ette
custom chic petite
Program & Research
Ette is a women’s fitting and tailoring pop-up boutique, specifically for women that are below the average height. It is difficult for American women who are smaller than 5’4� to find clothes that fit just right. This fitting and tailoring popup combines the physical and online aspects of retail. The pop-up
introduces the product, which includes a clothing and shoe line, while also allowing a place for the women to be measured and receive personal clothing advice on the best colors, shape, and style to flatter their figure and compliment their personal tastes and features. All of the dimensions are then loaded to the Ette website
where the women can virtually try on clothes and purchase them from their phones, tablets, or personal computers. Ette makes shopping fun again for women that have had a difficult time finding the right clothes. Ette celebrates the uniqueness of every woman, and recognizes that no two women are the same.
what’s in a name? Ette a suffix that is used at the end of words to form nouns meaning a “smaller form of something.” Appropriately, this pop-up boutique for petite women is named Ette. Everything about this store will be “a smaller form of something,” from the shell to the clothes, all the way down to the hangers and the details. Ette targets
women in their 20’s to 40’s looking for professional and/or formal clothing that need to be tailored specifically to their body size. This clothing brand also has a good price point, allowing women of all ages and professions to shop this boutique. The pop-up aspect, rather than having a store location, eliminates rent and can
be transported all over the country. The website also allows women to order clothes that will be tailored specifically to their measurements. Ette focuses a high level of service and customizable clothes, allowing women to feel unique, beautiful, and confident, without breaking the bank.
Jennifer Powell Jennifer is a petite woman that has always wanted a one-stop shop for women that are below the average height, and have a difficult time finding clothes that fit. Jennifer has a background in tailoring, and knows how to alter clothes with the best of them. She has a knowledge of how to make clothes flatter the
petite body, and make women feel confident and even a little bit taller. At the age of 35, she has experience with a range of brands, and knows what works, and what doesn’t. Her love for fashion has driven her to start a clothing brand for women that are in need of the right clothes, and she hopes to reach the petite women
all over the United States by making her brand both online and as a pop-up.
Amanda Redman Jennifer has partnered with her long time friend, Amanda, to help launch her new brand. Amanda is a young business professional at the age of 30. She is a self proclaimed personal shopper, and also has a love for tailoring and fashion design. She passionately wants to help women find clothes that
flatter their body types. Amanda is also very petite, and throughout her life has had a difficult time finding clothes that are youthful and flattering. She has taken on the role as the business partner, and will help to aid in launching this brand. She will also be a sales associate and help with the tailoring. Together,
Jennifer and Amanda will help to bring fashionable, petite clothes to women across the country.
customer profiles Linda is a petite woman who has a difficult time finding clothes that fit. She is 27 years old, 5’0”, and has never owned a pair of pants that she has had to alter in some fashion. She refuses to pay the outrageous prices that most petite lines charge. Why should she pay more for less?
Kathy is a 38 year old woman that wears size 3.5 in shoes. She has searched all over and has only discovered one store that is strictly online and sells to women who wear size 5.0 and smaller. However, their prices are beyond anything she can afford.
Diana is a 20 year old, 4’9” woman that is looking for professional clothes that she can wear to her first interview. She has searched high and low for clothes that make her look professional, mature, and knowledgeable, but has failed to find anything that fits just right.
image strategy
pop-up options I created models of several options of mobile and pop-up boutiques, studying the aspects of these models to get an idea of how my concept and program would work within each option. I also considered the fact that this will be run by a petite woman, and how that would effect each option. I researched 6 different
options of boutiques, a bus, a double decker bus, an RV, a trailer, a box truck, and a moveable pod system. I looked at the space size, how it can be redesigned and manipulated, and the mobility. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the modular pod system would be the most easily moveable
for a petite woman. She would be able to store them in a storage center, and have them shipped on a semi whenever they need to be moved. Pods already have a system of how they are able to be lifted on to trucks, making it easy to not have to invent or recreate a system of how the pods are lifted onto a truck.
