Final Project: What it looks like

London Destruction offers 1800’s inspired custom men’s clothing. I was inspired by the movie Sweeney Todd. The clothing in the movie is from the 1800’s. It has a very dark look to it that is still elegant. I want to be able to create a men’s high-end clothing line around this look. We will offer unique clothing for the fashion savvy young man. We want to build a face on our target market just as Dolce and Gabbana did. This is who they want to target to: “Dolce and Gabbana believe their male target customer is a man who takes care with his appearance, is detail oriented, and definitely a leader. He is a man who looks great whether he is in office attire or jeans and a t-shirt. He is a man who makes the rules, but is not governed by them. He is charismatic and charming. He is free to be an individual, which makes him successful.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg. 58) I want to be able to clearly define our men like this and offer this unique line to them.


I want our clothing to have a dark grunge look to it that is very bold. We will sell tees, knits, sweaters, sports shorts, pants, denim, outerwear, leather, vests, tailored clothing/suits, shoes, and accessories. I want it to be a specialty retailer that carries all of these items. A great example of a successful specialty retailer is Abercrombie & Fitch. “A&F took basic garments and made them its own.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.91) Their companies “assortment consists of basic items such as cargo short and pants, t-shirts, polo shirts, woven shorts, sweaters, denim jackets, jeans, sweatshirts, zip fleece tops, leather belts, flip-flops, underwear, cologne, baseball caps, men’s and women’s bracelets and jewelry, bags, and various other types of active wear.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.91)


All of London Destructions products will range from $70-3,000, and come in x-small to x-large. All of our clothes will come with custom tailoring. Our clothing will be made with unique textiles that we will design in house. We will use these textiles on our linings for jackets and for ties. Customers will only be able to get these patterns here so that gives us an advantage over the competition. These products have great potential for growth. Since we are offering only men’s clothing after we become more popular we might be able to offer a women’s line.
Another service that will come with our clothing is an in-house stylist. Since many business professionals of our target market don’t have time to shop, they can come in to our store tell our stylist exactly what look they want to go for and our stylist will put together as many looks for them as they would like. This will save the customer an ample amount of time. This will also be a helpful service to men that love the style of our clothing, but aren’t quite sure how to pair the pieces together, or where and when to wear them. Our stylist will be the go-to person for these kinds of issues. The stylist will also be key component in helping people pick out clothes they would like to try on and stuff like that. They can assist people with the fitting of the clothing, and letting them know how it is supposed to look and fall on their figure. I believe this is crucial to the success of our business because we offer such unique fitting and styled clothing that without a stylist our customers might not like the fit because they have accidentally tried on the wrong size. We want our customers to feel very confident in the clothing they purchase. I really like how Dolce and Gabbana describe what they want their female customer to feel like when wearing their clothing. “Dolce and Gabbana believe that a woman should be strong, self-confident, and know that others like her, too.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.57.)

Final Project: Define Identity

Just like the other successful brands I want to be able to create a name for myself. I really think that Johnny cupcakes did a great job at creating a company. “The Johnny Cupcakes success story is extraordinary. By the ripe old age of 26, Johnny Earle had launched a multimillion dollar company that continues to grow through a type branding referred to as viral fashion branding. All of Johnny’s fashion branding has been implemented through self-promotion, word of mouth, or by using electronic methods such as e-mail and the internet.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.109) For my clothing company I want to be able use viral fashion branding as a means to promote the company. Since the company will just be starting out we will not have much money to pay for advertising. Using social media like Johnny Cupcakes did is a great way to put my company on the map!


London Destruction’s strengths include quality, uniqueness, customization, and pricing. Another one of our strengths is our uniqueness. You will never be able to find clothing that imitates our style. Our dark 1800’s look will start a new trend in men’s wear. Another one of our strengths is the customization that comes along with a lot of our pieces. We offer complimentary embroidering on our shirts, jackets, gloves, and handkerchiefs. This embroidering can be different styles, colors, and fonts. Our last main strength is our pricing. We think that offering these services will make our customers feel special. I got this idea from Johnny Cupcakes. He liked to make his customers feel special by “adding surprises to the boxes when filling internet orders. Customers would find items such as trading cards, packed with their orders.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.113) We are also going to offer prices that are a little more affordable than our competitors. We will offer high fashion quality and style with the pricing of our less expensive competitors.


London Destruction has a great opportunity to provide a unique clothing line to a unique client base. We plan on show casing our clothes by dressing the “A” list celebrities that would fit our unique style such as Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. Another company that used this tactic was Dante Beatrix. “The Dante Beatrix Company focused on bags for every purpose: totes, laptop bags, gym bags, diaper bags, and pet carriers.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.126) The company was able to gain a celebrity clientele that sky rocketed the popularity of their bags. Beatrix most popular piece was their diaper bags. “Currently the sales of child-related durable products like diaper bags and backpacks are growing at a rate of 1 to 4 percent per year.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.130) People would photograph the celebrities wearing these bags and everyone wanted to know who the designer was. I plan on doing the same thing by dressing key celebrities in my designs.

