What a great concept!  When I think of clothing that’s made to measure I think of men’s tailored suits or women’s couture gowns.  I don’t typically think about a functional, beautiful item of clothing for my own personal use.  I do now, however. 

Last year, I was wandering around the West Hollywood/3^rd Street area and came across a beautiful boutique.  I walked in and was taken with all of the beautiful fabrics and designs hanging from the racks.  While there were many dresses, sweaters and tops to choose from, each item hung neatly from a rack and nothing was cramped or crowded.  The sales floor was open and spacious and the accessories were carefully chosen and displayed in tasteful, functional cases.  If you’ve ever studied retail merchandising, you’ll understand why I was so blown away by this store.  If not, let me summarize…the art of retailing is more like a science.  You need to know how best to display your products to their full advantage.  Your customers need to walk into your store and flow easily and naturally through the entire space.  They should be able to see your products in a logical way without having to dig through racks or piles of clothing.  And best of all, they need to be able to see themselves in your products and, if you’re selling accessories as well, how best to accessorize their outfits. 

I wandered through the store and the sales clerk let me take my time before asking me if I had ever been to this store before.  When I replied “No,” she said something like “let me explain our concept to you…” “OK,” I thought…”what’s your concept?”  She informed me that the tops and dresses were available in a variety of fabrics, so if I found one I liked but they didn’t have my size or the fabric I wanted, one could be made for me within a short period.  If you read this blog, you know me… I’m a fan of anyone who is producing locally, so of course I was excited by the idea.  Now I just had to find a dress or two.  I found several, tried them on and found one I really liked.  It was a bit too long, but the sales clerk mentioned that they would have it altered for me.  Great customer service, I thought, but actually the store is called “Masse Made to Measure” so it is actually part of their concept.  Needless to say, I bought the dress.

Here’s the thing, every time I’ve been out shopping for a dress, I always come back to Melissa Masse and Masse Made to Measure.  Why?  Because I’m not someone who can buy a dress off the rack and expect it to fit me perfectly.  I’m petite and find dresses in the Petite section don’t always fit the way they should and dresses in the Regular section are always too long.  Now I get a dress that’s custom fit to my body.  Better yet, I might find a silhouette I like but in a print or color that’s not my taste.  Now I can pick the fabric or color I want.  Yes, I know I’m going to pay a bit more, but I’m more than happy to do so.  I’m supporting a local business that is manufacturing locally and employing skilled workers in the garment industry.  It’s a win-win prospect, if you ask me.

The last time I was in the store, Melissa Masse was there as well.  I was happy to meet her and have a chance to find out more about her and how she came up with the concept for her store.  “When my friends complained that they couldn’t find anything in the stores that they liked, or more importantly, anything that fit them properly, I realized that they couldn’t be the only customers who felt that way.” I couldn’t agree with her more.  

Trying to figure out your next steps in the apparel industry?  Check out our upcoming seminars or come by during Textile Week September 27 – 29 for free seminars, networking and more.  Fashion Business, Inc. is located at the California Market Center 110 East 9^th Street, Suite C786, Los Angeles, CA 90079

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

A big thanks to everyone who attended FBI’s Meet the Resource Members event on July 28,2010.  If you’ve ever read this blog before, then you know I’m a HUGE fan of networking.  Really! And FBI networking events are a great opportunity for those in the fashion industry, or those who want to get into the fashion industry, to make connections and meet a lot of talented, knowledgeable people. 

Due to traffic, I didn’t arrive until after 6:00 p.m. so I missed a number of people I would have enjoyed meeting.  However, since this was a Meet the Resource Members event, it was the perfect chance to meet new resources and find out about their products and services.  Each resource had a table with their marketing materials and a display of their products or services.  This gave our attendees the chance to meet with each resource one on one, or just mingle with other members and catch up on industry news. 

Frances, Erin and Egle were hard at work making the evening a great success.  I, selfishly, had a chance to catch up with Resource Members Staci Riordan of Fox Rothschild, LLc - author of one of my favorite blogs, ”Fashion Law” as well as new resource members Nouvolution and Visual 2000 - both are ERP software for the apparel industry and both are great additions to FBI’s Resources. 

I also had a chance to catch up with the hardest working woman in the apparel industry - and that’s saying a lot, because I’d like to think of myself as pretty hard working, but I have no idea when Arlene Battishill ever sleeps.  Don’t believe me?  Check out her Twitter feed for LA Scooter Girls.  Her Go Go Gear and Scooter Girls products have gone from 0 - 60 in the blink of an eye, and it just keeps growing.  When she asked me if I had a few hours to come over and help pick orders, I don’t think she was joking.  OK, Arlene, let me know what day to come by and I’ll pick, pack and ship for you.  Seriously. 

Another one of our members, Korena Ellis, needs to be the next 0 - 60 success story from FBI.  She has a unique idea, with great designs and an inspirational story.  Her curent line consists of jewelry, made from lost wax casting, which gives each one of her pieces a hand made look and feel and sets it apart from many other brands.  Her designs are empowerment pieces and are meant to create personal inspiration in the wearer while also creating a fashion statement.   The designs are unique and will translate very well from jewelry to apparel - screen printed tees are a natural next step, but the symbols work well as prints, on hats, as logos and more. 

