Environmentally friendly Sunglasses Design Developer – Kelly Wong & Libby Jacques Creative Director – Danny Gallienne Brand Strategist – Hope Harding Marketing Director – Emma Beckford About Us: Verdure : Lush Green Vegetation. Arriving from the French word Verd meaning Green, we chose the name Verdure to show our enthusiasm for the environment and our brand ethos – being green! We are a brand new company, striving for an environmentally friendly, fashionable product. We have come together as 5 individuals, all with the same passion for the environment. We will be launching this brand straight in to the deep end. Being a high end luxury brand, we aim to being selling in the big London department stores, i.e. Selfridge’s, Harrod’s and Liberty of London. We are hoping to expand as soon as possible to open our own boutique in London. Our Customer: We are a brand accessible to all, whilst we are aiming our launch range at women aged from 25-35, our designs will be unisex and for all ages. Our Competition: Verdure are a unique brand, to come across a brand that encorporate style with being environmentally friendly can be difficult. Not many brands view environmental issues as a high prioity. Linda Farrow is one of our main competitors interms of style but when asked about environmentally friendly eyewear their Retail Manager said ‘I dont think we have thought about it yet, I guess the reason why is because we’re still really young.”
Competitor Research
These images are taken from the sunglasses we found the most influential during a trip to London. Texture must have been a huge consideration when designing as we saw large range of velvet & python skin. This made us understand how tactile eye wear can be most popular. We were drawn to speckled frames. We believe tortoiseshell glasses are hugely overproduced and although they are very classic, there is nothing that would set us apart. Taking the time out to go to London and research into other eye wear brands proved very important for us as a developing brand, we went into most big department stores such as Harrods etc, looking and trying on sunglasses. It was really interesting as we not only got to get the feel and comfort of them but we also could find out which styles were the most popular.
Stepping into the west side of Selfridges, we were met by a small exhibition space filled with trinkets, artwork and clothing. ‘Bright Old Things’ is an annual campaign based on the usual ‘Bright Young Things’ which ‘hand-picks, nurtures and showcases some of the UK’s most exciting rising stars from the worlds of fashion, art, design and food’. We were drawn straight to Robert Roope’s sunglasses, enjoying the playful colours and the easy-to-wear shapes. When worn, the majority of the sunglasses felt quite average against the skin and in weight, but had a very classic, antique appearance. A few pieces had a much more modern feel by adding brighter colours or using clear acetate. The price of the sunglasses were a good price point considering the usual customer within Selfridges and the unique story behind the designer.
Cutler and Gross
Cutler & Gross are a luxury eye wear brand which are located in Knightsbridge, London. The company has a huge social media following and have very intriguing and contemporary advertising. Alongside their own collection, C&G do a large amount of collaborations with designers for catwalk collections which is where they have created recognition. The store was a glass fronted small boutique-esque building set in an affluent narrow alley. Initially we were somewhat disappointed with the sterile, typical shapes, when looking on their site you are greeted with the picture above, so naturally your expectation when visiting the shop would be to find more bright and unusal glasses.
Stella McCartney
We visited Stella McCartney to get inspiration for eco-friendly materials. We found her staff incredibly endearing, telling us all about the materials used within her products. We were also advised to look into the online store where there is a considerable amount of information about the brand and their ethos. After talking to a few people within the eyewear industry that day and being looked at quite strangely for the consideration for eco-eyewear. We were pleased to find a pair of partially eco-friendly sunglasses at McCartney’s store. In a questionnaire section on her website. McCartney explains the make up of the sunglasses; 50% eco-acetate and 50% natural cellulose (which could mean anything from wood pulp to peat). McCartney also talks about the need for timeless, classic design along with their brand colour palette. This makes the designs more sought after, making items that are a key accessory; similar to a ‘classic’ Ray Ban. This is a consideration we must make, producing something unique but shall last.
Market Research When conducting our research our Marketing director created a questionaire which we then shared with our friends and family, we found our results to be somewhat bias, given that we are all 20/21 year olds our survey volunteers were mostly based around that age mark too, on reflection we should have found a way to get a wider demographic for our responses.
Pricing When it came to the pricing of the glasses we found that 23 of 49 people said they would pay £10-£30. This does not suit our brand we believe is a reflection of the people responding, although they are the age group we will be aiming our products at (and older) our customers wont be students. With a full time career job we believe our customers we be happy to pay £150-£350 on a pair of well made, stylish sunglasses.
Logo Designs
Initial Website ideas
Initial Design Ideas
Our Glasses will be made out of bamboo which will be set in resin. The resin will give the marbled effect. Our frames are entirely biodegradable and the lenses made from bio-acetate.
