Charlie Le Mindu
ANALYSIS
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MARKET
CONTEXT
Contents Page 1.Intro Charlie Le Mindu 2-3. SWOT 4-5. Competitor analysis Phillip Tracey 6-7. Clients 8-9. Funding 10-11. Competitor Fred Butler 12- 13. Marketing 14-15. Piers Atkinson 16-17. Customer Target Profile 18-19. Future Brand Strategy 20-23. Collaberations 24. Haute Coffiure 25. Bibliography
Charlie Le Mindu is a French born hairdresser come designer. He refers to himself as a ‘Haute Coiffure’ . He started cutting hair at a young age. With his career starting of in the mid 90’s as a hair stylist, cutting the hair of drag queens in underground clubs such as White Trash, RIO Club and others renowned clubs in Berlin Germany. Le Mindu established himself as resident hairdresser there and performed live cuts at private parties and set up en-suite salons. He built up his own personal style and was recognised for his obscure creations. He then moved on to live in East London. This is where he set up his own salons across the city and developed an amazing, regular celebrity clientele.
In 2009 he set up his Cheveux Centric fashion line and was awarded the On|Off visionare award in 2011. He was given a spot in London department store Harrods to set up a salon called Urban Retreat. He has shown at London Fashion Week and also on the British fashion council headonism stage. With celebrity followers including Lady Gaga, Charlie Le Mindu’s work truly transcends the boundaries of fashion. He is highly recognised for his controversial methods of displaying his vision. Although Le Mindu doesn’t create to solely shock, he just likes to evoke reactions. “I just think when people come to my show I want extreme reactions… I prefer them to hate it or love it.”
Quote found on http://busanhaps.com/article/
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SWOT
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--Strengths -- Charlie Le Mindu’s Avant Garde brand has many strengths starting with a repertoire of celebrity cliental wearing his wigs, hats and garments. Having globally recognized Pop stars such as Lady Gaga wear his collections, this has gained a lot of press and recognition for his brand. Charlie Le Mindu is always working on upcoming projects collaborating with a range of brands, Artists, Photographers, and so on. His recent collaboration with L’oreal has enabled him to have his own signature hair spray to be sold globally.
clients, or those with an extensive income are able to buy into his innovative brand. Le Mindu has sold Wigs in the past to museums such as Rotterdamn. Lady Gaga’s stylist choses his wigs from the show room collections. --Opportunities--The brand is always excelling in new and exciting ways such as Charlie Le Mindu is soon to air his own hair dressing TV who in Paris France, this will aid his identity to grow.
“I am also working on my own extreme-makeover show for next year called Charlie’s Treatment.”
To overcome his weakness of a small client base, this could open up new opportunities to Charlie as a brand. It could lead to him launching more affordable diffusion lines to allow a larger clientele and audience Le Mindu now as a beuty show which he is soon to air in France. This show could perhaps be a success and expand Le Mindu’s clientel, however not all beuty TV shows end up been a success. Time will tell. --Threats--Charlie Le Mindu’s collections have limited appeal to a small fan base. They could be seen as short lived fashion fads as his creations lack relevance within day to day wear. His designs are very creative and also controversial, so to increase client base, and to extend his life as a designer he could scale down his designs to make them more wearable for the average person.
His brand is so niche and high end it makes him unique, not very many designers out there already do similar things this makes him up datedly needed in the celebrity industry. --Weakness -- Charlie Le Mindu’s distinct exaggerated over the top wiggs use to go from the show to Blow PR sales room. From there stylists would borrow them. However now Le Mindu sell his wiggsfor around £3600 £10000 meaning he has limited appeal. Therefore only his eccentric celebrity http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com
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“The Mad Hatter of British Style”
Trecy’s Spring Summer 2013 Collection, in tribute to Michael Jackson London Fashion Week
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M
ore Philip Treacy started off similarly to Le Mindu; he begun to make hats as a hobby. However he then got himself experience with milliner Stephen Jones. After he graduated he set up his own workshop, he was commissioned by Karl Lagerfeld to design for Chanel and also created items for McQueen. He has had exhibitions nearly all over london and created hats for the royal family. Today his company boasts an annual turnover of over £1million and 68% of his client base is abroad in North America, France and Japan. Le Mindu should be looking at successful headwear designers to boost his brands popularity and sales. He should look in to the Asian Treacy is so well known and has a lot of experience behind him unlike Charlie le Mindu. He has really got his designs out there, has worked for other high end designers to push himself higher Le mindu can learn from Treacy by making more wearable if not affordable pieces to increase client base. Treacy’s ranges from £200-£500 however he also has a street wear collection which starts from £95. This enables the brand to branch out to a wider audience
Head Piece from Charlie Le Mindu 2012 Collection.