mobility PODS, best known as the moveable, lightweight storage systems, are low to the ground and easily accessible. The materiality can be easily changed to fit the program and concept, and they are mobile. The system in which they are moved on and off of the trucks is a structure that lifts the pod up,
and wheels it over to the truck, and then lowers on to the truck. The lift system then stays on the truck, attached to the PODS, and the wheels are lifted off the ground. This system is what I will be using for my modular pods, making it easy to move these pods to any location. They will be in place for 1 day, or up to 2
weeks, depending on where they are. If a woman has rented them for a day for a house party with friends, then they will stay no longer than the allotted hours that she has rented them for. However, if they are popping up at a University, they will stay for a few days. If they are located downtown, they can stay for up to 2 weeks.
trends Mobile boutiques and pop-up stores are a faster, cheaper way to launch a clothing brand, rather than a brick and mortar store. There is usually no lease involved and monthly expenses are at a minimum.
The most successful retailers are the ones that can blend the online and the offline. Technology is important, but so is the actual physical store. Retail stores are merging the gap between brick and mortar and online by creating walk-up shoppable digital windows.
Virtual fitting rooms are all the rage for modern and technologically advanced retailers. They allow customers to try on clothes outside of the store, making them more likely to purchase clothing from that retailer.
Creating economical and environmental spaces are trends that retailers have been adopting within the last five to ten years. Pop-up stores are one way to achieve this, because they are low cost and save energy in building and construction.
Customization is a trend in retail that is giving certain brands an edge over others. Ralph Lauren’s new flagship store allows men to buy made-to-order clothes, including monogrammed shoes. Converse and Nike both allow customers to customize shoes online.
The trend for women in the workforce is still on the rise. More and more women are professionally driven, including mothers.
precedents Nordstrom is one of the top ranking women’s retailers in the industry. They not only sell to the general public, they also specialize in specific, hard-to-find sizes for the women that are not the average size. Cinderella of Boston is an online shoe store that sells to women that wear size 5 or below.
Anthropology has recently expanded their clothing line into petites. Their eclectic style is now available to women with all body types. They also launched their new line by bringing it to women all over through their “trunk shows.”
Trunk Club, an online clothing store for men, combines personalized, fitted, styled clothes for men. Fitted men’s clothing is a common thing in the professional attire world, but something that has yet to happen for women. Ette takes this idea of personalized clothes, and brings it to women.
Both online and physical retail brands are starting to move into the world of pop-up retail to further their brand, while keeping costs down. Monocle, Ebay, Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, and Bonobos are among the many brands that have expanded into the pop-up world.
Truckshop is Cincinnati’s first mobile boutique, selling affordable clothing and accessories for $65 or less. The owner, Ashley Volbrecht, hopes to create a unique experience for shoppers, as well as providing great finds at a good price point. She wants to make shoppers feel like a celebrity, with the boutique coming to you.
PODS are portable shipping containers that can be lifted on and off a box truck and delivered to houses and storage units all over the country. The range in dimensions, but I’m choosing to model my pop-up off of the 8’Wx12’Lx8’H model. They are water proof, lightweight, and modular.
site options The mobility is a key aspect of Ette. The goal is to bring customized clothes to women all over, whether they are in suburbia, working/ living in an urban city, or attending a market at a park. Fountain Square is an ideal location in Cincinnati for the pop-up up, and can bring a lot of attention to the brand.
Also, Ette is mobile and small enough to fit within the square, and the square is large enough to be able to accomodate any arrangement of the pods. Another ideal location within Cincinnati is Washington Park. There is shopping, activities, and lots to see, as well as large open spaces to allow for Ette to unfold within the
relatively new park. Finally, Hyde Park is a neighboring area in Cincinnati that is ideal for Ette to make house calls. If the women living in the Hyde Park district hear of the pop-up shop, but cannot make it to the location, the women can book Ette for a day.
modularity This pop-up is made up of 3-4 POD-like structures that are 8’Wx12’Lx8’H with a square footage of 288-384, depending on how many pods are used. The pods have 3 hinged walls to create modular spaces that are formed based on the environment in which they are placed. The hinges each have 4 options
to help create different environments. Each pod has its own program, including a separate pod specifically for employees. The three main programs are product display, lounge, and fitting and tailoring. If there are 4 pods set up, there will be 2 fitting and tailoring since this is the most important aspect of the
pop-up. Because the pods are so modular, the fixtures within the pods are modular as well. The layout and spaces that are formed are dependent upon the location. However, the 3 ideal layouts that show the modularity and possibilities of the pods are the zigzag, the 4 pitched roof, and the semi-cross.
