Fashion Journal

Fashion Journal

Krysta Mardon Spring 2012 – Introduction to Fashion Business

April 15, 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Entry # 1 - Vera Wang Enters Cosmetics Industry ..1 Entry #2 - Best Buy Forced to Rethink Big Box…4 Entry #3 - The Big Idea….9 Entry #4 – Fashion Observations….12 Entry #5 – Five Trends in Bloomingdale’s…13 Entry #6 - Trend Reinforcement….15 Entry #7 – Color and Fabric Trend Swatches…17 Entry #8 – Future Trend Prediction….19 Entry #9 – Visual Displays from Retailers…20 Entry #10 – Trends from “Fashion Star”….22 Entry #11 – Designer Collection from FirstView…23 Entry #12 – Responsibilities of Fashion Careers…24 Entry #13 – Fashion Do’s and Don’ts…25 Entry #14 – Possible Career Opportunities…27

Entry #1

“Vera Wang Enters Color Cosmetic’s with Kohl’s”

Vera Wang has been an extremely successful designer, especially in the bridal

department. It was announced in the Women’s Wear Daily that she will be exploring the

world of cosmetics. Vera has had a partnership with Kohl’s for the past five years and

designs for many different apparel and accessory items. The global brand president of

Armais and Designer Fragrances, BeautyBank and Idea Bank at Lauder explained that Vera

Wang’s objective is to enhance a woman’s natural beauty by creating “the perfect skin

canvas and then allowing the woman to express her personality and embellish through

color.” Wang has an established name, often associated with prestige, but this cosmetics

line will be accessible to a very wide range of consumers. The line will range from $16.50

to $39.50. Illuminating Concealer will be $19.50 and items like lip colors will be priced at

$18.50. Other products will include Lash Enhancing Serum and Eye Shadow.

I am impressed with Vera Wang’s new endeavor and think this will be a very

successful line. In my opinion, it is a very smart business decision to use her partnership

with Kohl’s as a platform for a cosmetics line because she already has her designs in the

store. She is well known for her expensive collections but this gives fans of her designs a

chance to own a piece of her brand at a less expensive price. She seems very passionate

about the makeup and making women feel beautiful. The projected sales are between $15

million and $20 million in its first year I would not be surprised if it reaches beyond that..

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March 8, 2012

Vera Wang Enters Color Cosmetics With Kohl's By JULIE NAUGHTON

The Simply Vera Vera Wang cosmetics line. Photo By Thomas Iannaccone

Vera Wang is planting her flag in a new business: color cosmetics. Wang, along with the BeautyBank division of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., will release a 74-stockkeeping-unit color collection in April. Exclusive to Kohl’s and kohls.com, the Simply Vera Vera Wang color line complements the designer’s multifaceted brand with the retailer. “It completes my Kohl’s universe,” said the designer during an exclusive interview at her apparel showroom. Wang’s extensive offerings with Kohl’s include women’s apparel, handbags, jewelry, sunglasses, footwear, sleepwear, outerwear and home goods. She has worked with the retailer since 2007. “Also, a pop of color is such a gorgeous way to let your natural beauty shine through. It’s the ultimate accessory.” “Vera Wang brings legitimacy to color cosmetics first and foremost because she is a woman,” said Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, global brand president of Aramis and Designer Fragrances, BeautyBank and Idea Bank at Lauder. “She is a woman designing for women — and very often on their wedding day, a day when they want to feel their most beautiful. Vera’s approach to beauty is very much in line with her approach and aesthetics in fashion. It’s about enhancing a woman’s natural beauty by creating a perfect skin canvas, and then allowing the woman to express her personality and embellish through color. The Simply Vera Vera Wang Cosmetics collection gives her the platform and the opportunity to connect with them even further by completing the full Simply Vera Vera Wang lifestyle experience for them at Kohl’s.” Many of the products, which range in price from $16.50 to $39.50, straddle the line between color and treatment — a necessity for Wang, who is religious about protecting her skin, she said, noting that it also “creates the perfect canvas” for colors to follow. Illuminating Concealer, $19.50, brightens skin; Lash Enhancing Serum, $39.50, is designed to boost lash length and volume over time, and Soothing Balm, $18.50, is intended to be both reparative and decorative. Eye shadow duos retail for $19.50 apiece,

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while smoothing lip colors are $18.50. “Kohl’s has brands that are broken down into good, better and best,” said Julie Howard, senior vice president of global marketing and new brand development for BeautyBank. “This brand is in their best range.” The color cosmetics are in black, many in compacts with windows that allow the colors inside to be viewed, while outer packaging is of the midtone blue used in the labels of Wang’s Simply Vera apparel line. As for the future, Wang said her two daughters, Cecilia and Josephine, are pushing her to add nail polish to the lineup next (“It’s an obsession in my home,” she said wryly), and palettes and more color cosmetics are also on her to-do list. While executives declined comment on projected sales, industry sources estimated that the collection would do between $15 million and $20 million in the U.S. in its first year on counter, with global expansion a possibility after the line’s U.S. rollout. In the U.S., national advertising will begin in May fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazines, said Howard.

