[00:00] Introduction
I’m Bhavna Rishi, founder of BuildTheDreamBrand. I have spent over 20 years in this industry, and I have helped brands launch into places like the V&A Museum shop, Fenwick, the British Museum and Chatsworth House. I have also watched founders spend months preparing a launch and then sit in front of their screens on day one wondering why nothing happened. That silence — that horrible, deflating silence — is something most people in this industry don’t warn you about, because they’re too busy selling you the dream of the launch.
So in this episode I want to give you the honest, unglamorous truth about what launching a fashion brand really looks like, what goes wrong, what actually works, and how to set yourself up so that your launch gives you the best possible start rather than the most expensive lesson of your entrepreneurial career.
“Most brands launch to silence not because their product is wrong, but because they built a product before they built an audience.”
[04:00] The Expectation Gap
The launch is the single most romanticised moment in any founder’s journey. You’ve spent months — sometimes years — developing your product, getting your branding right, building your website. And there is a story in your head about what launch day looks like: a flurry of orders, your inbox lighting up, the validation of everything you’ve worked for arriving all at once. That story is almost never what happens.
The reality is that most brands launch to a very small, very quiet response. Not because the product is wrong. Not because the branding is bad. But because the audience wasn’t built before the product arrived. You cannot expect people to buy from a brand they’ve never heard of. Discovery takes time, and if you have not started that process before your launch date, you are launching cold. That is an incredibly hard position to sell from.
[08:00] Soft Launch vs Big Launch
I always recommend a soft launch first, and I want to explain exactly what I mean by that. A soft launch is not a quiet failure — it is a deliberate, controlled first release to a small group of people who already know you and your brand. It might be your email list, your social media followers, people who expressed interest when you showed a behind-the-scenes preview. The goal is not maximum volume. It is real feedback, early sales, and proof of concept — ideally before you’ve committed to a large production run.
A big launch — the campaign, the paid ads, the press outreach — should come once you’ve validated that people want what you’re selling, you understand what messaging resonates, and your fulfilment process has been tested. Brands that skip the soft launch and go straight to a big campaign often spend significant money amplifying a message that hasn’t been proven. The ones that do a soft launch first are able to go into a bigger push with real testimonials, real photos from real customers, and real data about what converts.
“A soft launch is not a quiet failure. It is a deliberate first step that gives you everything you need to make the bigger launch work.”
[13:00] The Pre-Launch Checklist
There are things that need to be in place before you launch that have nothing to do with the product itself. Your website needs to work on mobile — not look okay on mobile, actually work, which means fast loading, a simple checkout, and no broken links. Your payment gateway needs to be tested with a real transaction. Your shipping and fulfilment process needs to have been walked through end to end, including what happens when someone orders two items and one is out of stock. Your email sequences need to be live — a confirmation email, a dispatch notification, and at minimum one post-purchase follow-up.
I have seen launch days derailed by the simplest things: a payment system that didn’t work in a particular browser, a welcome email that went straight to spam, a product page that had the wrong price because someone forgot to update it after the final pricing decision. These are not interesting problems. They are boring, preventable problems that make your brand look amateur on the one day when you most need to look professional. Run through every single step of the customer journey yourself, on your phone, with a real payment method, at least a week before launch.
[18:00] What Actually Happens on Day One
Launch day is an operational day, not a celebration day. You need to be available — monitoring your orders, checking your site, ready to respond to any customer questions quickly. The first few hours after launch are when you will catch any technical problems, and you need to be able to act fast. Have your manufacturer’s contact details to hand. Know exactly what your stock levels are. Have a plan for what you will say if an item sells out.
The first 30 days after launch matter more than the launch day itself. This is when you gather the data that tells you what is working: which products people are actually buying, which pages they are visiting but leaving without purchasing, which marketing channel is driving real traffic versus which is just generating impressions. Use this period to listen, adjust and test. The brands I’ve seen launch successfully treat the first month as an extended experiment, not a verdict.
[25:00] Key Takeaways
Build your audience before you build your product range. The pre-launch period — the behind-the-scenes content, the email list sign-ups, the waitlist — is not marketing filler. It is the foundation your launch stands on.
Do a soft launch first. Get real orders, real feedback and real photos before you scale your marketing spend.
Treat the technical checklist as seriously as you treat the creative. A broken checkout on launch day is a brand problem, not just a tech problem.
The first 30 days are your most valuable learning period. Treat them like research, not disappointment.
[28:00] Action Step
Map out your pre-launch timeline right now. Work backwards from your target launch date and identify what needs to happen 12 weeks out, 8 weeks out, and 4 weeks out. If you don’t have 12 weeks, start from wherever you are — but be honest about what that timeline realistically allows you to build.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you are building a fashion brand and want expert guidance, book a free discovery call with Bhavna.