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Tuesday 30 June 2015

Successful People Who Failed At Their First Attempt

Successful People Who Failed

Not everything is easy, and sometimes the most fantastic things that we ever do are the things that we spend months, if not years, trying to achieve. The difficulty of course is that many people give up too quickly, and that means that they are never able to achieve all that they are capable of.


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What are the challenges that you have in your life? Do you feel like no one truly appreciates the clothes that you design? Do you sometimes find no inspiration on how to redesign a room? Are financial troubles a worry, preventing you from working properly? Do you feel discouraged, and that no one really appreciates what you are trying to create and achieve?

If you’re one of those people who never seems to get the lucky break, or always falls at the last hurdle, then don’t panic – you’re in excellent company. There are a plethora of people who have had endured failures, set backs and knock downs, but gone on to achieve greatness.

Don’t believe me? Well, I thought you may take a little bit of persuading, which is why I’ve put together a short list of just a handful of celebrities who, if they had listened to the criticism that they first heard, would never have made it at all.

Fred Astaire

Fred-Astaire

You’d be hard pressed to find someone whose never heard of Fred Astaire – dancer extraordinaire, amazing singer, star of countless films (and married to countless women!) But did you know that early on, people in the industry were not at all convinced that Fred Astaire was in any way talented. After he took his first screen test in Hollywood, the judges wrote: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”

Astaire’s career lasted for 76 years and he made 31 musical films and many award winning television specials as well as recordings. He was named the 5th Greatest Male Star of All time by the American Film Institute. He also ranks as #5 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars list. Astaire won an Honorary Academy Award in 1950 for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures. He won three Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1960 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6756 Hollywood Blvd. He died in 1987 with a net worth of $10 million… not bad for someone who “couldn’t act or sing”.

Albert EinsteinEinstein_1921_portrait2

 

Albert Einstein was probably one of the greatest minds that ever existed. When Albert Einstein was young, however, no one expected much from him. He didn’t speak until he was four, and he didn’t even start reading until he was seven. His teachers labeled him “slow” and “mentally handicapped.”  In 1921, Einstein received the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics primarily for his discovery of the law of photoelectric effect. He was also posthumously awarded the Time Person of the Century Award in 1999.  He died with a net worth of $1 million.

Vera Wang

vera

Vera Wang is a fashion icon – particularly in the wedding arena. She’s worth a whopping $400 million – and we’re not even talking about the value of her company! I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Vera Wang ensemble, but if it hadn’t been for a complete failure in her early years, Vera Wang may never have turned to fashion at all. From the age of eight, she trained hard for a career in figure skating. She was top of her game but she failed to make the US Olympics Team and her career was ruined. Instead of crumbling into a useless moping pile, she declared that she was leaving the sport and moving to the fashion world to make her mark.

Jan Koum

JanKoum650

Jan is one of the co-founders of WhatsApp. In 2007 he applied for a job at Facebook and was rejected in the interview. A couple of years later he bought an iPhone and saw the potential in growing world of Apps. He and friend Alex Fishman thought up “WhatsApp” and incorporated the business in 2009. It grew exponentially and caught the attention of Mark Zuckerberg who asked Jan Koum to be on the Facebook Board. Then, in 2014 Facebook bought Whatsapp for 19 billion US dollars!  Jan is now estimated to be worth of more than 7 and half billion dollars!

Sir James Dyson

jamesdyson

The inventor of probably one of the most well known vacumn cleaners in the world didn’t just fail on his first attempt. In the late 70s, Dyson began developing the vacuum cleaner that uses cyclonic separation in order to pick up dirt. His new vacuum cleaner eliminated the need for a vacuum bag, and remained more efficient over time. He went through 5126 failed prototypes and lost thousands of pounds in savings over 15 years whilst pefecting his product.  He was then unable to get anyone to manufacture the vacuum in the UK, where the vacuum bag industry was worth $100 million. Through relentless perseverance, Dyson didn’t give up. He ended up launching the product in Japan, and setting up his own manufacturing company. The Dyson vacuum cleaner went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, and is now the most popular vacuum cleaner in the UK. James Dyson is now worth $4.6 billion dollars.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863

There are few people who have made such an impression on our world today than Abraham Lincoln, a figure in politics that many see as the shining example. However, if you had asked Abraham Lincoln himself in 1833 how successful he thought he was, you’d have received a very despondent answer – after all, he had lost two elections already, coming eighth out of thirteen in one of them.

And Many More

That’s just a few! Add to the list, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Harland, David Sanders, R.H. Macy, Steven Spielberg Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Soichiro Honda, Walt Disney, Charles Darwin, Oprah Winfrey, Henry Ford, Michael Jordan and Bill Gates!!

As you can see, these singers, scientists, designers, and politicians all faced what seemed like insurmountable odds – and yet they conquered them, nonetheless.

Design, whether it is fashion or interiors, can have huge challenges, but that doesn’t mean that you should just lie down and take them. Instead, think of all these amazing people who failed at their first try, but made it in the end. Use them as your inspiration!

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Thursday 25 June 2015

The Best Online Fashion Courses

The Best Online Fashion Courses

These days, attending a traditional university isn’t your only option. We recently wrote an article asking Can You Start a Brand Without Going To Design School? The answer is yes, but it takes a lot of dedication and motivation. One of your options is to sign up to an online fashion course. Let’s take a look…


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With the rise in online courses, there seem to be hundreds focused toward fashion, so how do you know which is the best one for you? Here’s a round up of the four most popular courses and some key information that you need to know.

