Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
This is a talk i have been giving at the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2012 - Industry Forum. It represents my views on how i believe young designers are moving to B2C to make it to the market.
Citation preview
A NerdedView ONFAshiON
#LMFF | @andreasklinger
how early stage fashion moves from
B2B to B2C.
Andreas Klinger
CWTFO of LOOKK
@andreasklinger#LMFF
Slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger
My background is Tech/Business.
Internal company rule: “Don’t ask me for fashion (style) direction”
I am one of the co-founders of a fashion internet startup called LOOKK.com
LOOKK offers social tools for emerging fashion designers to reach their audience
1) lookbooks (builds social capital)2) popup stores (monetizes social capital)3) pre-order stores (coming next)
iNVesTOrs
Carmen Busquetsdave McClureeden Venturessherry Coutu
TeAM
Tamas LocherAndreas KlingerGilbert wedamrafael Jimenez
Marco innocenti
15 people fulltime
LOOKK.com
Launched september 2011
several hundreds designers using our tools.
70.000 users signed up.
“LOOKK [...] fundamentally reimagines
fashion retail in the context of the open social web, harnessing the
voice of the end consumer to quickly understand market
demand and drive more effective business decisions.”
02 NOv 2011
MissONBring better fashion
to the market by leveraging the power of
the internet
Because…
The next breakthrough in fashion won’t happen
on fashion week.
iT wiLL hAPPeN ONLiNe
FAshiON As
ArT
FAshiON As
BUsiNess
When I say fashion I mean…
The Speed of the Internet has changed fashion.
Fashion as an Industry is in a similar situation as Music one decade ago.
Music’s product was all of a sudden too expensive.Fashion’s product is all of a sudden too slow
The market found alternatives in MP3 & FastFashion
Internet offering perfect transparency and distribution.
We are working in an oversaturated market that wants permanent rapid change.
We are overfed.
Result:
why is Fashionso obsessed
with B2B?eg. Fashion shows
“My customer doesn’t want to wear the same jacket she’s seen photographed over and over [...] for six months.”
Tom Ford - Vogue 2/11
Plus: “Topshop sold it 4 months ago.”
Photo: One of our 7 shows in last year in Germany
He is right. Trend garments are blogged, liked, printed and pinned until no-one can see them anymore.They are overhyped and when they reach the shelf they are boring and old.
Tom Ford is right. But who’s to blame.We are throwing the strongest marketing tool fashion has (the shows) at fast media to create as much as desire as possible.
And then under-service that desire.
Photo: One of our 7 shows in last year in Germany
“Burberry tweeting images before they went on the runway was basically a first big middle finger to the industry”
Geoff Watts (EDITD) at our panel event #FashionBytes 2/2012
The industry changes their game…#livestream #celebrities #preorders #press #realtime
People are starting to sell at show date…
Pre-Orders: Burberry Popup: TopShop sold Tshirts(!) at #LFW12
Shows are part of the entertainment industry (IMG). Sponsors like Mercedes don’t pay to get the attention of buyers. Only because of historic legacy we align shows to B2B cycles.
Fashion Shows today are B2C.
But why do emerging designers still try to play the old game?
“To raise the interest of buyers”
But why do emerging designers still try to play the old game?
“To raise the interest of buyers” - No.
But why do emerging designers still try to play the old game?
“I show to get press and branding.”
But why do emerging designers still try to play the old game?
“I show to get press…”
There are hundreds/thousands of shows in a few weeks. There is so much noise, so little signal. Several of our designers moved to off-cycle shows.
Example: Mark&Julia Blogger & Friends Show created more press than most of local fashion week’s designers together.
“… and branding.”
Good Online Lookbooks are more valueable than shows.
Old saying: ”In the Internet nobody knows you are a dog”
Example: Ksenia Schnaider Online Lookbook and Video Show. Our buyers (and customers) love it.
Example: J.W.Anderson & oki-ni collab Prefinanced by BFC #LFW10
Sold limited pieces online at show date.
Sales at shows?
Limited production for the showdate.
Why not even:
PopUp Store at show venue to sell low-priced generics. (T-Shirts like in the music industry)
“Fashion Shows are so last century […to tell your brand…] make a Film”
Diane Pernet (ASVOFF) at our panel event #FashionBytes 2/2012
Example: Roark showing a promotion film on their website.
why are young designers
so obsessedwith B2B?
eg. Fashion Trade
Trade fairs“The second B in B2B stands for ‘don’t bother me’.”
