END OF AN ERA

I honestly can’t believe that this is my last blog post and that I’ve finally reached the end of this project. I can’t believe second year is over!

I thought as a final blog post I would sum up my overall feelings for this project. From feeling confident with my presentation work to communication complications with my designer and collaborative platform team, it really has been a rollercoaster of emotions and there have been lots of ups and downs.

Here are a few key reflective takeaways from this project. Firstly, I have definitely learned the value of time management. I pride my time management skills but they have definitely been pushed with this project. I have also learned that I would probably be a good team leader with reference to the collaborative project. I debated putting myself forward for team leader at the beginning but I think I doubted myself. Helping Nataria very closely with the project made me realise that actually maybe I would be capable of being full team leader. I do often doubt and critique myself, but going forward I need to not be like this. I need to take more pride in what I do well rather than put myself down on the things that I am struggling with or aren’t going too well. I really enjoyed developing a relationship with the designer Evie, through many Snapchat conversations and Teams calls. Although we lacked communication slightly towards the end, I think we worked well together and I am really glad I got paired with her to work on such an exciting project.

I have really enjoyed this year and I feel like I have made so much progress. I really think I have grown and improved as a student and a pending professional.

Second year, you’ve been a blast. Roll on final year!

RANGE PLANNING AND PRICE ARCHITECTURE

I can’t believe I am working on the final bits of my project - the deadline week has come round so fast! This range planning and price architecture is one of the things that I have left until last as I have been waiting on Evie to send me over her final designs.

I am feeling pretty confident with everything I have produced so far. But I will be honest and say I have been putting off doing the range planning and price architecture. I recall Liz’s lecture and seminar a few weeks back being quite confusing, but I knew I didn’t need to worry about it until later on. It is now later on, and it’s about time I got by head stuck in! Yesterday morning I looked back over Liz’s lecture to get into the right head space and to gain a better understanding of what I am doing, looking at all things from size planning to production minimums. I have spent time thinking thoroughly about what would work for Fortitude and how I can apply my knowledge and understanding to my brand.

Size and range planning

Liz emphasised the importance of knowing your customer and who you are selling to; and that it is very important to realise that you are not going to please everyone. When it comes to size planning, Liz said to consider ratios. It has been established via Evie, the designer, that Fortitude will sell 1 of each garment in 5 sizes - XS, S, M, L and XL, meaning this is a ratio of 1/1/1/1/1. Evie desires her brand and collection being incredibly exclusive and adopting a drop culture, and she also wants it to be very much a runway collection that is not accessible to many. Speaking to Evie I have really understood her passion about this, and so it hasn’t been in my nature to challenge this and to suggest producing more products on mass or in different sizes etc. She feels strongly about having this as a key part of her brand. It can be assumed that she is not particularly driven by making large amounts of profit off her brand and designs, instead maybe her primary motive and drive is raising awareness through the statement, work-of-art garments that she produces.

Manufacturing

Then I had to think about manufacturing and how many pieces we would intend to sell initially. Liz said that with lower price products, you tend to sell more pieces. Since understanding and accepting Evie’s desires, it can be decided that the intention is to sell very few of Evie’s first collection pieces but of high price points. I learned that the UK will produce from 1 piece upwards, and that it is alternatively great if you have connections with small manufacturing units off-shore. Taking into consideration the British nature of the brand as well as the intricate details of Fortitude’s garments (detailed beading), I think I have decided that the most logical and viable option for Fortitude would be UK production. It is also noted that manufacturers would be paid approximately £30 an hour which is more expensive compared to Dubai for £15 an hour. Considering we want minimal products manufactured, off-shore production would not be viable because at least 150 pieces need to be produced, and if it’s any less, the factories might lose interest.

Production minimums

This follows on from some points made in the previous paragraph. Liz detailed that the UK will produce as low as 1 unit, and the next was Portugal or Turkey at 200+ units. Anything more than this would not be appropriate or viable for Fortitude, such as Bangladesh with 1000 units. I noted that Liz said that if you don’t ask factories to manufacture an efficient amount of products, they would happily ditch you for another brand wanting more products manufactured. Therefore, I think it would be better to be safe than sorry and opt for UK production considering the number of products Evie and Fortitude desire to be manufactured and sold for the pioneer collection.

Fabric minimums

Another thing that Liz taught us is that small brands will often use 1 fabric over a number of styles to meet minimums. Since being sent Evie’s designs and understanding them a bit more, I think this can be applied for Fortitude’s collection. I understand that Evie is incorporating tulle and swim fabric across a lot of her garments which will help keep costs low. This also applies to using the same shapes, yarns and styles. Again understanding Evie’s designs, they predominantly take the same shape and style through fabric manipulation, which is positive for Fortitude. It can be highlighted that Evie has incorporated fused plastics into her designs which will have been recycled from the oceans. This too is extremely cost effective, helping keep costs low.

Pricing architecture

I gained an understanding that garments often use triple up prices for mark up. For example, if something costs £25 to make, it would be sold on for £75. I took the time to work out the prices of each individual garment. The key things that I took into account were the fabric materials and costs, and labour time and cost per hour. It is worth noting that the plastic which is a key design feature didn't cost anything or account for the manufacturing cost at all due to these materials being recycled from the ocean. I am aware that these are very much estimates of costs per item because other elements should and would be taken into account such as packaging and labels etc. Due to leaving this a little bit to the last minute, I didn’t account for everything involved in the garment production costs. However, I am pleased that I was able to work out some estimations for the garments, and it can be noted that the garments are competitively priced in comparison to key competitor Charlotte Knowles. See Appendix 5 for further pricing details.

1 TO 1 & DESIGNER EXTENSION…

Yesterday morning I had my 1 to 1 session with my tutor, Adele. It was really nice being able to go into university and speak with Adele in a physical teaching space.

It was a 10 minute slot altogether. I was confident to tell Adele that with the deadline only a week away, I am almost finished and that I am feeling generally okay with it. One thing that I haven’t yet focused my attention to is the range development and pricing architecture. I flagged this to Adele, openly saying that I am a bit confused by this. She gave me some useful tips of how I can get cracking with pricing up the garments. She also suggested that I start with this sooner rather than later.

A slight problem that I have recently faced is that my designer Evie has an extension for her own work. When she told me this, I automatically worried that I would not get what I need from her before the deadline. I evaluated and realised that though she is getting an extension, I only need her digital designs, and I am aware that she has finished these. I will be getting my hands on them as soon as possible to feature in my Brand Launch Pack. I told Adele that my designer has an extension, but she put me at ease and allowed me not to worry. She advised that I try my best to work with what Evie has up to date, and because of this, a few elements in the Brand Book would need to be altered. I was also told that this would not penalise me in regards to marking and grades, which made me feel better.

With the deadline in a week, I am going to use these next 7/8 days working on my final touches including the price architecture, a few digital mock ups and my critical path. Out of any project I have done before, this has definitely be the one tightest for time. With previous projects, I am often complete with a good 5 - 7 days spare to double and triple check my work. This project and overall module has definitely been a challenge, but the finish line is in site and just one last push is needed.