I n n o vat i o n M a n a g e m e n t “Amen is a high-end, luxur y fashion brand, which has changed the industr y as we know it, the exquisite g ar ments are designed by a genius upcoming talent and are wor n only by the rich and famous.” These statements are not only untr ue, they are boring and if I meant them no one would read beyond the first page. In reality, Amen is not even competing in the luxur y fashion industr y, it is not about the brand but about the product, and who cares who the designer is when the values should be instilled in the product by the wearer.
L u x u ry
without
L u x u ry
Amen’s luxur y is in the handcraft of the embroider y, in the simplicity of design and in the preciousness of the fabrics, not in the brand name. But Amen does not function like luxur y. It does not invest on lavish displays of wealth, does not use unattainable prices, and most of all does not tr y to impose a multitude of values – from brand histor y and famous designers – on its clients. It gives them the possibility to express their own values instead of those of what they wear.
I n f i d e li t y – F o r e v e r Amen – and the type of women it represents – knows that it lives in a world of infidelity, and has lear ned how to use that to its advantage. Seducing loyal followers of other brands, and becoming their secret love affair. Amen products represent the eter nal memor y of this affair.
W h at
is
Amen: The Identity
Bor n from a luxur y textile and embroider y producer, Amen’s identity is in large par t for med by the characteristics of its parent company “Jato”.
Made
to
Treasure
Amen g ar ments are made to express the preciousness of a moment in life, to be treasured as jeweller y. They are made to be personalised and intimate.
Amen
i s li k e a
T at t o o ,
u s e d b y t h e c li e n t t o c o n ta i n a
m e m o ry o r a p i e c e o f j e w e ll e ry , t h e va l u e o f w h i c h b e c o m e s o n ly c l e a r t o t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d w h e n t h e o w n er chooses to explain it.
It
i s t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f a m o m e n t ; m at e r i a li s e d t o b e
e t e r n a li s e d .
How
is
Amen: Mood
and
Aesthetics
M i n im a li s t i c M a x im a li s m
Decadence
The baroque style of embroideries and fabrics are balanced by simplicity in design. Amen embodies this contradiction typical for European style giving a minimalistic expression to maximalist attention for detail.
The mood is situated in a dark romanticism, with decadent elements leading to an almost apocalyptic atmosphere. The feeling of a dangerous sexuality is an impor tant element in this mood.
Who is Amen: The Archetype Salome, a young woman with a dance so erotic that it g ave her the power to decide over life and death of men, is an archetype written down in the bible, but that has inspired many stories since and without a doubt also before this mention. She is an aristocratic femme fatale with a predator y sexuality. Her stor y conjures up visions of the decadence of the catholic ritual, with the causality between love and death, power, sin and forgiveness of it.
a n d a p o c a ly p s e
I t w ill Salome, even
a lway s
witch,
the when
m o u n ta i n s
be the
of
h av e
roared
from
the
ice down
pole
and
g r o u n d t h e c i v ili z a tions to ruin, and a new world has risen
from
the
ashes
and dust-even then be
Sa-
wa l k
the
there
s h a ll
lomes
to
e a rt h , t o t r a p m e n ’ s h e a rt s b y t h e i r s o r c e ry ,
to
fore
the
dance kings
the
world,
the
heads
of
men
fa ll
wise their
to
beof see the at
p l e a s u r e .�
- R o b e rt E. H o wa r d
Why do we remember the past ... and not the future? - Mr Nobody (2009)
Business Management S t r at e g y : A n t i -W o rt h i s m Vision
Mission
In the next two decades, Amen will be the brand for people rebelling a gainst the r ules of industrialisation and serialisation by fashion conglomerates making space for the values of the wearer.
Abandoning the glorification of the star designer and brand, the commercialised 6-month fashion cycle and r unway shows. Reviving the input of values and aesthetics from the client to the dressmaker. Inver sing the purchase process ag ain from the client to the brand and from the occasion to the offering.
Tactics: Restriction, Refinement forcement.
and
Rein-
All elements of the branding plan are on a tactical level summarised by these three concepts. Merchandising, but also communication and costs should be restricted to a minimum as long as the brand awareness is not strong enough to justify big ger inputs. The beauty of a young brand is exactly that not many people know about it and that it is not perceived as overly commercialised. The offering and communication should therefore be refined to only the most characteristic elements. To maintain this idea and leverage off it, budgeting should be kept small to increase creativeness and to reinforce and dramatize the core message in the communication as well as in the product. In other words: restriction leads to refinement and reinforcement.
D e v e l o p E x -U s s r & M i d d l e E a s t Reinforce Europe S u s ta i n t h e U n i t e d S tat e s
Market
p e n e t r at i o n p r i o r i t i e s
Geog raphically speaking, the Middle East and the ex-Ussr are the most impor tant selling regions: they should be developed fur ther. Inside these markets, a couple of countries and cities deser ve special attention for economic and social reasons – they are experiencing or are expected to experience an eco nomic boom or are impor tant destinations in ter ms of social status – these include Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the Ex-Ussr and Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran in the Middle East. Europe remains an impor tant market, not only because it is becoming a forg otten market at the moment but also because Europe is a status destination for many rich from other par ts of the world. It should be reinforced. The United States should be maintained without too much effor t because it offers impor tant communication channels to the world, although in itself it is not the most impor tant market at this moment.
