01. Introduction 02. History of Pepe Jeans London 03. Re-branding Objectives 04. Consumer Profile 05. Denim Market 06. Street Style 07. Grace McGovern 08. Collaboration with Bip Ling 09. Competitor Analysis 10. Colour Palette 11. Web Design 12. In-store Magazine 13. Social Media 14. Banners
Pepe Jeans was once cemented as one of the biggest denim manufacturing companies in the UK. From its humble beginnings at the Portobello Market to its rise into the fashion industry, Pepe Jeans were once the most sought after denim brand of its time. I aim to re-brand this once iconic brands image to present to the fashion-hungry generation of today. This online look-book will showcase the brands new digital image via website mock-ups, campaign ideas, selected models/muses to represent the brand, social media ideas and the overall concept of the brand. Though I do want to keep the soul of Pepe intact by keeping certain aspects but still creating a more modernised and desired brand for customers to follow.
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London brothers Nitin, Arun and Milan Shah ran a stool Portabello market producing denim consisting of good designs, quality fabrics and different finishes. Within a few years, Pepe's popularity rapidly grew and had exceeded the brothers aspirations. A further four stools were opened at the market and small boutique was born in Kings road with the title 'Saint Tropez Trading Company'. The name of the exclusive jeans company then changed to the now-known 'Pepe Jeans' as it sounded catchier and more fitting to the brand. As the success of the company grew, the brothers quit their full-time jobs in pursuit of launching their brand to rest of the UK. By the 1980's, Pepe Jeans were rivalling against all the UK and US brands of the time and eventually became on the biggest UK brands ever. in 1986, Pepe Jeans recruited the biggest fashion photographer of the decade, Bruce Webber, to shoot their first major campaign to introduce their denim collections to their customers and to the fashion industry. The campaigns represented the brands edginess and sexiness with the use of its black and white imagery and young attractive models like soon-to-be supermodels Bridget Hall and Kate Moss in her first ever advertising campaign. A celebrity following and advertising faces included trendsetting stars like Alexa Chung and Sienna Miller along with Ashton Kutcher, Jason Priestly and Cristiano Ronaldo. Cinema and TV advertisements soon followed, each campaign had left a firm mark in fashion advertising. Pepe Jeans continued to expand and prevail through Europe and by the start of the new millennium, Pepe Jeans London had achieved the reputation as one the biggest brands leading the denim market. In the last few years, Pepe has invaded emerging territories like Asia and has even expanded its clothing into kids-wear, footwear and eyewear collections.
The purpose of this re-brand is to modernize the brand and create a narrower target demographic for them to supply products to. There are key factors to consider with the re-branding of Pepe Jeans. The potential and benefits of using social media to create brand exposure and build customer connections, the credible British history the brand holds, the influence of street style and fashions bloggers on the industry and the potential of the brands new and conceptual aesthetic that will differentiate them from their strongest competitors. Pepe Jeans success originally lied within the younger mens and womens market. But competition grew when other denim brands started merging in to the industry with more innovative ideas and stronger marketing techniques. With the rise social media and the growing popularity amongst fashion bloggers dominating the industry, the younger fashion market are constantly wanting the newest and most sought out products on offer.
With street style having a big influence on the fashion industry and social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest being used to promote and gain a better online following, Pepe Jeans must better utilize these social networking sites and develop a better connection with their online consumers. The brand also needs to select a less-recognized model to be the face of Pepe as the brand have previously used supermodels like Kate Moss and Bridgette Hall at the start of their careers. The brand would benefit collaborating with an artist or fashion blogger to create an exclusive collection of denim as this would show the brands diversity and originality to its new consumers.
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Pepe Jeans 90’s collection is aimed at the female and male youth demographic. The younger generation are constantly looking for the new and most sought out products, social media has a huge impact with online behaviours conflicting with the high-street. It is estimated that the fashion industry to the UK economy is worth £21 billion and more than a quarter of us say we buy more clothes than we need. According to comparemyspend.co.uk, women aged 18-30 spend up to two-thirds of their disposable income on clothing and accessories. Pepe Jeans will appeal to the fashion conscious consumer. A consumer that aims to make a statement and to feel comfortable in what they’re wearing. A fashion-minded individual between 16-24 will purchase some pieces from the overall collection, whereas an individual influenced by street-style and high-fashion magazines who is in search of something more exclusive or will purchase something from the limited 90’s collection to add a unique edition to their wardrobe.
