Branding Advice for the Fashion Business

All good things must come to an end

Giannina Silverman — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:33:26 +0000

Hello, darlings. I hope you’ve all been well and rocking out all your amazing business ideas! As for me, I’ve been busy. Super busy. Crazy busy. Have spent the last few months working on branding for an outdoor apparel company, and designing packaging for a company that produces hair-styling tools, and having tons of fun. I’m also working on a novel, which is in the home stretch of completion. So, I haven’t had a sec to work on this blog, and my assistant has been pretty slammed too. I’ve had to make a hard decision: I’ve decided to lay this blog to bed, and this is my last post. It has been lovely to share all my knowledge with you, and I thank you for your dedicated readership. I’ll be leaving this blog up though, so that you can still reference it (though commenting will be turned off). And I’m still available for consulting on all your branding projects. If you need to reach me, you can email me through this page: http://rocketranchdesign.com/contact.php

If I have a chance, I’ll occasionally post links to articles on my Twitter page as I come across them. I post all kinds of stuff on entrepreneurship and branding there, so feel free to follow me: http://twitter.com/giasilverman

Also, I want to introduce you to my friend Juliet’s blog: http://sanderbrandculture.com/weblog/
It’s geared more at established companies who aren’t really considered “emerging” anymore, but it’s wonderfully aspirational and can help steer you in the right direction as you build your brand.

Thanks so much, and I wish you the best of luck!

Mentors Move Mountains: Seattle fashion entrepreneurs to speak at CRAVE Chat, Oct 17

Giannina Silverman — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:29:58 +0000

Niveen Heaton (Adicora Swimwear), Morgan Carson (fashion designer behind Renee Ropas) and Juliet Sander (Sander Brand Culture) will be speaking at Monday’s CRAVE Chat, a fabulous series devoted to helping female entrepreneurs rock all aspects of their business. Monday’s topic will be about how mentorship can help you achieve your career and business goals, by learning from the successes and failures of others. Whether you’re in the fashion business or not, this hot talk will only inspire you. For more info and to register, please go to the CRAVE website. Hope you can make it!

May 19, 2011: Local Couture Designer Luly Yang to talk about Finding Success in Fashion

Giannina Silverman — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:48:48 +0000

Hey Seattle up-and-coming fashion designers! On May 19, Luly Yang, Seattle’s very own couture rockstar, will be giving a free informative talk about how she turned her passion into a successful business. I mean, a really, REALLY successful business. Juicy info that every fashion entrepreneur could learn from, no? For time and location information, please go to UW’s Professional and Continuing Education website.

FadMashion.net: connecting emerging designers with retailers & fashion enthusiasts

Giannina Silverman — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:26:19 +0000

A friend pointed me to this website, and upon checking it out, it looks like a killer opportunity for emerging talent. FadMashion is a website connecting emerging fashion designers with global retailers, fashion enthusiasts, and global media. Designers can create a profile and portfolio, get exposure for their fashion product, and get feedback on and grow their brand. The creators of FadMashion promise a better user experience than other fashion networking sites. If you’re an indie fashion designer and registered on FadMashion, please let me know what you think. I’m interested in hearing about your experience.

I wish everyone in the FadMashion community the best of luck!

How to get Blog Coverage, Do’s and Don’ts

Giannina Silverman — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:27:49 +0000

As a follow-up to my last post, where I linked to an article discussing how an emerging fashion designer used the power of bloggers to get the word-of-mouth she needed to boost her biz, I found a great article that covers exactly how to get that coveted blog coverage. So you, too, can have your very own strategy of blog domination. Rock on. Here’s the link, from SmallBizTrends.com:

5 Dos & Donts For Getting Blog Coverage

by Lisa Barone
_____________________________________________________

A little note: The FCC now regulates how companies and bloggers interact, and bloggers must disclose their relationship with you. Read about it here. Note, the link to the right of the FCC page takes you to short videos explaining some of the guidelines.