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Charlie Le Mindu’s Avant-garde brand has many strengths starting with a repertoire of celebrity cliental wearing his wigs, hats and garments. Having globally recognised Pop stars such as Lady Gaga wear his collections has gained a lot of press and recognition for his brand. Charlie Le Mindu is always working on upcoming projects collaborating with a range of brands, Artists, Photographers, and so on. His recent collaboration with L’oreal has enabled him to have his own signature hair spray to be sold globally. His brand is so niche and high end it makes him unique. Not many designers out there already do similar things this makes him up datedly needed in the celebrity industry.
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Product and Sales “Everything I create is made with 100 percent natural human hair. ” Quote Newyork Times iblog nterview
Le Mindu’s first collection was back in 2009 his AW collection was shown at London Fashion week. From then onwards Charlie Le Mindu has done two collections a year Autumn Winter and Spring Summer. However his most recent SS13 collection was not a Catwalk show, but an exhibition. Charlie Le Mindu often works with vast range of different materials; his most used and widely known material he works with is human hair. This is manufactured in Russia with the Russian company ‘Hair Dreams’. It is wordly known as the best quality Russian hair. Le Mindu used hair over any other fabric as he is a wig designer and “hair coffiure”, as well as using hair for designing clothing. Other fabrics he has worked with in his collections are; lace lined polyester, cotton, leather, fur, Taxidermy bird feathers, and Swarovski crystals, pony skin, PVC, patent leather and his own fabric made up of ‘minx fabric nails’.
Charlie Le Mindu does not sell his brand on his online website. However he does sell on the website Online Show Studios. His wigs range from prices from 3,500 to £10000 per iconic wig. Le Mindu’s clienteles are people such as Lady Gaga who pick’s pieces from his collections. Aqua produced a limited edition graphic T-shirt featuring mirror image snow leopard, with Charlie’s signature and the Aqua by Aqua logo. His Aqua’s graphic print unisex t-shirts are available to buy online through the Aqua site starting at £50 per T-shirt. The Aqua t shirts are also stored on Beak Street Leeds Aqua store. The hair stylist come designer currently stocks at Harrods, Knightsbridge with his own hairdressers held in the store. A Wash and blow dry is priced at £150. Charlie Le Mindu also stocks internationally in RA Antwerp Belgium, IT department store in Hong Kong, Collette Paris, and RA Paris. Charlie Le Mindu’s products are only affordable to his wealthy clients. His brand and previous collections of clothing is very Avant Garde more over so than been commercial which is a word Le Mindu is said to hate. Other clients of Le Mindus’s are Cabaret dancers in high end Clubs. Charlie designed a comb in 2009 that was sold in East London’s Tatty and Devine Shop in 2009. His signature Lips headpiece is currently on show in the ‘Power Of The Making’ V&A museum which will could him more press and lead to more sales.
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Charlie le Mindu for Love AW12
Charlie Le Mindu won the ON/OFF Visionary award for his SS11 Catwalk Collection at London Fashion Week. The Award helps promote young upcoming designers showcasing their talent. The winner of the award is selected by a specialist fashion industry team, they receive support in creating their first international catwalk show on the On|Off stage in Paris and mentoring sessions with members of the industry. Designers send in their application details including label name, contact details, website and studio addresses, featured press and publications and the previous awards, if any, they have received. The winner also gets to create their first ever international catwalk show on the ON OFF Paris Schedule. Due to winning the ON OFF award Le Mindu was able to showcase his SS12 collection in Paris, in the new ON/OFF venue. This will have helped gain international press and gain new buyers in Paris and France. He has an agency in France; Tipsy Paris, as well as Number nine in London. Having won the On/OFF award and showcase in Paris this will of introduced him to more buyers their for he now stocks in Paris France.
