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East London is known as a dynamic centre for the rag and leather trade but also has many young talented designers making names for themselves in the fashion industry, writes Helena Joyce.
The challenges faced by two fashion designers as they develop their own creative businesses highlight the difficulties faced by young entrepreneurs who seek to turn creativity into profit.

Samson Soboye

Samson Soboye (37), a graduate of Central St Martins College, worked as a freelance fashion stylist and as a sales manager at a fashionable design boutique. With a steady flow of orders and commissions for his own home couture and accessories collection (predominantly handmade fur and leather designs), Samson decided to leave the security of full-time employment to focus on his own business, and was immediately given one of the top spots at the Maison et Object show in Paris. Going to trade shows is a costly affair but brought Samson large orders from international fashion houses, including DKNY. A dream come true ? unfortunately in reality he was unable to supply such high quality products on a dramatically larger scale.

To date Samson has achieved a certain level of business growth and successfully fulfills smaller orders. He has some small-scale concessions, but is still operating at subsistence level as he deals with expensive raw materials and production processes, meaning that margins are extremely tight.

Samson truly believes that to compete in the fashion industry you have to push yourself and make sacrifices but is wary of taking on large loans. ?I have faith in myself and in my products. I see adversities as challenges and truly believe that life would be boring without them.?

Vesna Trisovic

Vesna (32) first came to Britain from Serbia almost ten years ago. When she graduated from Middlesex University she set about learning some basic business skills and the practicalities of realising her designs by working for an established fashion designer. Although it would mean even longer hours, more stress and less money, Vesna started her own label, Bardo, specialising in leather accessories and handbags. She has received grants from support organisations, without which she would have never been able to participate in international trade shows such as London Fashion Week. However the business is still reliant on investment from her own personal finances.

She?s passionate about designing and running her business, and tries not to over commit herself. She takes advice from those with more experience and thinks about every move she makes very carefully. ?I am the cautious entrepreneur, used to living with tight budgets but I love what I do and think it is important to do what I love.?

Vesna feels that her strength lies in her innovation and individuality, but concepts are easily stolen and products often replicated. To combat this she uses techniques, which aren?t easy to mass-produce. She?s currently thinking very carefully about how best to finance her next steps.

Samson and Vesna are talented, tenacious and tactical. After making so many sacrifices, they?re now looking to reap the rewards and start making serious money.

Any successful entrepreneur within the cut throat fashion industry has to find a way of achieving economies of scale in order to compete with those dominating the market place. CIDA, the Cultural Industries Development Agency in Tower Hamlets, advises its clients to consider the following key actions:
? Be ready to invest huge amounts of your time
? Develop supply chains to access affordable raw materials and production processes
? Address skills gaps (being a great designer does not automatically mean you?re a great entrepreneur)
? Get to know the grants system so you can minimize the need for personal investment
? Consider broadening your offer with other goods to supply alongside your own range. This is a tried and tested way of improving your margins without compromising your designs
? Look into possible partnerships with like-minded, trustworthy individuals
? Be prepared to borrow large sums to enable business growth in the future
? Have confidence in your products and be persistent.

Helena Joyce is PR and Events Co-ordinator at CIDA. t: 020 7247 4710;
e: helena@cida.co.uk