Great article: how marketing through blogs helped clothing designer thrive

Giannina Silverman — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:25:38 +0000

I love this article about Shabby Apple, a dress company inspired by vintage looks, and how the designer launched her business and connected with bloggers to get her message out there inexpensively. The article also covers other strategic hits and misses, things we can all definitely learn from. But founder Athelia Woolley must be doing something right: after being founded in 2007, the company is now doing a profitable 1.4 million in annual sales.

Read the article here on Crain’s New York:

Hits & Misses: Fashioning a winning strategy

Great advice for anyone wishing to set up an Etsy shop

Giannina Silverman — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:14:25 +0000

As we know, businesses come in all shapes and sizes. I found this great article and interview on Etsy about doing your due diligence to make your Etsy shop a success, so you can eventually quit your day job. Practical, actionable, and inspiring. And while your business may be different, it’s definitely advice you can use. I love little success stories like these. Enjoy!

Here’s the link: Quit Your Day Job: johnnyvintage

Gap rebranding causes backlash

Giannina Silverman — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:10:17 +0000

Wow. The Gap tried to unveil a new logo, presumably to herald a bold new direction with its brand, but no dice. The huge consumer backlash generated on Twitter and Facebook in response to the new logo shows the power of social media to give a major voice to a brand’s believers. These days, if you’re an established brand, consider ways to involve your customer in major decisions like rebranding, so your customers don’t feel like you’ve left them out in the cold. Talk to your most passionate brand advocates, what do they want?

But, to play devil’s advocate, involving too many cooks can spoil the soup. How do you involve your customers in major branding decisions, while being able to move forward? Do you involve them in steps along the way, but in a very focused fashion? I think that would be the best approach. Give customers a chance to have a choice in the matter, tweet options along the way and get votes for their favorite.

Which reminds me, there is a GREAT book called “Brand Hijack” that speaks to this very phenomenon, the idea that brands are driven by customers’ interactions and not by decisions made entirely by the corporation in question. Case studies for companies like Doc Martens, Birkenstocks, and Red Bull are all highlighted as examples of how brand image were driven by customer needs and wants. Which, I think, is the true essence of a brand.

On Mashable:

Gap Reverts to Original Logo After Social Media Backlash

On AdAge:

Gap to Scrap New Logo, Return to Old Design

Want brand longevity? Think “lifestyle.”

Giannina Silverman — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:06:40 +0000

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the best long-lived brands think about themselves as a lifestyle. Tory Burch has done this exceedingly well, and in her interview with Ladies Who Launch (available at the link below) credits the lifestyle concept, and following the lifestyle needs of her customers, with being a big part of her brand strategy. We can learn so much from Tory Burch. Enjoy!

Meet the lady who Oprah called “the next big thing in fashion.”

The meaning of color when branding your fashion label

Giannina Silverman — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:43:53 +0000

Let’s face it. Everyone has a favorite color. But when branding your emerging fashion label, and choosing your brand’s colors, it’s not enough to simply have a personal favorite. It’s better to have a strategy. As in, what color palette best exemplifies the feeling and psychology of your brand? A well-written brand strategy can help you execute the appropriate color palette for your brand. And the appropriate color palette can help you connect to your target customer on an emotional level.

Consider some following commonly-held assumptions about color:

• Black: depending on the other brand elements it’s paired with, it can be swing from upscale and chic, to modern, and even edgy or goth
• Red: vixenish, vampy, but can also be classic all-American; believed to be good luck in China
• Pink: youthful, girlish
• Blue: light to medium shades can come across as casual and relaxing, while darker shades speak of a conservative approach
• Green: clichéd as the color of the Eco movement

The above examples are but a small fraction of the ideas surrounding the meaning of color. Color trends also come and go at a whim, the challenge is to choose something that has staying power and gives you room to grow. Also, if you think your company may have an international audience, you should also research what different colors mean in different cultures when planning your branding. Wouldn’t you be totally, utterly horrified if your brand’s color meant “bad luck” to an international audience. Eek! (Personal story: I once unknowingly pitched an “unlucky” color palette to an Asian client. I should have done my research before-hand. He accused me of wishing death on his business. I was completely naive, and really mortified!)

How would you use color in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to selling your product?