London College of Fashion Online Short Course

The Best Online Fashion Courses

Prices and lengths vary, £300+, 4 – 9 weeks

Advantages
The London College of Fashion is a well known academic institution, so any course taken here whether in person or online will always look good on your CV. You’ll be learning from the best, so you should make sure that you can dedicate some serious time to it. They also offer a huge range of specialist courses, so you can really tailor your learning to what you want to know: from Illustration, Draping On The Stand to Buying & Merchandising, plus many more.

Disadvantages
These courses are not that long, which means that you may miss out on learning some of the exciting stuff that longer courses are able to include. These courses are probably for giving you a taster of what to expect on a longer course or to bump up your knowledge on a specific subject. You might also find it costly, compared to the time spent learning.

School of Fashion, Academy of Art University

The Best Online Fashion Courses

 $400 in fees, and then $835 per unit per semester

Advantages
The thing that we love the most about the courses through the Academy of Art University is that they can be completely personalised to how you like to work, making it perfect for you each time.

Disadvantages
Relying on yourself can be hard, and the prices for these courses are seriously high.

Fashion Design, International Career Institute

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 Between £498 and £998, and between 14 and 31 weeks depending on course

Advantages
If you want to be a fashion designer on an international scale, then this is definitely the online course that you should be looking at. With three different levels that you can complete over 31 weeks if you want to keep going, you’ll gain a great qualification to help you launch your career globally.

Disadvantages
31 weeks is actually quite a long time when you think about it – over 6 months! You may not want to wait that long to gain your qualification, and keeping your motivation up for that long when you are studying on your own can be hard.

The University of Fashion

DressForm-FabulousFit

Costs and course length: free, or you can get a monthly subscription for $19.95 plus tax, unlimited course time.

Advantages: If you are looking for something fun and unique, then the University of Fashion is the one for you. This course takes you through six key areas of fashion design and business, which should give the absolute beginning a great start.

Disadvantages: This course really is for beginners, and if you already can sew and make clothes, then this is going to be a bit basic for you.

As you can see, many of these fashion courses are very different from each other. They all want to teach you in different ways, charge you different amounts and offer different levels of expertise. However, no matter what stage you are at in your career, you can definitely benefit from taking an online fashion course. Hopefully one of the ones that we have talked about here will strike your fancy, and you can take your fashion to the next level!

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Tuesday 23 June 2015

What Are The Best Productivity Tools For Entrepreneurs?

What Are The Best Productivity Tools For Entrepreneurs?

In the business world, time is money! As an entrepreneur, you will quickly realise that your list of to-do’s, is one that perpetually grows. Running Offset Warehouse, I quickly realised how valuable it is to use tools that enhance productivity and help you get more work done in less time. Fortunately, there are many such tools that can help streamline work, increase efficiency, track your tasks and generally make life much easier. Let’s take a look at my favourite productivity tools.


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Evernote

evernotescreen

Evernote is a very popular app that organises, shares and captures all your activities digitally. If offers a workspace where you can do anything from writing notes, capturing photographs, recording audio, designing and planning projects and even saving information for future reference. By saving and synchronising the information across all your digital devices, Evernote promises to help you capture, remember and manage all your experiences.

Carrot

This application makes to-do lists more interesting, by making a game out of it. Dubbed the to-do list with a personality, all you have to do is download the app and add your list of tasks. As you complete each tasks, you remove them off the list, thus earning rewards and moving up levels. This whimsical twist on the traditional to-do list, reduces the stress factor normally associated with long lists. Instead, it motivates the user to complete the activity before Carrot becomes cross.

Sanebox

sanebox

When you’re in business, particularly a startup, your inbox will soon seem to be forever flooded with emails. As email clutter builds up, it becomes difficult to battle your way through unimportant messages, to reach those that deserve immediate attention. Sanebox saves you in this situation, by separating the high-priority messages from those that you can deal with later. It saves valuable time and makes sure that you do not miss any important email again.

Trello

Trello is the digital version of a post it notes, the original (old school) organising tool! You can use this as a single platform to keep your personal, family and professional projects up-to-date. It is easy to organise, manage and differentiate projects using different cards, stickers and colours. This makes it very useful for designers who have to manage multiple projects at a single time. Every project team member will have access to the project board they are part of, which makes synchronising super easy.

 Wunderlist

wunder

This app allows you to create lists and share them with family and friends. It is one of the top downloaded apps on both Apple and Google Play. The people on your saved list receive alerts on what they are responsible for, and thus makes it easier to complete the task. You can use it to synchronise everything in real-time and share updated information with the concerned people at work or at home.

Google Calendar

Every business owner has to handle tasks that are time sensitive. Having a digital calendar is beneficial in making sure tasks are performed on time. Calendars allow you to set reminders for important events, schedule and reschedule as plans change. The most widely underused feature, and my personal favourite feature, is the invite button. The invite button allows you to invite other google calendar users to meetings via their email addresses. Not only does this ensure that you’re all at the same meeting, but it will inform all parties of any changes to the event automatically! Google calendar is one of my favourite tools, as it is uncomplicated, easy to access and free to use.