Final Project: Target Market

London Destruction caters its unique style to men between the ages of 25-30. These men have house held incomes of 100k-200k. They are single and are not price conscious. I felt that there was an underserved market for this type of product because no one seems to have a product to market to these middle aged wealthy men.

These men are young business professionals that are freshly graduated and starting to work for large companies. They already have an expendable income and like to dress trendy. Typical stores that they might shop at include Saks, Neiman Marcus, Burberry, and Whole Foods. These men are body conscious and tend to work out a lot. I have taken this into consideration with the design of my clothing to fit a sleeker figure. This target market reads men’s magazines that include Men’s Vogue, GQ, and Esquire. Because I am targeting wealthy young men I knew that it would be wise to read about other successful people in the fashion industry that have been able to create profitable businesses by targeting wealthy clientele. A great example of this would be Ralph Lauren. “He has taken functional military garments, such as cargo pants and duffle coats, and traditional work clothes, such as canvas barn jackets and blue jeans, and turned them into luxury garments that sell for hundreds of dollars. Lauren’s method is known as lifestyle marketing and association; he places practical garments in a luxury context.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.35) I think he was very smart by creating this type of lifestyle branding. “Ralph Lauren has dedicated 40 years of his life to the creation of his brand image.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.35) I think he has built up an amazing company and I would be smart to start creating a lifestyle around my brand. Vera Wang was also able similarly build up her brand quickly. “She took the simple idea of designing her own wedding dress and, in fewer than 20 years, turned it into a multimillion-dollar company that now includes a deluge of products and home accessories that reflect and elaborate lifestyle brand.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.73) She was able to successfully use the idea of “lifestyle branding” and create a huge company. “Vera has dedicated her life to becoming a leader in the industry and is an excellent role model for anyone who aspires to succeed in business.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.86) Since my company offers multiple products under the same label I also would like to create a lifestyle brand. In the future I can even expand my brand like Lauren and Wang did.

Final Project: What I want to produce

I want to open up a clothing store for men. It will be called London Destruction. The company will offer 1800’s inspired custom men’s clothing. We will offer unique clothing for the fashion savvy young man. Our clothing will have a dark grunge look to it that is very bold. We will have a full range of men’s products. I want to sell tees, knits, sweaters, sports shorts, pants, denim, outerwear, leather, vests, tailored clothing/suits, shoes, and accessories. All of these products will range from $70-3,000, and come in x-small to x-large. All of our clothes will come with custom tailoring. I want to be able to clearly define my target market and be able to gain market share amongst my competitors. The target market I have selected is the most difficult market to attract. I want to brand myself so that I can attract this hard to reach market. “Fashion branding is the process whereby designers, manufactures, merchandisers, strategists, creative directors, retailers, and those responsible for selling fashion create campaigns and give fashion garments a unique identity.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg. 6) I want to be able to do this with my men’s clothing company. “Judith Williamson suggests that whereas an advertiser’s main goal is to sell products, good advertising requires the marketers to take into account the inherent qualities of the products as well as generate a meaning to the consumer.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.24) Branding is not just about the product though, “branding is also about creating a clear vision and strategy for a company. Branding gives everyone involved a clear direction and focus.”(Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.7) Not only will I be branding my product but I will create a great business plan that will lead this men’s clothing line down the path to success. “The main function of fashion branding is to provide a structure that uses images and language to impart a meaning to retail products.”(Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg. 24)

EOC Week 7: Excercise

If I were to create a line of fashion goods I would probably create a line of handbags. I absolutely love bags off all kinds, and I think that it would be really fun to create unique bags. If I were to use Johnny Cupcake as a model for how to promote my business I would use his methods but mold it to fit my target market.
My target market for my hand bags would be young women between the ages of 25-35. These females would have house-hold income of 70,000-100,000 a year. These women are up on the latest trends and are always changing their looks. I want to be able to provide them with ever-changing bags that are affordable.


I will price my bags for $45-$60. With the price range I will be able to offer good quality and trendy styles. In every bag will be a trendy trinket that will have something to do with the client. This will be a way of making our customer feel special.


These women will be able to purchase multiple bags from me as the trends in fashion are ever-changing. Just like Johnny Cupcakes I will only offer a limited amount of each style. My target market does not enjoy when their friend has the exact same bag as them. So I will only create a limited amount of one style. This will create exclusivity within the brand.


I will start as a very small company and build up by word of mouth marketing and also through blogging and facebook. I want my bags to be on all of my friends shoulders so that their friends can ask them where they got the cute bag. This will be my main way of advertising. I will sell my bags solely online first until I grow a large enough market to afford a brick and mortar location. I think if I was very smart about the choices I made when developing the brand I think that I could reach a national market in 2-5 years. I would definitely have to intensify the advertising to reach an international market. I think by traveling overseas frequently would help gain market share in other countries. I think I could gain market share internationally in 10 years.


