Singapore by night

Yes! We are finally back in Hot and sunny Singapore from our whirlwind tour of Paris Fashion week. We went to workshop paris, Tranoi, Premiere class  and  It was a full week of  meeting with designers and all the "arty" people and doing product selection.  I met some interesting people that made me think and rethink what fashion is. ,what a brand is and how price relates to the brand etc. Mostly, it made me realize once again how tough the fashion industry is. It isn't what people think it is .... a walk in the park.

A friend of a friend has just started a clothes fashion line and is trying to make herself known in Paris. So far she has had shown three seasons of collection, with very little response from buyers. Life is strange in that way, everyone is looking for something "fresh" and different, and yet as a buyer you face the constraint of having to make sure that your product really sells. And as a buyer , in all probablity you do not want to take the chance. :( Morever, if the price point is high, you are even highly unlikely to take the chance on a unknown brand.because you are taking an even bigger risk.

Hence to take it to a logical conclusion,( this comes with a disclaimer, it is just my personal opinion.)  if you are a new designer wanting to break into an already crowded and competive market, you should really lower the price so that the buyer will see "value" in it, and is willing to take the risk. You can do this to break into the high barrier entry, and once customers are "hooked" into your fashion style, you can increase the price little by little; or create a higher luxury line. Hence before you design something, the designer should think of what the customer is willing to pay , and then design according to that constraint instead.

Unfortunately or fortunately  this is not how designers think, or are trained to think. Somehow, I always find that there is a unspoken rule in most artist mind that "money is evil" and to be profit centred as a goal is somehow ugly. They design with no constraint, and they also have this idealism that they want their product to be associated with the luxury goods like Hermes, hence they price their product in that similiar price range. They fail to see that although their quality and design might be comparable to a brand like Prada or Hermes, they are not known to the public as a luxury brand. I realize more and more how important a brand plays both for luxury brands and for economical ones. It is the story that you are telling about yourself and your product. And if people don't know it, they aint going to buy it. It is as simple as that.

Anyway, I really hope the best for my friend's friend, and that she will make her lucky break somehow. It also made me think what is the value that L'ArtiChaut brings? It is time to be introspective about my own business. K and I might be clear, but we are not sure if the public, the customers understand our philosophy. We are selling an ideal , not just a product. We are embracing unique, funky  and electic designs that expresses individuality and fun. We can call it affordable beauty , but the idea is that beauty and being chic is available to anyone....Please read our values  if you are still unclear about what we believe in. Am I too idealistic?