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Denim is a fabric that never seems to go out of fashion. It is something that is present in everyones wardrobes and always seen on the catwalks. The current denim market is flooded with brands all pushing their products on their target consumers. These brands are continuously searching for new ways to market their denim collections because its such a competitive market. Denim specialist seek to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Brands such as Wrangler and G-Star create innovative denim collections, whereas more recent brands like London-based denim company , Bethnals, create high-quality denim products undefined by gender. High-street retailers are also pushing denim on their consumers. H&M’s conscious collection consists of ethical denim staple pieces that have been manufactured with low energy consumption and minimal water usage. This not only differentiates them from their denim competitors but it also promotes sustainability and eco-friendly fashion.
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Pepe Jeans initiative to differentiate themselves from their competitors by creating an exclusive collection in collaboration with an accomplished artist or designer. The re-design on the brands aesthetic will also contribute in separating Pepe Jeans from the other denim
Street style has had a big impact on the fashion industry. It has become a focus for many fashion brands as it provides inspiration and it shows what the current market are wearing. Everyday people are being photographed wearing the latest trends and purchases. Denim is regularly showcased in images and because of street-styles popularity, they are presented in fashion online and physical magazines, blogs, Pinterest and Instagram. Pepe Jeans uses street style as one its main inspirations. They use street style imagery throughout their website, social media sites and their monthly lookbook to showcase what has inspired their collections and what denim is on trend in the current market.
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The muse for Pepe Jeans London will be upcoming model Grace McGovern. Her personality and effortless style reflects Pepe’s new look and aesthetic. She is signed with leading boutique modelling agency Body London and has had experience modelling for fashion companies like Asos. She is not yet widely known but that’s why she is the perfect muse for Pepe’s new collection as this will launch the collection and her.
08 The multitalented fashionista makes for an interesting collaboration. Her ability to create quirky art and designs and spread the word through social media will assit Pepe Jeans in attracting a wider awareness of Pepe’s new look.
Bip Ling is an eccentric British fashion blogger, model, artist, designer, dj, creative director and song writer. The ex-art student and former PR created an online fashion and personal journal to document the events in her life and has attracted two million visitors. Her quirky fashion sense and artistic and humourous blogging style caught the eye of the fashion industry and she now sits in the front row of designer catwalk events, collaborates and designs collections for brands such as Pretty Ballerinas and is living in the spotlight of the industry.
Bip ling’s collaboration will consist of several denim pieces that will make a statement. Through embellishment, print and structure. Taking inspiration from street style and combining it with the denim trends of the 90’s, Ling’s limited collection will make Pepe Jeans the “it” jeans.
“I wanted to design jeans that made a statement. I want them catch everyones eyes!”
When Pepe Jeans launches its diffusion line and Retro collection, Levi Strauss will be its main competitor. This company has a historic background and also appeals to the same target market as Pepe Jeans. Both brands intentions are to create fashionable yet sustainable denim products for its consumers at a reasonable price. “Since 1873, our jeans have been an inspiration — and a symbol — for courage, fearless exploration and unwavering originality. We are honored to have clothed generations of individuals, leaders, thinkers and doers. Here at Levi Strauss & Co., we’re guided by our values: empathy, originality, integrity and courage. With them in mind, we constantly strive to build a culture just as inspiring as the people who wear our jeans.” Consumers would look to Levi Strauss for its good quality denim fabrics and because fashion-minded individuals seek to wear Levi jeans for the brands reputation, popularity amongst social media and the fashion industry and because they embody the style of the 1990’s. Innovation is the core of what they do. They implement radical design techniques and build sustainability in to everything they create. As a globally recognized retail company, Levi’s also have a strong work ethic and stand up for equality, civil rights and social justice. They take leadership in supporting nondiscrimination and diversity amongst the workplace and also fight for improved access to HIV/AIDS prevention. Their products are sold in more than 100 countries and produced in 35 of them. They manage their supply chain and support trade policies that improve the flow of their goods globally which coincides with their labour and environmental values.
