Progress Update!

Thought I would put a few pictures up here of all the bits I've been working on this week. As I said before, timetable has already gone out the window. The business plan section is pretty much there, and I'm about 75% done with my comp shop, so the next couple of weeks will be spent doing a small trend report and getting the range plan sorted! This is probably going to be the biggest task for me as it involves a looot of Photoshop, which always takes so much longer than I think it will!
Anyway, here are a few shots from my business plan (Haven't included a SWOT because that is all text, no fun to look at).

Introduction to the business report

A bit on the brand values of ASOS and where its CEO sees their future

Research summary

Summary of my survey results - the survey was really useful so thanks to anyone who completed it!

Brief introduction to the history of Street Style photography, and how it is used by designers

Meet the Bloggers Page

So there we have it! A week's work - doesn't look like much does it?! Hopefully by next weekend I will have the beginnings of a range to put on here!

Also, the bottom image on this post is my 'meet the bloggers' page, an introduction to the three bloggers I have chosen to edit each of my ranges. I've chosen Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist to edit the Work range because he seems very drawn to tailoring in his blog. I've picked Garance Dore to edit the Rest range because she takes a lot of inspiration from chilled out, Miami style. Finally Susie Bubble will edit the Play range, which is going to be based around luxurious shiny/sparkly fabrics and interesting details like laser cutting - Susie is always writing about new clothing innovations so I think she best suits the more cutting-edge range.

I'm away for the weekend now, going to relax before getting stuck in again on Monday!

Full Steam Ahead!

Today I had my SOI (Statement Of Intent) presentation, which went pretty well. Got a bit of a grilling as I find it quite hard to put my idea into words and I'm not sure I explain it too well, but my tutors said it was a very original idea and to go for it! The main bit of advice I got was not to focus on fitting it into traditional retailing seasons, as ASOS doesn't buy like that. This actually works perfectly as the 'Work' line is looking (in my head) to be much more wintery than the beachy 'Rest' collection. My tutors also said to make sure the link to street style is evident throughout - to base the range on real outfits worn by real people. This I can most definitely do!

So luckily none of the work I've done so far has gone to waste. Been doing various bits and bobs the last few days which will contribute towards the business plan section of the FMP. This is already veering off my planned week's activity as timetabled - I was meant to be doing a comp shop and trend report this week, and business plan next week. But the good news is the business plan is pretty much done for now so I can crack on tomorrow!

I will update on Friday with a few images of what I've been getting up to.

First Day Back...

Eased back into life at college gently this week, we're off-timetable but have a Merchandising workshop to do and the small matter of getting our FMP ideas approved. My merch workshop today, which got me back into the swing of early mornings again and (at times) in the mood to work! Bit of a waiting game this week unfortunately as I won't be presenting my SOI until Wednesday afternoon. I really want to get cracking on my project properly, but there's only so much I can do until my idea gets signed off.

What I have done today though, is a customer profile, because I am determined to target this customer whatever the outcome of my SOI presentation! The early-mid 20s girl who wants to look stylish for work, cares about fashion but wants it to be simple.

The background on this page will hopefully run through my entire project - I really like this image (from the sartorialist) of someone stylish acting as the photographer and the subject at the same time. Today I also created my logo, which I've kept in line with the layout of ASOS's other collaborations, but changed the font on 'EDITS' to make it stand out more. I love this font, it's really simple and traditional yet we are seeing it more and more in modern fashion magazines as a decent title font.

Fingers crossed my idea gets approved and I can get started properly!

Market Research

Been going over all the bits of research I've done, from looking at clothing websites to street style blogs to news stories about retail, the economy and beyond! I've stored links and screen grabs of everything I've looked at so far, got about 60 pages worth of stuff! Hope it is useful in the end, but for now it is a little overwhelming.

So I thought it was time to go back to basics and get some more opinions on the various elements of my idea. I want to see how much people engage with online shopping, fashion blogs, and street style in particular. Everyone's responses will really help to influence my project so they're really important! I've publicised the survey over facebook and email. If you fancy doing my survey, please click the link below!



http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/25D92HR

Thanks   :)

Inspirations

Been busy this week, written my Statement of Intent and the presentation for it. Hope it all makes sense and gets approved! Thought I would share a couple of my key inspirations for the FMP.

I read a very interesting interview in Drapers (March 31^st) with Nick Robertson, the founder of ASOS, and a couple of the things he said in it really justified my FMP range idea.

Source: www.retail-week.com

Here’s a couple of quotes from his interview:

‘the biggest challenge is international...as the UK market slowed we had to look to international. Now 97% of the opportunity for ASOS lies outside of the UK.'