This is a very rough idea that I thought would work well using ideas that the company Johnny Cupcakes uses to promote itself.

EOC Week 7: Chapter Questions

1. Viral Fashion branding is a type of company branding that becomes successful by self-promotion, word of mouth, or by using electronic devices. This form of branding made Johnny Cupcakes a multimillion-dollar company. “By the ripe old age of 26, Johnny Cupcakes founder John Earle had launched a multimillion-dollar company that continues to grow through a type of branding referred to as viral fashion branding. No pricey marketing firm has helped this young entrepreneur. Johnny Cupcakes has created a loyal customers base on his own terms.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg.109) Johnny’s branding strategies have included the use of a blog where he shares his personal experiences and relates them to his brand. This way his fans can view his daily routine and feel like they are a part of the Johnny Cupcakes brand.


2. Zara is a company that has taken the idea of viral marketing and made it a huge success for their company. In a previous exercise I researched the company Zara to find out that they have just recently surpassed the Gap as the number one fashion retailer! They are an amazing Spanish company that does not advertise themselves at all! Just like Johnny Cupcakes, Zara is able to brand themselves to their customers without any means of advertising. They mainly use word of mouth marketing. They are an extremely successful company that uses viral marketing. This method of marketing is a good one because it is very inexpensive to the company and ads to the brand image of that company.


3. Johnny Cupcakes does many things to make their customers feel special. “The company added surprises to the boxes when filling internet orders. Customers would find items such as trading cars that were popular in the 1980’s and 1990’s featuring ninja turtles, Ghostbusters, and garbage pail kids, packed with their orders. These free trinkets were intended to make customers feel special and to help them remember the Johnny Cupcakes brand. As Johnny said, “It makes us stand out as a company and lets them know we care.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, pg.113) Another thing the company does to make the guests feel special is add a vanilla scent to products that simulates the smell of baked goods. They use this scent throughout the Johnny Cupcakes stores as well.


4. I think that his brand is able to relate to older and more youthful customers. “The product line and marketing campaigns continue to reflect Johnny’s passion for popular culture. Many of his T-shirt designs mimic ideologies that are reflective of twentieth –century style and popular logo design; however, each features a special twist for the youthful customer, such as his Bon Appétit T-shirts.” (Brand Story, Joseph Hancock, Pg. 120) Because of his unique style and branding he is able to reach a very wide market of customers.


5. In my opinion Johnny Cupcakes is a very unique brand. I think his story is amazing. He is a very passionate individual that built his brand fast and smart. He made a lot of great decisions; one of those was to never put his clothing into chain retailers. I think that was a great idea! He made the brand exclusive and hard to find. I really like how he only produces a limited amount of his product. It is a great idea! I think the next thing he should venture into is shoes! He seems to have a large cult following of the skating community and creating skate shoes would be a great addition to his line.

Week 6 EOC: Excercise-Zara

I decided to do my research exercise on the company Zara. Many people don’t know this, but Zara is the largest fashion retailer in the world! When you step inside their store you are greeted with great customer service. The store has a very modern high fashion feel to it. Zara carries trendy men’s and women’s’ clothing. They are always up-to-date on current trends.


Wherever you go shopping in the world— Paris, New York, London, or Tokyo you will always come across a Zara store. The retailer’s CEO Pablo Isla Álvarez de Tejera feels the stores themselves are the best way to communicate Zara’s brand image. www.zara.com Zara has chosen to locate the stores in the most luxurious spots of the biggest capitals in the world and to invest less money on advertising. Zara believes its shop windows are all the advertising it needs.


The Zara clothing chain is developing rapidly, with double-digit growth even at a time of financial crisis. Zara has officially overtaken the US giant Gap! www.labrand.com In the competitive clothing industry, Zara has successfully built a worldwide famous brand thanks to their premium locations as well as a unique management system of design, production and supply chains. Unlike other fashion brands, it takes Zara only 10 to 14 days from the time they design new clothing until it arrives in stores. www.edition.cnn.com This “fast fashion” concept and operation allow Zara to always provide the most fashionable clothes to their customers, and the ever-renewed collections definitely help build brand loyalty.


Although many international fashion companies are perfectly aware of Zara’s effective branding methods, no one has been able to catch up. Zara has built a powerful clothing brand which should continue to thrive in years to come. They are this successful with very minimal advertising. “Fashion retailers spend on average 3.5% of revenue on advertising their products, while Zara's parent company Inditex spends just 0.3%.” www.edition.cnn.com They have been able to establish a firm market share to gain the customers they need to be the number one retailer. I believe that Zara is successful because they are unique in this way.