Recently, we met up with an amazing fashion entrepreneur. She’d done a lot of work understanding the market, her niche, customers, and competitors, but most importantly, she had a fantastic product.
And as lovers of all things bright and beautiful, we got to say; we were completely blown away. But that’s a story for another time.
We got talking and discovered that although she’d done an excellent job so far, there was just one thing lacking—her brand’s name—and it’d been holding her back from starting her company and making a big splash in the industry.
We’re going to say this out loud so those at the back can hear us, “the fashion industry is special! and any entrepreneur hoping to make it big in this industry must dedicate time to discover the perfect brand name.”
And if you’re about to start your fashion company but haven’t found the right name, or you’re not excited about the name you’ve found, then read on because we’re going to show you some basic steps that’d help you find the perfect brand name.
How to Find the Perfect Name for Your Fashion Company
1. Envision Your Company
Before you start your quest for your brand’s name, you need to have a clear mental picture of what you want your fashion company to be in the future. This knowledge will influence every idea you generate for your brand.
Also, make sure you gather a lot of information about your company, its niche, and the industry in general because it’ll help you find a name that encompasses all areas of your company.
But while collecting this information, don’t neglect your competitor’s brand, products, services, values, and goals. This way, you can understand what works, what doesn’t, and what it would take to win over your target customers.
Now, narrow down the ideas you’ve gathered until you’ve found a few that best reflect your company’s core principles.
2. Create Your Brand’s Tone
The best way to pick a name that represents your company’s core principles is to make sure it has the proper tone and triggers the right emotions in your audience.
So, consider your target audience, what attracts them to you, and why they should be interested in your business. Understanding your customers can help you decide if the tone of your brand should be:
- Amiable and Inviting like Luv AJ
- Prestigious like Cartier
- Fun and Playful like Sunday Energy
- Practical or Pragmatic like Sincerely Silver
3. Know Your Company’s Branding Elements
Even though choosing the right tone is essential, your company’s branding elements are the foundation of your brand’s image because they represent your brand’s personality and identity.
So, take out a pen and paper and jot down your thoughts about your company’s:
- Big ideas: What are your fashion company’s guiding principles?
- Values: What are the personal or audience values that motivate your brand?
- Story: Is there a story that you can connect to your fashion brand?
- Value proposition: Why should people choose your brand?
When naming your fashion company, you don’t want to concentrate on your brand’s operations, like the expensive, cutting-edge technology you use or the fact that your shop is flawlessly built.
Instead, you should focus on the fine details that embody your brand, like your goal; how you’re starting your business so that people can enjoy the small things in life; your vision; bringing the world closer to classy attires, exotic gems, and intricate jewelry; and your value; excellent style, inexpensive products, and teamwork. These are the kinds of details that’ll help you find the perfect name.
4. Set up Your Naming Criteria and Brainstorm
Everything we’ve discussed above would help you prepare your brand’s naming criteria. Your brand’s naming criteria will give you a clear picture of what the perfect name for your brand would look like.
So, get creative, flip those dictionaries and thesauruses and search for words that satisfy your company’s naming needs.
While brainstorming, make a list of short, fascinating, creative, memorable, or symbolic words that can help your brand stand out. The goal here is to generate a list of words with great potential for your company.
But if the naming process seems too complicated and time-consuming, you can always use a strong company name generator to help find great fashion brand name ideas.
Validate Your Name
After coming up with a list of possible brand names, don’t just select one at random because it sounds nice without verifying that it aligns with your brand’s naming requirements. So, gather a tiny sample of your target audience demographic and run your list with them to identify which name connects with them.
After testing your list, pick the word your audience loves most and check with the USPTO to see whether it’s already been trademarked by another brand. Verifying your company name with the USPTO protects it against future copyright claims.
Grant Polachek is the Head of Branding at Inc 500 company Squadhelp.com, the world’s #1 naming platform, with 30,000+ customers from early-stage startups across the globe to the largest corporations including Nestle, Philips, Hilton, Pepsi, and AutoNation.
