The distribution channel is how your customers will get access to your products and this will also effect how they will view your brand. The most common method, and one that we discuss in length in the book, is to sell your clothing seasonally as a wholesaler to stores. However, you do not have to surrender to these conventions and you may want to operate your business differently in a way that suits your product or business set up.
Many clothing lines sell their clothing by wholesale, although it is also common to do this alongside retailing their clothing to the public online. Wholesale is when you you sell your clothing to other businesses only, know as business to business (B2B). These businesses are usually the stores that your end users will purchase your clothing from but can also be distributors that will then re-sell your clothing to stores.
By selling as retail, you are selling directly to the end user of the product which is the people that will actually wear the clothing. This can be done in two ways. The first way would be to own an actual physical brick and mortar store that your clothing will be sold in. This can be seen with such brands as Gap and Holister. The second method of retailing your own clothing brand would be to run a non-physical online store which is the most realistic option for most of us when starting out .
If you are trying to promote a classy feel to your brand then you will probably not ever consider selling your clothing from a stall. However, for anyone that wants to give themselves an underground edge traveling around setting up a store could be a good outlet for your clothing. This does not necessarily mean that you have to set up next to a man selling fish and another selling souvenirs, although I have known some to do very well selling custom made shirts at destinations for vacations, but there are a lot of music festivals and indoor shows that could be an ideal place to sell your clothing.
