FBI’S MOST WANTED

Small firms looking for business guidance head to one woman:
Fashion Business Inc.’s Frances Harder

Some 26 years in the apparel industry has taken British-born Frances Harder through several incarnations: from professor at Otis School of Design to a designer of sports team uniforms for the Prince of Brunei. But she considers her greatest accomplishment yet her role as founding executive director of Fashion Business Inc. – better known as FBI – a forum providing small-to mid-sized designers the business wherewithal and contacts to get off the ground.

WWD caught up with Harder and spoke with her about how FBI helps new companies, common blunders such firms make and the current state of the Los Angeles industry, which employs some 100,000 workers and contributes $9 billion to the local economy. Even now, Harder’s no sideline observer. Her own start-up, a misses’-contemporary label called Mixx, is set for a summer launch.

WWD: Why do small designers need FBI?
Frances Harder: When you’re trained as a designer, you tend to think like a designer. You don’t think like a business person. You don’t ask if this is going to sell, what it costs and “Will I make a profit from it?” What designers need more than anything is business training. There’s a huge lack of business information out there. A lot of designers think they can do it with an idea and not have any backing. It doesn’t happen like that. This industry is so complex. You go out there and make a sale and you’re not likely to get paid for it right away. You’ll produce and wait.

WWD: FBI will occupy a 4,800-square-foot space at the New Mart by the end of March. What resources will designers find there?
FH: New Mart owner Joyce Eisenberg Keefer has given us the space rent-free for five years. This is a facility and resource for the whole apparel industry. It will have a photo studio, a computer lab, and a co-op showroom where five or six designers can sell until they get on their own. We will also host fashion shows. After that, they can have access to the Designers & Agents trade show and the California market Center, both of which have agreed to donate showroom space to our members.

WWD: How does FBI get its funding?
FH: We have about 200 members comprised of small businesses, associates and students. People pay for classes and they’re quite expensive--$45 for a three-hour class. That’s why it would be great to get more sponsors so it can be cheaper. We have a wonderful group of consultants and attorneys donating time. Then, in partnership with the city’s largest economic development provider, the Valley Economic Development Center, FBI has received funds from the city of Los Angeles’ Community Development Department—nearly $300,000. Here we, the second-largest industry that needs to be assisted and helped. That in itself is fabulous. My goal is to make this a profitable nonprofit, create hundreds of new garment jobs over the next two years and spark $6 million in new investment in plant, equipment and technology so that Los Angeles can retain its economic position of national dominance.
WWD: You gave up a teaching career and, initially, a steady salary to get FBI off the ground. What drives you?
FH: There have been times when I’ve gone, ‘I’m not earning any money, so I’m going to back out.’ But I couldn’t. It’s like a train that’s going 250 miles an hour. There is no way I could back off it. The potential is this: If the apparel industry worked together, wouldn’t it be more successful? The apparel industry is much fractured. My mission is to build some sort of resource where people help one another. Almost all small manufacturers are minority-or-women owned companies. You’ve got the Koreans and Hispanics—all these different groups. There’s funding out there we can access for these companies. If they knew there were resources out there to help them, they’d be much more successful.

WWD: What are three most common questions start-ups ask?
FH: Where to get a loan or get factored? How to find a sales rep? And what to look for in a contract. We can answer all that.

WWD: What are the most common mistakes?
FH: Unless you’ve got mega bucks, you’d better start slowly and build it slowly through specialty stores. Most downfalls have to do with costing. Most haven’t got the mark-up. They tend to get ruled by what the retailer wants to pay and they end up manufacturing it for nothing. We go through balance sheets with them and develop a cost structure.

WWD: What impact has production moving off-shore had on the Los Angeles industry?
FH: We’re not saying manufacturing has to stay here. We know it’s going offshore. We can’t stop that. But what we’re saying is what about all those workers who have lost their jobs? What are you going to do with them? What about all those contractors? Manufacturers need to know where to find these contractors, especially if they can be trained to manufacture a better garment and could do it fast and in smaller lots.

WWD: The FBI wants to help the industry get compliant with California’s labor laws. Isn’t that an overwhelming task?
FH: Very hard. Under Assembly Bill 633, thousands of small manufacturers have to track every order and write down who made what garment on each paycheck. A lot of them get this information from the government in mail but it’s very complicated and overwhelming and they won’t do it. We want to help them get in the loop, almost like traffic school. We can train them to be compliant. They need to stop paying cash under the table, start keeping track of orders and bookkeeping. Then they can start selling to the big guys.

WWD: Speaking of the big guys, you’re starting to work with major department stores. How does that partnership work?
FH: Department stores often have diversification programs which means they have to buy from minority-owned companies. We can show companies how to register as minority-owned. I then introduce Macy’s West, Nordstrom and The Bon Marche to groups of manufacturers who are ready to sell to them. This is a huge tie-in. Designers become much more important to department stores as they reinvent themselves. Meanwhile, the retail stores join as members and that’s another income stream for us.

Women's Wear Daily Los Angeles, Saturday, March 01, 2003