Merchandising Plan Merchandising s t r at e g y
In order to give Amen a clearly defined brand image, which will undoubtedly lead to an increase of positive attention, focussing the production on the core and iconic items would be a g ood shor t-ter m tactic. In this way, the client will get a clear idea of what Amen is about and what they can expect from it.
in profit. This money can be invested in the production of the next collection, a capsule collection or in the long-ter m brand image.
to be prefer red to a cheaper side collection because it doesn’t include the risk of creating confusion in the brand image and selfcannibalisation.
Capsule E n t ry M e r c h a n d i s i n g Aside from these expensive items
A cheaper capsule collection can be a g ood way to make fast money in a later stage, as long as self-cannibalisation is avoided.
Restriction leads
Iconic
to re-
Mer-
chandising
This involves cutting the number of looks in the collection by 50% - leaving only the best selling pieces - and increasing the prices of these items by 27,5%. Assuming that the brand will sell more of the iconic pieces and knowing that production costs are cut by half we can predict a significant rise
finethe brand can offer some accessories, at a cheaper price to in encourage people to get to know the brand. These should in no case be substitutes to the core items but rather complements: embroidered scar ves, gloves, or bags, which are all impor tant items in the key markets. This is
Reinforcement: Focussing the ment and
production on the core and iconic items.
At
t h e h e a rt o f t h e c o ll e c t i o n :
Decadence in mood and Richness in E m b r o i d e ry a r e c o m p l e m e n t e d b y M i n im a li s m i n D e s i g n
.A. m . e . n . P r o d u c t B o a r d
Line
plan
Core
items
The core of the brand consists of dresses – shor t to mid length – all with some deg ree of embroider y. These are the items that should receive the focus and that should be pushed to empower the brand image. A special option should exist for at least one model of these dresses to have it custom embroidered in collaboration with the client and an embroider y patter n designer.
E n t ry
items
In order to allow potential clients to get to know the brand, smaller items can be sold – costing less but still at the same level – as entr y items. These could include scar ves, gloves, jeweller y and bags; any item that can be considered a complement to the core items.
Special
edition
Collaborations with design competitions – such as ITS (Inter national talent Suppor t) and Hyeres – and laboratories in schools could be used to create buzz and limited edition, culture adapted
dresses. This could be used for show pieces such as f loor-length dresses. The challenge given to the designers would be to create a dress reuniting Amen’s iconic elements and style with their culture.
customised dresses this price can even be multiplied by 4 or 5 (at the least). While the entr y items can have prices between 150 and 300 euro. Special edition dresses can either remain unsold – as an image booster – or can be sold at a price in between the core Capsule and customised items. The Capsule collection should have a At ir regular time inter vals a price and offer ver y far from the cheaper capsule collection could original Amen brand, be created T h e c o r e i t e m s s h o u l d situated around the – inver ting price of the entr y the H&M r e c e i v e t h e f o c u s a n d items. system – should be pushed to to enlarge e m p o w e r t h e b r a n d the cusim a g e . tomer base P l a c e : L u x u ry and brand awareness. The key is to avoid at all cost that this & R e s i d e n t i a l T o u r i s m collection cannibalises the main one or tar nishes its image. This The objective is to be perceived is why it is not sufficient simply as a global brand, symbolising a to change the name but one also special experience and a getaway has to change the communica- from ever yday lives (and brands). tion and image around this col- The best way to ref lect this in lection. the distribution is by selling in
Price As described previously, Amen could easily afford to increase the price of the core items with 27,5% g oing up to an average of 800 euro per dress (ranging between 700 an 1500 euro). For
the most exclusive holiday destinations in the world. Not only do these places feature many multibrand stores where Amen will be sur rounded by other brands of the right level, but it will also become par t of a unique and probably never repeated shopping experience.
M a r k e t i n g C o mm u n i c at i o n s clothing and the embellishment industr y, these g atherings will be constr ucted around the theme of body embroider y.
E m b r o i d e ry E m b o d i e d Amen is much more about product than about brand. This is why it is impossible to convey its wor th simply through a r unway show. The embroider y details should be seen, the silk should be felt and the contact should be close enough to understand the craftsmanship. Only old, authentic and abandoned places can inspire this feeling of respect, darkness and lost life and stories. Amen events – org anised in this kind of places – will be something people will want to come to, an experience away for m the r unways they have to g o to. So, while they will still be org anised at the same time as other major fashion events – fashion weeks, Grammy’s,
Jeweller y and tattoos, but also scarification are ways in which people choose to decorate their body. These decorations are permanent. They simbolise an emotion, a moment and a reason from the past and bring it in to the future.
