Fashion Revival

Introduction

The clothing industry continues to change and considering the large number of actors in the market, to be successful and to have competitive advantages the players need to differentiate and keep up to date with the trends. A trend that is gaining more and more supporters is conscious consumerism which is buying behaviours with positive economic, social and environmental impact.

Fashion industry and especially the fast-fashion practices are causing environmental and social concerns. The fashion industry as a large polluter in the world causes a lot of water and chemicals pollution and consumption and also produces considerable greenhouse gases. Social concerns in the industry include poor working conditions and unfair labour. Therefore conscious consumers look for ways to reduce their negative impact with shopping form sustainable brands and avoid throwing out their clothes.

The retail Concept

Our brand creates value for customers by proposing them the option to reduce their negative impact on the environment with our offer which is repurposed clothing.
Customers can bring us their used garments and with the help of in store stylists transform them to new customised pieces. Customers who do not bring any material, can choose a fabric from our stock of used fabrics collected from our partner organisations, select a model, customise it and leave the store with a brand new piece of clothing in line with their values and preferences.

Market and Customers

Green and eco-friendly product market is growing worldwide in different industries including the fashion industry. There is a growing demand for consuming with purpose and certain sustainable products have a higher growth rate than traditional products. These demands are higher among millennials who seek ethical and sustainable products. In the market there is a lack of options for customised clothing which is usually limited to expensive suits and dresses. We therefore can differentiate with offering customised ethical and eco-friendly apparel.

Considering our business goals, we have segmented our customers based on demographic and psychographic criteria. Customer segmentations targets mostly the younger generation who are eco- friendly, fashion savvy and interested in ethical shopping.

The store

Our store is based in Paris as a main fashion hub and the French region with the highest purchasing power. We have chosen a store in the historic Marais district spreading across 3rd and 4th arrondissements with trendy shopping boutiques. The biggest age group among female residents of this neighbourhood are women aged 15-29 years old which is in line with our main target persona. We provide customer with a different in-store experience compared to traditional retailers since they have the chance to interact with designer and garment makers directly. Also with our workshop integrated in the store, visitors will be able to observe the process of upcycling and creating new pieces of clothing.

Products and Services

Considering customers’ needs and achievability we offer an assortment of main clothing pieces which include t-shirts, dresses, shirts, pants and hoodies. Every clothes will be made with different tissues that we collect either from customers or from organisations and NGOs that we cooperate with. In store we offer models to choose from and after choosing the pattern and in some cases the fabric, customers can customise their garment with their chosen add-ons.

In addition to designing and creating garments, we offer stylising advises and based on season we have workshops to learn about garment making and design clothes.

Feasibility

In order to estimate profitability of our business and to understand the feasibility of our business model, we need to define our main costs and expected sales. Our fixed costs include store rent, salaries, insurance, utilities, and website management. Variables costs consist of stock of material, and communication and marketing activities. Considering costs and expected growth in net sales after establishing our store and brand we can start gaining profitability in the 2nd year.

Communication

For increasing sales, acquiring new customers and improving brand awareness we use online strategies(social media, & Banner Ads, influencers) and offline methods(prints & attending events). We will also have store based communications with our team and by displaying posters and videos of our processes of creating new clothes. We convey our message of being green with the use of eco-friendly materials in the store and efficient use of energy. With our loyalty program customers can earn discounts based on their basket value and participate in our exclusive events.
Future Development
We can have competitions for designing new models in our community and in some organisations such as art schools and pick and produce the best design. This is a win-win strategy since amateur designers can have their designs built while we cut on designer expenses.
With increased customer base and access to more elements of clothing we can add some products to our offerings such as accessories and bags.
After establishing a well manged and well-known brand in France, we would have additional branches in several fashion centres of the world.