BUYING

AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

E. Warrington
ASSIGNMENT 3
By Aidan Banta & Sixtine Pusterle de Cidrac

BUSINESS REPORT

SUMMARY

1. The Retailer: Dover Street Market

2. The Designer: Adriano Goldschmied

3. The Capsule collection

4. Market Research

5. AGxDSM: Development and Supply Chain

a. Initial ideas and Development
b. Sustainability
c. Final Range Plan

6. Pricing

7. Marketing
a. Custumer Analysis
b. 4 Ps

8. Conclusion

Part 1: The Retailer

The retailer we chose for this project was Dover Street Market. With

locations in London, New York, Japan, and China, the store founded by Comme des
Garcons head designer Rei Kawakubo is known for its funky shopping experience,
for carrying some of fashions most avant garde high end designers, and for their
minimalistic store set up. Ultimately, all of these aspects come together to create a
unique shopping experience that is unlike any other.

Although the both of us enjoy shopping at Dover Street Market, unfortunately

we can never find anything that fits our style enough that makes the stores high
price points justified. Moreover, upon talking to some of our friends and colleagues,
we found that they feel the same way. So, we decided to create a capsule collection
for men featuring a well-known designer in the industry that would be new and
unexpected for Dover Street Market. Furthermore, we wanted to make our products
desirable, fun, and edgy while still being practical, somewhat classic, and wearable
by a vast majority of consumers.

By creating this capsule collection, the hope for Dover Street Market is to

increase their customer base by bringing in a designer who is known and accepted
by the majority of consumers without sacrificing the reputation and the brand
image of both parties.

Part 2: The Designer

The designer in which we chose to accomplish these efforts for Dover Street

Market is Adriano Goldschmied. Recognised worldwide for denim of impeccable

style and quality, we theorise that the brands involvement with Dover Street would
be the perfect fit to expand their customer base, while benefitting Adriano
Goldschmied as well. Although Adriano has a vast amount of stockists vying for his
product in the United Kingdom (Anthropologie, Harrods, and other small
boutiques,) the brand has not experienced as much publicity and sales compared to
the United States or Italy.

Due to this, we felt that a collaboration with Adriano Goldschmied and Dover

Street Market would be mutually beneficial in expanding customer bases for both
parties. Dover Street Market would benefit from having a designer who is well
known in the United States, and those involved with Adriano Goldschmied would be
able to expand their customer base in places like the United Kingdom and Asia. The
collaboration will consist of popular qualities from both retailers, such as high
quality selvedge denim and practical yet trendy pieces like from Dover Streets line
PLAY by Comme des Garcons. In the end, we hope to establish a financially
successful business relationship between the two brands while increasing notoriety
for both as well.

Part 3: The Capsule Collection

Since we have established how and why both brands would benefit from a

partnership, next involves the evaluation of the product that will be made and sold
in Dover Street Market. The theme for our collection is called Urbanised
Loungewear, which is a collection for men, and features tee shirts, jumpers, track
pants, and vests, each piece being equipped with denim accents. Through this
collection, the idea of putting premium denim and loungewear together was to blur
the lines between the two.

Anyone who is somewhat fashion conscious knows that loungewear has

made its way into mass acceptance by consumers as fashionable apparel especially
in the male market. Dozens of designers have created their own versions or even
separate lines expressing how they view fashionable loungewear, and now it is our
turn. By incorporating premium denim in our soft and comfy cotton loungewear, we
are giving consumers the best of both worlds. Our product uses the highest quality
selvedge denim from Adriano Goldschmied as well as the highest quality cotton
knitwear materials from those who brought PLAY by Comme des Garcons to the
market. The selvedge denim mixed with high quality knitted cottons will prove to
sustain multiple seasons through their high quality and classic yet edgy look.