Cannes film festival – they will be the after-par ty the invited g o to out of their own interest. To express the link between the
The intimitely personal and dark aspect of these decorations fits perfectly with the brand’s mood: combining decoration and distor tion, pain and beauty, a moment and its eter nalisation. The eventual objective is not only to promote the collection, but also to encourage the telling of personal stories and the spreading of r umours. Also, Amen can use these occasions to collect personal data from the attendees in order to create a individual dialogue with them through other communication channels.
“Black is darkness, the unknown, eternity, the shadow of the future� - Danilo Venturi (2011)
E m b r o i d e ry E m b e d d e d The most credible communication is the one not originating from the brand. Viral communication is cr ucial as a vir tual word of mouth not just because the target audience can rather be found online than in front of a TV or reading a mag azine, but also because it allows them to add, change and comment directly to a wide audience – an option other media do not offer like a vir us. Additionally, it is one of the cheapest ways for a brand to communicate, since the content is often spread for free by brand advocats.
personal conversation between the customer and a person representing the brand - let’s call her Salome according to the brand archetype. These messages can be written, audio, images or video and can be adjusted to specific client preferences.
create a misterious atmosphere leaving the receiver curious.
W e b s i t e :C o n v e r s a t i o n s with Salome On the website a wall could be created that functions as an (anonymous) g roup diar y. Here people can post pictures, stories, movies, etc. about how they design their body and express themselves in cer tain moments.This continues the f low of input from the market to the brand that is one of the brand values.
V i r a l :C o n ta m i n a t i n g exitement
Mobile: fa i r
with
An afSalome
Mobile communication is more personal; allowing a one-on-one dialogue with the customer it is in line with the three brand concepts defined in the first par t. There are two ways in which Amen can use this type of communication. First, it can use BBM and Whatsapp to create a
Secondly, Bluetooth can be used in the multibrand stores in order to seduce clients to come look for the brand. Shor t close up video’s of the g ar ments will
Here brand and market content blend around the same theme and create a f low of infor mation pushed by people outside of the brand. The aim is for all these elements to star t r umours angenerate interest from official online websites such as The Luxur y Channel, Tumblr and Dazeddigital. All of these websites have been tipped as being of rising impor tance for the fashion world.
Dimensional When it comes to print, adver tising is a waste of a young brand’s money. Editorial content is much cheaper, more credible and gets a higher attention rate. While the Canonic fashion mag azines such as Vogue, Harper’s and L’Officiel remain impor tant; especially their Russia and Orient editions deser ve special attention. On a second level, less evident publications such as Purple, Posh, How to spend it and travel mag azines such as Condé Nast could significantly increase positive brand awareness.
C o n c l u s i o n : I n d i v i d u a li t y S tat e m e n t Change in the indust ry : A F a s h i o n o f m e m o ry i n s t e a d o f a M e m -
Change
o ry o f fa s h i o n
Marriage
Amen does not belong in the luxur y fashion industr y, but it is situated in the overlapping field between fashion and souvenir industr y. Both are a gift to oneself and both are luxur y but one is about expressing a moment while the other is about keeping it.
Amen does not tr y to contract clients into loyalty; it is not a relation of oblig ation but one of per mission. Per mitting oneself to overstep the boundaries of the reasonable to a little jour ney of decadence in ter ms of excess of emotion and aesthetics.
in
the
rela-
tionship with the client:
Change
in
the
occa-
sion of purchase: cording not
to
Ac-
Occasion
C o ll e c t i o n
In contrast to other fashion luxur y brands, Amen is not bought seasonally just because there is a new collection. Instead it is bought because there is an occasion, an event, a moment that requires it. Amen is a brand that one comes across unexpectedly but that seduces.
A n A f fa i r
not
a
.A.M.E.N. Look Book
Acknowledgements:
B i b li o g r a p h y :
Amen:
Books:
Anna Giordano Jacopo Tonelli Michele Traietto
Polimoda:
All the FBM teachers With special thanks to: Danilo Venturi Johannes Egler Luca Scaini Sandra Laube Annamaria Tar taglia All my FBM Classmates for inspiration and suppor t: With special thanks to: Inne Dezeure Alina Shakurova Faisal Vahed
Movie:
Omid Zarei Sharon Chan Andrea Cinellu Finally, I would like to thank also my parents and friends for their suppor t this year.
B. Joseph Pine & James. Gilmore. 1999. “The experience Economy: Work is Theatre and ever y business is a stage.” For tune 500 Mag azine Jean Shinoda Bolen M.D. 2004. “Goddesses in Ever ywoman: Powerfull archetypes in women’s lives.” John R. Rossiter & Steven Bellman. 2005. “Marketing Communications.” Richard Sennett. 2009. “The Craftsman.” W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne. 2005. “Blue Ocean Strateg y: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition ir relevant.”
Web: www.dazeddigital.com www.amenstyle.com www.economywatch.com www.businessoffashion.com www.fashionmag.com www.vogue.it www.wired.it