LastPass

With multiple transaction accounts and mail boxes to handle, password management is a necessity for entrepreneurs. You should never use the same password for multiple accounts, and you can’t always rely on your memory to remember all your secure passwords. Noting it down is neither a safe nor recommended approach. What you need is a password management program like LastPass that allows you to generate and save passwords for the numerous websites you use. It protects your password data through multiple levels of authentication, and you can also use it on your mobile.

Bullet Journal

Despite the availability of digital applications, some of us are quite content with pen and paper. Here’s a fantastic method for keeping hand written lists, so they don’t get overwhelming: Bullet Journals. A bullet journal is a method of keeping your to-do list manageable. It’s based on categorising all entrees as events, notes or tasks. In this system of rapid logging, an index is created for each month and day to make a note of the tasks due. Every day starts with the listing of tasks for that particular day. Check boxes are used to track the activities, and ones that are incomplete are carried forward to the consecutive day. I suggest you take a look at the Bullet Journal video for more information on how to correctly use this technique.

These are only a few of the hundred or more tools that can be used to increase your productivity. One thing to remember is that it can take some time to find the right mix of tools that suit your style. Once you do, it won’t be long before you reach a point where they help you work more efficiently. They will then play a significant role in improving your productivity.

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Monday 22 June 2015

We’re on our way! Quick toast to a fabulous trip ahead,...



We’re on our way! Quick toast to a fabulous trip ahead, meeting our suppliers, exploring new horizons & discovering incredible new textiles! Can’t wait to bring you back what we find. I absolutely love hearing from you, so please keep up with our trip on Instagram: http://ift.tt/1C7GJT5

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Thursday 18 June 2015

Success In Design Business: How To Become A Brand

How To Become A Brand

To create a successful, long lasting business, you need to be more than a business. You need to be a brand. The terms ‘business’ and ‘brand’ are often used interchangeably, but the fact is that not all businesses are brands. So, what is it that differentiates a brand from a business?

A brand is a signature that makes a product distinct from similar products in the market. Successful brands are perceived as unique; they always deliver high quality products and soon become icons that are easily recognised. The names of such brands are identified at a deeper emotional level, with an image that sticks.


#Growing Your #Fashion #Label: Are You A #Business Or A #Brand?
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Establishing Your Brand

This article on the Entrepreneur, mentions that for a business to become a brand it has to transcend its original category. This means that the business name should become a symbol that people identify with, even when the business grows in a different direction or new products are different from the original line. Lego is an excellent example; what began as well-engineered building blocks for children, later expanded into movies, video games and even amusement parks that have all enhanced the reputation of the brand.


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Building a brand is not easy. It is always work in progress. Many businesses start off well, but once the novelty of the product wears off, they struggle to survive. This is because their owners fail to update their strategy and play up to the customer’s expectations. This Forbes article suggests the following tips to ensure our business grows, and doesn’t become stagnant:

  • Continuously update and revamp the existing line with changing trends.
  • Offer add-ons or additional services that will encourage previous customers to keep visiting.
  • Be bold to experiment with out-of-the-box ideas, so you find more business avenues.
  • Understand the pulse of the customer, and design products to meet their expectations.
  • Study successes and failures closely, find out what caused them, and plan the business strategy accordingly.

This just scratches the surface of creating a business that has longevity. But we’re talking about creating more than this, we’re talking about creating a brand. There are various ways in which to grow a business into a brand. Let us take a look.

Ways To Grow Your Brand

When building a brand, your target should be to define our business to a community of people. For this, the product should come across as a distinct entity with a recognisable personality and interesting characteristics. You need to have a strategy. Your strategic brand building should aim to allow customers to emotionally connect with your brand. This will in turn build brand loyalty and improve the scope for extending your range of products. Here are a few examples of what I mean by Strategic Brand Building:

Collaboration

isabel-marant-x-hm-main

Joining forces with the right partner through collaboration, can enhance the growth prospects of a brand manifold. It allows the two companies to share resources, try innovative ideas, launch unique co-branded products, attract a wider audience and meet baseline target sales.

When launching a collaboration, it is necessary that the goals and objectives of both companies are in alignment and that both brands deliver a consistent message. The integration should be seamless, and for this the partnership should be planned well in advance. Read more about how to build a successful brand collaboration in this article on the Marketer.

Brand Extension

Brand extension simply means to extend your brand name to a new and different product. For brand extension to be successful, there should be a logical link between the parent product and the new one. When this is established, the consumer associates the new product with the reputation of the original brand, and this encourages them to accept the new offering.

Licensing

Last but not the least, licensing is an effective brand-building strategy. It helps to leverage the value of a brand, and protect the intellectual property rights associated with it. Without licensing approval, you are at risk of being ripped off. Anyone can take your intellectual property and use it without signing a license, if you can’t provide proof of ownership.

Avoid this by taking care of the legal stuff like trademarks and copyrights, so the ownership remains with you. Then you can begin to build your brand through licensing.

Licensing agents have knowledge of the marketplace and the skills to convert a brilliant concept or unique creation into money. They can help identify the scope of your product, the partnerships that will benefit you and the right terms and conditions for any licensing contract.

Types Of Licensing Contracts, Benefits & Considerations

Business training

Before scouting out license partners, you should first have a clear idea of the type of agreement you want to enter into. Where remuneration is concerned, you can either choose a paid-up license where you receive a lump-sum amount initially, or a running royalty.

