About Frances Harder
Frances Harder is the President & Founder of the Fashion Business Incorporated (FBI), which provides vital business development and job retraining to the US apparel industry: Fashionbizinc.org . The FBI’s training center is housed in the heart of LA’s fashion district. The center has a co-op showroom, computer lab, seminar room and general office space. Since its inception in 1999 the FBI has grown to become an important resource for apparel manufacturers. Additionally, all the training developed at the FBI has been recognized by the state of California’s ETP program, which allows manufactures and employees to attend training and receive state sponsorship.
Frances has self-published a series of books dealing with starting a fashion business: Fashion for Profit is an extensive text that covers the A to Z of starting an apparel company, Costing for Profit, Brand Building For Profit, & Forms for Profit all address additional valuable information when starting an apparel company. Coming soon: Retailing for Profit, which will be available later in 2008.
Frances has her own consulting firm: Apparel Business Consulting and consults on product development, branding, merchandising and production. She also presents seminars at industry trade shows both nationally at MAGIC, ASR, LA Textile week, NY Textile show, Vegas Textile show, and internationally at Hong Kong World Boutique.
As of Dec. 2007 Frances was voted for four consecutive years by the California Apparel News as one of the most influential within LA’s fashion industry. February 2007 she was invited by the French Government to participate in a delegation to visit France to discuss copyright issues that affect both branded labels in France and the US. In November 2007 Frances was invited to present at Shanghai University about the certified job training she has developed at the FBI. She was recently voted to be a member of the US Department of Export Council (DEC).
Frances’s past professional experience included having her own name under license in Japan, designing a line for Pricilla Presley for Home Shopping, product development for the Royal House of Brunei and extensive European professional experience both as an educator and designer. She left her position as a full time Professor at Otis College of Art and Design in LA in 1999 to found and direct the development of the Fashion Business Incorporated.