Museum of Design in Plastics - MODIP After a meeting with Susan Lambert, Head of MoDIP, our Product Developer discovered the potentials of eco-materials as plastics. There are very few that are eco and durable at the same time. Injection moulding seems like a route that we may be able to find a solution. Most sunglasses are made out of cellulose acetate however this does not biodegrade well. Another idea for creating the frames, might be through using 3D printing. A product that Susan showed me was a Tom Dixon picnic set, made entirely out of biodegradable materials which can be placed within compost waste at the end of it’s necessity. The colours do not necessarily have to be black. the marbled effect we are looking for could be achieved through using different water soluble resins. Although the products can be dissolved in water, they are able to withstand water for a short time. Therefore if the sunglasses are dropped in the pool on holiday, they would be safe. As the crockery is able to stand boiling water, they too shall be able to withstand the heat of the sun. The only problem found from using this material is the weight. Eyewear has to be lightweight and this bamboo resin isn’t the lightest, however this can be compromised if the frame is minimal and slim.
Cradle to Cradle This term is a design approach that considers economical, social and industrial, systems that are efficient but more importantly waste free. The entire cycle is constantly in motion and has no end point, proving that the product will always be in use and shall provide an advantage whichever stage it is at. The play on words is taken from the phrase ‘from cradle to grave’; instead cradle to cradle gives a much more positive view and shows the ability to recreate new product life through products that have finished their use to the customer. This can be shown through a cycle diagram as shown below;
There are many companies that try to use this method. An exciting example of this is an unfamiliar substance; “Mushroom Materials’ which is as you would assume, taken from mushroom fibre and other waste products within agriculture. These composites create a ‘high performance, biobased home compostable alternative to expanded plastic foam’. This material is then used as an eco-friendly version of packaging. Co2 is a factor that we must consider within the design of our own eyewear. How the materials shall be sourced, hopefully locally to reduce Co2 miles, and the way that the customer shall dispose of them. We shall consider the use of the eco-material and its durabilities, hoping to giving a long product life. Another thing to consider is packaging; many luxury companies use an extortionate amount of wrapping just to give the product an extra touch of luxury. Cardboard is the most widely used packaging material for eco-friendly companies as it has a large strength, absorbing impact and can biodegrade quickly compared to plastic.
Packaging
Social Networking
Final Website http://verdureglasses.wix.com/verdure
Colour Pallete
For our first collection, we wanted a range of sunglasses that portray a sense of classic luxury. By creating such products, we shall be understand how customers respond to them and determine whether the range should continued and used as a basis for future collections. From the research we collected on the London trip, we understood that there is huge demand for tortoiseshell eyewear. Tortoiseshell is reminiscent of a classic 1920’s look, when eyewear was made of a much higher quality than the majority of glasses currently on the market. The supply of tortoiseshell eyewear, we feel, has been met. Verdure would like to push this idea further and produce eyewear with an even more classic feel by using the appearance of a much more timeless material, Marble. After visiting London and the Linda Farrow showroom, we found the majority of their designs had a rose gold tint. This suits the majority of skintones and gives a high luxury appearance. As a group, we agreed it really set the eyewear apart from other designs.
Final Design
Made from bamboo which will be set in resin. The resin will give the marbled effect. Our frames are entirely biodegradable and the lenses made from bio-acetate. This is the design that as a group we felt represented Verdure best and would suit our customer. It has elements of classic shaping and colouring that will make the pair timeless. The cat eye shape tends to suit most face shapes and the gap between the frame and lense helps to tone down the marble effect. The centre has the logo embedded into the frame work, making the design easily recognisable. We have recently discovered an eco-friendly material that can be injection-moulded into any shape. Arborform uses wood pulp alongside a natural resin, i would use this for the frame. I would then cover the frame in a lacquer that would produce the marbled effect. Arborform can stand intensely high heat and therefore will be perfect for holidays. For the lenses, we would use an eco-friendly acetate, which is only slightly more expensive than a normal acrylic. The tint will be black and shall provide UV protection. The Chain and weight can be made from a silver that is sustainably sourced and is regarded as highly ethical
Business Plan - Step One Verdure is an exciting emerging brand of luxury environmentally friendly sunglasses, bringing you the most cutting edge and innovative styles. Our passion for the environment inspired us to create this unique way of producing eyewear mainly aimed at women aged from 25-35 but will be unisex and for all ages. The business opportunity we see ourselves in is the luxury market. We offer high quality, hand crafted frames made from all recyclable resources, what most eyewear companies don’t, even our packaging. We are sourcing ways of making everything as eco-friendly as possible but still keeping that fine high quality feel. Eliminating the aspects of arms and putting a completely new spin to sunglasses are the chains and weights to balance on the face giving it a refreshing touch. The originality and craftsmanship of our eyewear where we create beautiful shapes and styles that would suit any face shape is what gives us that level of luxury, targeted at high end customers selling in London’s big department stores, i.e. Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty of London and hoping to expand into our own boutique. Financial Projections Our prices range from £150 - £350. The average cost of our sunglasses is £240. If we sold 6/7 pairs of sunglasses a week we would sell 360 pairs annually, this will make us a profit of £86,400. The cost of the materials for 360 pairs would be £867.60. The cost of the materials for packaging would be £2953.44. All together the expenses would come to £3821.04 although this is a variable cost. Other costs include labour £4160.00, distribution £2540.00, advertising £400.00 and copyright & patents £269.50. This all comes to £7369.50. So expenses altogether comes to £11190.54
So we would make a profit potential of £75209.46.
