Business Plans

Plastic Pumpkin Scales

As part of our 'traces' brief we as promotors have to work within in our groups to come up with a business plan. Today we had what I'd like to call the 'golden opportunity' to meet Matt Desmier who is the head of the Enterprise Pavilion at the Arts University College Bournemouth. He gave us a brief talk on his career history and how he got to where he is today and basically showed us how the Enterprise Pavilion could be of great help to us in the coming future. I found this session very informative and a good contact to have so to speak. I do plan on having my own business within the fashion industry and Matt talked about the various contacts that he has also within the industry.

The main aim of our session with him was to discuss business plans; what they are, how to write them and what they are used for. We then were given a product from the Museum of Design In Plastics (MODIP), from these we were to write up a business plan and approach it with a 'Dragons Den' style. Within my group we were given a plastic pumpkin measuring scale (kitchen utensil), at first i thought it was quite niche and kitsch and automatically thought of a customer base aimed at people who shopped in stores like 'Cath Kidston', however through our research and product limitations we were able to refine our ideas. Here is a copy of our business plan.

Fun Plastics Business Plan

We are ‘Fun Plastics’. Set up In November 2007- we embarked on the lack of fun and interesting yet practical Kitchen utensils and used this gap in the market to produce kitsch fun-loving, eccentric yet practical utensils.

The big idea basically is to bring quirky design aesthetics to everyday kitchen utensils.

We believe that our current prototype of the ‘Pumpkin Scale 1000’ works because over (a million people own and use kitchen scales), every household needs a fine measurement scale, why not make it a user friendly scale that people of all ages can use. Ideally for measuring dry fine spices like salt, thyme and pepper, the ‘Pumpkin Scale 1000’ is perfect as it’s easy to use, easy to store and easy to clean

Our competitors consist of online stores such as; and also Urban Outfitters concession store/stands.

· Rawspace.com

· Kitsch-u-like.com

· Cathkidston.com

Our market is aimed at men and women of all ages who like buying and sending gifts for friends and family members.

Since our start up we have had great success in trading with ‘www.totally-funky.co.uk’. They have been our main online retail customer, purchasing over 10.000 units of our products. Our products are mainly made out of plastic, which means they are quite sustainable from a user point of view however we are aware of the environmental affects that plastic has on our community and are working towards further product development to produce our products out of recyclable materials.

Considering this product has a practical but decorative function, when used for dry fine spices measuring up to 1000grams, the lifespan of this product is 5 years +. All our products are produced in our sub-contracted factories in China and currently our lead-time for the ‘Pumpkin Scale 1000’ is 4 weeks.

We believe that this is a good investment because there is a gap in the market. We as ‘Funplastik’ have the ability to work on our product development and design to create new and aesthetically pleasing groundbreaking kitchen utensils.

Paper plates, toy cars and toothpicks= bridges...hhm?!

In todays session we had to work together as a team to build a paper plate bridge in order to enable a little toy car to get from one chair to the next...heres how we got on... in my team was me, Laura, Jen,Phillipa and Harriet.

(1)To start off we came up with the idea to make the edges of the paper plate lighter-in order for the car to get across easily so we ripped the edges off.

(2) Laura and I came up with the idea to build supporting edges for the plates using the ripped edges and the toothpicks.

(3) Together we all pinned the plates together creating a chain, so that it would reach the other chair.

(4) The finished bridge, awaiting the tiny toy car.

Unfortunately the car didn't make it all the way across...it decided to stop at a traffic light in the middle of the bridge, oh well better luck next time I say!

(4)

(3)

(2)

(1)

Feelin' blue...

I was having a bit of a blue moment whilst shopping and somehow managed to pick up these accessories all for under a tenner !!!!(serious bargain, minus the DP bag)

Dorothy Perkins

Dorothy Perkins

Well I like to call it Primarche ( Primark)

New Look

General Wish-list

A genreal list of the things I would like to purchase in the coming weeks.

Photos courtesy of google.com

Designer Wishlist

Once a month I will inform you of my designer desirables that are for now only on a wish-list..but coming to a wardrobe near me...

