iSpy ... Personalised Customer Service
September 30 2009
Some retailers will go to admirable lengths to service their customers' needs, as iSpyStyle director Kate Vandermeer recounts.
Kate Vandermeer is director of iSpyStyle - a website and consultancy that spies on the design and fashion industry providing trend and business information targeted to inspire, inform and connect. Follow Kate on Twitter at www.twitter.com/iSpyStyle_Kate or subscribe to her website for free on www.ispystyle.net
The role of Customer Service has come a long way, however there is still a sense of apathy from many retailers about pushing the boundaries of what constitutes Customer Service and how they can adopt a more personalised, interactive approach.
Jeanswest have come up with a unique solution for that painful rear-view-jean-trying-on-experience which really synergises their brand with their key demographic and still solves a practical problem.
Instead of customers contorting their necks to check their rear view is flattering in the jeans they are trying on, Jeanswest have developed a "butt cam". They've installed Butt Cam's in their Bondi, Rundle Mall and Chadstone fitting rooms with a further roll out planned for other stores.
If you're thinking this is a big brother moment, don't fear. The Butt Cam is not a recording device, merely a mute 'Trinny & Susannah' experience in the communal area of the fitting rooms! Since launching, it's caused quite a stir, even making its way onto Coco Perez (the fashion offshoot of Perez Hilton's infamous celebrity blog).
Many retailers would do well to mimic this type of customer service that incorporates technology, yet is tailored to their business and offers a superior customer experience in store.
Trend Setter - Zooey Deschanel
September 30 2009
Unconventional Hollywood starlet Zooey Deschanel is the latest fashion maverick to inspire us with her individual and quirky sense of style. Here Mpdclick deconstructs the Deschanel magic.
The multitalented American born actress embodies the spirit of the slash/slash generationm, boasting a commendable career on the big screen as well as enjoying burgeoning musical success as part of indie folk duo 'She & Him'.
Much like her quirky film choices, her style too has a sense of independence and alternative glamour reinforcing the feeling that this is a girl who truly listens to the beat of her own drum. Zany, goofy and completely adorable Deschanel combines her love of the old school with her bohemian folk sensibility resulting in a vintage vixen-come-housewife look vibrant with her obvious 'joie de vivre' and hippy spirit.
She can often be spotted in retro 1950's and 60's ensembles favouring flirty pin-up dresses and sweet 60's jackets.
MPDClick Trend Insight - 'Keeping it Clean'
September 16 2009
A key theme UK trend forecaster MPDClick is predicting for AW 10/11 is 'Cleanse'. Here Mudpie's Australasian representative Ginger Trend Consulting shares the theme's highlights.
The Cleanse trend sees technology and simplicity combine in response to a compelling need for a fuss free, efficient way of life.
The extreme formations of de-constructivist architecture and the visionary designs of retro futurism join in a juxtaposition of linear compositions and fluid lines. Softening the trend, the harmony of light reflects a sensual approach to eco issues and organic influences which are integral for a sense of peaceful morality.
The Cleanse trend is divided into three directions; Concept, Balance and Glow. Concept is inspired by the clean lines of minimalist architecture with the foresight of retro futurism, while Balance evokes a feeling of calm, cleanliness and peace as comfort and tranquillity is achieved through the Eastern practice of meditation and Glow takes a sensual approach with ethereal, light inspired aesthetics.
Fashion on film
September 2 2009
When Melbourne label Otto and Spike decided to make a short film, it was entering new creative territory, but the fun, YouTube friendly result proved a perfect fit for the brand it promotes. Fashion Exposed Online talks to Otto and Spike's Alasdair MacKinnon about accessories, authenticity and strange goings on down at the Otto and Spike factory...
What was the idea behind the film?
We commissioned "Storming the Castle" as a means to effectively communicate our brand in other markets, where it would be impossible for retailers and consumers to access our brand culture. We believe that the context of our brand is an integral part of the product. The story behind the brand and each style are a large part of what constitutes our unique selling points.
What's the story?
