Temptation Island

Ok lets face it...folks in the fashion industry can be very particular. We create these brands and we care about them...we want to protect them and we don't want to leave our "babies," with just any ol' retailer.

That means we have to discriminate, a bit when it comes to picking the stores we sell to. No matter how tempting it may be to imagine how black a new account could make our financial statements-- selling your brand too short...too soon can have a detrimental effect that just won't pay off.

Let me tell you a little story to illustrate my point....

A client of mine had these aspirations of creating a high end luxury lifestyle brand. She imagined her stuff in the windows at Barneys, on the racks of the finest boutiques, on the homepage of international online retailer net-a-porter.com. Her vision was crystal clear in her mind. She believed in it and was excited to see it come to life....

But as she sat at her first trade show she watched buyer after buyer pass her by... they'd glance...comment, maybe even take a few pictures... They seemed interested but they weren't buying....what was she supposed to do?

On the last day of the show, a slightly more mainstream department store paid her a friendly visit. They were interested and ready to write an order.

I mean they were by no means a luxury brand....but one order from them alone could pay for the cost of her show, save her from hustling for more accounts when she needed to be designing and even allow her to give her consultant (me), a much needed bonus for all my dedication.. hard work, brilliant insight and commitment... (I know that's right;).

And as much as I wanted and so deserved a little extra padding in my pocketbook I had to keep it real. The department store deal didn't make sense. Of course we had the option of revising the strategy...adjusting our pricing, going slightly more mainstream--- but it was only her first trade show. Was it really the time to sell out? Was an offer from one vendor offer enough to constitute a total change of plans?

Maybe eventually but not initially.

As you develop your brand you will sometimes have to resist the temptation of big business money...and just give yourself a chance to grow.

I advised that she stick to the program....the brand she wanted...the one she believed in....and the brand she worked hard to create with everything from imported fabric to the paper linen hangtags she loved that made for the perfect finishing touch.

So she took my advice and decided against the major retailer. However, soon after the tradeshow she was able to acquire about 10 niche brand building boutiques that were interested in finding the next big thing...not just stuff that was sold in (nose in the air)... mid-tier department stores!

Now keep in mind the orders of those 10 stores didn't even add up to the one order she turned down.

However--she wasn't trying to host a thanksgiving day clearance sale--she was trying to build a brand. That takes time. And that means being strategic as well as pacing yourself.

Soon after she acquired her first 10 stores without a showroom she was picked up by one of the top international showrooms for her product category...who has since been able to place her in niche boutiques all over the world. A lot more brand appropriate than being sold off to the highest bidder.

She's since been featured as a top emerging designer in major fashion organizations and publications including Vogue...Not her hometown paper but...Vogue.

The moral of the story--If you have a vision for your brand let people help you refine that vision but don't ever throw it out the window based on one tempting proposition.

If only for a little while...just believe--trust your gut and see what happens. It could be better than you've ever imagined.