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On|Off showcased Gareth Pugh’s 2006 collection. This show was supported by Newgen’s sponsorship program and was attended by many big names in the fashion. His following 3 seasons were also sponsored by NEWGEN and were showed on schedule at the British Fashion Council show. In 2008, Pugh showed a standalone catwalk show before making his debut at Paris Fashion Week. Since then Pugh has showcased both films and his collections at many different fashion weeks. Pugh’s work is very avant- garde, similarly to Charlie Le Mindu. Le Mindu should look to Pugh for inspiration on how to push his brand further, as they are both experimental and have a niche clientele, however Pugh is doing much better than Le Mindu and is much more widely known.
Both Images from SS12 Collection h//showstudio.com/project/gareth_pugh
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31 Year old accessories designer Fred Butler, graduated from Brighton University studied Fashion design and now lives in London. Started of as a prop designer. Mostly known for her burst of colour accessories Butler also designs hats. Her work has been published in publications such as i-D and Vogue. Mostly known for her burst of colour accessories Butler also designs hats. Her work has been published in publications such as i-D and Vogue. She also has worked with POP stars in the music industry such as Little Boots, Beth Ditto, La Roux, Lady Gaga, Niki Minaj and so on. Collaborated with Charlie XCX musician for her SS12 Fashion show sponsored by Red Bull Catwalk who gave Fred the opportunity to create a bespoke track inspired by her inspirations and themes of her then collection. Strengths She has a special relationship with music, has many musician clients Weakness Could do more collaborations with other people in the industry Similarities POP star cliental. differences Bigger POP star cliental. learn from them Uses twitter and tweets about the brand a lot inspirations/ behind scenes ect. price - quality - Good range -Women Social Media -Unique fun interactive Website intriguing, Twitter, Facebook updated a lot.
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harlie Le Mindu’s current website is rather limited compaired to his competitors such as Fred Butler, who has a more unique engaging website. Le Mindu’s website includes the video for his latest collection and a limited look, as well as previous editorials, and collaberations. However because the video is the first thing seen on the website it is his current SS13 Fashion Film this draws the attention away from the clothing and hats. The website in general has a great aesthetic, however does not have much information on it. It has links to his blog - Le Mag, the look book and links to his pr in the UK and France, sales, salon and editorial contacts emails. There is no real insight to who he is and what he does, where as, by looking at his competitors websites there is a lot he can improve on. Charlie Le mindu already has a ray of Fashion films behind him already including his AW11 which won an award for its creativity at the Berlin Film Awards. He has also collaborated with Larry Tee, Dj and nightlife legend to create a humorous video where Le mindu created wigs for dogs inspired by celebrities, which was a big hit on youtube.
Perhaps Le Mindu could think about re-vamping his website and look to engage more with online media tools, Fred Butler is an excellent example of keeping up with exciting new ways to engage her fans through her visually interesting website. As technology is moving fast, upcoming designers such as Le Mindu need to take more time with social media. His collections are sold at a high enough price, to engage more
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with his fans. Online media is an important part of a brand to expand on fans, and engage with new audiences. It is important for emerging designers such as Charlie to promote his new collaberations and interact more with social networking as well. Le Mindu does have a twitter , Facebook, and Instgram, but he needs to interact a little more. The creative art direction of competitor Fred Butler ‘s website creates a fresh fun interesting apeal to her audience.
This is Charlie Le Mindu’s ‘Mag’ on his online website. It isn’t easy to navogate, however his layout has it’s own spin. WW
Accessories designer Fred Butler, has a very visul bright and colourful interactive website. This is something Le Mindu could learn from, as a competitor. Butler also dabbles in Art Direction as you can see above. As an upcoming designer it is always good to branch out into different directions.