Directed by Ruby MacKinnon with an original musical score by Julius Miller, "Storming the Castle" captures the heritage, philosophy, character and humanity of Otto and Spike. Shot entirely in our working environment (factory and surrounds) it brings our product to life 'on the body'. It is a children's tale about eight girls who discover an open door to a factory and venture in. Believing they are alone - they ransack a castle and stir the 'scarf monsters' lurking in the shadows. Their contact with Otto and Spike garments brings the colourful world of the scarf monsters to light. After amusing themselves with the garments they discover they are not alone and flee the factory leaving the 'scarfies' to continue their good work.
Tell us about the brand
Otto and Spike is an Australian made artisan product, with all components ethically produced in-house. The garments feature beautiful yarns sourced from growers in Australia and New Zealand and produced with respect for the environment. The brand's strong identity is the result of a passion for knitting, a desire to operate outside the short cycles of disposability and mass consumption, and the skill and ingenuity of its staff.
Otto and Spike accessories show the results of years of adapting, reusing, salvaging, saving and recycling - qualities that have helped the business to survive for forty years. Their garments reflect a belief in the lasting value of good design.
The story of Otto and Spike also mirrors the regeneration of Brunswick, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, from gritty working class beginnings that symbolised new hope for many European migrants, to the development of a strong aesthetic identity, where industry and diversity are inextricably entwined.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQh_ESaHJqE
Working the networking craze
19 August 2009
With myPetsQuare and sQ spring summer 09/10 ranges set to land in stores any minute now, label founders Angelique May-Bennett and Vicki Lee are celebrating the brands' standout growth and first time foray into the US market. Fashion Exposed Online talks retail, web-based social networking and tropical getaways with the dynamic duo.
Vicki Lee and Angelique May-Bennett
Contrasting backgrounds have created an invaluable balance in Vicki Lee and Angelique May-Bennett's partnership. Lee, 28, an ex-lawyer, left being a legal eagle to follow her passion for fashion while May-Bennett, 37, boasts a background of modelling, styling and fashion management, between New York and Sydney.
Tell us about your labels
Formed in September 2007, myPetsQuare has found its home with the cool kids of Sydney's Surry Hills and similar fashion addicts everywhere. Offbeat and quirky, with different and contradicting fabric choices and personalised prints, myPetsQuare styles often find themselves ahead of fashion movements. The name is symbolic of a little square that is like a young adult, not quite sure where he or she is in the world but willing to experiment, travel and learn more in order to know itself better. The square is also symbolic of thinking outside the square, not conforming to stereotypes.
sQ, our second label, launched in August 2008, incorporates high end fabrics, including fine silks and organzas and extensive detailing. sQ's first collection 'Pyphoria, The Velvet Cherry and The Ectoplasmic manor' for Winter 08, adopted as its themes Robert Browning poem Porphyria's Lover, David Lynch's Blue Velvet and a haunted mansion. Meanwhile, fancy hats and the glamour of an 80s pool party or a mansion in the Hamptons, New York, inspire the latest collection.
What gap in the market do your labels fill?
Stores and customers buy from our labels because we create styles that are not mass market, they know that each season is limited and exclusive; once it's sold, the item is never repeated. Our prints are all made in house, and the hand screen printing also maintains the unique quality of each garment.
What's your approach to distribution?
We are very selective with our stores. We need to really like them and imagine that we'd shop there. They also need to be supportive of Australian designers. We have so much talent in Australia, it's a really exciting and happening time right now for Australian fashion - we are creating a new identity that has moved away from king gees and thongs!
What role has web-based networking played in the business' growth?
Our first label, myPetsQuare, got popular at the same time that Myspace in Australia got popular. The kids on Myspace are the same as us, so we got internet savvy together, meeting each other and creating our pages, sharing our ideas and showing each other the creative things we can all do.
Where is your product manufactured?
We produce in Hong Kong and Bali. The Balinese are artisans of the highest calibre. Everything they do is offered in beauty as its integral in their culture. Plus we get to take time in the tropics!
How has the company weathered the downturn?
