DENIM +
JESSICA LEECH
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BETHNALS https://bethnals.com
the next denim brand that i looked into was the london based brand bethnals. bethnals is a unisex denim brand that has the unique selling point of merging the idea of gender together by their individual designs that are worn by both males and females. with their good quality clothing and inspired designs, puts bethnals also into the medium price point with jeans selling at ÂŁ75 to ÂŁ125.
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PRODUCT bethnal offers a new revolution of style undefined by gender - Unisex denim of a high quality. Inspired by fit, detail and diverse cultural hub that is London, Bethnals supplies the perfect fit in one unisex jean. With not many brands out there offering both males and females the same design, this encourages Bethnals to be a unique and inspiring upcoming brand. A brand working to blur the lines between men and women’s jeans. Bethnals is all about simple, fuss-free denim that speaks volumes without the need to be overstyled giving customers the easy feel. With the brand not being a well known design, they’re still finding ways to promote and advertise they’re ethics across the fashion industry.
PRICE From exploring their website, I discovered that the brand would be put into the High End High Street mark when it came to the quality of the products as well as price range. With the unisex jeans ranging between £75.00 to £125.00, jackets between £85.00 to £125.00 and the shirts £55.00 to £60.00 encourages the fact that the clothing is slightly more expensive than you may find down the high street. However, for the brand’s target audience, I believe that this price is appropriate assuring customers with well fitted and quality jeans.
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PLACE Bethnals concessions can be found all over London, with their products found in small independent stores such as Bad Denim, Pam Pam, Hub, Triangle, Clerkenwell London, as well as Lamberts Yard, in Leeds. As well as having concessions in stores around London, Bethnals is also sold online at the popular sites including ASOS and Nylon Shop. This gives the brand a way of reaching their target audience, with ASOS being a well known popular brand, used all over by both males and females. Bethnals has its own website online where they sell their collections, showcase their upcoming look-books as well as keeping connected with their customers. Bethnals also encourages to spread the word of their brand through the use of pop up shops for such events such as London Fashion Week.
PROMOTION With their products targeted at both males and females in their late teens - up, social media has been a popular way to keeping connected with their customers and to ensure their aware of their latest seasonal launches. With having a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account, they are then able to continuously update their customers on their collections as well as inviting new potential buyers to new seasonal launches to result in reaching a larger market of customers. Having the option for their customers to sign up to receive updates, the latest on new products as well as sale releases, by signing up to their email allows the brand to continue to keep connected with their buyers, sending out friendly reminders.
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CURRENT MID PRICE POINT BRAND LOGOS
after discovering the differences between low, mid and high price points, i decided on putting my brand within the medium price point bracket. i then looked at other brands that are currently on the market within the same price point, to see how their brand is presented through the design of their brands logo. this has encouraged me to follow a simple and subtle design as seen in the brand logos above to encourage my brand to fit in within the market.
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UNITY the union of merging gender to introduce a nEw revolution of fashion, undefined by a person’s sex.
after exploring into price points i was then able to determine the price point that i would put my own brand under. with this i was then able to look into the four p’s; product, price, place and promotion. this will help me to understand my brand further as well as piecing together it’s identity.
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PRODUCT Because I plan for my brand to be a high street high end brand, the quality of the products must be at a high quality to justify the price range of the garments. This encourages strong denim that will last a long while. The designs will be unique and have more features to them compared to other pieces of denim down the high street. This will include pockets, top stitching, buttons and other features that’ll make the pieces of denim unique to the brand. With it being a unisex brand, each of the products must be appropriate for both males and females, which will limit the clothing that would be sold within the store; denim jeans, denim shorts, denim shirts, denim jackets and denim dungarees only.
PRICE The price point range for my brand will be a medium price point, which is justified by it being a high street high end store. Seeing brands such as All Saints, French Connection, Cos, The Kooples etc. as competitors. This suggests that a pair of jeans will vary from around £85 - £125, shorts £50 - £70, shirts £75 - £115, jackets £150 - £250 and dungarees £175 - £225. For my target audience, I believe that this price range is customer sensitive, with the quality and designs of the products being made apparent. Because my target audience will be teenagers and young adults being the main buyers, I will have my store accept student discount to show a friendly and caring relationship with our customers.
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PLACE My brand will start off selling clothing in and around London as well as online using their own online website www.unity.co.uk. Such online stores such as Asos, will also include a few items from my brand exclusively for their website. Once the business is well established I plan to franchise the brand globally, opening stores around America, and the rest of Europe to gain a much wider audience. With selling only unisex clothing, the store doesn’t need to be large or sectioned by male and female, and will visually look like a fun and friendly boutique. With not many unisex brands on the market, but still a growing market, I believe my brand will have an advantage against competitors because of its unique selling point.
PROMOTION Being a high street high end brand, I will promote my brand using billboards at bus stops, train stations and around town centres to keep a wide audience aware of the existence of my brand. I will also promote my brand by having seasonal campaigns and advertisement within magazines such as ELLE, Vogue, GQ and Men’s Fashion, to hold up it’s title of high end as well as targeting those within my target audience. With social media being an everyday feature within pretty much everyone day to day life, my brand will be continuously spoken about, and updating customers through the use of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where it’ll reach a wide range of audiences.
