Shabby Chic Brand Book

Page 1

BRAND TOOLKIT


All content in this guide is property of Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic and Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture. Copyright 2013.


shabby chic brand toolkit

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Brand Introduction pg 9 Brand Architecture pg 11 Brand Positioning pg 13 Brand Promise pg 15 Brand Profile: Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture pg 17 Brand Profile: Shabby Chic pg 31 Brand Philosophy pg 45 Highlights from Our History pg 63

brand profiles 5


Brand Profile S E C TION 01

BRAND BOOK


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Welcome to the World of Shabby Chic introduction Creating a brand synonymous with her aesthetic and lifestyle, designer Rachel Ashwell founded Shabby Chic in 1989 on the philosophy of beauty, comfort, and function. Her first store, located in Santa Monica, CA, sold Rachel’s washable furniture slipcovers and fabulous flea market finds. Today, there are 5 Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture™ flagship stores located in California, New York City, the UK, and Texas, “The Prairie” a Bed and Breakfast in Round-top Texas, and an e-commerce site. Celebrating 10 years, The Simply Shabby Chic® line of bedding and home accessories, created in 2004 through an exclusive partnership with Target stores, continues to bring the brand’s blend of English elegance and California casual to Target customers nationwide. In addition, the brand benefits from international exposure through an exclusive partnership with House of Fraser in the UK and a distributor in Japan who will be opening 2 retail locations in 2014. Rachel Ashwell has also published eight books with the most recent, “Rachel Ashwell Couture Prairie And Flea Market Treasures,” published in 2013. Celebrating 25 years in business, Shabby Chic will be developing an expanded marketing and licensing campaign with plans to grow the Shabby Chic family of brands at retail.

brand profiles 8

brand profiles 9


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

One Vision Infinite Opportunities b r a n d a r c h i t e c t ure The Shabby Chic family of brands are united by a set of core values. It is this unique foundation that has cultivated a variety of market opportunties and continues to foster new opportunities for growth.

PUBLISHING and SOCIAL MEDIA

Our architecture is structured to leverage different facets of the market in order to expand the Shabby Chic offering, expereince, and lifestyle to customer’s around the world.

with a 100,000+ social media and web following

Shabby Chic: Direct to Retail Partnerships Value-Driven

SUB-BRANDS same DNA but differentiated market strategy as it relates to:

Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic Couture:

target customer retail positioning merchandising strategy marketing strategy

Brand Philosophy

SHABBY CHIC “MOTHER”

High-end Vertical Retail and Wholesale Distribution Custom Design Services

Brand Story

BRAND’S CORE VALUES

Brand Promise

Brand Heritage

Publishing: Teaching Design Philosophy Building Brand Awareness 8 Books and Counting 100,000+ social media following The Prairie: Lodging and Hospitality Products

Brand Positioning

brand profiles 10

brand profiles 11


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

$$$$

BARBARA BARRY KELLY WEARSTLER

RALPH LAUREN HOME

CALVIN KLEIN

AERO: THOMAS O’BRIEN

Two Brands Positioned for Success

KNOLL BOCONCEPT

ABC HOME BLOOMINGDALES

c o n s u m e r p r o d uc ts positioning ANTHROPOLOGIE

tr ad i ti o na l /c l a s s i c

ETHAN ALLEN BALLARD DESIGNS ARHAUS

JOHNATHAN ADLER

BASSETT

POTTERY BARN

HGTV HOME WEST ELM CB2 MARTHA STEWART

c on te mp o r a r y /mo d e r n

DWELL STUDIO

RESTORATION HARDWARE

Both Shabby Chic brands are aligned with a clear, focused aesthetic vision, offering the market a unique POV, and customer’s at every touch-point, a familiar experience and product offering that they can mix and match together. Key Takeaways: • Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture is positioned as our aspirational and coveted “halo” brand, helping to increase desire for and raise the perceived value of the greater Shabby Chic offering at-retail.

IKEA CINDY CRAWFORD KATHY IRELAND TARGET/THRESHOLD

• With a more democratic price-point and direct to retail strategy. Shabby Chic presents an expanded offering, building brand awareness and reaching a larger number of customers at retail.

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

$ brand profiles 12

brand profiles 13


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Shabby Chic is not just a brand, it’s a lifestyle A practical, comfortable home can be lived in and still be lovely by never forgetting the Shabby ChicŽ mantra of beauty, comfort and function.

