In this introductory video, Evan Carmichael launches a new series on starting a fashion business the right way. He warns that many aspiring fashion entrepreneurs over‑leverage themselves—taking loans or mortgaging homes to fund inventory—only to end up in debt with unsold stock. Carmichael argues that true success requires deep, authentic passion for fashion, not a get‑rich‑quick mindset. He illustrates this with the story of Calvin Klein: from a poor immigrant family, Klein chose to stay in fashion despite an offer to run his father’s grocery store, because his love for design and desire to create a distinct American fashion identity drove him forward. Carmichael emphasizes that passion fuels perseverance through inevitable roadblocks and prevents premature quitting. He concludes by inviting viewers to follow the upcoming lessons, subscribe, and join his newsletter for more entrepreneurial guidance.
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Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. I believe in entrepreneurs, and today I'm launching a new series on how to start a fashion business. The fashion business is very sexy, it's very fun, it can be very profitable, but it's also filled with failure and can be very costly. So many people who want to start in the fashion business take out a loan, mortgage their homes to finance the initial inventory, and end up with a garage or basement full of t-shirts and hoodies and being in debt for the rest of their life. So this series is about how you can start a successful fashion company and do it the right way. Today's lesson is you have to find your passion. From a very young age, Calvin Klein knew what he wanted to do: be in fashion. You see, when his parents immigrated to the United States, they were pretty poor. They didn't have a lot of money or connections. His father set up a grocery store and Calvin worked there part-time during evenings and weekends. Instead of playing with the other kids or joining sports teams, Calvin Klein didn't have a lot of friends and decided to stay home. He wanted to teach himself how to sketch and sew designs, and he wanted to accompany his mother when she went on trips to buy discount clothing. As he grew up, his passion for fashion deepened. He went to school to study, to learn how to be a fashion designer, and he became increasingly upset that there were no unique original designs coming out of America. It seemed like all the Americans wanted to do was copy and rip off the European designs. He wanted American fashion to be different, and he was willing to lead the way. It was that passion, not just for making money but for having a positive impact, that led him to become a multi-multi-multi-millionaire. You see, passion is so important because if you're not deeply passionate about your business, you're gonna quit. It's gonna get too hard. You're gonna get a lot of roadblocks thrown in your face, and you have to be crazy in love with it enough to want to keep going, because most people would just give up facing those odds. When Klein was trying to get started in the fashion business, his father actually sold his grocery store to his friend Barry Schwartz. Schwartz turned it around and made it a highly successful enterprise. And invited Calvin to come in and be a partner. At the time, Calvin was struggling. He wasn't having any success in the fashion industry yet. He was struggling and trying to break through. He felt like he tried everything he could and he wasn't getting any momentum with his clothing designs. And so he thought long and hard about taking that offer and taking over the grocery store. He set up an appointment with his dad to talk about the idea, and he was ready to tell his dad, "I'm ready to join the family business." And what his dad said shocked him. He told Calvin that entering the grocery store business would be a tremendous mistake. He told him that he didn't really understand everything he was doing and what he was studying, but that he was giving up on his dream too soon. And so Calvin stuck with his passion, continued building in fashion, and ended up building an empire. The point here is that if you're in this business just trying to make money, you're gonna go broke. You have to really want it. You have to really feel it. It has to keep you up at night and energize you to want to keep going. If you're trying to get into the business just as a get-rich-quick scheme, then try something else. But if you really love fashion, you really want to have an impact, you really want to make a difference, then stay tuned because in the next couple weeks we're gonna have a lot of fun. Believe. If you guys like this video, you want to see more, subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you soon. If you want more entrepreneur goodness, check out the link to my newsletter below. See you there.