Our product is very competitive, so when buyers' budgets were restricted, they offered us their biggest orders ever. We worked harder to make our product better as soon as we heard about the economic downturn. It was a good excuse for us to evolve and improve, like dusting off a diamond. It made us excel and grow even faster.
Going into summer 09/10 we have 69 stockists; last season - winter 09 - we had 45, the season before that about 32 and our first season about 23, so growth has remained strong and steady despite ups and downs
What are the company's plans over three to five years?
We receive daily requests for products in the US, so we are opening our door to discussions with a few showrooms and stores there. We have our first US delivery within weeks.
Does the company plan to go into retail?
Vicki comes from a family in retail, so we are definitely planning to go into retail when the time is right.
myPetsQuare All The Way SS0910 collection is available today and sQ Meet Me At The Pool At Midnight SS0910 collection is available early September from selected boutiques nationally and in NZ, the US and online at www.mypetsquare.com
Images: top, myPetsQuare - bottom, sQ.
Green Goddess
5 August 2009
Tiffany Treloar's exotic fabrics have long illustrated her fascination for plants and flowers, but in recent years the designer has taken her love of nature a step further, through a growing commitment to eco-fashion.
Tiffany Treloar
High end designer Tiffany Treloar learned fashion from her mother Prue Acton, before spreading her wings to design and sell her own textiles and clothing. Launched in 1999, her label is now a byword for feminine garments featuring exotic, vibrant prints.
It's not often that a scientist from renowned research facility CSIRO is seen mixing it with fashion industry types, but on July 30 in Melbourne this was the scenario, as designer Tiffany Treloar hosted an information evening on her move into eco fashion. Among the speakers at the event was Dr Ian Russell, a CSIRO environmental specialist who has been working with Treloar for some time to enhance the sustainability of her business.
Launched with the assistance of a grant from AusIndustry, Treloar's eco initiative, dubbed Project 332, has seen the introduction of organic cotton, linen and lyocell into her spring/summer 2009 collection. From a big picture perspective, Treloar says it also entails ongoing research and implementation of sustainable measures across her business, through the use of more eco-friendly fabrics and textile printing techniques. It has also resulted in an audit of the carbon footprint of her St Kilda studio, which achieved a four star rating, an impressively high standard of greenhouse environmental performance.
Treloar and Dr Russell have also been analysing textile products carrying the EU Eco Label - a highly regarded standard used in Europe, which focuses on: limited use of substances harmful to the environment and to health; reduced air and water pollution; textile shrink resistance during washing and drying; and colour resistance to perspiration, washing, wet and dry rubbing and light exposure.
Taking its name from the number of Treloar's house, "332" first germinated when the designer and husband Richard Cornish looked at "food miles" and their own daily impact on the environment, and realised things had to change.
"Project 332 is about: designing for longevity; adopting a holistic approach to business; promoting best practice and contributing to environmental sustainable actions, learning and education," she says, adding that finding sustainable solutions is as ongoing challenge.
Speaking at the event on July 30, Dr Russell acknowledged that implementing change at a small business level was no easy feat. However, with textiles the second largest global industry, the trend for "sustainable textiles" was growing.
"Retailers are interested in eco textiles as they need to protect their brands," he said, adding textile and fashion suppliers stood to gain from targeting retailers and consumers with easily recognisable "Eco labels".
For Treloar therefore, Project 332 is not only an ethical imperative; it‘s a commercial one. As the daughter of fashion icon Prue Acton, and now a mother of two, she also sees it as an important legacy for her children and the fashion industry.
"My vision for Project 332 is to create beautiful, environmentally sustainable clothing for women who care about the environment and the impact of what they are wearing. I am using design solutions to find better alternatives, seeking out the ‘right' information - not always an easy task. I'm also actively seeking to engage the fashion industry and consumers in the education process about sustainable development."
"It was encouraging on July 30 to see so many industry colleagues together, to get a greater understanding of the impact that our industry has on the environment. Creating Project 332, a sustainable collection, has taken over 12 months of research and development. We look forward to keeping the conversation going about the importance of understanding and acknowledging the impact that our industry has on the environment."
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