To make the right choice, consider the long-term relationship and if it will be a fair deal. Explore the potential our IP holds for the licensee, the profits they can make and expenses that will be incurred, when citing a royalty fee. The price should be based on industry standards, and deal with exclusivity clauses diligently. Finally, give due consideration to how your IP will be protected, if the licensee sells to a new buyer or files for bankruptcy.

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Wednesday 17 June 2015

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Interior Design Trade Show Round Up 2015 – 2016

Interior Design Trade Show Round Up

The fall of 2015 is always busy for the interiors industry. Whether you are looking for a great place to showcase your brand, to discover new designers for your store or to simply find some inspiration, trade events provide a beautiful starting point to inspire creative, forward-thinking ideas for design enthusiasts from all over the world.

Here’s a compilation of ten must-do events that will dazzle you with their striking presentation and interior design concepts. These events are held throughout the season and located primarily in three major European cities, London, Milan and Paris, but most of these shows are replicated in other cities such as New York and Tokyo should that be of interest.


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100% Design 23 – 26 September 2015 Olympia, London

Interior Design Trade Show Round Up

100% Design is the UK’s largest design trade event, attracting architects and designers from across the globe. First hosted in 1995, the show is defined by four key sections: Interiors, Workplace, Kitchen & Bathrooms and Design & Build. Starting this year, there will also be a presentation of the Luxury and Modern British sections. For 2015, the show will take over a new venue, Olympia London. All 100% Design exhibitors are carefully selected, in order to reflect the show’s focus on design quality, innovation and relevance to the architecture and design community. The show has a corporate feel, showcasing high-end products to an International audience ready to place orders.

Decorex International 20-23 September 2015 Syon Park, London

Decorex International is one of the most important events in the field of interior design which takes place this year at the start of the London Design Festival. With a glorious experience of 38 years, Decorex International is an incredible place to discover the very best, high-end products from an unrivalled collection of more than 400 hand-picked exhibitors. Decorex is not a one-room affair, but it’s not enormous like Paris or Cologne. There is also a great variety of products to keep you excited; furniture, rugs, fabrics and so on. The atmosphere is much more personal and not like enormous fairs where corporates walk around in groups like zombies.

London Design Festival 19-27 September 2015

The London Design Festival is one of the world’s most important annual design events, held to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world and as the gateway to the international creative community. The show draws in the country’s greatest conceptual thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators in order to make a celebration of London’s best designers.

TENT London 24-27 September 2015 Old Truman Brewery, London

tent london

Tent & Super Brands London is the trade show for original thinkers looking to discover the best in contemporary design. This is the perfect place to raise your brand awareness, sell directly to a consumer audience and make new important contacts with top industry figures. This event takes place during London Design Festival and exhibits more than 440 inspiring independent designers from 29 countries.

Design Junction 24-27 September 2015, London

Designjunction is another leading destination for contemporary interior design and culture – and particularly good for anyone interested in home accessories. It features furniture, lighting and product design from around the world. Designjunction showcases many processes as well as products – so there are many demonstrations going on, from glass cutting to tile creating.  There is also ample opportunity for retail sales, with a host of “pop up shop” style vendors on show.  The event is held annually during the London Design Festival in London, the Salone del Mobile, Milan and NYCxDesign in New York.

Home London 13 – 15 September 2015 London Olympia

Since its launch in January 2012, Home London has developed year on year, attracting more key brands and doubling in size. This show puts together a compelling cross-section of stylish products, covering a great deal of market sectors, from kitchen and dining, to tableware, furniture, lighting and garden – primarily homeware retailers. Their focus is on design led brands, featuring more affordable designs as well as the super expensive.

Maison et Objet 4-8 September 2015 Paris

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Maison & Objet is the major event for professionals working in the art of living and contemporary interior design. This show is a unique display of decorations, furniture, accessories, textiles, fragrances and tableware all presented with an extraordinary style that captures the global markets trends in interior design. Maison holds its own in terms of smaller independent brands, fabrics and wallpapers, tableware and decorative accessories. Also, heavyweight French brands Baccarat, Ligne Roset and Roche Bobois always choose their home turf and Maison to unveil their new collections.

Pulse 15-17 May 2016 London Olympia

Pulse London is a lifestyle and design retail event that unites the freshest designers, all carefully selected by experts. Ok, so I’ve cheated here as Pulse is the UK’s only summer trade event, so not technically a “Fall” event, but this is actually one of its benefits and so worth the mention; Pulse allows you to source and buy what your customers want right now, in the season, as well as your long orders for the rest of the year. You can spot the latest innovative products and cutting edge designs from the finest edit of emerging talent. Something else worth noting is that they offer discounts for first time exhibitors, to help you launch your brand into the stratosphere!

Designers Block – 2016 (Dates Not Yet Announced)

Designers block designs and delivers unique, contemporary exhibitions, events and experiences in the UK while working internationally with a variety of independent designers, creative partners, commercial clients and brands. Their aim is to bring the most innovative ideas to the widest possible audience, and they’re great at bringing young and new designers to the forefront. This is what you get by attending this great venue: product design, furniture, lighting, concept design, graphics and illustration, architecture and fashion Installations, interactive workshops, talks and seminars, structures, music and performance.

Milan Furniture Fair 3rd week of April Milan

milan-furniture-fair-001

The Milan Furniture Fair is held annually in Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The exhibition showcases the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world. This important interior design exhibition is considered a leading venue for the display of new products by designers of furniture, lighting and other home furnishings. It also hosts many small events that take place across the city. A plus for newcomers is that part of the main fair is reserved for young designers and prototypes – an ideal place to find bright new talent and unheard of products.

