Most brands do a monthly floor set, usually at the beginning of the month. If it’s a traditional store, the store is broken up into different areas. The beginning of a store is the most recent product, the middle of a store is product that’s been around for about a month, and the back of the store is usually product that’s on sale. It could also be more destination and you’re willing to go back there, but it’s usually the older product.

Visual merchandisers usually set their visual calendar 12 months in advance. Nothing in the fashion industry is an accident whatsoever. Everything is coordinated with the design team to get that original vision of what that product is. Then the visual team buys props for the floor set. For example, if it’s a summer delivery and the theme is Barcelona, the visual merchandisers would buy different props for the window and throughout the store to tell the story of the aesthetic and bring it to life.

This is the key driver to get a customer into the store. It’s also the key driver when shopping online. The new and exciting product is the first thing usually seen on the landing page. It always has a theme.

Classic stores, like Louis Vuitton, always have their great basics, but a couple times a year, they promote their hot, new items. Those are the items that visual merchandisers will always highlight in the windows and highlight throughout the store as must-have items.

The other thing with visual merchandising is that it’s very personal. Visual merchandisers need a sharp eye and to be able to pay attention to detail. It’s about bringing the brand promise to life. Whether it’s fixing a mannequin, how a mannequin’s arm is positioned, how a garment might be tucked in, or how a hand might be propped. They might be small details, but it’s really this keen eye of a visual merchandiser that brings everything to life.

It’s been studied that the customer walks from the right, counterclockwise around the store. It’s the goal of the visual merchandiser to bring a customer in and continue that story all the way around. The story needs to continue to be interesting as the customer makes their way around the store.

If you’re a classification business like a denim business, you may have one fit of jeans. However, you need to have that in different colors and washers and probably different fabric weights. That’s planning a range with the same items made with various components, different stretch levels, and for different end-users.
One may be white denim, another black denim. While you may have the same item or product, you’ve created it in different ways, ensuring that the client doesn’t pick between them. Essentially, a client might say, “Today, I want a pair of white jeans because it’s July and it’s summer, and that’s what I wanna wear.” They’ll buy the white jean, wear them, and probably say, “Wow, the fit is fantastic. I’ll go back, get the black jean, raw denim, and the stretch because I love them.” You’ve had successful range planning with this approach because you’ve enabled the consumer to get into your product. The client has also seen the opportunity to buy more of that product to complete their wardrobe.
We all have a pyramid in our closets. At the pyramid’s bottom, we have most of our basic stuff. T-shirts, jeans, or a ton of sneakers. Mostly, these are things that you use every day. The next layer has things that are a little nicer, preferably clothes for work. Or probably when you go on a date or dinner with your loved one. At the top of the line, you’ll probably have suits or tuxedos or high fashion items that you don’t wear often. In that sense, you should develop your line similarly.
What are the basic things you want to sell? Well, you want to sell a great tee. How many colors do you need? You probably need four or five colors in a great tee to have some assortment of it. Then, you probably need a polo rugby shirt with some embroidery on it. That’s a little bit of fashion, so you might need three different colors.
While building your product line, focus first on the price points. The more expensive things are, the less of it you should do. If you find a beautiful jacket that’ll cost a lot of money, you probably only need one of these. Because you won’t sell a lot of them. But in essence, you still need somewhat of a collection because no buyer will buy everything you do.

As a fashion company grows, they need to sell more than just one product. Typically, a fashion company starts with that one great idea – that perfect dress that’s perfectly on trend and everybody wants it. From there, you have to grow your business and think about how to scale. In fashion business, the typical way one does this is through building a range of products.

It might seem quite simple to think of just adding bags and shoes to our mix, but it really is much more than that. The most expensive part of any sort of business is creating new concepts. They take a lot of time and typically take several samples to get right. In other words, somebody has to make a full bag or dress before we know if it fits right and if it’s in line with our other products in terms of quality. This can take some time and it’s quite expensive.

You must be careful in terms of new products you’re going to include because of the added overhead. Another piece you have to consider is the expertise. If your expertise is in creating and designing ready-to-wear clothes, you probably didn’t have fashion education to learn how to make bags or shoes. Shoemaking is a very complex art form.

In terms of sourcing materials, you’re going to have to source from completely different places. For instance, you can’t just decide to make denim if you’ve been making pants, they’re very different. You have to have different machines in order make denim. You’re going to need the expertise of somebody who knows how to design it from a technical point of view as well as production that can scale and make enough to sell for it to be worthwhile.

Deciding whether to sell wholesale and/or direct to consumer is a common question in the fashion industry. Many factors come into play on making this decision, including the fashion brand’s business model, negotiation with buyers and manufacturers, and sales data.

If you’re a fashion company that sells to wholesalers and direct to consumers, you have to consider the buyers’ opinions. At market, when buyers give their feedback and write orders, you’ll often find you have to negotiate with them to take a chance on new styles that give a proper representation of the collection.