BRAND PROMISE

brand profiles 14

brand profiles 15


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture b r a n d s y n o p si s With a commitment to craftsmanship, quality and aesthetics, Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture® represents Rachel Ashwell’s true labor of love. The stores sell custom

machine washable slipcovered furniture and vintage accessories, along with bedding and other home furnishings. The focus of the brand is to offer luxury, bespoke home furnishing services and products. Any piece of slipcovered or upholstered furniture can be customized. All vintage accessories are hand picked during Rachel’s travels to Texas, London and places in between. KEY TENETS:

brand profiles 16

High-Quality Materials and Craftsmanship

Bespoke: Custom, Handmade, Curated

Strong Aesthetic Point of view: Indulgent, Moody Luxurious, Coveted

Vintage Furniture and Accessories, Imperfect Beauties

brand profiles 17


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Sumptuous, Comfortable, Practical Luxuries

brand profiles 18

brand profiles 19


Moody, Indulgent, Luxurious,Coveted


High-Quality Materials and Craftsmanship


Customized for the way One Truly Lives


Hand-picked by Rachel, One-of-a-Kind Flea Market Finds Rachel’s passion for authentic vintage treasures is at the core of Shabby Chic’s “the beauty of imperfection.”


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Overview RAchel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture RETAIL OVERVIEW

PRODUCT CATEGORIES

A truly unique and personal experience, Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture is the product of Rachel’s hand’s on involvement in every concept, detail and decision. She breathes life into every object she chooses to share with her customers.

RASCC offers a unique variety of products across all furniture and home decor categories:

Distribution: • •

Veritcal Retail through Wholesale and Licensing Partnerships E-Commerce

Special Offerings: • • • •

• • • • • • • •

Furniture Bedding Tabletop, Hard and Soft Home Decor Accessories Pillows, Candles, Throws, Mirrors Lighting Flooring and Rugs Fabrics Baby Storage Solutions Bath Textiles and Accessories Stationary/Home Office One-of-a-kind Vintage Finds

CUSTOMER:

FUTURE OBJECTIVES:

Build the business by expanding RASSC locations around the world.

Build new parnerships in manufacturing and wholesale distribution locally and internationally.

Celebrating our 25 years in business with an expanded licensing and marketing push.

brand profiles 28

Bespoke and Customization High Quality Materials and Craftsmanship Custom Design Services Unique One of a Kinds Future Heirlooms

• • • •

A customer willing to make an investment in furnishing or decorating their home or part of their home (master bedroom, living room, etc.). A customer looking for more customization options, design services, and who expect highquality products and unique one-of-a-kinds. Those who appreciate comfortable luxuries that are btoh beautiful and practical at once.

brand profiles 29


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Shabby Chic: Classic, Comfortable Settings for All b r a n d s y n o p si s Designer Rachel Ashwell’s trademark sensibility is fresh, lovely and totally livable. Born and raised in England, and now living in Santa Monica, she creates designs that blend her English heritage with her eclectic California lifestyle. Rachel’s Shabby Chic collection offers a classic palette of soft colors and clean whites applied to a myriad of furniture and home decor products. Perfect for creating classic, comfortable and inviting settings for all.

KEY TENETS: English Elegance meets Laid-back California Casual Everday, Classic, Approachable Simple, Clean, Bright

brand profiles 30

Mix and Match for Infinite Decorating Solutions that fit your lifestyle. Comfortable and Inviting

brand profiles 31


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Mix and Match Decorating Solutions to Suit your Lifestyle.

brand profiles 32

brand profiles 33


Comfortable and Inviting


Everyday, Classic, Approachable


Simple, Clean, Bright


English Elegance meets Laid-Back, California Casual


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Overview Shabby Chic RETAIL OVERVIEW

PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Our retail strategy is to develop direct to retail and licensing partnerships in order to distribute a wide range of products in the mid-tier channel.

Through licensing partnerships within each category Shabby Chic intends to develop furniture and home decor accessories for all areas of the home:

Distribution:

• • • •

• •

Direct to Retail Partnerships E-Commerce

Special Offerings: • • • • •

CUSTOMER:

FUTURE OBJECTIVES:

Rebuild the brand from the ground up through direct to retail and licensing partnerships.

Celebrating our 25 years in business with an expanded licensing and marketing push.

brand profiles 42

Elevated “Designer” Brand Aesthetic Versatile and Practical Mix-and-Match Home Decorating Solutions Better Quality Product at a Value-Driven Price-point Easily Accessible through Open-Market, Direct to Retail, International Partnerships. 25 Year History as a household name brand

• • • • • • • •

Furniture Bedding Tabletop, Hard and Soft Home Decor Accessories Pillows, Candles, Throws, Mirrors Lighting Rugs Fabrics Baby Storage Solutions Bath Textiles and Accessories Stationary/Home Office One-of-a-kind Vintage Finds

Shabby Chic’s philosophy is democratic. For anyone and everyone who so chooses to embrace the Shabby Chic lifestyle as their own. We believe the Shabby Chic customer is looking for versatile, durable, aesthetic driven products that can work with their existing home decor. With an eclectic, traditional yet casually modern attitude, Shabby Chic products can compliment anyone’s personal taste and style.