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Levi’s website is visually attractive and easy to use. Not only does it sell their collection but it also provides a lot of information regarding their impressive history and passion for manufacturing stylish denim clothing driven by strong values and hard work. They are popular amongst social media with 22 million followers on FaceBook and 578K followers on Twitter. However, consumers are defecting to cheaper jeans sold by popular high-street labels like H&M and Zara and more on-trend labels like Diesel. According to economist. com, Levi’s once profited 8 billion dollars in the 1990’s, but by 2009, profits had halved. Also, due to the popularity rise of sportswear being worn as everyday attire, sports brands like Nike, has five times more sales than Levi’s. Also, online retailers like Asos, have an online and physical magazine to promote their latest trends and collections which boost sales and their overall image as a popular clothing retailer.
The colour palette was inspired by the British flag colours, red, white and blue to highlight Pepe’s British heritage. These new colours will strongly reflect the brands aesthetic and will be a recognizable factor on the new website, branding and promotional graphics and imagery. Pepe’s previous campaigns have been in black and white. For their new campaigns, aspects of the selected colours will be presented to add to the ability of being an instantly recognized brand. The colour palette will feature on the website to keep the British aesthetic continual and familiarized by its consumers. These colours are a timeless combination that best reflects the brands integrity as well as appealing to the target market. It will also appeal to the consumer in search of something with British significance that is both stylish and un-changing.
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Pepe’s Jeans online presence is a vital part of launching their new collection and in creating a wider awareness of the brand itself. Through this new website design, Pepe Jeans online customers will be able to see the new campaign on the homepage and will have access to viewing all events, lookbooks and social media’s that Pepe is using from its blog to its instagram page. Taking inspiration from fashion and street style blogs, Pepe jeans website is now clear and easy-to-use yet its conceptual and more modernised.
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The opening page invites and welcomes online customers in to the website and the homepage is visually dominated by all aspects of Pepe Jeans. Simple colour palettes including black and white have been used to capture the essence of Pepe’s new campaign. Social media is easily accessible from the main homepage and is now a focus point for online customers.
The campaign page is in keeping with the overall visual and conceptual theme. It is minimal and showcases Pepe’s new campaign and muse, Grace McGovern, at the forefront of the page. By clicking on certain images, online customers can view specific campaign videos and activate gif’s. These new interactive devices involves the online customers more and put them in control of what they’re viewing. Online customers can scroll down and have the opportunity to look at past campaigns and instantly share them on social media.
The “About” page describes the history of Pepe Jeans from its humble beginnings on Portabello market to expanding its stores to more emerging countries. Online customers can scroll down the page to read more about Pepe’s past and future and can click on images on the right-hand side which will activate gifs and take them to other related pages.
The collaboration page on the brands website will be image-based like the homepage and will display Pepe’s exciting denim collaboration with the eccentric blogger Bip Ling. online customers are able to scroll down the page and browse and purchase the new products from the collection whilst veiwing the colourful gifs that Bip Ling has created herself exclusivly for the collection. There is also an interveiw with the blogger herself where customers can read about what inspired Bip Lings designs for the collection and what she looks for in a pair of denim jeans.
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By re-styling the official Facebook page, the brands modernized aesthetic and latest collection and collaboration is clearly displayed for online customers to follow and explore. Customers can visit and “like� the page and receive updates from the brand on a daily basis. Posts include the revealing of the new face of Pepe Jeans, the anticipated collaboration with Bip Ling, the brands history, discounts and promotions and the monthly lookbook. Todays generation are in constant communication via social media and the rate of people using these networking sites is increasing. According to latest statistics, 654 million people use Facebook on via mobile on a daily basis, an increase from 609 million last quarter. And Instagram is used by 200 million people each month. More and more brands and retailers are realising the potential of social media and are utilizing it to invest in building better connections with their online consumers.
13 Keeping the colour palette toned down yet displaying imagery of the brands British history and involving the selected colour combination of red, white and blue within the networking sites reflects Pepe Jeans new image. Twitter has over 241 million monthly active users. To create more exposure and to interact with online customers more instantly, a Twitter page has been created to encourage conversation between brand and consumer. Customers who hashtag Pepe Jeans with a comment receive 10% off their purchase.
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