https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bea4/609408ccbe7f378afc229f307289df74a6d1.pdf

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/global-currents/the-secret-indian-ateliers-keeping-luxury-brands-buoyant

Dr Phyllida Jay, who has written the book – Fashion India, wrote this article for the BOF.

She talks abouy the unrecognised efforts and creations of Indian artisans are a big problem especially in context with European luxury brands. Highlighting the iconic green dress worn by JLo at the Versace at Milan Fashion Week she claims how no one acknowledged Indian artisanship that wen t behind creating that dress.

According to her, India, with its centuries-old traditions of craft and incredibly high levels of artisanal excellence is an exceptional alternative for European brands to get their products made in India. India held a key role in the development of European luxury from the 17th century onwards, but the country’s more recent reputation as an affordable exporter of garments for the fast fashion sector has come to overshadow its long, rich fashion craft history and the diversity of its current activities in the luxury industry !

My mentor Poonam Mishra in Mumbai is going to reach out to Phyllida to ask if she would be willing to speak to me about my project. Really excited for that!!

they want us to focus on the Purpose collection while redesigning their marketing/social media strategy and revamping the store. They want us to highlight their story where they have worked with women in prison while making this collection.

• Work on the PURPOSE collection which is a capsule collection that will be launched by Circle Collective
• Do a SWOT analysis go the brand and products at Circle Collective
• Written overview for visual merchandising at Hypebeast for reference
• Collect references fro VM from small independent brands in London
• Come up with 3-4 concepts strategies in sync with the targeted audience fro CC
• Then narrow it down according to the narrative/research and design team’s outcomes
• Work on the costing for the proposal for revamping the retail space
• Political placards, stickers and host workshops
• Branding is key – logo, who made the garment, whats the story, communicate it rightly
• Make sure there’s a balanced strategy that tells the story of the brand which highlights their social initiative and also sells the capsule collection
• Buy a similar jacket and experiment with cisyomisation
• Look for a designer to collaborate with to publicise the collection
• Look at VM at individual stores in Islington, Brixton, brick one, etc.

I was approached by Alexandra Rodrigues from the Communications department at LCF for an interview to be featured in the student spotlight series. Here’s a draft of the future. So excited to be a part of this! I thank Alexandra for giving me this opportunity.

I am a part of this Branding team that is working on the retail environment of the store. On 8th February, I along with my group visited their store in Dalston. We spoke to the assistant store manager Nicole, who helped us by answering a few questions. 

From my observations at the store, overall it is very basic. The store does not convey the message that the brand is trying to communicate. It looks like a charity store that sells sports wear and accessories. They don’t have window displays, which were removed when the store was redecorated recently. 

The placement of the products is quite random in the store. There is no dedicated space to display accessories like bags, hats, etc. I asked Nicole about the priority changes that would help us know what to focus on while revamping the store space. She said, it would be better to have all the accessories in one place rather than having them scattered all over the store. Also, how the store doesn’t really represent the brand’s message apart from a few stickers which are not very prevalent. 

I asked her about where she would like the new ‘PURPOSE’ collection to be placed in the store, she said it would be ideal to place the capsule collection where the sneakers are displayed which would allow the people walking by the store to see that they have something new in the store. 

I asked her about who her customers were? She said 25% of their customers are their loyal customers who live in the area around the area around the store and the rest are new customers. 

i asked her about the product range that she would want us to focus on while designing/planning a new store layout? She said it would be womenswear for now as they’ve started selling womenswear in the store and needs to be publicised. 

Overall takeaways from the visit:

• The store could look less basic and more modern which would be in sync with the aesthetic of the brand.
• They have a great collection of surf boards, which could be highlighted and the space used to display them could be used more creatively.
• Sneakers could be displayed elsewhere more strategically.
• The walls look pale, which can be changed by adding a subtle textured wallpaper. 
• The lighting could be used in a better way to focus on the products which would highlight them. 
• They have few light boxes which have nothing on them, they could be used to display messages. 
• We can’t do much with the space outside the store as the pathway is owned by TFL, so using social media strategies to drive footfall to the store could be a great option. 
• The tilt counter could be sued as a space to up sell and cross sell products like socks, laces, etc. 
• Lack of In-store visuals makes the store look a bit boring, which could add the brands vibe to the store. 
• They could host events in their store to make it more happening.