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Entry #2

“Best Buy Forced to Rethink Big Box”

Like many “big box” stores, Best Buy has been suffering, and losing profits. The

Internet has allowed consumers to purchase from home with a quicker process than going

to a store, and the physical stores are starting to feel the effects. Best Buy has decided that

they will need to change how many stores that they have and focus on other areas that

they are successful at.

The first step for Best Buy is to close 50 of their stores, which will save them the

money since some of the stores are as big as 58,000 square feet. Unfortunately 400

workers will be laid off, due to the need for saving money.

The “big box” stores are seeing that people have been coming in, look at the

physical products and then go home and either order them right away online at other

websites, or look for better deals first. I personally have seen this, in places like Best Buy,

because people think that they can get better deals on websites such as Amazon.com. Best

Buy would need to make the process of purchasing easier to battle websites such as

Amazon.com, and they are definitely trying to get a customer in and out easier. Best Buy is

going to change the way that people check out and speed up how quickly people get their

purchases through the Best Buy website.

A strategy that I thought was very brilliant is using Apple’s idea of the focus on

their “Genius Bars” and focusing on their tech support called the “Geek Squad.” Services

are something that websites cannot always offer, so this may be a great area to focus on to

draw people into the store.

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Other changes include adding a better loyalty program and free shipping. They will

also offer more training to their employees to better serve their customers, and give a

financial compensation for sales of the employees. I really like this idea because since the

problem is that customers come in and look at the product and then walk out, if the

employees were being given money for sales, they may try harder to get the customer to

purchase right then and there. Without getting money off of a sale, they may not care

because they are still getting their hourly wage.

The fact that bigger stores are having problems staying open, mainly because the

Internet is affecting them is sad, because these stores have been so successful and create

so many jobs. I also really admire Best Buy’s decision to re-‐vamp all of their practices in an

attempt to get their customers back because they could just close down some of their

stores and keep fighting but it seems like they are really putting more money in.

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• EARNINGS • Updated March 29, 2012, 7:19 p.m. ET

Best Buy Forced to Rethink Big Box As Shopper Habits Change in a Mobile World, Electronics Retailer Pares Stores, Tests Smaller Formats By MIGUEL BUSTILLO

Best Buy Co., which once out-‐muscled rivals with stores as big as 58,000 square feet, is moving away from the "big box" business model that it long used to crush competitors in consumer-‐electronics retailing.

The electronics giant—now itself being out-‐maneuvered by Internet rivals with lower operating costs—plans several new tactics to improve weak sales. On Thursday it said it will close 50 big-‐box stores this year, and test remodeled store formats in San Antonio and Minneapolis. It will also lay off 400 workers as part of a plan to trim $800 million in costs and restructure its ailing business.

Consumers armed with smartphones are changing the fundamental relationship between shopper and retailer. The new ease of mobile shopping and price comparison is accelerating the trend of "showrooming"—where shoppers come in to stores to see an item but buy it elsewhere.It is a particular problem for Best Buy because electronics are expensive enough to make price comparisons worthwhile, and because electronics are easy to order online. The trend greatly benefits Amazon.com Inc. and other Internet retailers, which aren't required to collect sales taxes in most states and aren't encumbered by the costs of running physical locations. Best Buy also has been outshone by Apple Inc.'s fast-‐growing gadget stores, which deliver some of the highest sales in retailing.

The company says it is not headed to the retail graveyard that swallowed one-‐time rival Circuit City Stores Inc., in 2009. But it acknowledged that earlier efforts to tweak its strategy, rather than overhaul it, haven't succeeded.

"I am not satisfied with the pace or degree of change we have made up to this point," Chief Executive Brian Dunn said in a conference call with analysts, adding, "We are evolving our retail store strategy. We are increasing our points of presence while decreasing our overall square footage.” Best Buy plans to increase worker training and offer financial incentives.