So that’s it for my picks! Many of them are still taking on exhibitors for this year – so get in there quick if you want to get involved. If it’s your first forray into trade shows you may want to attend a few, get a feel for them, pick up some inspiration and decide where your brand may fit best. Costs for general attendance and stalls varies between shows, so check out their websites for more details.

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Thursday 11 June 2015

What Is A Range Plan For Fashion Designers?

range plan

The fashion world is a high paced environment where efficiency and innovation reign supreme. To achieve any goal you must have plan, and in this business that is no exception. Last week we talked about business plans, this week we discover why great designers must have a solid understanding of range plans.


What is a range plan? #Fashion #Design
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A range plan is an overview of your collection with all of the design and financial parameters set out. The plan outlines the specifics of your collection; from how many styles you will have, to what fabrics and colourways will be used. It is used before you dive into large scale production. This is incredibly useful for you to follow as a designer but most importantly it gives potential buyers a clear understanding of your vision.

Range plans usually include:

  • Total number of garments
  • Illustrations or flat drawings of every garment
  • Proportion of different garments types (Tops/bottoms/dresses)
  • Specific garment styles
  • Different fabrics and colourways for each garment
  • Cost price per garment
  • Selling price per garment
  • Order quantities per style
  • Sizes
  • Manufacturer details

While this can seem overwhelming, take it from me, it doesn’t have to be. There are tons of resources online to help you with a range plan, so I’m not that interested in taking you through it. But I’d like to take a quick look at WHY you need one in the first place, so instead of just going through the motions, you can actually get to grips with your business and set yourself up for success.

1. Design

What Is A Range Plan

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and the first step to any great line or collection is a cohesive vision. The story of entire civilisations can be told from the garments that they wore. Think about the story of your designs and the culture they reflect. A tried and true way to accomplish piecing your thoughts together is to set up a mood board, consisting of colour palettes, textures and themes from various sources.

When you have the overall concept of your line, it is time to begin looking at the market you are selling to. Think specifically about your brand and the people that it will serve. Get specific – narrow your overall market. Consider income level, gender, age and what that particular group is looking for as the function of their attire. This will have an immense impact on not only the marketing of your line, but the manufacturing of it too!


Your tarket market will have an immense impact on your manufacturing choices. #range #plan
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2. Diversity

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when looking at a designer collection and think that you need to produce a huge range of completely different garments per collection. This just isn’t the case. Remember, changing minor details on the pattern, or using a different fabric or simply just a different colour can totally change the feel of a garment. Buyers often prefer to have a few key styles and number of options within that style that they can choose to best fit their customers. It also massively cuts down your work load.

The Cutting Glass have done an awesome “by numbers” analysis of a Rick Owens runway collection, showing how many styles are different or the same just in different colours or fabrics. It really puts the range plan into context.

Rick Owens Cutting

3. Costing

One of the many reasons laying the foundation of a streamlined range plan is so important is that each part affects the others. When you first started your plan, I mentioned that it was important to have a vision and understand the niche market you are serving. This is mainly because when it comes to your pricing strategy knowing which niche you are targeting can define the strategy you choose. Knowing how much money your target market is willing to spend will undoubtedly be a factor when choosing the fabrics and production methods and vice versa.

The biggest factors when pricing your line are raw material and production costs. Remember, if a garment has a more complicated pattern or the sewing together is quite labour intensive, then your production will take longer, meaning costs will be higher. You may want think about how to offset this. For example, if you have one or two more complicated pieces in the collection, you may have a few really simple designs that are super quick to make.

The same goes for choosing fabrics. You may want to use a few luxury fabrics mixed with some cheaper lines so you can stick to an overall budget. Or if you are intent on using only the highest quality fabrics, you need a clear strategy for reaching out to a high end market.

4. Sourcing

Another important part of your range plan needs to be where you are sourcing your fabrics from. As Director of Offset Warehouse, a fabric shop, I cannot tell you how important it is to know where you fabric is coming from and making sure the fabric you wish to use is still going to be in stock when you want to go into production. There’s no use creating a sample piece from limited edition or end of line fabric that you can’t get again. It only takes a quick enquiry to check if a fabric is an ongoing stock line.

black sateen

Cultivating solid relationships with your source is key to having a successful line. Also, be prepared when talking to fabric reps and agents about what you are looking for and remember to ask for wholesale prices. The price per metre of fabrics will often go down with the more you buy. That’s definitely something you need to consider in your range plan, so don’t just look at the initial price. At Offset Warehouse we include a tiered pricing system on our fabrics so you know straight off the bat how much cheaper it is to buy in bulk. Take this Sateen for example, if you buy 50 metres you save a whopping 50% per metre! This means that the cost of each garment will become lower with the more you make.

Think about including physical fabric samples in your range plan too, this will give buyers and even better understanding and feel for your collection.

Resources

range plan sarah hellen

So there you have the basics behind creating a range plan. Just like a business plan, a range plan is primarily for yourself, so include what you need. But if it’s all a bit overwhelming, there are plenty of resources online to sink your teeth into before you get started. There are a plethora of templates you can work to for your first collection, and once you’ve got the hang of them, you’ll have the confidence to embellish and make your range plan unique to you.

