In Fashion “Success Is All About Building a Trusting Relationship”

Every successful business will require a trusting relationship, especially in the fashion industry.  Whether you are a designer, buyer, contractor, or fashion entrepreneur, you want to start building relationships as soon as you enter the apparel industry.  In fashion, success is ALL about building relationships with the people around you.  Trust is something you must earn, and when the trust is gone, there is no relationship on any level, whether it is business or personal.

Sadly, in today’s society, there are just so many superficial and dishonest people in this world who make promises that they can’t keep.  We have all heard of the term “ghosting” and, according to Google, this is what it means: “ghosting is a relatively new colloquial term that refers to abruptly cutting off contact with someone without giving that person any warning or explanation for doing so.” Ghosting is a very common practice that happens more often than most people realize.  In general, people just don’t want to talk about it because it is an off-limits, taboo topic of discussion that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable.  In fact, ghosting occurs a lot more on the business level than on the personal level.  It happens in every sector of every industry, but far more often in the fashion industry.  Ghosting somebody is childish, unprofessional and ignorant.  When a person ghosts someone, what they are really accomplishing is to burn all of their own bridges, as well as ruining their own reputation and integrity.  Furthermore, when somebody ghosts someone and provides ‘alternative facts’, these two actions together are very detrimental to their career and business relationships.  Why would anybody want to work with a person who ghosts and is dishonest?

No matter where you live and work on this planet, the fashion industry is quite a small, close-knit community.  Everybody knows everybody else in the business.  So, the next time you ghost somebody, or you decide not to bother calling, texting or emailing someone to cancel your appointment because, in your head, for whatever reason, you think that they are not your priority, or you make promises that you don’t intend to keep, or, worse, you provide ‘alternative facts’, you are literally sabotaging your own reputation, business and career.  You should think carefully the next time you plan to ghost somebody because, at some point in your career, you will probably need some help, advice, references for a job application, or a few contacts/referrals for your production/sampling.  Perhaps you will need somebody to help solve a difficult problem, or help expand your business/network.  At least, you know somebody has got your back.  When you burn all your bridges, nobody will want to help or work with you ever again.  Just always remember that, in the apparel industry, relationships are very much a two-way street.  

In fashion, we always say, “when you snooze, you lose.”