Fashion Angel Warrior Christine Daal is the Wind Beneath Your Fashion Business Wings
Christine Daal, Founder and CEO of Fashion Angel Warrior, a New York City based consultancy for fashion businesses, embodies the often touted-but-not-truly-lived philosophy of women supporting women. Christine is the real deal, an experienced and empowered woman who has devoted her life and career to helping other women succeed. She does this in a number of ways, one of which is offering a slew of actionable and invaluable information at absolutely no cost. Yes, she literally gives away priceless insight and industry savvy, which she developed over a span of more than twelve years working in the fashion space. Her agency also offers countless workshops, webinars, and master classes at incredibly reasonable prices. And if free and affordable offerings aren’t enough, Christine also extends a genuine kindness of heart and generosity of spirit I’d love to see more women embody.
I first met Christine at the Fabric Sourcing 101 class she gave (for free!) at Texworld USA when the global convention came to NYC in January. We hit it off at the event, followed up with a coffee date, and are now planning a fun collaboration via Instagram Live, where we’ll be providing crucial insights for the startup fashion brand - Christine on the business end and I on the legal side.
Even with a new baby and a booming business on her hands, Christine open-handedly agreed to talk with Exhibit A about her experience in the fashion industry and how Fashion Angel Warrior helps ambitious women (and dudes, too) succeed in the fashion biz!
Tell us about Fashion Angel Warrior
We are a fashion consulting agency that works with both start-up and established designers to help them grow profitable fashion businesses. Whether you need help with social media, design, development, tech packs, sourcing fabrics and manufacturers, crowdfunding, costing, production, sales and more, we are a one stop shop for fashion designers! We offer one on one coaching as well as Project and Digital Management, Workshops, Online Courses, and Fashion Manufacturing Tours. I started the business over 6 years ago as a result of witnessing the struggle startup designers face. After having a successful line and experiencing issues with some manufacturers it became even more apparent to me that designers need someone in their corner to help them navigate through this tough competitive industry. And so Fashion Angel Warrior was born.
What's been the highlight of your career in the fashion industry?
I’d have to say, leaving my job and starting my own business. Ever since I can remember I’ve always wanted to have my own business. To make my own rules, and live a life of freedom. I had tried everything from knitting scarves, to custom made gowns, to network marketing and baking cookies, and more. You name it, I did it. Then I finally made the decision to leave the industry and my job for good to start my own fashion line, and it was the most exhilarating and nerve racking decision all at the same time. I knew I was taking a big risk, but I knew the reward would be so much greater. It certainly hasn’t been easy but I am grateful that I can work from home and raise my son while helping to make a difference in others’ lives.
What's been the most challenging aspect of working in fashion?
The fashion industry is, in my opinion, volatile. Too many people in the industry act like the personas from the ‘Devil Wears Prada’. Their sole goal is to push others down to get ahead and to make themselves look and feel better, which I personally, do not agree with. This especially happens to the women in the field. There were occasions when I was treated very different in comparison to the male designers I worked with. Somehow they were always assigned less work to do and could never do anything wrong in the eyes of my boss. I remember on one occasion being upset as a fellow male designer stole my fabric. In the end, I was the one who was reprimanded because of my reaction (which was not out of the ordinary for the situation) while his actions were simply ignored. In my opinion, both men and women should be held to the same standards and expectations, and always treated the same. Unfortunately that’s not always the case. This is a large reason why I decided to leave the industry and start my own business.
It is also the reason why my ultimate goal and vision is to see the fashion industry become a place where people help serve one another in order to foster each other’s success. I believe we can all collaborate instead of compete. This is the core vision for us at Fashion Angel Warrior. For the fashion industry to thrive, it can’t be survival of the fittest. We need to work together.
What's a common misconception you would like to dispel about starting a fashion brand, and what is the real truth as you've seen it?
Most new designers think that as long as they have a product and put it online, people will buy it. This is so far from the truth! First off, you don’t want to have just any product, you need a product that is not only unique and saleable, but also designed for your target customer, and is proven. You need proof of concept first before you go out and produce anything, otherwise you could be stuck with tons of inventory. Do your Market Research, and lots of it! Second, selling online is not as easy as it looks. You need to have a sales strategy and be actively driving people to your website. This is why digital marketing is a huge part of what I teach. Social media, (although helpful), is not the sole source needed to drive people to your website. Once they are actually there, you have about seven seconds to convince them to buy something! That’s not a lot of time. So your E-commerce shop has to be set up properly. We can work with you to ensure it is!
What's your most important piece of heart-to-heart advice for aspiring designers?
If you really truly want to be successful with your fashion business, you must be willing to do Whatever it Takes! This is my motto for everything in life, and this is where the ‘warrior’ part comes into play. A warrior is someone who feels the fear and does it anyway. Someone who puts in 110%. Someone who is willing to step out of their comfort zone, put aside their mood and do the hard things. And most of all someone who won’t give up. So no matter what life throws your way, make the commitment to do whatever it takes to succeed and you will!
What is a project/event/offering you're excited about right now?
I’m super excited about our LA Fashion Manufacturing Tour (only two spots left!) coming up on March 5th. Our tours are a great way for startup designers to learn how to take their ideas from a sketch to a final garment. The attendees get inside access to these factories, can ask unlimited questions, and walk away with a DropBox folder of useful tools, guides, templates, and a list of over 85 of our preferred vendors & suppliers. We started fashion manufacturing tours in NYC in 2016 and they became so popular that we expanded them to LA last year. This year we are looking to expand them into three more cities including Austin, Miami, and San Francisco which is really exciting. Following the tour, we’ll be exhibiting and speaking at the LA Textile Show March 6th through March 8th. This show is the fashion industry’s premier West Coast destination for textile, design, and production resources from around the globe. It’s free to attend so anyone in the area should definitely stop by our booth to enter our raffle and receive some freebies!
Cover image via Fashion Angel Warrior