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Best Buy shares have lost more than half of their value in the past five years, and dropped another 7% Thursday to $24.77 on the New York Stock Exchange.The changes were announced along with dreary quarterly results. Best Buy had a loss of $1.7 billion, or $4.89 a share, compared with a year-‐earlier profit of $651 million, or $1.62 a share.

It included $2.6 billion in restructuring costs and other charges previously announced as it exited its big-‐box store business in the U.K. Stripping out those one-‐time costs, per-‐share profit of $2.47 exceeded the $2.16 expected by analysts.

In an interview Thursday, Mr. Dunn said that he remains confident that Best Buy can compete against online retailing rivals."While we know 'showrooming' happens, we continue to be the No. 1 player in consumer electronics," said Mr. Dunn, a one-‐time store manager. "Really, if a customer comes into our store to see something, I like our odds."

If they come in. Apple's namesake stores have eroded the status of specialty chains as the one-‐stop shops for the latest in gadgetry.Apple stores notched $6.1 billion in revenue for the quarter ending in December, a 59% increase over the previous year. (Apple's total revenue for the quarter jumped 73% to $46.3 billion.)Best Buy's revenue in the latest quarter rose 3.4% to $16.63 billion. But

Best Buy's sales at stores, websites and call centers open at least 14 months fell 2.4% compared

with the year before.The decline, largely due to drops in TV and laptop sales, came despite a

21% gain in online sales.

Best Buy itself sells Apple devices, and a lot of them. A recent survey by Consumer Intelligence

Research Partners found that 13% of U.S. iPhone buyers over a three-month period bought the

phones at Best Buy, while 15% got them at Apple's stores.But competition from Apple and the

stores of phone carriers has left Best Buy with a smaller share in the new hot electronics

category than it has traditionally had in former best-sellers such as flat-screen televisions and

DVD players.

In a strategy that mimics the Apple stores' "Genius Bars," Best Buy is testing what it calls

"connected store" formats in the Twin Cities and San Antonio in time for the Christmas buying

season.The stores, which will emphasize services such as tech support and wireless

connections, will feature large hubs at their center to assist shoppers, as well as reconfigured

checkout lanes and new areas to speed the pickup of items bought online. The company said it

has tested individual remodels in Las Vegas and elsewhere with positive results.

Best Buy also said it planned to more aggressively court frequent customers by boosting its

loyalty program to include free expedited shipping and a 60-day price-match guarantee.

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Addressing complaints about customer service, Best Buy said it would substantially increase

worker training and offer staffers financial incentives, a strategy that has already boosted

mobile phone sales.

But the company will reward teams of employees and isn't returning to the individual sales

commissions that Best Buy nearly made extinct in consumer electronics with its no-

commission sales force.

Many analysts said the move to rethink the purpose of Best Buy stores was long overdue, noting

that closing 50 out of 1,100 big stores amounts to a reduction of just 4.5%. Many had labeled as

inadequate Best Buy's previous pledge to shrink its square footage by 10%.

"This is what needs to be happening," said David Strasser of Janney Montgomery Scott, who

believes that Best Buy remains positioned to prosper in the long term with a smaller-store

presence.

The accelerated move to smaller stores is a major departure from the old winning formula for

Best Buy, which swept across America in the 1990s and 2000s with megastores that used wide

selections of discounted movies and music discs to lure in customers for higher-priced items.

Best Buy's dominant position appeared secured during the recession when archrival Circuit

City declared bankruptcy and liquidated, but declining movie and CD sales caught up with the

company.

It cut back on the merchandise, leaving huge spaces in its cavernous stores, most of which are

30,000 to 45,000 square feet.

The company projected earnings of between $3.50 to $3.80 a share for its new fiscal year, and

generally flat revenue of $50 billion to $51 billion.

Write to Miguel Bustillo at [email protected]

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Entry # 3

“The Big Idea”

On the runway for the pre-‐fall and winter collections is the trend of upsizing. There

will be oversized items such as jackets and pants, as well as bigger sleeves and puffed up

jackets. It seems to be that the trend will be one piece of the outfit will be oversized, either

the top or the pants. This trend is not going to work if both pieces of the outfit are bigger

because it will most likely be overbearing and too much material. There is also an idea that

the bigger that the piece of clothing is, the more comfortable it is, and comfortability is

what most people seem to really like.

This idea of magnification is really interesting and I am looking forward to see this

trend actually on the racks. At first, I was a bit against it because I, myself don’t like baggy

clothes because I don’t feel it does anything for people. However, the trend is not just

baggy clothes – it’s about minimizing one piece of the outfit and maximizing the other. An

oversized jacket is to be paired with short small shorts, or tight pants. I enjoy watching

trends change, because I’ve seen the fashion world go through the tightly fitting clothes so

I am ready for a change.