What Korena needs now is a business partner, someone who can help take her ideas and products to the next level.  In any situation like this, it requires an investment of time, energy, effort and probably some money.  If you, or someone you know, is looking for the opportunity to get involved with a growing brand and has the business acumen to merchandise and market a brand like this, get in touch with me or contact Korena directly. 

I actually connected Korena with Arlene in the hopes that Arlene had a few words of wisdom to get Korena to the next level.  Then again, I know what Arlene went through to get to the next level and I don’t know if taking that same path will lead to the success of Scooter Girls.  So network, if you’re out there and listening, do you have any ideas for Korena?  I know we’d all be interested.

Don’t forget…come by the Sourcing at MAGIC seminars August 16 - 19. FBI will be presenting 4 seminars and you’ll want to attend them all! 

Jill Mazur is an apparel industry consultant with Fashion Business, Inc.  email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

The other day I had an interesting conversation with the owner of an apparel company.  The subject of budgets and plans came up.  Or, maybe I should say, I brought up the subject of budgets and plans and asked him how he was planning and budgeting.  His response was “Well, I kind of come up with my budget for the year and forget about it until next year when I have to plan it all over again.”  Talk about lost opportunities!  So I asked him what he used to create a sales plan.  His response was “Well, I kind of have a number in my head and that’s what I use.”  Then I asked him if he communicates this sales plan to his sales and merchandising team.  His response was “Not really.  The design and merchandising team builds the line and the sales team sells it.”  Oh, dear. 

I’ve known this guy for a long time and he does relatively well in his market space.  His sales volume is between 12 – 15 million, so he’s not really in the Big Leagues, but he has a great opportunity here to get much greater control and understanding of his business than I think he realizes.  No business is too small to take advantage of this relatively simple function called “Planning.”

Step one:  Start with a budget.  Be realistic about what you need for your operating costs, salaries, overhead, insurances, rent, materials, etc.  If you have never built a budget like this, take a few hours to meet with your accountant – What!?!?  No Accountant?!?!?  Seriously?  O.K. start the process by working with an accountant to build a financial plan.  You really need this, more than I can tell you in a blog.  In order to truly understand your business all the way down to the gross margin level, you need a financial plan.  You need to know your expenses in order to understand how to cost your products and how to determine your true gross margin after all is said and done. 

Step two:  Build a financial plan based on what you think your company will be able to sell and be realistic!  If you’re a 5 million dollar company this year, don’t expect to hit 20 million next year.  Analyze this year’s sales versus last year’s sales.  Have you added customers or lost customers?  Have you added market share or lost market share?  Now think about what next year’s realistic goal should be.  Are you looking to add product categories?  Will that open new doors for you?  Or are you expecting to do about the same as last year.  Neither of these is the wrong answer, by the way,  you just need to know how to plan.

Step three:  Work with your sales team to create a sales plan.  How can they plan to meet your sales goals?  What do they need to do?  Continue business as usual? Open 10 new accounts each at a dollar volume of 20,000 per account?  Let them know what you’d LIKE to see and have them come back to you with what they see.  Oh, and perhaps you can tie some of their compensation to meeting the sales goals you both establish?  This way, they’re just as invested in the business as you are.

Step four:  Work with the design and merchandising team to develop a merchandising plan that meets the needs of the sales team.  If sales thinks they can sell the heck out of dresses but pants and skirts are trending down and your designers are only designing pants and skirts, maybe you need to stop and review everything before moving forward.  The goal of a merchandising plan is to give the design team an understanding of what types of product, categories and price points they should be building to meet the needs of the customers. 

By tying the merchandising plan to the sales plan and the sales plan to the financial plan, you start to see how the business works toward a common goal – profitability.  Everyone likes to be profitable, no?  Now, when it comes to planning for the next year, you’ll know what your expenses are, you’ll know what your gross margins are and you can start thinking about what the next steps for your business should be.  Raises, anyone?  New office space?  Better computer systems?  At least now you’ll know if you can afford any or all of that. 

Looking for accounting or financial planning help?  Check out the FBI’s list of consultants and financial services. 

With friends and family in from out of town this past week, it’s been a bit challenging to keep up on the weekly blog.  My apologies for being a few days late.  Along with the friends and family have been many opportunities for dinner table conversations on a wide range of topics - in my family, baseball is chief among them.  However, this is a fashion blog, not a sports blog, so I’ll steer clear of the Dodgers and their chances for World Series greatness this year.  (Go Dodgers!) 

An interesting discussion came up last night.  One which never fails to irk me, as a fashion industry professional - counterfeit products.   I’m not talking about “knockoffs” or products “inspired by” a designer original.  I’m talking about actual trademark-infringing, counterfeit products.  Check out these blogs: Fashion Law by Staci Riordan and Fashionista’s Adventures in Copyright on the “knockoff” debate for further discussion. 

