#3 Market Research

When looking at the market in Wellington I spent more time looking at the Ready-To-Wear shops such as Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester and Good as Gold over the other shops like Glassons because I need this collection to be more aimed at higher market. I really liked that in the R-T-W shops there was less clothes which meant that we didn't have to sort through clothes to find something I liked because they were already filled down. The prices are higher but most of the time the materials are better and they become more exclusive as they are less available. 

In New Zealand, somewhere like Glassons releases new clothes almost every week and the clothes are always available, however someone like Karen Walker who releases a collection every six months and keeps each line exclusive so that once something is sold out it is gone. In Kate Sylvester for example I tried on a sleeved sequined mini-dress, Kate releases two seasons each year some second labels. The service was great, personable, honest and I really like being served by the same person through-out the shopping experience. The dress unfortunately was $625.00 which is obviously out of any students price range but it was beautiful and made in New Zealand. Their were few people in the shop maybe 4 and there were not of clothes on display - 6 clothes rails (including Sylvester, her second label). The selling point of this dress (if I was looking to buy) was that as the customer I felt special and like a valued buyer. 

The difference in Glassons was that there were a huge amount of clothes and different people in different sections of the shop so you are greeted by one person who is solely at the door and another at the changing room and another at the counter. The clothes are so available that suddenly they don't feel special and exclusive. I love Glassons for its staples - white tee-shirts or the like but when you want something that actually has its own design soon everyone will be wearing the same thing. I tried on a dress that was $25.00 shoestring strapped with a tiered ruffled skirt. I didn't want to buy the dress because it didn't feel like a special item I also wasn't sold by the shop assistants. They oversold it to me, I knew it didn't look very good and yet the pushed it etc etc. Overall I really didn't want to buy the dress for so many different reasons. 

 For me the most important thing in a shop assistant is that she or he is honest with the client. For this collection I want to aim at the R-T-W market, I want the girls to feel special when they try on the dress and I want to shop assistants to support the shopper not the sale.

#2 Current Collections from Similar Designers and Shops

Kate Sylvester

                                                                     

 Karen Walker

Twenty Seven Names

Stolen Girlfriends Club

Lonely Hearts

#1 Target Market

For this Ready-To-Wear collection my target market is an 18-28 year old girl, who is keen on fashion but doesn't want to update her wardrobe every season. This means that it needs to be a modern and yet lasting collect. My last collection has pieces that although the shiloette was reasonably traditional,  it had elements that were very recognizable as a seasonal collection, so in the R-T-W they need to still represent the first while lasting the seasons. The girl would live in the city but likes the outdoors. She is bright and creative and follows fashion magazines, loves window shopping and  good music. This collection needs to be stylish, stay exclusive and yet still attract the age market that the clothes are aimed at. The market report I am yet to put up looks most closely at the R-T-W shops in Wellington, such as Area 51 and Good as Gold, which I imagine this collection would fit with.