Part 4: Market Research

Next, in order to make this product unique, successful, and sellable, we need
to look at a variety of different aspects of consumer culture in order to put our right
foot forward. This involves a SWOT analysis for Dover Street Market, and a PESTEL
analysis for consumer culture that would directly and or indirectly affect our
capsule collection.
SWOT ANALYSIS Dover Street Market

PESTEL Analysis

Part 5: AGxDSM: Development and Supply Chain

When initially brainstorming about the collection, we agreed that it needed

three things; it needed to be something new, it needed to be something that would

sell, and it needed to be sustainable. To start off, it goes without question that the
collection needed to be fresh and new to the public because we want Dover Street
Market to have something that is not available everywhere, which will increase sales
and generate buzz for the store and Adriano Goldschmied. Additionally, we needed a
product that was sellable, which means that it needed to be fun, practical, wearable,
and desirable so that it sells fast and continuously. Finally, we needed something
that was sustainable. Now, in this instance, we are talking about the classic
definition of sustainability in fashion. This means that our clothes are made of
quality materials that have a classic style that will last a customer multiple years,
thus not creating the need for them to buy more of the same thing.

As far as production and our supply chain, we decided to have everything

manufactured in Japan, while sourcing the majority of the materials from there as
well. In fact, the only materials sourced from another country is the denim used,
which is sourced by Adriano Goldschmied in Italy. Since Dover Street Market is
owned and operated by those who own and operate Comme des Garcons, the same
company that works with Comme des Garcons will manufacture the collection. This
will ensure that the collection will be made properly and ethically with the right
people manufacturing it.

*Attached below are examples of our supply chain and our range plan for the
collection.

Part 6: Pricing

When costing our garments, we had to consider an array of aspects in order

to come up with a profitable and sellable price. Considering the fact that our capsule
collection is made in Japan, and of impeccable quality, it is obvious that our price
point will be high. Also, if we want it to fit in well at Dover Street Market, we need to
price in a way that makes our collection blend in with the other product in terms of
price. Considering cost of production and profit margins, the prices below are what
have been configured for the collection at Dover Street Markets London location
(including manufacturing, wholesale, and retail prices.)

Tee R= 98.50 W= 40 M= 20

Vest R= 49.50 W= 20 M= 8.50

Sweater - R= 250 W= 100 M= 40

Pants R= 200 W= 80 M= 40

Shorts R= 150 W= 60 M= 30

Part 7: Marketing

As far as marketing goes, our marketing strategy begins with exploring the

life of our target customer, Pete.

Once we have analysed Pete, the next step is to develop a marketing plan that

will have him in mind, as he is the person in which we believe will be most attracted
to our product. The beginning stages of our marketing plan involved the four Ps of
marketing (product, place, price, and promotion) and how those relate to our brand
and to Pete. The development of the four Ps involves everything that gets the
product into Petes hands, such as the way I which we are promoting it, how we are
pricing it, and anything else involved in driving the buying process.

*The final depiction of our four Ps in our marketing plan are shown below

Price : 50-250

Product : AGxDSM

Place : Dover Street Market

Promotion

Social Media
Both brand websites
Window display in DSM
Dover Street is telling customers about it
Launch party

Information on collection why it is worth buying, history of both brands

Information on launch party

Discount code if RSVP

Pre shop collection

Discount code

Prizes

Cocktails

Celebrity involvement

Live music


Advertising in press (on behalf of AG)

Virtual try on machine for jeans in store for customer interactive purposes
(like Levis)

*Potential virtual try on machine from a company called StyleMe

*Example of a Dover Street Market window display

Part 8: Conclusion

In conclusion, our Adriano Goldschmied capsule collection for Dover Street

Market is intended to maximize profit as well as expanding demographics for both.

By picking an unlikely luxury denim brand to be featured in DSM, we are inviting
new consumers into the store from both ends and expanding into different markets
in the world due to the fact that we are selling online as well as in store.
Moreover, our range plan shows that the overall aesthetic of our collection
reflects something that would sell well in DSM, and would also appeal to loyal
customers of Adriano Goldschmied. Our collection works because it is trendy,
fashion focused, and involves two relevant and successful brands that have a
reputation for being some of the best in their field of work. Our collection is
sustainable due to the high quality of fabrics and design elements used, and the
prices calculated not only reflect their quality, but also are accessible to loyal
customers of both DSM and Adriano Goldschmied.