Here are two free templates to get you started (click to open in a new window & download):

FREE RANGE PLAN TEMPLATE Sheet1

FREE RANGE PLAN TEMPLATE

Check out this YouTube video talking you through a range plan template.  Range plans are big business and you can even take courses in how effectively range plan like this one at the Fashion Retail Academy.

The development of a range plan takes careful consideration and collaboration between designers, buyers and merchandisers. While you may consider fashion your art form, you must remember that it is also a business. Keeping true to your vision is important, but to make money you must be organised, and plan! In fashion, as in life, there must be a balance.

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Wednesday 10 June 2015

Tuesday 9 June 2015

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Monday 8 June 2015

Should I Set Up A Pop Up Shop For My Brand?

Should I Set Up A Pop Up Shop

Recently we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of Pop Up shops opening worldwide, with retailers both small and large flocking to set up their own versions. This phenomenon offers huge benefits to product designers and brands, so I thought I’d take a look at some of the ways you can use Pop Up shops to your advantage and how you can set up a Pop Up shop for your own brand!

What Is A Pop Up Shop?

The phrase ‘pop up shop’, also referred to as a ‘flash shop’, describes a physical store on a high street or in a shopping centre, where the brand that occupies the space is not there permanently. The space is stocked and open for a small amount of time, sometimes a day, sometimes a week, sometimes month. However long it is, everyone knows that it will soon be over, it is temporary.


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How Can I Use A Pop Up Shop To My Advantage?

1. Test Growing Into A Bricks & Mortar Business

If you’re an ecommerce business, pop-up shops provide a relatively low-cost way to explore adding an additional revenue stream, or fully converting to a bricks and mortar store.

1a) It’s Cheaper

Launching a pop-up shop is 80% cheaper than a traditional retail store. For a brand that is not completely established, it would be pretty difficult to try to finance a full time, open ended shop. Building a brand with regular, loyal customers takes a lot of time. By launching a retail outlet as a fledgling company, you are risking a huge financial overhead, without the security of a good base level of customers. At the same time, being able to reach your customers as they are out and about doing their shopping is a wonderful way to gain new customers and admirers. So it’s a bit of a catch-22 situation. In steps the “Pop Up Shop”. For those brands that are seeking to expand but do not yet have the finance to do so, a pop up shop is a great middle ground to ensure that your brand can get some exposure without too much money tied up in it.

1b) To Go To Where Your Customers Are

This is an especially strong reason to do a pop-up shop when you’ve had some experience selling online and have some solid data on the areas or locations that your customers most frequent. The benefit of being able to select these certain streets, kiosks and vacant gallery spaces, is that they will likely be filled with other potential target customers of the same demographic who haven’t heard of you yet.

1c) Create A Buzz For Your Business Before A Shop Launch

Take the incredible opportunity to create some buzz around you and your business before you take the plunge. Driving pre-orders before launching a full range and giving your potential customers a live demo or walking them through how your product works is a great way to get through to those early adopters.

2. Generate Additional Sales

Not only is it a fraction of what you’d pay for an actual physical retail location, if the concept is executed and popularised well, you could rake in a significant profit! About 95% of all purchases are still completed offline, so this is a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of the retail channel and generate more sales.

3. Engage Customers Offline & Build Relationships

The pop-up retail format allows you to personally get to know your customers and build stronger relationships. There’s also something about being able to physically touch a product before you buy which adds another opportunity for your customers to fall in love with your product and you!

4. Allow Your Customers To Enjoy Your Products

As incredible as online shopping is, not being able to try on or see a product before purchasing can be a real pain point for customers. A study by Accenture also showed that 78% of shoppers are “webrooming” – browsing online, then purchasing in a store.

5. Create “Get It While It Lasts” Urgency & Increase Sales

A pop-up shop offers a limited window of time for consumers to purchase your products – a huge driver in getting customers to buy. This is why it’s also a great opportunity to liquidate overstocked, end of line merchandise. Scarcity drives action through customers wanting exclusive, limited edition, or other products they can’t get otherwise, and a pop-up shop puts you in a perfect position to take advantage.

6. Lift Sales Around The Holiday

Tying your brand closely with a holiday and giving consumers a physical location to access you is a great way to be opportunistic and increase the chance of a customer visiting you as well as help a little lift in seasonal sales.

7. Test New Products with New Customers

Pop up shops allow you to easily enter a new market and launch new products on the cheap. When you’re trying to sell a new product, a pop-up shop can give you the opportunity to test out your marketing materials, with real-time feedback on how it can be improved straight from the customer.

You might also have a product that’s very hard to sell online because no one is actively looking for it, or people just don’t find it easy to “get” – think beard oil, or plastic wrap alternatives. Pop-ups can be an effective way to demonstrate these hard-to-understand product and get people intrigued enough to either become customers there and then or great leads.

8. Generate Brand Awareness

By engaging prospective customers offline and delighting them with incredible customer service and beautiful quality products that they love, you can take the opportunity to direct them to your online store and social platforms, where they can stay in touch and become loyal fans.

Where To Start?

Starting up a retail space is incredibly daunting, so here are some very simple procedures that you can follow to ensure that your pop up shop not only opens and runs, but is successful.

