that quickly became self-sufficient and provided me with both a creative outlet and extra income that I used to pay off my student loans. Everything is self-funded, I don’t have investors or outside funding, particularly since at that time I didn’t even think about taking this beyond the side hustle. I consider myself an artist and designer first, small business owner second.
Since I’m still the only one working on this business, my process is pretty simple! I carry around a sketchbook all the time that I use to scribble down designs. I pull inspiration from a variety of things (sometimes just an interesting shape on a building can lead to a whole set of designs), but I’m especially inspired by the femme fatale/ warrior woman archetype, the combination of soft and sensual against a core of steel.
Of the scribbled designs, maybe 10% of them actually make it to the prototyping stage. I map out times where I can experiment with making the designs, and it usually only takes one or two tries to nail down the right sample. Designs are loosely grouped together in sets - each set has similar design details, hardware and leather or fabric quality.
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Once the fit is just right, I write down the construction and measurements and start figuring out the size grade for sizes XS-XL. From there it’s just shooting the product photos, editing the photos and posting it online. Once I finish a large group of design sets, I reach out to photographers and models to get a nice lookbook shoot done, followed by collaborations with influencers to promote the newest collections.
I have a small “studio” section in the living room of my one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. This is where I make all the pieces. The rest of my samples hang on a separate tension rack on the other side of the living room, and I take product shots in my bedroom as it gets the most natural light.
There was a lot of trial and error in the beginning when I started sourcing my materials. At the time I started the business, I had no experience working with leathers. I bought far too many leathers that ended up being too thin or soft, or too thick for me to work on without heavier machines. I’ve finally found my sweet spot when it comes to the quality of leather I like to use. Now the only problem is making sure it stays consistent. Since I buy in small batches from leather suppliers in the US, sometimes leathers end up being discontinued while I’m still trying to sell certain sets so I end up either scrambling to find a replacement or have to take a big chunk of my inventory offline. I make a point now to design with stock leathers that are staples from my leather suppliers, and to always have another design set with a different leather ready to go online.
How To Start A Lingerie Business On Shopify
With hardware, the sourcing difficulty came more from finding supplies that were priced well, were consistent and would allow me to buy smaller quantities. I have a few trusted sources that I order from all the time now, but I still try to use hardware pieces that I can get from at least two suppliers. In case any of them went under, I wouldn’t be quite as panicked. One of my suppliers DID suddenly disappear from the platform I was buying from them on, AND they carried the more unique hardware I was using. Luckily, I was able to track them down through their paypal address!
I built the business on Etsy first (still on there!) but I realized I needed another place to put all my lookbook images, announcements, somewhere to really solidify the branding. I funded everything myself, from my day job salary. I had little interest in taking on additional debt when I didn’t know if this would go anywhere, especially as I was still trying to get rid of my student debt.
Consequently, that meant I did pretty much everything myself since I couldn’t afford to hire someone. I built my website using Managed Wordpress and a purchased theme. I didn’t have to do much other than find the right plug ins, set up my pages, menu, payment options and upload my products. Sometimes I do think my website is a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster and sometimes the plugins don’t play well together so I’m considering other options or ways to streamline it.
How To Open A Lingerie Line In 2023 [business Plan]
While I’m happy with how much I’ve done on my own, I do wish I’d just bitten the bullet and hired experts to some of the digital work for me. Changing it now will be tougher simply because of how big it is, and how much of a foundation it has.
For the first few years I had this business, I pretty much ignored marketing. The only thing I did was make sure my listings were optimized for Etsy search (not even Google search), get some nice professional photo shoots done and set up some social media accounts that I didn’t touch (but at least the handles were there).
I’m focusing more on marketing now since I can see how much not doing so in the past has impeded my future growth. I’m more active on social media, especially Instagram. As a visual platform, it’s the best for fashion, art and accessories. It’s also been the best networking tool for me as it connects me with photographers, models and influencers. Social media growth is happening, but it’s slow, surprisingly so since women in lingerie is usually a pretty popular image online. I have to be careful to avoid being too scandalous because that puts me at risk for getting my account shut down.
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The only downside with my business is that since my products are adult in nature, I can’t use Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest ads. I’m trying to work on increasing my organic traffic as well as getting my name out in the kink community. That just means stepping away from the digital world and trying out in person markets. I’ve started going to events, handmade marketplaces, etc. I work with local photographers and dominatrixes and just make sure I’m seen at various events and parties. This has led to many referrals for other events and groups along with future PR options.
I’m dabbling in Google Ads now, but not seeing too many results. If I want to continue using this, I will probably delegate that to someone else. I keep falling into the trap of trying to learn how to do it myself, and that just doesn’t work!
I’ve recently hired a digital marketing consultant to write targeted keyword blogs and build the overall marketing strategy. The blog articles tend to be about the bdsm/kink community, sexual wellness, and feminism, just a few of the subjects
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