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Entry #4

“Fashion Observations”

This season in women’s apparel color is a major trend. From past seasons,

women’s fashion has seen black and white being in style, but now it seems to be neon

colors and pastel colors that are in fashion. Looking through WGSN trend reports it is

obvious that color is definitely in style from shoes, jewelry and apparel. Color blocking

was popular starting in the fall of last year, but it has expanded from blocks of color in a

dress or a pair of shoes here and there to now having solid colors mixed in bright or pastel

fashions. I thought back to other seasons and it seemed like we have not seen bright

colors in quite a while. It seems to be a color, and I think that we have seen pastels before,

but the neons have been a long time coming.

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Entry #5

“Five Trends in Bloomingdale’s”

Looking through Bloomingdale’s, I noticed that there are a few trends that cross

over into different departments of the store. I saw a common trend in colors, silhouettes,

textures, details, and

The trend of bright colors is something that I saw threaded throughout the store,

whether it was from women’s clothing, men’s clothing, kid’s apparel and shoes, jewelry

and even home appliances. There were bright pinks, greens, yellows and greens seen

throughout these departments, which show that the trend has really been accepted and is

really popular.

Another trend is the idea of clean lines and clean shape, or the silhouette. I saw that

in apparel, there are a lot of dresses, suits and pants that have a very clean silhouette and

shape to them. I also saw this in the kids department and the home décor and the dining

department.

Going along with the clean lines and silhouette, I noticed simplicity in many of the

different products in departments. This was seen in comforters, apparel, home décor, and

men’s wear. I saw that there does not always need to be overly designed and have a lot of

different pieces and materials, but sometimes a piece of apparel can be popular just being

a plain black dress or just a white plate for dining.

Not meaning to contrast the trend of simplicity that I saw, I also saw details. I

noticed fabrics like lacy being used in comforters, women’s apparel, intimates, and also

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even kid’s closed when sewn onto shirts to create kiddie designs such as flowers. I noticed

that having a great balance of simplicity and detail makes for a great retail section. I

enjoyed seeing dresses that were simplistic but also the ones that had the sewn on pieces

of lace and other designs.

Lastly, I was impressed with the soft texture of many of the pieces in both the

apparel for women’s and men’s, the bath section, kitchen section, home décor section and

kid’s sections. The use of materials in women’s clothing such as the silk and the sheer

cotton was impressive to me, as well as the soft towels in the bath section.

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Entry #6

“Trend Reinforcement”

For the colors that I saw at Bloomingdale’s in various different departments, I

found on WGSN that the trend is definitely popular. Neon colors especially, are getting

very popular in the women’s department, which is what I saw in Bloomingdales.

When it comes to the soft textures, I noticed while on WGSN that

textiles like velvet are becoming very popular. This would go along

with the silk and other materials that I noticed at Bloomingdale’s. The

idea of a soft material seems to be very popular.

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I noticed on WGSN that the simple as well as detailed clothing is very popular in

both styles of apparel and prints.

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Entry #7

“Color and Fabric Trend Swatches”

Colors – Orange, Neon, Blues

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Fabrics -‐ Silk Organza, Lace, Denim

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Entry #8

“Future Trend Prediction”

For the next two seasons, I believe that the USA will be following other countries in

trends. On the runway in Tokyo, there is a trend of designers basing off the 1960’s, 1920’s

and 1940’s. I see that we in the USA go back to other decades quite frequently and bring

trends back and I believe we will also be bringing back the tailored pantsuit, volume in

winter outerwear, sheath dress, and gender neutrality. I also think floral prints will be

coming to the USA for the next two seasons.

We will also be influenced by the runway trends in Mexico with fluid silhouettes of

apparel geographic patterns, and blue colors. I have seen that we already have adopted the

trend of blue colors, especially electric and royal blues, which have been seen recently in

Mexico’s fashion industry.

The next country that I believe will influence us will be Paris. The influence will

come in the form of men’s wear with tailored looks and classic silhouettes. They also have

bright colors and prints, which I have started to see in the USA and believe will continue

through the next seasons.

It was really interesting to look into the other countries and seeing that there are

threads in between the trends and how our fashion world is influenced by what is on the

runway in other countries. I look forward to seeing if these trends do come over here.