Pictures taken from www.FredButler.com
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Piers Atkinson’s website has a catalogue of previous collections and a film archive, biography and viewers can purchase his items online too. It is a much more effective website as it saves the viewer having to search the internet to find information about him. Every thing you need is in one place, ordered and well presented. Charlie Le Mindu updates his blog himself which is a really nice personal touch, he does not write much but includes images and some annotation.
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Pier’s Attkinson regulaly updates his twitter page which can be seen on the front page of his website. This is a good way to keep up with what the designers currently upto. His website is easy to navigate round. Unlike Charlie Le Mindu Piers items can be bought online, via his website.
Pier’s International stock list
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Charlie le Mindu was previously represented by Blow PR however has recently moved to Ella Dror. The designer has received a huge amount of press and recognition since he first blossomed in 2009. His work has been featured in magazines such as Vision, Untitled, Viva, Grey magazine and more commercial magazines such as Vogue Italia and ID. He is featured both as main articles for example, a six page spread in Untitled Magazine, including editorial shoots and a personal interview. This type of press would help spread the word of his brand and let people know more about it and get to know him as a designer.. Other magazine features are where his work has been used as part of a styled shoot, or has been custom made for a celebrity or occasion. Lady Gaga is a huge fan of Le Mindu’s work and therefore is always spotted wearing it. Le Mindu is also known for working with the hair of Lana Del Rey, Peaches and many other big name celebrities. He was included in department store Selfridges event “Bright Young Things� which sought out the most creative and exciting young designers in the uk and gave them window space on oxford street to communicate the essence of their work. A pop up shop was set up inside the store and online to enable shoppers to buy into the brands collection.
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Charlie Le mindu stated in an interview “My perfect client would be an older woman with huge, pink, blown-out hair�, he also said his perfect customer would be pop star Cher. From looking deeply into his collections it is clear that he designs for high profile people, for example celebrities such as Lady Gaga. His ranges are all extremely different and very expensive. The customer tends to be a wealthy woman of high status. The everyday woman would not purchase a wig or hat from this brand as they are more for editorial fashion shoots and interesting styling, catwalks or the eccentric people of this world. The customer seems to be fairly young, outrageous dresser. Charlie Le Mindu uses hair extensions from HairDreams who have been collaborating since he started his label. Other companies he has worked with are Fudge, and wonderful hair extensions. This offers stability and reliability to the customer who knows that the hair will always be of the same high quality as the last item they had.
Charlie Le Mindu AW12 at Ella Dror PR Press Day photo by Maria Papadimitriou
List of international stockists.
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Charlie Le Mindu AW12 at Ella Dror PR Press Day photo by Maria Papadimitriou
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harlie Le Mindu needs to concentrate on expanding his brand strategy by focusing on future ideas. His market needs to be taken further as he currently only stocks internationally; Antwerp Belgium, IT Hong Kong, Collete Paris, RA Paris, and London. Online stock is currently only sold on ‘Show Studios’ online. Analysing the current high end market statistics show, according to WGSN News Team, (www. WGSN/News.com) “ The market value for the global luxury goods sector is expected to exceed $302 billion.. With the US Luxury goods market the biggest value of $77bn” With such a high luxury market value in the US this is where Le Mindu should perhaps look to be stocking in the future. Especially with the likes of Lady Gaga, and Peaches his former clients living there. However also according to WGSN News team ‘ China is the star luxury goods market with sales of the global head of luxury research constantly out performing the global market’ China’s market is to set to overtake the UK, Italy, and Japan, making China the biggest luxury market in the world after the US.” However researching into the so- called BRIC countries (China, USA, India, Russia), even though the four Countries are to be the largest retail markets by 2022, according to new research. Found on WGSN.com. Charlie Le Mindu would benefit from narrowing down his future markets and instead branch out to mass emerging markets such as China and Russia. But perhaps branch out into smaller Asian Countires such as Japan.