Location, Location, Location

To start with, you need to pick your location. This should be somewhere interesting and suitable for your product, and at the same time, it’s good to be where your natural customers already are. Driving your current customers to a shop miles from where they live or work, will be a big challenge.  A high foot traffic area is essential, otherwise no one new will stumble across your pop up shop – and that’s half the point!

Boxpark

Budget

Decide what you’re willing to spend on your pop up shop. This will greatly vary depending on the format you decide on in the next step. Here are some of the costs you will need to consider:

  • Rent
  • Staffing
  • Utilities
  • Insurance
  • Internet
  • POS
  • Credit Card Fees
  • Merchandising Fixtures
  • Furniture
  • Checkout Counter
  • Lighting
  • Paint
  • Inventory
  • Window Display Props
  • Marketing and Promotion
  • Food and Drinks

Choose Your Pop Up Format

Recently, pop up shops have grown so much in popularity, that there are a huge number of options open to you. You could look into permanent places that have the infrastructure set up to rotate different brands and enterprises. One of these is Box Park in Shoreditch. Depending on the popularity and location of these premises, this can be pretty costly. Or why not try websites such as We Are Pop Up or Appear Here who act as an “alternative to commercial property agents”. Not only can you list your free free space or empty shop on there, but you can browse a list of available places and occupy one yourself! There are a huge variety of costs, as well as space types and locations.

Alternatively, to save a bit of money and cut out the middle man, you can hunt out an interesting place all on your own. Perhaps an empty shop on your high street, or even a community centre. The more imaginative, the better.

There are several things to think about with your location relating to both the location of the shop, and also the interior space. Here’s a little checklist to help:

Location

  1. What is the foot-traffic like in the area?
  2. Who are your neighbours – do they complement your brand? It’s imperative that you do your market research before setting up, have a physical walk around the area and speak to local people – what do they want to see in their high street?
  3. Are there any events or community gatherings taking place in the vicinity?
  4. Is the entrance noticeable?
  5. How clean is it?
  6. Is the location accessible by public transit and is there parking nearby?
  7. Is there a street facing display window and will you be allowed to use it?

Interior Space

  1. Is there a stockroom & are you allowed to use it?
  2. Does the lighting fit your brand? Can they be dimmed or alternative lamps be brought in?
  3. What security is there and is there a camera to prevent theft?
  4. Is there Wi-Fi (particularly important if it’s needed for credit card transactions) and can it be made available to customers?
  5. Is there a sink and a washroom?

Once you’ve done your homework and assessed whether a potential location is a good fit or not, the next step is to see the place in person during the hours the pop-up will run. Make sure to do this multiple times throughout the week at different times of the day. From there, once you’ve got your mind made, request to see the lease agreement.

Get Pricing

Naturally you will want to create your pop up shop with the most return on investment that you can. One way to make more profit, is by spending less to start with. It’s worth trying to reduce fit out, visual merchandising and marketing costs by offering suppliers profile as a sponsor in exchange for assistance or free materials.

You may also be able to team up with a leisure-based space provider. I’ve seen a men’s fashion retailer popup in an East London barber shop, and a jewellery brand popup in an edgy bar – both running joint events and both benefitting from the increased footfall and customer interest.

Luckily, the current trend with retail design is quite minimalist and industrial around the edges, so your store doesn’t need to look perfect. Here are some things to think about:

  • What is the rental cost and what is included in this cost?
  • Will you have to cover any additional utility costs?
  • Is the internet or WiFi included?
  • What is the deposit required to secure the venue?

Should I Set Up A Pop Up Shop

Get Insurance

Make sure that you get insurance for your project, as it is not standard with short term leases. And don’t scrimp on this! The last thing that you want is to have a problem that is not covered by your insurance, that could become a major set back for your brand. Instead, get insurance that covers absolutely every eventuality for every single moment that your stock will be in there.

Employees (aka Friends & Family)

Once you’ve decided on your location, venue and insurance, you need help to get the stock in, kit the shop out and run it!  Staffing tends to be the most expensive part of running a shop. To save money, you’ll probably end up being in the shop yourself for the most part – but even us entrepreneurs need a break! So ask friends and family to help out and give yourself a well earned break every now and then. A great alternative is to take another look at your “format” (as we mentioned above), as there are some pop up shops that allow you to not only share space with other businesses, but also to divide the time looking after the shop premises between you. Leaving you with much more free time to get all your other work done!

Taking the Plunge

Before you sign anything, take a few days to thoroughly review the agreement, or better yet, have a legal professional take a look to mitigate liabilities and make sure there aren’t any shortcomings in the deal. However, if the price is right, the agreement works with your specifications, and the location is perfect for your goals, then you’ll want to put down the initial deposit to secure the venue and start planning how you’re going to make the pop-up a success.

Once you’ve signed, be sure to give yourself a pat on the back and congratulate yourself on your very first pop-up space.

Create Some Buzz

Don’t just sit back and wait for customers to come rushing in – because they won’t!  Make the most of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, post plenty of photos, engage with your customers. Hand out flyers on the day of the pop-up and get in touch with local magazines and newspapers – a lot of them will have a free calendar you can place your event in. Introduce yourself to businesses in the local area area and invite them to an exclusive pop-up launch event if you can, and use social media, especially Twitter to make contact.

The best pop-ups get people talking. They leave a lasting impression. Think about giving your shop a theme or linking it up with a national event. Why not get the place brimming with energy with live music or a free drink? Try to create a fun and quirky ‘instagram moment’ that leaves customers with an experience to share with friends.

