Market Research

Here I have compared sweaters from two different High End Stores - Superette and Good as Gold. Both are a wool blend - it is nice to see some natural fibres in the mix rather than just synthetic -  and feature a mixture of different knits. The Alice McCall sweater - to me - is more girlier than the Shakuhachi one and can be dressed up to go out more. The Shakuhachi sweater has a slightly more 'grunge' look to it with a more everyday appeal. Both are chunky-style knits (which seems to be a trend this winter). I like the combination of knit styles used in the Shakuhachi sweater. Both are made in China.

I have compared dresses from a High End Store (Superette) and a Middle-High End Store ( Area 51). The Lonely Hearts dress is made of 100% silk in New Zealand. Being a New Zealand brand it is really nice to see that the making of the dress is being kept within NZ shores as well as the designing. This means that the cost of making it in NZ would be more expensive as the cost of labour is much higher here, than in China, for example. This is great as it provides work to New Zealanders, but it also increases the cost of the final garment. It is also nice to see a natural fiber being used. I think the dress could be worn both during the day with a cropped swetaer over the top, stockings and ankle boots; and at night with heels. Being made of silk, the dress is slightly less practical as it will need to be Dry Cleaned rather than washed - which is a pain to do and can be expensive. 

The Sass & Bide dress features the asymmetric hem which is a common occurance in lots of S&B garments this season - and seems to be popular with many other brands. It is very bright which is nice to see for a winter garment as winter garments are often much duller. It is made in China and made only of Viscose which would explain why it is cheaper than the Lonely Hearts dress - having it made off shore is much cheaper as the labour rates are much less; also Viscose is a synthetic fabric which is cheaper to manufacture than and more common than silk. This dress could easily be layered up with stockings and a jacket for winter, or a top on top as a variation. Can be dressed up with heels too. A versatile and practical garment. 

I really like these Lonely Heart pants as the are a great cut and fit. The pattern is cute and could be made more girly or more grungey depending what it is teamed with. Can be worn out with heels or during the day with ankle boots and a soft knit. Very practical pants as they can be handwashed rather than dry cleaned - which means less spending and more wearing! 

These Shakuhachi pants are a really beautigful design and cut - I love the contrasting fabrics used. The stretch fabric makes them much more comfortable which is good as leather can be restricting. Their care instructions are to be dry cleaned which makes the more impractical. Can easily be worn during the day with flats and a knit or dressed up at night with a nice shirt and heels. Really nice that the leather is 100% real leather as often these things aren't - this is what would make them that bit more expensive. 

Two similar shirts here. Both are 100% cotton. I feel that both could easily be worn buttoned up or down, dressed up for the night or worn casually during the day. Easy care for both garments. The Sass & Bide shirt features the asymmetrical hem which seems to be a trend as said above. Similar price range. 

This sweater is to be compared with the Alice McCall sweater and Shakuhachi sweater above. This Huffer one is much cheaper and features the same wool blend as above. All three are made in China. This sweater is quite plain, good for layering and wearing during the day; a good staple, whereas the other jerseys are more "statement making". You can tell by the price difference between this one and the two above that Huffer is a more mid-range market label - as the content is the same, so you are effectively paying for the brand in the two above. 

Easy care - washable.

This shirt is to be compared to the two above. I feel that this shirt is very masculine and I would not buy it because of this. It is very plain compared to the other two and less flattering because of it's  'boyishness'. It is however, cheaper than the two above Easy care - washable. 

More market research to come...

Final line up from previous project...

manako imba

Hello!


I am Pippa and I live in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. I study a bachelor of design, majoring in fashion and business marketing at Massey University in Wellington. I am in my second year. As part of our fashion project this semester we are required to create a blog which we will use as our workbook throughout the project; updating it regularly, posting our research, inspiration, design drawings, samples,  final illustrations and everything in between - so this is it!!


The first project we worked on in this semester is going to be the basis of this next project. My project collection looked at my history  - being born and brought up in Zimbabwe until the age of ten then moving to New Zealand to start a new life, also looking at my environment in Wellington; some of the buildings, sculptures and patterns that surround and interest me. The collection I designed is based on the feelings I felt moving from Zimbabwe to NZ. Feelings of unease and shyness, a weight on ones shoulders.  These are communicated through the sickly colour palette, heavy definition on the shoulders and mesh turtle necks repeated throughout the collection to hide ones face behind. Although sickly, the colour palette is designed to be fresh suggesting a fresh start in a new place.


Our second project (which this blog is for) must have the first projects concept as the starting point and is designed to be a "diffusion" line - the secondary line of merchandise created by a high-end designer that retails at a more moderate price. We can either design for a "sustainable mid/diffusion fashion market" or "mid/diffusion fashion market". We are designing for the Southern Hemisphere Autumn/Winter 2013, designing 8-10 outfits.


 At this stage I think I'd like to go with the sustainable one as it'd be great to use some natural/organic fabrics and do some interesting but comfortable designs. I have had a few ideas as to how to develop my concept...
- keep the same sort of colour scheme (as from what I can see with the market research I have done, bright, quite garish colours are in this season) and do a comfortable everyday line that features lots of interesting cut pants, layering tees and knits with an added aspect of some prints too. Keeping the colour and prints (from the last collection) going through into this collection will make for a much less dull winter! Keeping the fabrics all organic, the cuts easy to layer and dress up and down will make the garments popular and useful.
- Having just been in Africa and on lots of safari game drives and to a few safari lodge/camps, I am interested in having a safari wear/colonial african style influence on the collection. Going sustainable/organic could work well with this theme as being "in the wild" you want to be natural/wearing natural fabrics too.


All just ideas at this stage...