8’
12’
pitch
open roof
closed
codes The Jurisdiction for Ette is Cincinnati, OH, but changes based on the location. The Federal law has jurisdiction over the state. This is a Pop-up Boutique, so a lot of the building codes do not apply. Accessibility, Electrical, and Mechanical all apply.
Title [13] XIII Commercial Transactions and The Occupancy Classification is Mercantile Group M Chapter 4 Section 402 Kiosks also apply. Occupancy Load = Sq.ft. / Occupant Factor 96/60 = 1.6 people per pod.
sources stakeholders and concept images: http://gettyimages.com http://www.oprah.com/style/The-Best-Fashion-for-Petites http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?p=human+height&contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=Cre ative&assetType=Image&mt=Photography&page=4 http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?p=small&contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=Creative&as setType=Image&mt=Photography&page=1 https://snobswap.com/index.php/listings/view/27463 http://rebeccawesley.com/ http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?p=customer&contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=Creative &assetType=Image&mt=Photography&page=1 image strategy: http://www.archiproducts.com/en/products/65793/corian-kitchen-with-island-corian-nouvel-lumieres-ernestomeda. html http://retaildesignblog.net/tag/sneakers/ http://architizer.com/projects/world-basics-pop-up-store-merci/ http://retaildesignblog.net/2011/06/20/hm-beach-pop-up-store/ http://www.gettyimages.in/creative/instrument-of-measurement-stock-photos http://www.dwell.com/my-house/slideshow/startin-spartan#7 http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/1914396/french-by-design http://www.popupleases.com.au/blog/ research: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/retail/for-mobile-boutique-owner-business-is-on-a-roll/2120327 http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2012/03/shop-trucks-mobile-stores-vintage-clothing-fashionjewlery?mbid=nl_ daily_traveler#/slide=1 http://www.shoebarmobile.com/Home_Page.php http://www.psfk.com/2013/12/2013-retail-trends.html#!CyqEb
sources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2289130/Nordstrom-Americas-favorite-fashion-retailer--knocking-Kohls-spot- time-years.html http://www.seattlemag.com/anthropologies-new-petite-department http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/living/mobile-retail-boutiques http://blog.bazaarvoice.com/2013/02/26/the-top-5-consumer-driven-trends-in-retail/ http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/04/13/women-work-and-motherhood/ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/realestate/22nati.html?_r=3& http://blog.ounodesign.com/2009/05/02/how-rooms-and-architecture-affect-mood-and-creativity/ http://www.humantransit.org/2009/05/the-joy-of-high-ceilings-also-called-low-floors.html?cid=6a00d83454714d69e2011 6fc4e394970c http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-4787-truckshop_launches_c.html http://www.thefashionmobile.com/ http://www.trunkclub.com/ http://dornob.com/converted-bus-home-or-mobile-double-decker-community/#axzz2pZdzwoej http://fits.me/solutions/technology/ http://www.pods.com/About-PODS/FAQs.aspx http://humble-homes.com/sleepbox-mobile-hotel-rooms/ http://www.retaildesignbr.com/naver-app-square-by-urbantainer/ http://www.popuprepublic.com/ http://mocoloco.com/vote/world-basics-pop-up-store-by-schemata-architects/ http://www.greenlaunches.com/alternative-energy/wayne-hemingway-of-red-or-dead-fame-has-designed-yet-another- concept-the-ecofriendly-kioskiosk.php http://retailindustry.about.com/b/2013/06/28/leading-edge-retail-trends-in-the-best-new-global-retail-flagship-stores-how ralph-lauren-converse-and-barbie-flagship-stores-are-engaging-shoppers-with-customization.htm http://gettyimages.com and http://google.com
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Katie Wittes • Program and Research • Senior Capstone