. Due to Le Mindu’s ascetic the brand could be highly successful in Japan. The Lolita style Fashion trend which is big in Japan would tie in well with Le Mindu’s Avant garde hair creations. There is deffinately a future market there. Le Mindu could perhaps consider using more friendly ethical choices when it comes to buying his material for future shows. This would save on shipping costs, and help save the environment. An article in this weeks (Nov 24ths) Drappers magazine brings up the topic of ‘Fluctuarting freight rates are forcing a rethink of how buisnesses ship products from the Far East to Europe. This could effect future buisness’ like Le Mindu.
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“China’ the star of luxury goods Market”
Collaboration’s for the future. MacMakeup is a huge, worldwide make up brand with an amazing reputation. This would widen his product range as well as widening his audience. Make up is also more affordable than the wigs he currently sells, which means a younger market can buy into his brand. The collaboration could be released before London Fashion Week held in September to create hype and a buzz about Le Mindu before showing his collection. It would drive more customers to his brand and his show, getting his name better known
Celebrity singer Peaches could be the face of the collaboration campaign as she has an innovative, unique style and has also been known to wear Le Mindu’s garments. By having celebrity endorsement, it would drive more attention to the collaboration, creating an online and press presence. More over than using a celebrity such as Gaga, who is a well known client of his, However she is over used with to many brands as it is. Le Mindu could also keep in with hair products and do smaller collaberations for future hair trends for example, the hype
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with the current ‘dip dye’ trend. Le Mindu could consider bringing out a product that engages with this trend. Focusing on hair and beuty could perhaps widen his market to girls. However making products an affordable price for a younger market. Le Mindu could also concider binging out a range of affordable wiggs for a younger market. Current websites such as ASOS and Topshop are selling a range of colourful wiggs, this trend would suit the ‘Lolita’ girls, more known with the Japanise market.
Charlie Le Mindu Has collaberated in the past with Minxnails used in his spring SS11 collection. As well as doing a collaberation with Under ground hit creeper shoes.
Charlie Le Mindu has collaborated with a vast amount of people in the industry and continues to do so here is only a handful of what he has done so far. he has recently collaborated with House OF Lush ‘Hunger 3’ photo shoot. Working with stylist Kim Howells, Photographer Rankin, Charlie was the Hair stylist for the shoot.Charlie has styled hair for a ray of music video Collaborations with bands in many countries from French Electronic singer ‘s video Une Enfant’ to Die Antwood’s latest video ‘Fatty Boom Boom’, he did costume and hair for them. As well as creating wigs for band Mega Mstery’s latest video. Fashion films he has created costume, styled hair or created wigs for are ‘bizarre Theatre’ Film, brand Voids SS13 new collection. Another type of film he styled hair for is for Arran Cois Sagat’s Gay Porn film. Films been just one side of his Collaborations he has also been in many exertions in Europe starting with an exhibition in Athens Vasillies Zidianaka Greece, to Jean Charles ‘The Tyranny of Beauty Exhibition’ at gallery Banks Paris, as well as been exhibited in the V&A London. He also ended in SS12 Catwalk show in Paris France with Spanish Actress Rossy De Palma, also known as Jean Paul Gaultier’s past muse, and face of many luxury Campaigns. He has also collaborated with Machine A pop up gallery in Soho, who also have an Online Store.
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Le Mindu for Aqua
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AW2012 Collection
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http://fredbutlerstyle.blogspot. co.uk/
“Charlie Le Mindu has risen to promience with his signature Haute Coiffure style and avant-gardeapproach to the synergy of hair and fashion.” Harrod’s. Charlie Le Mindu’s salon is in Harrods, prices are as shown below.
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http://fredbutlerstyle.blogspot.co.uk/ http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/marksimonson/ proxima-nova/ http://www.charlielemindu.com/ http://www. youtube.com/ http://www.urbanretreat.co.uk/en/Harrods/ Hair/Charlie_Le_Mindu_Haute_Coiffure.aspx watch?v=0wa54YvnpEs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wa54YvnpEs https://twitter.com/charlielemindu\ http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_ profile.aspx?DesignerID=1921
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By
Yasmin Redfern & Rosie Stephens