There is so much information packed into this book, you'll be amazed! I've read the book twice, and am starting to read it for the third time, and I pick up more things each time through. Kathleen provides guidelines of what to do, and in what order, so that you don't end up with thousands of dollars in inventory that you can't sell. Then she shows you how to avoid the many pitfalls just waiting for newbies. She also goes into great detail about all the mistakes the "big boys" make, and how you can avoid them. She provides tips and tricks from production pattern making techniques to fitting ideas to picking sewing contractors.
Kathleen's book is easy to read; it is both entertaining and educational. And it's the only book of its kind!
Kathleen is very concerned about the future of the industry; and with her guidance, future designer entrepreneur's (DEs) may save the industry from failure.
I firmly believe that this book, and joining the NADEIM group Kathleen formed to help DEs get started, are the two best things you can do for your business! (NADEIM stands for National Association of Designer Entrepreneurs and Independent Manufacturers. You can request information about joining NADEIM by completing a form in the back of the book or calling Kathleen.)
Buy the book - it's worth it's weight in gold!
Kathleen's book covers so many facets of apparel manufacturing, it is sufficient information to get your business off the ground and cover you for the first few years, if not longer. If you ever wanted to know where to start, how to start, and how to get things going, THIS is the book to give you that information.
I appreciate her candor, and her examples of real mistakes people make. While you may find yourself laughing at some of them, thinking, there is no way you would have done that, you will always find something that you wanted to do that is on the list of "don'ts".
You know when you read this book that it was written by someone who cares about aspiring designers, and not someone who wrote it to add to their list of accomplishments as an industry expert. This is the real deal. It feels like you are sitting down listening to someone talk and share their years of experience about what they have learned in the industry.
When buying an "industry" book, one of the main issues that arises is you want to be sure it's not a "beginner's" book, a book for people without any type of clue. You know you are a person who has researched and learned a lot and you don't want a book that tells you most of hat you already know.
This is not that book. You WILL learn a lot from this book.
There are business organizations and associations that produce books that have a quarter of the information at more than four times the price. This book is a great buy.