‘we were paranoid for years that a competitor would swoop in, but roll forward 12 years and there is no new Asos but the high street has got much better online ... we have to keep trying new things to stay ahead’

What ecommerce trends do you see in the future?

‘with the 20-something customer it’s the more choice the better, but going forward it’s about editing that product down to a personal level. In terms of technology we know mobile works. 19% of ASOS traffic on Christmas day this year was via mobiles and we only see this growing’.

These points relate really well to what I’m going to be doing with ASOS Edits:

• Nick Robertson sees a massive opportunity in international sales and that is the key focus of expansion over the next few years. Street style is a very international phenomenon; go on a blog like the Sartorialist and on the first page alone there will be shots taken from all over the world. Therefore I think my range will appeal to the international market!

• Robertson highlights the importance of innovating – hopefully my concept is a good innovation!

• Finally, Robertson uses the same word I had in mind from the very start – ‘editing’ the ASOS range!

The second major inspiration which I look at every day is The Sartorialist, an amazing street style blog created by photographer Scott Schuman. Here’s my favourite shot of the week:

Source: www.thesartorialist.com

I love how classic this look is – this picture could have been taken fifty years ago and the lady would still have looked stylish. I’d love for my range to be this kind of modern yet classic style.

One last thing – which I think really relates back to this idea of the democratisation of fashion I was talking about in the last post, and shows how designers look to the streets for inspiration. This is what Schuman describes his aim as:

“I thought I could shoot people on the street the way designers looked at people, and get and give inspiration to lots of people in the process. My only strategy when I began The Sartorialist was to try and shoot style in a way that I knew most designers hunted for inspiration.”

Research Research Research

Picking a retailer to base my FMP on was the easy part! Since then I have been researching every aspect of ASOS, looking for gaps in their current ranges, or some kind of inspiration to help me! What struck me the most was how big the site is - there is sooo much there; it is an overwhelming experience if you just want to window shop. I've  only ever bought from ASOS in the past when I knew exactly what I wanted. Using it for inspiration is not easy! Say I want to have a look at their dresses for example - I am faced with 1923 styles, or 97 pages to wade through! Not an easy task.

Which is why I think they developed Fashion Finder and their whole community area of the site, where fans/customers post images of their own looks, or outfits and mood boards they put together using the site. Other fans can then vote for their favourites and so on. ASOS has been pretty clever here, essentially using their fans to advertise what the site has to offer using their own enthusiasm and love of the clothes on it! Sneaky eh...

So it got me thinking, what if there was an ASOS sub-brand which took the best pieces for the upcoming season and simplified it into a well-put-together capsule collection, making it really easy to shop for key items, and the go-to destination for initial ideas and inspirations. Not sure if that makes sense! Basically, it would be an edited version of everything that gets put onto the site as the season progresses, appearing at the beginning of a season. Which is why I have chosen to call it... drumroll please... ASOS EDITS.

The other aspect of this collection which also makes its title make sense is that I am very keen for this range to tie in with the major influence on fashion over the past few years, which is fashion blogging, and in particular the 'street style' look. I would love for the range to be 'edited' (i.e. contributed to) by top fashion bloggers or street style photographers. Members of the online ASOS community, such as top posters of great outfits on Fashion Finder, could also have a chance to help style and edit the collection, making this range a really democratic process - inspired by the streets, and shaped by bloggers and ASOS's fans. One of ASOS's key objectives is the democratisation of fashion, and I think this concept reflects this really well.

Does this make sense??! Also, this has been a reeeeally wordy post. My next one will be full of pictures. Maybe.

The beginnings of an idea?

For the past few weeks I've been looking all over the place for some kind of idea to kickstart this project, a sudden flash of inspiration and then everything would be sorted! But I have to say it's been more of a slowly evolving thing, which began with my desire to base it on this company:

Source: www.asos.com

ASOS! It is a brand I have always admired, one which has become very successful in a short space of time and continues to innovate and evolve. I am also lucky enough to have been offered a job there, which starts about a week after FMP hand-in! So I figure this is a great way of learning more about the company before I join, and also enables me to use the existing research I already did on ASOS when I went for the assessment centre there. Win-Win! Now, what  to do next???

Here we go...

So this is new! Despite reading a looot of blogs (more on that later), I have never felt like starting up my own before. Hopefully this will be a good platform for posting up ideas, research etc. for my FMP.

FMP = Final Major Project, AKA a very hectic six weeks ahead. I'm doing a diploma in Fashion Buying and Merchandising, and this is the project that will secure my final grade. This project has to incorporate elements from all the units we've learnt about this year, which is a pretty wide range - from sourcing garments to range planning to garment technology. Most importantly however, the idea has to be commercial.

Better get thinking...