How to make a Breakthrough in Fashion

On Monday I visited an exciting event in London called "Breakthrough in fashion" - a one day all-you-need-to-know conference for fashion designers. There were selected range of workshops including PR, Marketing, eCommerce, Manufacturing & Distribution, Trend Forecasting, Building Retail Environments, Blogging, the Buying Process, and more.

The expert guest speakers were:

* Nigel Oddy (CEO, House of Fraser): 'Building Success and Growth in Fashion Retail'
* Paul Costelloe (Fashion Designer) 'The Story of a Successful Fashion Designer'
* Michael Sheridan (CEO, Sheridan & Co): 'Designing A Captivating Retail Environment'
* Lauretta Roberts (Director of Brand and Propositions at WGSN/Managing Director and Editor in Chief at The Industry): 'Keeping Up With The Latest Fashion Trends'
* Shailina Parti (Buying and Merchandising Director at Jigsaw UK) 'What Fashion Buyers Look For, And How To Approach Them'
* Val?rie Eldenmalm (Ecommerce Expert/Former Chief Digital Officer at a Leading Luxury Fashion House, and Former Buying Director Ecommerce at Ralph Lauren) 'How To Maximise Sales On Your Website And Build Effective Ecommerce Strategies'
* Laetitia Wajnapel (Founder/Blogger at Mademoiselle Robot): 'Creating A Successful Online Story'
* Kate Hills (Managing Director at Make It British/Meet the Manufacturer): 'From Design to Production: How to Work With UK Manufacturers'
* Araminta Sheridan (Founder at Araminta Marketing): 'How To Market Your Fashion Brand Effectively'
* Alex Babahmadi (PR Manager at Amanda Wakeley): 'Importance of Strategic PR to Garner Great Press Coverage'
* Tamsin Lejeune (CEO at Ethical Fashion Forum and mysource.io): 'Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion'


How to make a Breakthrough in Fashion
The Fashion Designer Paul Costelloe


I will try to summarise the most valuable advices for the fashion designers, who want to develop their own brand:

- Have a clear brand identity and create a successful story

- Have a long term marketing strategy that needs to communicate a message to the clients. You have to answer the questions:

*What can I do to help the society?
* Who is the customer and what do they expect?
* What the customer wants?
* Where can I engage with the customer?

The strategy is omnichannel retailing. Such channels include retail stores, online stores, mobile stores, mobile app stores, telephone sales and any other method of transacting with a customer. Transacting includes browsing, buying, returning as well as pre-sale and after-sale service.

You have to use statistics to see which channels convert the most.

More an more brands offer a combination: Buy online - return to store.


How to make a Breakthrough in Fashion


- Build a relationship with journalists

- Use social media to communicate with clients

- Keep up with the latest fashion trends

- Balance beautiful things with profit

And while maximising benefits to people and profits you should try to minimise impact on the environment.


Photos: © Be Global Fashion Network


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Tags:fashion business, planning, customers, retail, sale, social media, communication, sustainability, environment, profit

About the Author

Silvia Kabaivanova

As the founder of Be Global Fashion Network and several other fashion websites, Silvia has been working for more than 20 years covering fashion industry trends and news. With a passion for the fashion business, she focuses on sustainable fashion and innovations, custom fashion and print on demand services. Silvia is a Chairman of Bulgarian Fashion Association. You can reach her at silvia@bgfashion.net


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