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Entry #9

“Visual Displays from Retailers”

I really enjoyed the American Apparel window display because of the attraction that it

causes. Instead of having boring sale signs on the window, they put their sale signs on

neon paper and line them along the side of the window. Also, their displays include most

of the age groups that they sell to. They have women, men, and young girls and boys, and

incorporate the ages into the display with a common theme.

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Intermix has another display that I am impressed with.

They come off as the expensive, luxurious store and their

window definitely portrays the brand. I enjoyed that they

used the orange shades, which is a popular trend, and they

varied the clothing types. I saw going out clothes, work

clothes, and casual clothes.

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Entry #10

“Trends from “Fashion Star”

Fashion Star is a new show, which allows aspiring fashion designers to showcase

their designs and compete for a big from the biggest names in fashion like Saks Fifth

Avenue, Macy’s and H&M. I noticed that a piece that seemed to do really well was from a

designer named Orly. Like many artists, Orly is struggling to make it holding a bartending

job until she can make her mark in the fashion world. Since she is a designer waiting for

her break, she has been making pieces that can be used in more than one-‐way and serves

multiple purposes. This is a perfect idea because the economy is not the best right now,

and along with that, her target may be a more young professional, which would really be

attracted to this “more for your money” approach. I believe that this is going to catch on,

because her designs like the zipper skirt and dress below sold out quickly. The idea that

people can wear a skirt with a bit more material for work and then when they want to go

to cocktail hour with their coworkers, can just unzip the top layer and have a completely

different look is very attractive price-‐wise.

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Entry #11

“Designer Collection from FirstView”

This is a piece from Monique L'Huillier in the Ready to Wear Bridal Collection for

Spring and Summer 2013. This particular design caught my eye because of the intricate

design that makes it look like a high end Bridal gown. I enjoyed the layers of the dress, the

way that the layers were angled and uneven, and the intricacy of the material. I also really

love the bow and that it is placed off center and not too far up or down on the dress.

Monique L’Huillier is such a high end designer, and I admire the way that she really makes

the person wearing her designs look like a person of royalty and delicate. This piece, like

most of the designers’ work is seen in her design stores as well as Kleinfield’s Bridal.

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Entry #12

“Responsibilities of Fashion Careers”

The responsibilities of a Fashion Designer would be to create a piece to attend to

the consumer’s attitudes while adding personal creativity. They also must create based on

the price range that they want their design to be sold for, and within the budget of the

purchaser. Creativity is the main responsibility because they need to create a product that

consumers will purchase and therefore will generate profit. There are designers for high

fashions, for the lower-‐price point market, and some freelance as well.

The Fashion Buyer has a lot of responsibility because they go into the field and

must buy products from the designer to be sold at their retail store. Buyers will attend

fashion shows, showrooms and trade shows to decide what they will purchase. They must

know what consumers are looking for or will purchase, and the wrong purchase can end

up in a loss of profit for everyone involved.

A Product Development Manager works with manufacturers to make sure that

their product will be profitable for both the retailer and manufacturer. They have strong

leadership characteristics, and manage much of the process of an entire product line. They

oversee all of the steps from the creation of the idea to the finished product.

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Entry #13 “Fashion Do’s and Don’t’s”

1. Socks and Sandals 2. Tights as pants

3. Too small shorts 4. Panty Lines

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5. Too many accessories

What makes a fashion “do” and “don’t” is the way that the public perceives the

fashion. When people wear too small of shorts, it looks inappropriate and unflatters, and

most people often call a woman who wear that unflattering names. When someone wears

socks and flip flops, it just looks uncomfortable and feels uncomfortable. People perceive

flip-‐flops as being worn in the nice weather with their bare feet, and if someone wants to

wear socks they should wear shoes. I believe that fashion “don’ts are created by the public

and probably most affected by celebrities and designers.

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Entry #14 Possible Career Opportunities

The first possible career opportunity is a manager for a retail store. I have been in

retail for quite some time as guest service, and I feel that I have the skills that would make

me a great manager. I am able to communicate with customers, motivate employees, and

motivate myself to be the best leader that I can be. I do not have a manager position right

now, but I often take charge and motivate employees that seem to be dissatisfied and

complaining. I would really love to be in a luxury store, like Bloomingdale’s or Juicy

Couture.

Secondly, I would be interested in being a fashion buyer. I find it extremely

interesting to be able to be responsible for what goes into stores. I am really interested in

following trends, which is what someone would need to do in order to become a great

buyer.

Lastly, I would be interested in taking my management career further and become

a Regional Manager. I think that it would be really interesting to be able to take a common

thread and follow it through multiple stores. I also think it takes away from the monogamy

of always being at one store as a manager.

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