We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nick Sampler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nick thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

From what I remember, I just woke up one afternoon back in February of 2023 and thought “i want to start a clothing brand.” It was a long and not very thought out process in the beginning. I believe that next couple hours I was talking with my dad about the idea and we started bouncing ideas off of each other because I had mentioned starting one a couple months before but never went through with it. The next couple of days, weeks was getting the business side of everything completed you know names, logos, LLC’s, EIN’s. getting all the legality’s in order. After getting all of that done I went and bought an IPad so I could work on designs for the brand. I had no idea what I was doing but I was doing something. After a few tries I ended up giving up and just opting to find someone who already knew how to design and I started collaborating with them to come up with my first design. It took months to finally get everything set up and ready to go. I honestly just jumped right into things without actually doing any real research, I just wanted to start. I had to find the right website host, domain, I did research on fabrics, manufacturers, how to design, the whole nine. I had the idea in february and everything didn’t really start falling into place until about October. One of my biggest mistakes I did was order a bulk before ordering a sample. That’s the one thing you don’t do ever! I just didn’t know much about that side of the process even with all the research I was doing. So, I got my bulk in October and set up a photoshoot, got the photoshoot done and started to set up my website. The website set up took like a month and a half because of all the technical difficulties I was having so that wasn’t up and running until about December. Once all that was good the site was live and I had my first drop. Looking back on it a lot of the information I retained last year was insignificant to what I’ve learned this year but everything we start out doing is a learning process and I’m glad I went through it earlier than later.

Nick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Nick Sampler, I am a 23 year old clothing brand owner from Atlanta, Georgia. I was into clothes at a young age, I was telling people I wanted to be a fashion designer way back in elementary school. Sadly, I didn’t actually start pursuing fashion until I was 21 which was late for my liking. It was like a lightbulb went off one morning and I just decided to start my brand. So far I’ve made a pretty good amount of clothes, from shirts to hoodies to beanies to tote bags, I’ve got a variety of pieces to choose from. I also make my own designs so every design you see on a piece is made by yours truly. One of the things I’m most proud of is the way I’ve progressed with my skills and how much knowledge I’ve gained over the past, going on two years now. My first was really a struggle for me because a lot of the information I was retaining wasn’t as beneficial as all the things I’ve this year but it’s still all connected to each other so regardless it was good to learn it earlier than later. One of the main things I would like potential clients, followers, fans to know about my brand is that I take my time, meaning most of my pieces are made to order to reduce cost and waste of products. It is kind of hard, especially nowadays to be patient when it comes to clothing because of the negative affects of fast fashion. When people order clothes they almost want it instantly with same day to next day shipping. That affects the smaller brands like myself because we are taking the normal three to five days, depending on the week, to ship orders. Nonetheless, I do this for fun so regardless if I have one follower or ten thousand followers, I will continue to produce.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I believe the most influential pivot was earlier this year actually when I decided to transition over to the made to order method. This decision was made due to the negative impacts fast fashion is having on the environment as well as us producers and consumers. It is hurting the environment the most because brands are creating waste without realizing it or while realizing it which is worse. All types of water pollution, microplastics, carbon emissions, etc are all hurting the economy in ways people don’t even care to understand. Fast fashion also hurts us as producers because plenty of customers are impatient and are looking for orders to be out almost that same day and the consistent messaging is stressful when we already have a full plate of things happening at once. Communication is key though when it comes to running a business so a lot of times as long as you’re clear and direct most customers won’t have an issue but it is still frustrating on our end. Making that shift over to the made to order process is less stressful for me as well as creating less waste of products even though waste is still being produced.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

When I first started yes I did manufacture my products but as of right now I’m the one suppling all of my products, but I still have those manufacturers on hand just in case I might need something a little extra that I’m not able to get my hands on. I first started doing research on overseas manufacturers and how to find the right ones, how to talk to them, when to order, all that. As I got deeper into my studies I noticed it was very difficult finding and keeping that perfect manufacturer. The prices going overseas was also a bit much, so I decided to do some research on domestic manufacturers, you know keep it close to home. I found that most domestic manufacturers are only good for specific things and are cheaper but overseas manufacturers can do anything while being a little bit more costly. For my first product I just kept it simple and did a shirt and went with a manufacturer out in California. I’ve been in contact with plenty of manufacturers and learned a lot more about the fashion industry so I made plenty of mistakes while learning my lessons. My first and biggest mistake was ordering a bulk before ordering a sample, now my manufacturer didn’t mess up the bulk but that is one thing you do not do in this industry. Always sample your pieces beforehand to ensure everything is exactly how you want it.

Contact Info:

• Website: modavivencia.com
• Instagram: moda_vivencia