Fashion Marketing & Management Capstone Project - Store Launch Tiffany Lu
Content
New Shanghai Store IFC
1- Mission 2- Brand Identity 3- Opportunity 4- Design & Theme Insipiration 5- Store Concept 6- Store Location 7- Store Interior 8- Launch Plan 9- Communication 10- Package
MISSION
New Singapore Flagship Store
Reciprocity and mutual benefit is the aim of this project to expend Gentle Monster and Barney’s New York. This project tap into the power of creative collaboration, to form a partnership between Gentle Monster and Barney’s. This collaboration will celebrate the spirit of innovative design and art that is shared by both brands.
Brand Identity
Founded in Seoul, Korea in 2011, a conceptual eyewear brand, offers advanced eyewear especially for Asians, who featured with broader face, higher cheekbones and lower nose bridge. “INNOVATIONAL HIGH-END EXPERIMENTS” Gentle Monster is considered as conceptual luxurious sunglasses brand, distinguished by it’s unrivalled brick-and-mortar experience, aim to provide an experimental approach between the brand and customers. Gentle Monster emphasizes the store design and visual presentation, each store is designed and decorated with unique themes and installation art pieces. Always collaborate with artists to create movement and space in the store, customers can always feel the interactive design and hallmark once stepped into the store. The principal of the store and the brand is to be innovative, creative and eye-catching.
Founded in 1923 by Barney Pressmanaas a discount store in low-town Manhattan, but today a luxury retailer with the size of total 27 stores in the US. Barney’s NY is a professional luxury specialty that renowned for serving the most fashionable consumers in the world. It shares the spirit of urban cool between the store and the customer. “If you are a good person and you work hard, you get to go shopping at barney’s. It is the decadent reward.” - SARAH JESSICA PARKER
Barney’s is also always open to follow the new technology and trend. They love discovering new designers, focus to put exclusive products. They curate fashion, perfectly select the right product for special customers. Barney’s also pay attention on store interior, they invite interior designers and firms to decorate the store from time to time. CEO of Barney’s is leaning to direct the physical store a transition from department setting into a luxurious gallery space to curate well-designed goods.
Opportunity defining target customers
The collaboration of Gentle Monster and Barney’s New York is a great opportunity to invite one more remarkable designer brand to the market. Through Barney’s power, it could bring a heat between those young cool customers and innovators. Gentle Monster is growing fast from 5 years ago till now, the business size and customer range get bigger and bigger. They are planning to extend stores worldwidely. Even LVMH group had invested into the brand for over 50% and became the major shareholder. At the same time, Barney’s NY is also willing to enhance the brand status in this competitive market. Tend to attract more younger group of consumers and invest more potential brands, in case to maintain job of Barney’s. One of the principal aim of this collaboration is towards not only younger age, but also a group of people who regard a lot on life quality and ardently love art.
Celebrity influence is one of the important and effective promotion strategies of Gentle Monster to attract more customers. They use both asian and western stars. More of all, they are mostly millennials. This also state their target group of consumers.
Personae
Kojima Hana 24 A Japanese girl, who studied aboard in LA. She came to San Francisco and work at a design firm after graduation. She has her dream to be an innovative industrial designer. She loves travelling around and discover new designs. She is described as young and cool, persist in her own style. She is also a fashion blogger with 5m follower. She is always the influencer to the trend. She always get invited by brands to promote new products. Sunglasses is always her fashion item.
Gigi Hadid 22 Fashion model She is a crazy girl. Love to try new things, very adventurous. Very on trend. Famous. With a 37m followers on Instagram. Pay attention on self image. Go to gym twice a week. Very optimistic.
SiChuan
design & Theme Inspiration Frogism- Shanghai
Studio Job / Ree Robert & Steven Harris
The store design of Gentle Monster and Barney’s are both almost surrealism, out of the box and non-forgettable modern. They have used a verity of steel-ware and silver to enlarge the sense of space. It would be great to see an intersection between Gentle Monster and Barney’s on visual presentation.
The store is inspired by cultural difference between Asia and Western countries. Sunglasses industry was originally controlled by western countries with the design and trend, bringing in Korean brand into this market is a break through. Asians are always described as shy and bashful, but Gentle Monster is breaking this old thought with exaggerated design and visual presentation. The store is designed to be a fun club with variety of elements and culture, it’s mean to be playful.
Store Concept Culture Club Installation Art is Gentle Monster’s first priority on visual merchandising strategy, giving unique and unexpected store decoration to catch audiences’ eyes from windows at first sight. Bringing Studio Job’s work to the store would add a little bit more of gorgeousness and fun beyond modernness. “Landmark” is one of the famous collection done by Job Smeets, “Architecture communicates very well and says a lot about the situations in countries: the inter-human situation, welfare, politics. It’s totally expressive” Therefore, the signature attraction in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge will be included in the store to indicate the theme, culture mix.
Sexual/ Abstract/ Weird/ Child essence/ Movement/ Sensual/ Stability/ International
Interior
Mood Colour and material are two important elements to control the theme of a store. Wood, steel and glass are the three main material at this store to give a sense of modern and steady, futuristic and natural.
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1: Front view 2: Back view 3: Close side view 4: Golden Gate Bridge Sculpture 5: Spoon door knock 6: Penius Shaped candle holder 7: Bug 8: Boob shaped light
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The store section of Gentle Monster will be held at Barney’s San Francisco location, 2nd floor. Preclude the small section of small accessory on 1st floor, such as scarves and sunglasses, assorting this potential designer brand with jewellery section on 2nd floor is a chance to upscale Gentle Monster’s brand identity. It could also bring more customers to the 2nd floor to drive more potential sales.
Location
Launch Plan When? Where? What?
Holiday season is a good timing to launch products of accessory. The new store of Gentle Monster at Barney’s will be opened in December 16, a week before Christmas Holiday. First to give a breath for the market to receive this new born in San Francisco, getting ready to go into people’s sight and ready to sell as a surprise for the holiday season. People also love to travel during the Christmas holiday to warmer place, it’s a good chance for them to gift themselves a sunglasses!
When: December Christmas Where: San Francisco Barney’s What: Sunglasses & Optical
A Dj party will be held at the Barney’s store a night before the operation to public for celebration of the collaboration. All involved departments and employees are invited to join with both Barney’s and Gentle Monster. As well as bloggers, friends of Gentle Monster, celebrities, rappers, top customers of Barney’s, medias and the artist Studio Job. Barney’s San Francisco store will be closed early for the party, and it will start from 8pm with the invitation. There will be DJ, champaign, food and cool music. Products are opened to purchase too. All previous collaborative collection with designer brands, such HBA and Opening Ceremony will only be avaliable on the party night for VIP with few amount of stocks. A special workshop will be held on only the party night for customers to engrave their names on the glasses.
Communication
The announcement of the collaboration will be simply publicity on both website and Instagram of Gentle Monster and Barney’s, two important and popular channel. Email blasts will also be sent to Barney’s VIP customers and top rated customers as well. The party was held on purpose to propel the promotion of the new store through the social media with pictures and videos incidentally by participators.
Collaborate Package To make it more special!
Gentle Monster x Barney’s New York Secondary Package
Gray colour to state the moderness of two brands Pink handle to highlight the element of “LOVE” and “SEXUAL” of the store
Designed as a drawer to demonstrate a performance to the product, include a movement when consumer unpack it
Primary package is made by leather in black with a pink logo, which cohesively match with the theme of this collaboration.
Fashion Marketing & Management Capstone Project - Store Launch Tiffany Lu Interior Designer: Amber Package: Leo Cheng Photo edit: Jim Pan