Showing posts tagged FASHION AND TECH
FASHION+TECHSF: Fashion Incubation Presentation with INSPIRARE 05.17.12
[Photos by: ARMAND SMITH. Written by: ROBERT BURNS NIXON]
SFFAMA, FASHION+TECHSF and fashion incubator partner INSPIRARE held a design presentation and networking event on May 17th at Pigment Cosmetics. Inspirare Founder and CEO Sean Peng gave an e-commerce industry and business model overview. Anne McEnroe discussed Inspirare’s operations and production. Kate Blank, Inspirare’s Fashion Director, completed the Inspirare team on hand to meet with local fashion designers and view their presentations. SFFAMA Founder and CEO Owen Geronimo added, “We are thrilled to partner with Inspirare to foster local talent, hone their business skills and introduce other ways of getting their products to the market. I want to offer local designers funding opportunities beyond fashion shows and photo shoots by means of incubation and crowdfunding.”
Design presentations included a leather jacket and accessories line fashioned from custom car seats by Dustin Page, luxury knitwear designs for men from Scott Mcfarland, unique denim pieces by Julian Prince Dash and re-invented hi-end patchwork denim by Gerry Kelly of Sonas Denim. Women’s wear designs included the clean sophisticated silhouettes of Audrey Szeto, the London-meets-Los Gatos effortless glamour looks from Claire Farwell of Claire Farwell London, strong yet whimsical creations by Mariya Milovidova, a full range of pretty looks, price points and beautiful color palettes by Skylier Blanchard of Skylier Wear, and a collection of visually arresting color, contrast and dramatic detailing by Celina Martin Perez. Inspirare identified four designers for immediate inclusion in the program.
Additional presentations included a discussion on alternative funding sources by SFFAMA advisory board member Gwendolyn Wright, a product presentation by Brian Carey of HipSwap and a new product and category announcement by Gal Rozov, Founder and CEO of Fold4me. ~ Written by: ROBERT BURNS NIXON
FASHION+TECHSF is the longest running monthly workshop and event series in the San Francisco Bay Area focused synergistically on building, promoting and educating the vibrant community of fashion and technology entrepreneurs, designers, developers, bloggers, business professionals, students, investors and numerous enthusiastic companies, schools, groups and individuals who share our vision of a world-class fashion and technology industry that is innovative, disruptive and uniquely San Francisco.
Our mission is to create educational, social and business opportunities for the fashion and technology industries. In the past two years, FASHION+TECHSF has become the leading network for all things fashion and technology in the SF Bay Area.
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- For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo
The Power of Bricks
[ Photo by: Decoded Fashion. Written by: Lili Balfour of Atelier Advisors ]
I heard an interesting statistic at the Decoded Fashion event in NYC last month — 95% of high fashion purchases are done in brick and mortar stores. This bit of knowledge may lead brands to believe that they should shutter online stores and focus on a brick and mortar only strategy. Think again.
Betsey Johnson built her first brick and mortar store in 1978 and expanded her empire by approximately two stores per year. Currently, she is closing 95% of her stores. Oddly, despite a 20% decrease in store sales and a 50% increase in wholesale sales, the company was planning to grow stores from 63 to 100 in the near future. Not surprisingly, the question most brands are asking is: what percentage of distribution should be devoted to traditional brick and mortar stores?
Bricks or Clicks?
Well known e-tailers are realizing the power of the physical store. Bonobos recently announced their launch into Nordstroms. Warby Parker credited their move into physical space for not only an increase in sales, but an increase in consumer insight and employee knowledge. After Gap acquired e-tailer Athleta and built physical stores, Tony Lenk, President of Gap’s E-commerce business, stated; “For every dollar that customers in the region spent over the Web, they shelled out an additional $4 in the store.” It is no surprise, consumers purchase more when they can touch and feel the merchandise. Clicks need bricks.
Balancing Act
As with any business decision, your bricks vs clicks ratio is derived from a blend of analytics and customer feedback. The question you want to answer is: where are consumers finding you? Strong brands, such as Bonobos, Warby Parker and Athleta, have the advantage of experimenting with brick and mortar by utilizing partnerships, pop up shops and acquisitions. Lesser known brands will have to be careful when they enter physical space on their own. A store build out can range from $100k to $500k, and comes with annual expenses that are difficult to unravel. A conservative ‘brick approach’ is one store per year, measured regularly against the metrics of other distribution channels.
Some brands do well in the digital world, while other brands require a high touch experience. I highly doubt Lululemon could have built a multibillion dollar wellness brand online. The lure of the store is the community you interact with while shopping, wine tasting, exercising and socializing. Camaraderie is a powerful selling tool.
Can Luxury Go Virtual?
E-tailer Amazon recently announced that they will be entering the luxury market. Their 2006 acquisition of Shopbop gave them a glimpse into the luxury market, while keeping both sites separate. Of course, the consumer is comfortable buying a $30 pair of shoes on Zappos as the price point is low. But Shopbop has proven that the consumer would also be comfortable buying a $10,000 Zac Posen dress online. As with the brands mentioned above Zac Posen already has a strong following. This is not the case for most brands, luxury or otherwise, that sell online.