If It Doesn’t Work Out

PopUp

When you first open up your pop up shop, the thing is to remember is that it is an experiment. There is no hard and fast rule for success when it comes to running a pop up shop. You may have used your best sales techniques and run an incredible in-store marketing campaign, but you still may not have made a profit. That does NOT mean that your company is a disaster or a failure. You will find that your brand awareness has increased, which will more than make up for the slight loss in immediate finances – all of the people that saw your brand and liked them could later go online and look for you. That means that you could be making sales later on that can be traced back to your pop up shop. Don’t think of it as a loss, think of it as a marketing spend.

Opening up a pop up shop for your brand is not for everyone, but for many people it can be the first step to success. Whatever you do, do your research, talk to others who’ve gone through the same process and give your pop up the best exposure you can and the best chance for success!

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Saturday 6 June 2015

When you think about it, the environmental impact of a wedding...



When you think about it, the environmental impact of a wedding can be huge! Here are our tips for ‘greening’ your wedding. Did you do any greening at your wedding?

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Friday 5 June 2015

What Are The Most Influential Design Blogs?

fashion laptop

Whether you’re an interior designer, clothing designer or print maker, great design blogs are an incredible source of inspiration and learning. They are treasure troves of style, images and designs, and can often be a wonderful place to exchange ideas with other designers. Here’s my top list of design blogs you should be following…


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What Are Design Blogs?

To put it very simply, a design blog is a place where the creator can bring together ideas and inspiration, as well as suggestions and sneak peeks into their work. Many collaborations have started with a message left on a design blog. There are hundreds of thousands of different kinds of design blogs out there, and you could spend half of your life trying to just get through them. So here’s my list of the most influential design blogs, with their fingers firmly on the pulse of design.


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Creative Review

If you’re looking for a wonderful way to quickly gain insight into the design world, then this is the place for you. As well as writing articles focused on designs, they have also created a weekly roundup of different thoughts and ideas that would be of interest to fashion designers and interior designers. A definite if you don’t have much time to trawl through the internet.

It’s Nice That

We all have that moment where we see something fantastic and think, “it’s nice that”! Well, the It’s Nice That blog is a website solely dedicated to doing just that. They’ve literally pulled together some of the most fabulous things about the design world that you may not have stumbled across yet, and presented them all on a plate. Fabulous for a little design inspiration, or just a mini-break from your design world.

Erik Kessels - Unfinished Fathers. Found on www.itsnicethat.com

Erik Kessels – Unfinished Fathers. Found on www.itsnicethat.com

Behance

What I love about Behance is that it is an amazing way for designers of all areas, all media, and all traditions, to showcase some of the ideas that they are currently working on, and receive some feedback on exactly what other professionals think. This is a truly collaborative process, and something that you can gain from as well as contribute to, so you should see this design blog as something that is just as much yours as it is everyone else’s. They also have a great jobs board too.

Design Milk

There are very few interior design blogs that are as good as Design Milk. I would highly recommend getting lost in it for a few hours. It is great to challenge your preconceptions about what people are enjoying and desiring in their interior design, so get on here for some thought-provoking, cutting edge design and some market research.

The Macarons, Lamps by Davide G. Aquini and produced by IN by Progetti in Luce. Found www.design-milk.com

The Macarons, Lamps by Davide G. Aquini and produced by IN by Progetti in Luce. Found www.design-milk.com

Creative Safari

A relatively new kid on the blog scene, Creative Sarfari has just been launched by the kooky cats at Ohh Deer, the go to marketplace for quirky illustrated gifts. The content may be curated, but anyone can submit work to Creative Safari. It doesn’t just have to be illustration either. It just has to be interesting and creative. Ohh Deer have a large social media presence, and importantly, not just with design folk, so your work could be seen by thousands. Its varied content is also great for inspiration hunting.

Work by Tordis Kayma from http://ift.tt/1CJ1rUd

How Can I Learn From Them?

No matter how experienced or knowledgeable you already are, there is always something new to learn or fresh perspective to gain. If you are looking for some inspiration for a new fashion collection, you can gain some insight into what other people are enjoying. If you need to do some market research and see which trends are popular, design blogs can help you there. If you are looking for a partner, someone who works in a different medium who can work on a project with you from a different angle, a design blog could be your answer. You will never cease to learn if you read design blogs regularly.

What Are Some Of The Dangers?

It may sound odd to speak of ‘dangers’ when talking about a design blog, but when creativity and intellectual ownership come into play, there is always some danger. As we all know, there is a vast difference between being inspired by someone and directly stealing their designs. No one wants to be the latter, but it can be very easy to browse different design blogs and suddenly find yourself extending their idea. That is, of course, a delicate situation, and you must always be careful.

Get Involved

As a designer you should always have one eye on other things happening in the design world. These blogs filter out the best of what’s going on. It doesn’t have to be a great slog to check each blog daily – follow a few on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or sign up to newsletters and their content will come straight to you!

Are there any influential design blogs we missed? Leave a comment below!

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What Are The Most Influential Design Blogs?

What Are The Most Influential Design Blogs?

Whether you’re an interior designer, clothing designer or print maker, great design blogs are an incredible source of inspiration and learning. They are treasure troves of style, images and designs, and can often be a wonderful place to exchange ideas with other designers. Here’s my top list of design blogs you should be following…

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Thursday 4 June 2015