I generally like to enjoy my holiday meals without delving into controversial topics - you know, politics, religion, health care reform, etc.  I had even decided to politely hold my tongue when the topic of buying a “knockoff purse” came up.  All I did was make a correction to the statement - “That’s not a knockoff purse, it’s a counterfeit purse.”  And the floodgates opened!  If you have to ask me what the difference is, I’m going to give you an earful.  Or, a pageful, as evidenced by this blog.  If the product you purchased has the same brand name label as the original from which is was copied, that’s a counterfeit product.  Even if the product you purchased has a slightly altered name -”Prado” versus “Prada”- but the exact same design details, it can be considered counterfeit. 

This quote from Tim Trainer, president of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition in Washington, D.C.  says it all “Counterfeiters trade off the backs of legitimate brands. They let the real brands pay for the marketing, advertising, develop the designs, and then they profit off of it.” Think about all of the time, money, effort and energy it takes to develop a new style for your brand-name label.  Think about how excited you are when your style takes off and is seen in magazines and on the arms or legs of a celebrity.  Now think about how upset you’d be to realize your style has been copied by one or more counterfeiters and is being sold through back door retailers and illegal channels.  What happens to your sales?  Your profits? What money do you use to develop your next great design?  Many people don’t realize when they’re buying a fake product they’re putting legitimate designers out of business.  They’re looking for a bargain; they want the latest and greatest styles but don’t want to have to pay retail prices. 

Even worse, in my opinion, is the fact that many counterfeit products can actually cause damage or injury to the person buying them.  Maybe your new “Prado” purse isn’t going to be the source of many injuries, but has it been tested for lead content?  Was formaldehyde used in the manufacturing process?  What about those “Channel” sunglasses you just bought?  Do you think the manufacturer thoughtfully used UV filtering or polarized lenses?  I sincerely doubt it.  What about those new “Reebook” trainers you took for a run?  Do you really think they’re using the same technology and support as a real pair of Reeboks?  There’s no way to hold anyone accountable for counterfeit products. 

How about this for a bit of advice?  If you don’t buy counterfeit products, the market for these goods will start to dry up.  Legitimate designers will be able to sell their products to consumers willing to pay legitimate prices and maybe we’ll all start making a profit? If you have questions regarding copyrights or trademarks, contact one our legal experts at Fashion Business, Inc. for legal advice.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology expert working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Wow!  It’s been a busy, busy week and it’s only Wednesday (as I write this).  FBI is in the middle of a week full of seminars and networking events for Textile Week and, if that wasn’t enough, we’re doing a fashion show with the California Market Center in conjunction with the Focus Apparel and Accessory show on Saturday, March 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the CMC penthouse.   

I walked the Textile show twice, once on Monday and then again on Tuesday.  One of my clients is looking to source some fabrics and trims and I was happy to help her out.  I know, I’m a sucker for fabrics…last GlobalTex show I was blabbering on about Modal© and how soft and drapey it is.  Now I’ll blabber on about Tencel© and how wonderfully absorbent it is. 

I had the good fortune to chat with textile industry expert Walter Meck of Fessler, U. S. A. He took the time to show me some of the latest fabrications and discussed some of the different properties of the fibers they’re using.  I’m a huge fan of their products, especially after having visited their facilities in Orwigsburg, PA.  You know how some people like to know where their food comes from?  I like to know where my clothes come from - watching fibers spin into yarns, yarns knit into fabrics and fabrics turned into garments truly makes me smile.

I’ve also had the opportunity to sit through some of the seminars this week and had a great time meeting some new FBI members at the networking event Monday evening.  Our series of seminars during Textile Week are free for members and everyone is welcome to attend.   I’m looking forward to attending Frances Harder and Dana Fried’s Apparel Business Workshop on Thursday, March 18^th.  I know a lot about the business of fashion, but I’m always eager to learn more and I know I’ll pick up a ton of useful information tomorrow.  This workshop is not a part of the Textile Week seminars, so there is a fee, but it’s one of the best investments you’ll ever make if you want to be successful in the apparel industry. 

Speaking of being successful in the apparel industry, I came in at the tail end of Staci Riordan’s “Legal Strategies for a Profitable Fashion Business” seminar yesterday and was reminded of a number of important things.  Check out her blog to find out about the legal side of the apparel industry. The detail that stuck with me was how important it is for businesses to build a great team of industry experts to rely upon.  If you’re dealing with a copyright infringement on one of your designs or international trademark issues with your apparel brand, seek the counsel of an apparel industry lawyer.  If you need capital for your business, find a factor who deals specifically with the apparel industry and understands your retail environment.  Want to know more about how to make your apparel business profitable?  Talk to the experts.  I wanted to know more about fabrics, so I went to one of my experts. 

The FBI has so many resources available for products, services and consulting, it never ceases to amaze me.  Membership starts at $250 per year and with the membership, you get one hour of free consulting with one of our experts along with a whole host of benefits including free seminars, discounts on many services, great networking opportunities and the chance to participate in our fashion shows at a greatly discounted rate.  Hey, if I wasn’t already a member, I’d have joined a long time ago.  Just because I’m considered an industry expert doesn’t mean I won’t jump at the chance to learn from another industry expert.  How do you think we become experts in the first place?

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology expert working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org