How To Make Your Fashion Brand Stand Out in 6 Easy Steps: Create A Signature Style Blueprint

If you’re wondering how to make your fashion brand stand out among the 500,000+ others in the world, then this post is for you. I’m walking you through my step-by-step method to create your own Signature Style Blueprint – a visual brand strategy to ensure that your messaging is consistent across all platforms. I’ll show you how to make crucial branding decisions and position your company in a way that builds trust with your audience so you can create lifelong, loyal customers! 

The truth is, every brand should have its own signature style – and those who don’t, typically end up struggling to reach their ideal customer and make consistent sales. They might even end up going out of business. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions about the importance of branding out there. My goal is to educate you on these misconceptions so you can launch a successful clothing company from the very beginning. 

Let’s Address Three Common Myths About Branding:

Branding Myth #1: “It’s all about my logo, color palette, and slogan.”

Reality: While these areas are important, they are only part of the equation. As a clothing brand owner, you must build trust with your audience through quality products, a great brand story, and consistent messaging and brand presentation. 

Branding Myth #2: “Branding and marketing can come last – right before I’m ready to launch my collection.”

Reality: This is so far from the truth! Branding and marketing decisions should be thought about first and you should spend the most time on perfecting your messaging. Why spend all of this time, money, and effort on a business that nobody will get to see?

Branding Myth #3: “I can play around with a bunch of different graphics and color palettes on my social media until I find one I like.”

Reality: Every single thing you design (including your digital content, packaging, and photography) are representations of your brand – they all need to be consistent with your signature style. If your online messaging and photography are inconsistent, your brand will not resonate with anyone.  People crave consistency in brands, and mastering this will help to set you apart from the others!

→ Are these 7 myths holding you back from launching your own clothing brand? Debunk them now!

How To Make Your Fashion Brand Stand Out With A Signature Style

Think of your brand’s signature style as its “vibe”. This should be intentionally developed and consistently shown across all areas of your business – everything from your marketing emails to your photography to your products. 

To develop your clothing brand’s signature style, start by asking and answering these 9 questions:

1. What style is your brand?
2. What mood does it have?
3. What energy does it give off?
4. What is the personality of it?
5. What feelings does it evoke in your customer?
6. What impression does it give to those wearing it?
7. What ambiance does it create?
8. What senses are felt when it’s worn?
9. What emotions are felt when someone is wearing your brand?

Let’s consider an example:

Brand Name: Lily’s Suits

• What style is your brand? Conservative workwear for women
• What feelings does it evoke in your customer? Empowerment, strength, confidence
• What senses are felt when it’s worn? Feminine, beautiful, and classy

In this example, you can see how the initial thought of a women’s workwear clothing brand transforms into a vision. The visual brand strategy starts to come to life as you answer each question. As a fashion designer with excellent brand identity, your goal is to have someone put on your clothing and feel like it was made for them – like you somehow read their mind or solved a specific problem for them. 

6 Steps To Make Your Fashion Brand Stand Out Using The Signature Style Blueprint Method

Your goal with creating a visual brand strategy is to create a board that represents your brand’s style. You will reference this style every time you need to make a decision in your business. Here’s how to create your Signature Style Blueprint:

1. I recommend starting visually – use Pinterest or other places online (like stock photography sites) to find beautiful visuals that inspire you. This doesn’t have to just be fashion related – maybe it’s a photo of a gorgeous sunset, or a leaf with raindrops on it, or maybe furniture in your home. Maybe it’s different fashion eras or style trends. You can use anything that is inspiring to you and would represent your brand. 
2. Put your visuals all together in one place. You’ll start to see which elements work together visually. I recommend using a Canva whiteboard for this process to make a collage. At first, it will seem overwhelming or too eclectic to represent your brand. But you’ll quickly be able to recognize which elements belong together. 
3. Organize the pieces that go together (remove parts that don’t belong anymore) into different groups, and you’ll start to see your own Signature Style Blueprint come together! 
4. Print out the final photos and hang them up on your wall or on a cork-board. You can include your logo if you already have it designed (and take this chance to be sure that it fits in your blueprint!) and even hang up some fabric swatches or other design details. 
5. Treat your Signature Style Blueprint like your chief editor – when you create a new design or collection, run it by your blueprint. If it doesn’t fit within the style, it doesn’t go out.
6. This is the foundation of your business – don’t overlook it or rush it. I recommend having people outside of your business take a look. Ask them how the blueprint makes them feel. Don’t be afraid to make small edits over time, but also try not to stray from your signature style!

Next Steps To Creating A Standout Fashion Brand

If you found this information helpful and inspiring, check out even more branding resources inside my Brilliant Brand Method. Not only will you create your Signature Style Blueprint, but you’ll also determine who your ideal customer is and nail your messaging so you can connect with your customer. This resource is for any new or aspiring fashion designer looking to launch a standout brand.

Check out the Brilliant Brand Method today!