how to start a collection?

me and my partner are currently working on a clothing collection for ladies,spring summer 2010 contemporary day wear.
the design part seems to be the easiest but i have a couple of questions on how to sell a collection and get investors and sponsors. after the collection is done, what are the next steps? please help me out.

you can actually go to boutique stores and have your collections start off there. Such boutiques stores you'll find will take your "one of a kind" items to their store.

There's a website that tells you so much of what you need to know. It's Fashion-Incubator.com and it has over 1,600 entries of free advice. There's also a private member's forum for networking and connections. You should also read a good book on the topic. Not a cheap book (you get what you pay for, they're not all the same).

Me personally, I don't recommend getting investors, especially so early on. If you plan smart and spend wisely, you don't need near as much money as you probably think. Basically, you want to make up samples and go around to independent stores to see if they'll place any orders. At the outset, it's likely to only be a few which is okay because you have a learning curve. Then you have those few items made, deliver them and repeat the cycle. Once you've made a few sales and have developed relationships, it may be time to get a sales rep and move up to another level slowly.

Thanks for the feedback. The store to store idea is a must. U think a lot of stores would pick a couple just one of a kind's? but then if we want to sell to different stores, we can't show them the other pieces...we were thinking in- house but for the quality that we're offering it would take too long for 2 people to cut&sew.

Obviously we'd make look books for the stores but should we do production after they pick their order? (especially if we produce overseas) would that take too long? Sales Rep is a great idea for the next seasons...

where can I go and purchase material like the top fashion designers, is their a membership required and how can I go about purchasing it. How can I purchase a ticket to new york,paris fashion week?