Statistically speaking, the conversion rate for in store sales is 67%, while the conversion rate for online sales is a mere 10%. More importantly, online returns range from 15%-50% of sales and 60% of those returns are due to fit. That is a lot of money wasted on shipping and reduced value as apparel goes out of season.
Yes, Amazon’s experiment is ambitious, but 2012 is armed with selling tools that didn’t exist in 2006.
My Digital Doppelgänger
Decoded Fashion included a stellar panel on digital customization. The panel included Acustom,Clothes Horse, Me-ality, and Styku — all focused on helping consumers get the perfect fit. One company missing was Fitiquette, a 3-D avatar-as-model approach created by Cisco alums Andy Pandharikar and Anant Kumar. I believe the digital doppelgänger could be the solution to the pain found in billions lost due to low conversion rates and high returns.
What do you think? Have you used technology to perfect your shopping experience?
LILI BALFOUR is the founder of Atelier Advisors.
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- For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo
#FASHIONTECHSF - NEXT GEN Fashion Designers / Fashion Incubator Presentation
This presentation and networking event allows fashion designers to present and discuss their designs for consideration in a new fashion incubator. Aspiring designers must register with FASHION+TECHSF in advance in order to present. Attendees will also be able to meet other entrepreneurs who provide resources for the local fashion and tech industries including local fashion entrepreneurs, business professionals, interns, students, designers, app developers, bloggers, stylists and producers.
- WHAT: FASHION+TECHSF: Next Gen Fashion Designers / Fashion Incubator Presentations
- WHEN: May 17th, 2012, Door opens at 5:30pm
- WHERE: Pigment Cosmetics, One Market Street #140, San Francisco, CA
- RSVP: Eventbrite/ $10 at the door
FEATURED PRESENTERS/ DESIGNERS: Audrey Szeto, Claire Farwell, Deborah Hodgson, Diana Mitchell, Dustin Page, Gerry Kelly, Jonathan Niemuth, Julian Prince Dash, Mariya Milovidova, Scott Mcfarland, Skylier Blanchard, Tamara Jaric
Product Presentation By:
HipSwap is a mobile and web marketplace that enables you to discover what’s inside the most fabulous closets, homes and shops in your neighborhood - or any neighborhood across America. HipSwap also enables any person, merchant, stylist, artist or designer to quickly and easily sell products to friends, customers, fans or neighbors. And best of all, HipSwap delivers in Los Angeles and gearing up to roll out delivery in major cities across America throughout 2012.
We connect fashion designers, fashion startups, app developers and retail/fashion entrepreneurs to human and capital resources. Find out what all the buzz is about in fashion and technology. Come learn about innovative new products and business models and the people behind them to accelerate your networking and business opportunities. Present and promote your product. Get feedback. Get users. Get a fanbase. Get connected to an enthusiastic community of fashion professionals, entrepreneurs and resources.
- For media relations & PR/Publicity Contact Owen Geronimo
- Attend SFFAMA Events
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#DECODEDFASHION Recap. Lincoln Center, NYC 04.30.12 (Part 1)
[ Source: DECODED FASHION ]
- TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING FASHION, RETAIL & LUXURY. Decoded Fashion is the first Fashion and Technology Forum Series connecting the world’s best startups and most noteworthy technologies to the Fashion, Beauty and Retail industries to accelerate innovation and increase the bottom line.
DECODED FASHION [ www.DecodedFashion.com ] is produced by TecnaMedia [ www.TecnaMedia.com ] and Fashion Lincoln Center. For media relations, please contact Peter Mauerman, peter@tecnamedia.com, (203)-216-3212, www.GF2045.com
Decoded Fashion Tech Keynote, David Karp, CEO and Founder of Tumblr
Decoded Fashion Tech Keynote, David Karp, CEO and Founder of Tumblr. TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING FASHION, RETAIL & LUXURY. Decoded Fashion is the first Fashion and Technology Forum Series connecting the world’s best startups and most noteworthy technologies to the Fashion, Beauty and Retail industries to accelerate innovation and increase the bottom line.
DECODED FASHION [ www.DecodedFashion.com ] is produced by TecnaMedia [ www.TecnaMedia.com ] and Fashion Lincoln Center. For media relations, please contact Peter Mauerman, peter@tecnamedia.com, (203)-216-3212, www.GF2045.com
(Source: fashiontechsf.com)
Keynote Speaker, Andy Dunn, CEO and Founder of Bonobos at Decoded Fashion
[ Photo Source: Racked ]
Keynote Speaker, Andy Dunn, CEO and Founder of Bonobos at Decoded Fashion. TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING FASHION, RETAIL & LUXURY. Decoded Fashion is the first Fashion and Technology Forum Series connecting the world’s best startups and most noteworthy technologies to the Fashion, Beauty and Retail industries to accelerate innovation and increase the bottom line.
DECODED FASHION [ www.DecodedFashion.com ] is produced by TecnaMedia [ www.TecnaMedia.com ] and Fashion Lincoln Center. For media relations, please contact Peter Mauerman, peter@tecnamedia.com, (203)-216-3212, www.GF2045.com
