5 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE LAUNCHING YOUR FASHION BRAND
5 Things You Should Do Before Launching Your Fashion Brand
Photo taken at Gucci Chicago flagship on March 2021
Everyone I know wants to launch a fashion brand in some shape, form or capacity. While some have couture dreams, others have access to a screen printer and want to develop minimalist basics for everyday wear. The creativity of fashion designers is what they’re often celebrated for but it is widely known that most are less interested in the “business side of fashion” or the not so “glamorous side.” Over the past decade, I’ve spent my career working across international luxury and premium fashion brands with a minimum of 4 major product launches each year. These launches serve as a small re-set for the company because you’re only known and lauded for your most recent release. I’ve noticed there are 5 main components that led to a successful launch. These 5 elements can be help you cover the basics when launching your brand:
1. Create a 360 Plan: 360 refers to considering every touch point in the business. How can you maximize your assets? For example, if you’re a small business, this is particularly important because your resources are limited and you want them to work for you in the most efficient way. If you’re creating a creative campaign for your product, can those photos/videos be utilized for email marketing, your e-commerce shopping page and/or social media? Consistency and frequency are two simple keys to effective branding.
2. Ensure market-centric pricing: This goes beyond the point of ensuring you have strong margins to maximize your profit. Knowing the market in which your brand will live means knowing how your product will be perceived. Customers often assess the price-to-value ratio during the purchasing decision phase. They would ask, “is this worth the price?” or “x brand has the same kind of product for less.” A quick and easy way to do this is to search online for brand adjacencies and see how their products are priced. Are you priced above, below, or just right? Proper pricing not only helps you drive sales but also ensures you don’t miss out on margin.
3. Choose and highlight hero products: Within each launch there is a product that will be the focus product. This product is often heralded as one that will gain the most attention and/or will sell the most. Plan your inventory accordingly. A good way to determine that hero product is by creating a social campaign prior to your official launch. Look at which product gets the most engagement (likes and comments). When you show the product to your close knit community, where do people gravitate towards the most? Where did you invest the most in inventory? All of these questions can let you know which product to push to the front. This can also help you determine which product could be a carryover or core product for future seasons.
4. Complete a PR Scan: Many brands have been caught in the crossfire of a media mishap due to improper or lack of market research. Is your brand and product vetted properly? If they’re aligned with a specific culture to which you do not belong, is it appropriately celebrated versus appropriated? Are the models and/or images reflective of values that the company wants to represent and will not offend others? Have you Googled the product name or brand name to ensure it isn’t associated with something already within popular culture? It’s often quoted that any press is good press, but in the age of cancel culture, that has proven to be irrelevant.
5. Identify your KPIs and create a sales reporting system: KPIs refer to key performance indicators. These represent how you measure success or failure. Sometimes those KPIs are qualitative and other times they are quantitative. It’s up to you to decide how to measure success. Once they’ve been identified, make sure you have a proper reporting system to measure those results and one of the most important is sales reporting. One of my mentors once told me, “reports tell half of the story.” Many brands underestimate the importance of sales reporting and analysis. You can and will receive a lot of word of mouth feedback (in a physical space and a digital one); however, numbers do not lie. Both work together in a perfect matrimony. If you’re not strong with numbers or Excel, make sure you have a partner who is and can support you in keeping an accurate account of sales reporting but also extrapolate insights from it that can turn into strategy. At a minimum, you want to make sure you can look at sell-through rate, inventory on hand, inventory turn rate, sales volume on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis, and a breakdown by size (if applicable).
The Black Paper (TBP) is a space dedicated to original research and commentary within the luxury, lifestyle and fashion spaces. You will find interviews, think pieces, and updates from ATELIER LENORA (AL). Check out more of AL’s resources here.
RE RE RE-COMMERCE
From Dior Men’s Winter ‘22 collection
There was a time when vintage or “pre-loved” goods were not allowed to eat at the same table as luxury. In recent years, however, we’ve seen a drastic shift of shopping patterns “putting on their blinker and switching into a socially conscious lane” as consumers have declared that they want to engage with brands that align with their personal values. Sustainability is a now buzz term within the luxury and fashion spaces. As with e-commerce and social media, historically these industries are typically among the last to adopt new technologies and follow current trends. Specifically, on the technology adoption life cycle, luxury is often a part of the late majority and in some cases, the laggards.
Re-commerce as a concept was first introduced in 2005 by researcher George F. Colony in response to technology spending and has since grown into a projected nearly $40B business by 2024. Re-commerce allows for customers to maximize the value of their purchases and for companies, in some cases, to extend their margin.
How does it work? Imagine I walked into the Gucci store on Rodeo Drive and purchased a pair black Horsebit loafers for $920. I wear them to my friend’s wedding in the Hamptons and then three months later to a friend’s dinner to celebrate their appointment as a tenured professor at USC. A few months have gone by and I’ve not worn the shoes once. The shoes sit in my closet and ultimately I decide to sell them online to recoup some of the money I spent and use it towards a pair that I would wear more often.
While re-commerce may have its fair share of critics, here are four tangible benefits:
Gucci Horsebit Loafers. Picture taken from the Gucci website.
Protecting the Earth (Sustainability) - the fashion industry significantly contributes to global landfill pollution, particularly within the continent of Africa. Good For You estimates that the fashion and textile industry produce 92 million tons of waste annually. This is set to increase 57 million by 2030 totaling, roughly 148 million tons per year.
Expanding Customer Base (Affordability) - aspirational consumers make up a large part of the incremental growth seen year-over-year in the sale of luxury goods. Often finding their engagements with brands through “entry price point” categories like beauty, fragrances, and small leather goods, re-commerce allows for these customers to have access to their favorite brands at a much lower retail price. After customers have benefited from the affordability of the new purchase, it may encourage them to participate by selling their own pre-used luxury goods. This is the re-commerce cycle.
Strengthening Relationships (Customer/Brand Engagement) - re-commerce allows for a customer to stay engaged with a brand and creates an opportunity for increased customer relationship management (CRM). Through traditional re-commerce platforms, customers can sell back their old goods and receive a discount towards new purchases, credits, or cash incentives. From a broad values perspective, customers are now focusing on engaging with brands that closely align with their personal values. Last year, Forbes reported that this is evident in a study from Boston Consulting Group, which found that 53% of customers find sustainability as an important impact on buying decisions.
New Revenue Streams (E-commerce and In-store Service Extension): Re-commerce can be a completely new business with additional revenue opportunities. Collaborating with a team that specializes in re-commerce increases the potential of a company to take a bite into the upcoming $40B pie. One key to implementing a successful re-commerce strategy is to ensure the gap between the re-commerce and traditional experience is minimal. In store, that means extending the same luxury service like offering beverages, hiring dedicated, knowledgeable associates and ensuring a seamless purchasing transaction. From an e-commerce lens, that means utilizing high-definition, transparent photography, engaging story-telling, identifying the origin season, and listing full product details.
Within the luxury and fashion spaces, a few brands have made a concerted effort to build out official programs such as: Lululemon, Levis, Stella McCartney, REI, Allbird, Patagonia, Gucci, and Hugo Boss.
If you’re looking to explore re-commerce on a personal level or if you’re a company who wants to find the best approach and strategy for your brand, here are a few platforms that specialize in it:
WHAT IS THE BLACK PAPER?
The Black Paper (TBP) is a space dedicated to original research and commentary within the luxury, lifestyle and fashion spaces. You will find interviews, think pieces, and updates from ATELIER LENORA.