After orders are placed, you’ll then go to your manufacturer and present your orders for fulfillment. Some manufacturers will require a larger quantity of units. Drawing from your fashion education, you then have to analyze your collection and say, “Well, if I only have orders for 500, am I going to put in the other order for 500? Is it really that crucial to our assortment or our collection this season?”

Sometimes it’s worth placing the order. Other times it isn’t. If you have a wholesale and a direct to consumer (DTC) model, it’s a combination of opinions that determines what actually goes into the market, into stores or online for that season. If you’re a completely DTC company, you’re tapping into online fashion education, trend forecasting, and looking at sales data to see what performed well and what didn’t in past seasons.

On the flip side, you want to make sure you’re not over-saturating the market and there’s still demand to ensure you won’t have excess supply. It depends on the business model you’re in and the business model you would like to have. This will determine how you successfully plan for the assortment you’re going to release each season.

Popups are a spectacular avenue for brands to gain exposure through creative activations. For one, popups aren’t a long-term commitment; they allow brands to test the waters before opening up a brick and mortar or locking into a lease. Second, popup shops create a sense of excitement around the said brand, event, service, or product. The best aspect of popup shops, however, is their ability to drive conversations, giving brands and business owners an opportunity to directly communicate with people who are interested in what they have to offer or sell.

Gucci, North Face, and Lululemon are prime examples of high fashion business enterprises that have cultivated customer loyalty through their brand identity. At their storefronts you might see longer lines and customers getting excited about making a purchase. A positive experience and initial interaction with a brand can have a lasting impact on the customer. It can even convert them into lifetime customers.

Experiential Marketing Drives Traffic
As consumers, we like to experience the new, and relish the experience long after it has ended. That’s why during fashion weeks in places such as Paris or Milan, popups have been largely successful. When things are experiential and playful, customers tend to gravitate toward it. Miami Art Basel, LA and other larger cities or events that draw lots of foot traffic are prime destinations for popups in the realm of fashion.

Fashion popups are also a magnificent opportunity for brands to identify what locations will be best suited for their business if they were to open up a storefront. Digitally native brands can mine data from their online customer base and do a test run with a pop up to see how it will do in that particular environment. It is a cost-effective marketing strategy for direct to consumer brands who’ve hit the ceiling on their online traffic.

Online v.s. In Store Purchases

Anyone can make a purchase for a clothing item online with a few clicks of a button. but having a conversation really sells the consumer on who and what is going on and how they can connect with the brand. It makes the brand relatable and customers feel a stronger connection to the brands they are buying from. Online fashion education can only extend so far; that’s why it’s worth it to give potential customers the opportunity to touch, feel, and see fashion pieces up close and personal.

A new category of footwear is changing the footwear business and the approach to footwear design. There are traditional categories of men’s and women’s shoes. Now unisex gender footwear is popular. This requires product developers to have a new footwear education before designing a new shoe.

Unisex footwear design is challenging but it’s being done with increasing success. The key challenge is designing the lasts of the shoe. There are anatomical differences between men’s and ladies’ feet. Men’s and ladies’ shoe designs try to respect these differences. Product developers are now trying to build footwear that can be marketed to both men and women.

Unisex footwear tries to be comfortable for both men and women. Product designers are trying to accomplish this task by adding a little extra padding or enabling the wearer to make minor adjustments to the shoe for personal comfort. This may include laces or closures that can be adjusted to help the shoe feel more natural on the foot.

I started in men’s footwear thinking I would eventually move into women’s footwear. Women’s footwear seemed like a crossword puzzle. There were so many variables. You could have a high heel or a low heel. Square toes or pointy toes. Men’s shoes seemed like they only had one variable. They had low or flat heels. It is a basic shoe. Men’s footwear seemed to be simpler but I discovered it is challenging. The years have taught me that you have to put a lot of creativity into making a shoe that a man would buy.

I am a female footwear product designer. I don’t have the perspective of a male to understand what a guy would wear. I have to really think about it. I have to ask myself: what would he wear? Why would he wear it? Why would he buy it? These same questions apply when designing unisex footwear. Always keep the wearer in mind when designing a new shoe and work backward from there.

One of the things that we can all do if we own a footwear brand is innovate. If one of your products sold really well, it might be tempting to re-sell it the next year. But you can’t make the same shoe that you did last spring because your consumers want to see new products all the time.

In order to continue using your best-selling products, you have to take the aspects that your customers loved about your footwear and modify them slightly. Make small changes, such as adapting the top-line cut of the shoe. You could change the height or the shape of the shoes, or add a particular embellishment. You can change the colors of your footwear for the new season too.

The idea is to make subtle changes that don’t compromise the style of the shoe. This way, your customers will still be happy with the product, but you are also modifying your product line to stay on trend.

You could change the structure of your footwear. When I say structure, I mean the way the bottoming is done, such as the heels and the soles of the shoes. For example, if you used a very thin sole and a small heel for one of your women’s products last spring, you might want to change this to a platform shoe or one with a higher heel.

The change in heel height might only be two centimeters, but it’s still something new and different. It’s basically like a brand-new line of footwear, even though a large portion of the product is the same as it was last spring.