Louis Vuitton Clutch

Oscar De La Renta 'THE purple Dress'

Stella McCartney Jacket.

Photos courtesy of http://www.style.com/

Comp Shop with Jo.

H&M

H&M

New Look

Peacocks

Peacocks

Ted Baker

One of our lectures as promotors with Jo was to go 'comp shopping' (competitive shopping), which is basically a chance for us as promotors/buyers to go out into the high street and look at 'what's in' and what's new for (Jacket) trends, to give us an idea as to what sort of designs we should be featuring in our collections for our traces project in order to beat our competitors. I've had experience doing comp shops both for placement and also towards my summer project jacket research and really enjoy them because you get an opportunity to really scour the rails and look at what the high street is producing in detail.

From all the stores I looked at (H&M, Marks and Spencers, Zara, New Look, Topshop, Ted Baker and Mango) here are a list of some of the design details/product information things I discovered.

• Basic jacket styles available in primary colors
• Sharp shapes and a good balance of voluminous and fitted silhouettes
• Price points- low £25, Mid £45, Best £75, Premium £100+
• Alot of blazers with matching linings
• Ruffles,waterfall and asymmetric necklines
• Body fabrics; boiled wool, acrylic, wool, mohair, cotton, PU, crushed velvet and leather
• Lining Fabrics; polyester, cotton and nylon
• Components; zippers, studs, diamonds, dyed to match buttons and poppers

The September Issue

Grace Coddington- in her modeling days.

'Color-blocking' A shoot styled by Grace Coddington featured in the film and the U.S Version of 'Vogue' September 2007

Andre Leon Talley

Grace Coddington

Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley- front row at New York Fashion Week.

Recently I had the opportunity to watch the documentary-style film 'The September Issue', which features the story/ process behind putting together an issue for the U.S version of 'VOGUE'.

A film by R.J Cutler featuring Anna Wintour, this film goes behind the scenes of the making of the 'Vogue' September issue, it covers all the different stages involved to make the edition successful. Watching this film helped me gain a major insight and further understanding on how the fashion magazines play a big role in the fashion industry, how they generate business for designers and fashion companies alike. I had always herd of Anna Wintour but never really understood what she actually does, but from watching this film I was able to get a look into her 'world' which is Vogue. I have a new found level of respect for what she does and what she represents, her job isn't easy (to those who understand and love fashion) ( but to those who don't she herself states and I quote 'they find my job amusing'.

The difference between this film and 'The Devil Wears Prada' isn't a big one, the layout of the offices are the same, the 'lifestyle' and even the idea that her workers 'fear' her. However as much as I respect Anna Wintour I don't necessarily respect the way she goes about her business and the so called 'ice queen' persona that she retains, both in the public and business eye. I do however like her two colleagues Andre Leon Talley and Grace Coddington. Personally if it were possible I'd love to be best friends with Mr. Talley and mentor/be a shadow of Mrs. Coddington- their both fabulous people with an even more fabulous way of getting their creative view across and they are creative professionals whom I admire greatly.

Personal Planning Relection and Devlopment 2

Screen Shots of my PPRD2 Presentation.

This year I would say that what I am most worried about is getting my work done on time for the deadline, not doing it 24hrs before the hand in time also keeping in check with my time-plan and producing good quality work at the same time.

ooh..new LOOK

New Look

Louis Vuitton

Here's mass production High street Chain New Look attempting to keep track on High End fashion.

Pictures courtesy of; http://www.newlook.co.uk/

http://www.style.com/

A/W09 London Fashion Week

Duro Olowu

Semi red carpet worthy...or you can just wear it on the beach.

A simple way to bring both color and pattern to a voluminous shift.

I love the striped 'tweed' effect this fabric of the jacket has.

Nathan Jenden

Very sexy and smart...wear to work to shock up the office or just to dinner...its your choice!

Same effect on the trouser as the jacket above- a very fashion forward cut.

Mark Fast

Those boots are show-stoppingly gorgeous

Fast is soon becoming the leader of fashionable knitwear...love this piece.

Figure-hugging and simple

All Pictures courtesy of http://www.style.com/