brand profiles 43


Brand Philosophy S E C TION 02

BRAND TOOLKIT


shabby chic brand toolkit

A Word from Our Founder R A C H E L A S H W ELL “As both a mother and the creator of the Shabby Chic brand, my thoughts about decorating are that a home can be truly lived in and still be lovely. I believe in cozy relaxed settings where kids are free to put their feet on the sofa and guests can place their cups on the coffee table without a care. For me, the secret to living well is to surround myself with beautiful things that are practical and deliciously comfortable. A faded, peeling old dresser, a cracked white chandelier, a chipped metal trash can painted with roses. To one person, these items are rejects from the junkyard, to another they are a bounty of riches. Discovering beauty in finding new uses for the old and worn discards of others greatly appeals to me, there is no better place to find the faded and decayed, the crumbing and the scuffed than a salvage yard or flea market, garage or estate sale�.

brand philosophy 47


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak. -Hans Hoffmann

brand philosophy 48

brand philosophy 49


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Beauty, Comfort, Function, Soul b r a n d p h i l o s o p hy Comfort, the beauty of imperfections, the allure of timeworn objects, and the appeal of simple practical living: these are the cornerstones of the shabby chicŽ brand philosophy. Like the cozy familiarity of a well-worn pair of faded jeans, the dilapidated elegance of an italian villa, the worn grandeur of faded velvets and mismatched floral china handed down from your grandmother’s attic. The brand is a revived appreciation for what is used, well-loved, and worn, it is a respect for natural evolution and a regard for what is easy and sensible.

co m for t function

be

au

ty

soul

brand philosophy 50

brand philosophy 51


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Beauty

The beauty of imperfection. The beauty of what’s real. Accepting things the way they are. Dilapidated elegance. Beauty of the tattered. The beauty and balance of the perfect mismatch

brand philosophy 52

brand philosophy 53


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Comfort

Deliciously comfortable. Relaxed and mushy. Cozy familiarity. Freedom to live freely. Truly lived in, but sill lovely

brand philosophy 54

brand philosophy 55


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Function

For the way one lives Easy, Sensible, Comfortable Paired down Simplicity One thing can become another This is the evolution of things

brand philosophy 56

brand philosophy 57


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Soul

A quintessential classic. the perfect patina, the perfectly functional, practical piece. These are the elements of forever. These are the elements that separate magic from mediocrity and create soul

brand philosophy 58

brand philosophy 59


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

An object worn by the love of everyday life An authenticity, a rich patina of human history Soul is in the details. The bits and pieces. The details that give an object life, a history, a SOUL

brand profiles 60

brand profiles 61


Brand Heritage S E C TION 03

BRAND TOOLKIT


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

Shabby Chic is a Brand that gets Better with Age highlights f r o m o u r 2 5 y e a r h i s tory Shabby Chic today is a product of its evolution. An evolution that has seen ups and downs, celebrations and road bumps, but as a company and brand, Shabby Chic has never been better. Along with our history comes great knowledge and we have continuously leveraged our learning experiences and turned them into exciting opportunities The following pages showcase the moments in the brand’s history that have helped evolve Shabby Chic into the brand, personality, and household name that it is today.

brand heritage 64

brand heritage 65


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

1989

1995

2000

2005

2010

present

Oct 1989

1996

2000

2007

2011

2013

Rachel Ashwell opens Shabby Chic stores in Santa Monica, CA and SoHo, selling flea-market furniture and big, squashy couches with white denim slipcovers.

Rachel Ashwell publishes her first book, ‘Shabby Chic’, featuring alluring images of unmade beds. This book launched a long publishing career resulting in 8 books with another in the works.

Dwell Magazine, the neo-modernist bible, begins publication. Rachel Ashwell sells Shabby Chic T-shirt sheets, made out of T-shirt fabric. Oprah mentions them on her show and Shabby Chic makes the news.

Shabby Chic begins to roll out a plan to open nearly 60 stores.

Rachel Ashwell opens The Prairie, a B&B in Texas with a Shabby Chic store included on the property.

Rachel Ashwell opens a 5th store in San Francisco and publishes her 8th book “Rachel Ashwell Couture Prairie and Flea Market Treasures”.

1991 Various Shabby Chic knockoffs appear, including a line of baggy slipcovered furniture called Washable Posh from Domain.

1999

2004

The ‘Shabby Chic’ television show is broadcast on the E! Network

Target introduces its Simply Shabby Chic line which results in a ten year relationship, and the longest ever private label brand partnership with Target.

1992 In its annual trend report called ‘Book of the Year,’ editors at the Encyclopedia Britannica cite Shabby Chic for reproducing the slipcover

brand heritage 66

Sept 2009 Rachel Ashwell opens flag ship Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture stores in Santa Monica, NY, and London.

Aug 2011 Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture E-commerce website goes live.

brand heritage 67

2014 and Beyond: With marketing and brand building initiatives set for the 25th Anniversary, The Shabby Chic family of brands are stronger than ever. Expect: Expanded Offerings The rebirth of the Shabby Chic brand 10th Anniversary Celebration at Target New Store Openings locally and internationally


shabby chic brand toolkit

shabby chic brand toolkit

The Beauty of Imperfection

brand profiles 68

brand profiles 69



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