This way, you can take a successful product from last year, adapt it slightly, and re-sell without looking like you’re repeating yourself.

The important segment when you’re managing production with your design team is the tech pack. In the footwear business, the tech packs are beautiful technical drawings. First started by hand and then finished in Adobe Illustrator, the tech pack is what builds your footwear collection. It’s how you break down your collection and all of the sizes you’ll be offering. In shoes, for example, it’s your mid-soles, outsoles, cushions, labels, and your aglets on the laces.

It’s all in the small details of producing your product, from what material you use for the linings to where your logo goes. Your tech packs, sometimes loosely referred to as spec sheets, is really an international language suited for the factory. The production people will refer to tech pack and are able to understand how the product needs to be made.

The tech packs specify how styles are made and what materials are used – they are like a contract with your factory. You are going to inform the factory of every single detail in that shoe, from material, to mid-sole, out-sole, sock lining, lining, type of stitch, type of thread, logo placement, straps, laces, and fabrication. Is it welded? Is it stitched? Is it molded? All of your footwear education information is in the tech pack and what you don’t put in there will not be added by the factory.

Any information you don’t put in your tech pack, somebody else is going to come up with what’s missing. In online footwear education, you’re taught to make sure that everything’s in there. If you don’t include the thread color, you will wind up with whatever thread color’s on the machine. So you do need to be very specific and thorough with your tech pack to ensure the best results.

Technological advancements are revolutionizing the way we travel. We use technology from the moment we leave until we return. Many of us will think of Facebook or Instagram when considering what motivates us to travel. We’ll recall these lovely destination accounts. They inspire us with photographs of places we’d like to visit.

To begin, we must then arrange our vacation after we have the inspiration to travel. We may use airline or travel agent apps. We may also use apps like Tripit, which compile all of that information into one easy-to-understand bundle, so we know where we’re going and where we need to be.

Next, when we’re looking for the best deal, we might use price comparison websites such as Trivago.

Price comparison websites are interesting models because they don’t book the room for you. They only provide you with a pricing comparison. Then, as you click, you will make a reservation with the company you just selected. Trivago makes money in a variety of ways. Every time you click, the individual who actually finishes your booking receives a commission.

Finally, when we return, we may write a review. Travel reviews are critical since they have the potential to impact others’ future travel decisions. TripAdvisor is by far the most popular travel review app, and it has lately expanded its services to include travel bookings.

The entire wheel of travel, as we call it, is surrounded by technology. It’s with us virtually the whole time. Because technology has changed the travel industry, there are now professional opportunities for people we didn’t have before.

Consider how Instagram influences our travel decisions. Influencers are paid to post specific photographs or posts and videos about properties or places. Google Guides might also be an excellent way for people to review and influence the visits of others.

Another area where technology has helped people develop their own company ideas and become a part of a community is reviews. When you consider Google Local Guides, it’s an excellent illustration of how individuals leave ratings that affect where other people go. Someone may hire you as a result of the reviews you’ve published. This may lead to professional opportunities in the future.

Brand storytelling is more than simply sharing the story of your brand’s history from the beginning to the present. Whether you are trying to renew interest in your company or getting a new company off the ground, brand storytelling is as essential to any business as making sure you send the correct orders to the people who made them.

So, if telling customers or potential ones a sequential history of your brand isn’t brand storytelling, then what makes brand storytelling different? And why is getting telling the brand story in a certain way crucial to the success of any business?

What makes brand storytelling unique from laying out a timeline is that it elicits an emotional reaction and creates a connection with people when done correctly. These people will hopefully turn into new customers.

Most importantly, your storytelling must be authentic if it is going to resonate with others. When you think of David Yurman, of course, you will think of jewelry, but you may also feel as though the artist created the particular piece just for you. David Yurman’s brand storytelling reminds you that artists first and foremost are what leads the brand—designed to be both stunning and unique each piece is a reminder that artists show and care about the brand. That type of almost purely visual storytelling, along with written storytelling, allows the brand’s artistic roots to shine through, resonating with artists and art lovers alike.

As humans, we all need to feel understood, to know that someone out there empathizes with us as we empathize with others. While not every person will identify with every brand, the brands you will remember are the ones that tap into that innate human need to connect. If your brand storytelling is relatable and one that people can identify with, even feel a part of, you are doing something right.

Don’t fret if telling a story with visuals or your words isn’t your first choice of jobs to do within your company. You have options to help ensure adherence to the last aspect of your brand storytelling – consistency. It’s imperative to keep the feeling your brand’s storytelling evokes in people the same across all media platforms, from digital, print, and television to influencers you may choose to enlist to promote your products.

A company can choose who tells its brand’s particular story. If it is your company, you will feel that connection to your story. Whether you can convert that into marketable media or not, public relations (PR) professionals and PR firms are there to help. They will extend the reach of your story, acting as liaisons with media professionals who will put your brand and storytelling in front of a wider audience.

Brand storytelling is multifaceted; enlist help when you need it. As long as it remains authentic and consistent, people will identify with it and with your company.