We were at two emerging fairs this year in #PFW were designers were about to pack up due to the lack of buyers. And (even) we didn’t go to all fairs.
“This is my first (commercial) collection…”(another not named designer, Holland 2/2012)
“Nice collection. See you next season!”(every buyer)
Tradefairs cost 2-6k GBP (excluding PR). Even if your statefund is paying it. This is an investment that does not pay off anymore.
Fashion gets to fast for risk.It’s not the buyers job to make a designer successful anymore.
Buyers push risk down to designers.
Designers need to handle that risk by themselves. Be very cash efficient, cautious and entrepreneural.
if you start a label you are not a designer you are an entrepreneur.
You are running a startup.
Designers are entrepeneurs.
As any startup founders, designers are likely to underestimate everything apart of one thing: themselves.
And they do same mistakes as any entrepreneur (including me).
Who is your customer?
“I don’t know. I never met any…” (not named designer, London 2/2012)
Btw I heard this from many other (non fashion) startups.
Are designers different than
startups in otherindustries?
TL;dr: No.
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
All startups need to know, understand and reach their customers & have a demanded product before they scale.
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
All entrepreneurs write useless business plans speaking of customers they don’t know and sales they cannot project.
They do not test their make-or-break assumption in their business.
They focus on building a brand or product but not build product according to their market nor build the market at all.
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
Discover Validate ScaleGrow
In the early phases (Discovery, Validation):
#1 Job: Discover a market-demanded product.
#1 Problem: Don’t know their customer.
#1 Approach: Following patterns of companies in by far further phases.
#1 Death Reason: Premature scaling.
That’s the same in all industries.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
B2B starts here.
Product / Market Fit
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
Discover Validate ScaleGrow
Problem: In your first phase sales are an lagging indicator for success.
You need a product that will sell and your revenue comes in very late (esp in fashion).
You need customers you can reach.
You need feedback to iterate the product Feedback > Sales. Feedback > Press.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
- Keep costs per learning as low as possible.
- Avoid economical waste.
- Reduce bound capital until you know in what to invest.
- Improve the product.
- Learn to understand your customer’s needs.
BUILD
MEASURELEARN
Product Improvement
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
Goal:
- Learn (iterate the loop) as often & quickly as possible.
- Based on customer interaction and feedback.
BUILD
MEASURELEARN
Product Improvement
For that you would…
Not need Seasons. Not need Collections. Not need Buyers.
Not need Mentors or Sponsors.
You would need customer/audience giving feedback.
BUILD
MEASURELEARN
Product Improvement
Example: Our Legacy releasing single products gaining as much blog attention as full collections.
Fashion gets to fast for risk.Tough times for buyers.
Risk pushed down to designers.
Designers break their business with pre-mature scaling.
“Any other startup” in “any other industry”
The problem with feedback:- You must not bias your customer. - They always try to be nice to you.- You cannot ask your customer what they “would” want. - They can’t imagine products. That’s your job.- You must not sell but validate your core assumption.
- Find out if they actually have the desire - Purchase frequency, spending, wardrobe composition- Ask how they solve their “problem” currently. - Which brands, Perception of other brands.=> Focus on real interaction with actual content. - Interaction with real garments offline & online.
Based on the customer feedback above. Which style would you focus on next?
Evaluate interaction on real products.
Example: Shwood’s online giveaway. Crazy amount of online attention and also customer insights.
Go offline and online to get feedback to improve products and reduce risk.- Differ between qualitative and quantiative feedback.
Build channels- Online Lookbooks - Tumblr- Facebook- NewsletterFocus on retentive channels. (Newsletter > PR agency)
Train your channels to give feedback.
Example: Daviddavid.co.uk Posting test products in tumblr + shop
Always have a way to sell online.
If you don’t have the ressources put everything to “sold out” and ask for waiting/notification list signup.The value of having your own online sales channels is not the sales.It’s the customers contacts for getting more feedback.
Sidenote: pre-orders to endconsumers work if the delivery is below 6 weeks.So why not go for B2C pre-orders?
Preview Pre-Order Shop LOOKK.
The Internet… Unique problem for fashion but also unique opportunity for new labels.
This generation of designers uses the Internet to go B2C in earliest phases.
Because…
The next breakthrough in fashion won’t happen
at fashion week.
iT wiLL hAPPeN ONLiNe
ThANKs FOr
LisTeNiNG.
#LMFF | @andreasklinger
slides:
www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger
