Im sort of in love with the guy who owns this blog. He gets it. I originally didnt intend to brand myself as couture let alone bridal but the reality is ready to wear is dead. If you want to compete you have to compete with the high street chains with a multi brand business model because like what the author says... its all about stories. These high street chains connect to the consumer by becoming a sort of lifestyle hub and giving consumers everything they could possibly want under one roof. How do you compete with that when the capital you need to put up a decent high street upstart is around 20 Million. A good 50-60% of which goes to PR and advertising. Couture or custom made on the other hand is interestingly a rising trend. Our current culture is based on individuality but our retail and consumer landscape while vast in scope still limits us to the same brands and clothes. This is where custom made comes in. The thirst for something unique is on the rise because we all want to stand out or rather affirm our individuality through our clothing but uniqueness comes with a price and people who can afford are as I find out willing to pay that premium. Its a good thing there are more and more people who can actually afford. And then theres bridal, the true bread and butter of the local fashion industry. Its low volume, high return. The perfect business model for starting designers. Of course for my colleagues who did not get as lucky as I am they will need to shell out SOME cash for fairs and (online) advertising. But there is a gap in the market. Which brings us to.. E Commerce and going international. The reason why I dont join bridal fairs, fashion shows etc etc and why I invested my money instead in increasing my visibility and relevance online is because I find these platforms limited in scope. Your audience for a 3 day bridal fair pales in comparison to the year round visibility you enjoy by placing ads in wedding related sites... and the scope is truly international. Before the internet, it was unthinkable for a young designer like me to focus primarily on an export based bridal business. Lucky for me, the internet happened. This current logic Im following is how I ended up focusing my efforts on online and bridal. I do have plans of diversifying and touching pret-a-porter for bridal, streetwear and corporate wear. The goal is to establish a brand. A lifestyle hub that will be interactive and engaging to my consumers similar to the bouncing off ideas dynamic I currently have with my brides but on a much bigger scale.. because quite frankly, the lifestyle multi brand business model is here to stay. Its either we get on with the program or we pack our bags.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:41:52 +0000