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PANTONE COLOURS putting into consideration that my brand is a unisex brand, only selling clothing that is appropriate for both males and females encourages me to ensure that my brand’s identity reflects this. this is what inspired me to go along with a neutral colour scheme of beige. i believe that this colour range is also very simple and with me wanting to go down the minimalistic path, suits the brand perfectly.
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LOGO DESIGN EXPLORATION
once i had established my colour, font type and symbol for my brand i then explored a number of logo outcomes using illustrator. this gave me the chance to see what worked best before deciding on the final.
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UNITY MANIFESTO unity is a unique denim brand selling only unisex denim on the high street. with competitors such as cos, the kooples, whistles and other high street high end brands within the medium price point, my brand stands out with its unique and individual selling point of blending the idea of gender within fashion. unity is the beginning of a new revolution, targeting a fresh generation of trend setters. with its high quality denim and subtle designs, each piece has been carefully created to suit both male and female. this identifies a reason for unity to stand out from such competitors, with the brand having an individual ethnicity.
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FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.facebook.com/UnityLondon1 to help get my brand contact with potential customers i looked at setting up pages on social media sites that will help me attract attention for my brand. with facebook being the most well known source of social media encouraged me to create a page updating my progress on my branding.
INSTAGRAM PAGE https://www.instagram.com/unity _ london/ with instagram being another popular source of social media inspired me to set up a page, uploading images often of my brand. instagram is used mainly by teenagers and young adults and with this being my target audience ensures I’ll be reaching potential customers.
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VISUALISATIONS
Using online mock up sites, i was able to put my brand’s logo onto physical pieces of merchandise including a poster, notebook, business cards as well as stationary. this gave me the chance to visualise my brands logo as how it may look when inserted onto merchandise and whether it will work or not before creating the actual outcomes.
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VISUALISATIONS as part of my visualisations, i have created a mock up of what my brand’s website home page may look like. i have made sure to continue with portraying the same identity that i have so far created, by producing a very simple but eyecatching layout. i like how the website design is very clean and minimalistic, suitable for both of the genders. it is also very clear and easy to navigate around the page.
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BRAND PACKAGING planning my brand packaging, i have looked at using online mock ups to test ways in which i may want to package my clothing at unity. I have come up with the idea of boxing up the clothing in a brown cardboard box (following my colour theme) with the unity label clearly visible. this idea also works with being green, with the cardboard boxes being able to be recycled once used. i plan to wrap up the clothing with white tissue paper, and sealed carefully with a promotional sticker with unity’s logo and branding on it. the tissue paper used can also be recycled encouraging a very environmentally friendly packaging.
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BRAND PACKAGING again using an online mock up site, i have put together two designs of potential designs for my brand’s swing tags. i have continued to follow the rustic theme that i had planned for my brand, by using recyclable cardboard as the base for the tags. this design also fits well with the rest of the beige colour scheme throughout the rest of my branding, which is appropriate for both males and female customers. by adding my logos into the mock up frame has given me a clear visualisation of the swing tags, experimenting with different ways to see what works best. from this mock up, i have now gathered an idea of how i may want my swing tags to look as well as how i can go ahead and make them.
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LAY PLAN using the site moo.com, i designed and purchased merchandise with my brand’s identity on each. this included a range of promotional stickers, postcards with my campaign shoot on as well as unity’s own business cards.
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moo.com
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SKETCH UP
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Using the programme Sketch Up, I produced a 3D graphic of a design of a pop up shop for my brand; unity. This programme allowed me to design a prototype of how my stores may look in person. I made sure to continue to express the character of my brand through the way I designed the shop, including my choice of colour, layout and furniture. I wanted to create a warehouse rustic looking store, to fit well with my logo. I also believe that this, the design and layout of the store encourages the store to be appropriate for both male and females which highlights my brand’s unique selling point.
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PHOTOSHOOT MOOD BOARD
For my brands photoshoot i would like to get across my brands identity including the main issue that is my unique selling point of it being purely a unisex brand. i want to be able to get through to my audience the idea of blending the issue of gender into one. using the inspiration from such brands such as the kooples and calvin klein.
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SOURCING DENIM FOR SHOOT
for my shoot i have begun collecting denim garments that can be worn by both the sexes to help represent the identity of my brand. i have decided upon having a majority of different shades of blue denim for the shoot, which has encouraged my collecting. i have gone to charity shops, friend’s wardrobes as well as my own to source the denim. the garments collected include jeans, shorts, dungarees, shirts as well as denim jackets, all that can be worn by both of the genders. my brand is all about merging the idea of the male and female roles, so i plan to hopefully suggest this through the use of oversized and baggy pieces of denim.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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when in the studio, we organized the pieces of denim which we planned to use for both of the models into separate piles ready for quick changes during the photoshoot. due to going for a very minimalistic and soft mood for the shoot, cici, the female model had very light make up on as well as masking gel in her hair, to help to portray this across the shoot. female model: cecilia di paolo male model: mattia holm photographer: hannah gait stylist: jessica leech
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UNITY CAMPAIGN SHOOT FINAL OUTCOMES
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LINKS INSTAGRAM: unity_london FACEBOOK: unity_london WORDPRESS BLOG: https://jessicaemilyleech.wordpress.com ISSUU SITE: https://issuu.com/jessicaleech
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