Swimwear line

crankystar

am thinking of starting my own swimwear line. I currently live in a small island of the Caribbean, where all swimwear are imported, mainly from the States. They can be pretty expensive (anywhere from US$20 to 80 a piece! - top or bottom), and I do not generally think that the quality or designs justify the price. In any case, no one is making any locally and I think there is an opportunity for me to start a business.
So far, I`ve identified a few options:
1) I either create the swimsuits myself, with my oen sewing machines and fabric I would have imported from USA, China, India or wherever else.
2) Or I could organise my own designs, patterns, etc and get a swimwear manufacturing company in china to make it for me
3) The last option would be to buy some generic brand swimwear which I would then personalise with my own logo, prints, embroidery, etc.
Does anyone have any experience in this industry? Can anyone provide me with some advice? Ideally, I would do it all myself, but I am just afraid that the cost would rise in a hurry, which would then force me to sell it at a more expensive price - more than intended, in any case.
Any suggestion or advice welcome.
Nat

kathleenfasanella

Hi Nat, I have a lot of experience in this business, nearly 30 years. Start Up nation is great for the basic concepts that apply to all businesses but manufacturing isn`t typical. I recommend frequenting a community that specializes in the topic. It would take pages and pages of copy to answer all these questions so you may as well go to where it already exists. Specifically, Fashion-Incubator has over 1600 entries of free advice posted. Good luck.