Step Two The market we are heading into is, we believe, the perfect market to be setting up a new brand. Eco friendly and stylish eyewear is difficult to find, we are in such a niche for a product that we believe is highly desired by our future customers. We will be end luxury stores, i.e. expand as
launching this brand straight in to the deep end. Being a highbrand, we aim to being selling in the big London department Selfridge’s, Harrod’s and Liberty of London. We are hoping to soon as possible to open our own boutique in London.
We are a brand accessible to all, whilst we aim our range at women aged from 25-35, our designs will be unisex and for all ages. Our customer is a full time worker in possibly a creative area such as graphic design or film, they are the new generation that is thinking more about the world and their own personal effect on it. Our customer values fashion and is the kind of person to spend a reasonable to high amount of money on a few items as appose to the same amount of money on lots of cheaper items to only lay around their flat. Our customer is considered and unique, so will love the idea of being able to customize his or her own pair of Verdures. Verdure, like out customers, are unique; to come across a brand that incorporate style with being environmentally friendly, can be difficult. Not many brands view environmental issues as a high priority. Linda Farrow is one of our main competitors in terms of style but when asked about environmentally friendly eyewear their Retail Manager said ‘I don’t think we have thought about it yet, I guess the reason why is because we’re still really young.” Born in the 1970s and reborn in 2003, Linda Farrow is our main competitor. With a boutique store on mount street, London and selling in Selfridges LF are a mirror image of where our brand our heading.
Step Three Verdure’s USP: We are an eco friendly brand using Arborform, a material that hasn’t yet been used before on eyewear. Our sunglasses use chains and weights on our designs instead of arms making our eyewear unique and different to other eyewear brands. Verdure is striving for an environmentally friendly, fashionable product. We believe the sunglasses industry are far behind the technological advances that make it possible to have eco friendly products. By making our products out of recycled plastics, we have come up with ground breaking and innovative designs. Verdure is at an advantage because there aren’t many luxury/exclusive brands that are selling eco friendly sunglasses. Our eyewear also uses Arborform, which hasn’t yet been used before on eyewear, it is an eco-friendly material that can be injection-moulded into any shape. Arborform can stand intensely high heat and therefore will be perfect for hot weather. The sign ded The and
cat eye shape tends to suit most face shapes and will be our main defor our sunglasses, the centre of the glasses will have the logo embedinto the frame work, making the design easily recognisable. Chain and weight can be made from silver that is sustainably sourced is regarded as highly ethical.
Company strategy We are going to do this by word of mouth and gaining a strong social media presence mainly on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram as well as YouTube, Google plus. Because our brand is an exclusive, niche brand we want to keep that exclusivity by not overly promoting the brand e.g in magazines or television ads. We want the consumers of our brand to feel connected and associated to us, we will do this successfully because our brand has a strong ethos and brand identity. Which can be seen through the following: • Logo • Products and services • Packaging • Visual Merchandising • Promotion, Advertising and PR • Website
Step Four Verdure is a group of 5 creative individuals that have each initiated this brand into the concept that it has now become, each giving a different approach and taking on roles that will project it into something brilliantly tangible. Although there are individual sections, we have all helped to intermingle and given a joint effort on each development of Verdure.
Although Verdure has been a group effort, we have all needed to follow the lead and direction of others. The creative director will inform everyone within the organization of where Verdure should be heading and has a strong vision of the Verdure image. The Brand strategist has a clear understanding of Verdure as a pioneering company, how we want to present ourselves and will guide the marketing director and designers on what the customer wants. As the Marketing Director, Emma guides the designers with portraying whom the market is but looks for guidance from both the creative director and brand strategist. Funding Requirements Verdure is a luxury brand, and to be able to enter the market at such a high level, costing will be large. With the extra unique selling point of using sustainable, biodegradable and totally eco-friendly materials this enlarges the cost further. A solution to sourcing the funding for this venture, Verdure shall need a bank loan to cover the initial costs.
One off costs (PA) Advertising £400.00 Copyright & patents £269.50 Variable costs (PA) Materials
£3823.20
Labour £4160.00 Distribution £2540.00 Risk Management Plan The points below must be carried out in a dedicated manner in order for the business to be a success. If these provisions are undertaken, there shall be a much smaller risk to business failure. Financial markets • By ensuring enough capital is obtained to make all parts of this venture work sufficiently • Costs should be kept to a minimum, yet the luxury appeal must be a higher priority • A product that is very well designed; which provides a solution to customer needs and is of high demand; aesthetically and visually pleasing • Providing a product that can be obtained by its targeted market. Considering price point and ability to provide stock as demand is made Project failures • Using correct and indepth market research which shall inform the entire venture • Ensuring the product is tried and tested. Quality assurance is considered. •
Branding needs to aimed correctly at the customer
Production issues • By using well known, reliable companies that are ethically sound • Staying UK based while the company is small shall help to keep control over production and quality assurance. • Having a good, close relationship with all sections of the company, including production, shall help all elements to run smoothly. Legal • Copyrights and patents shall be made intricately as the business moves forward • To avoid legal issues with customers, we must keep a close relationship with them and must provide them with the ability to contact us effortlessly. Accidents • By adhering to health and safety regulations