Announcing the launch of our new competition to win an online boutique and mentoring.

We are super pleased to announce the launch of a new competition for one lucky fashion brand or designer-maker to win an all expenses paid online boutique and receive one to one mentoring from boutique ecommerce platform, SupaDupa.me.

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM

Continuing our commitment to helping fashion brands find new routes to market and increase sales, we have organised the competition to coincide with our  FREE networking talk and live demonstration How to set up an online boutique in 15 minutes taking  place in London on 5th September 2012.

The competition is open to fashion brands and designer-makers that book a place and attend the talk, which is part of the Fashion Angel’s regular programme of inspiring networking events for creatives.  

Entries will be judged by Fashion Angel Director, Alison Lewy and SupaDupa Co-Founder, Guy Schragger.  The winner will be announced at the event on 5th September 2012.

Competition information

The prize

• 6 months all expenses paid Caviar online boutique on the SupaDupa platform

• 1-2-1 business support session with the experts at SupaDupa

Deadline for entries: Tuesday 28th August 2012 

Finalist notified:  Thursday 5th September  2012

Entrants Criteria

• Open to those attending the Fashion Angel networking talk How to set up an online boutique in 15 minutes 

• To enter the award, entrants must complete the online application form , submit  two product images and in 100 words explain why their business would benefit from winning the competition. 

BOOK NOW - Spaces a strictly limited and on a first come first serve basis

Event information

How to set up an online boutique in 15 minutes

DATE: 5th September, 6.30 - 8.30pm 

VENUE: 

Club Workspace, Clerkenwell Workshops 27/31 Clerkenwell Close, London, EC1R 0AT

More information is  on our events page

Selling Vintage Online Talk

Last night we hosted our FREE Selling Vintage Online talk and networking evening (thanks to sponsorship from ASOS Marketplace) to a sell out crowd of vintage collectors.

James & Hanna(Mint Vintage) Alison(Fashion Angel) Victoria (Jarvis & Janis) Samantha (Bardot in Blue)

We were  lucky to have a fantastic panel of vintage sellers – James Wright and Hanna Mansson from Mint Vintage, Victoria Wright from Jarvis & Janis, and Samantha Bennett from Bardot in Blue. Samantha’s day job is working for ASOS Markeplace, giving her a unique perspective, and we also had Katie Oldham, Senior Marketplace Manager, on hand making a valuable contribution to the evening.

Below are our panellists top tips for building a successful online vintage business:-

• Running a business is very time consuming and costly  so it’s important to put a business plan together and decide at the beginning what you want from the business – is it a hobby/sideline or a business that you expect to earning a decent income from

• When sourcing product, be aware of trends – anything ‘on trend’ will make more money.

• It’s easier to find gems and product outside London in places that are less vintage savvy. There are great vintage wholesalers in Europe and North America however it’s important to work out the travel/shipping/insurance costs to see if you can sell the items at a high enough profit margin to cover these costs – usually this is only viable if you are buying in quantity.

• The best selling vintage items are dresses followed by bags; however sales of menswear are also steadily growing.

• Unanimously the most important tip from all the panel was to make sure you have good images – good photography means you’ll sell more, and at a higher price. If you’re serious about your business the costs of professional photography is a worthwhile investment.

• Treat each sale as a gift to a friend – beautiful packaging and a hand-made thank you card will help you build customer loyalty and your brand.

• Customer service – respond to questions quickly. There will always be difficult customers but its best to kill them with kindness rather than engage in confrontation. This way you will get positive feedback and word of mouth recommendation – by far the best (and cheapest) form of marketing.

• Your keywords should form the first three words of your description to help you come high in Google search rankings for anyone searching for your product category– the description language should be down to earth and quite formal.

• Provide as much information about the garments including measurements and detailed description – this will reduce your returns.

• Use social media sites to drive traffic and sales to your site – competitions are a good way to do this.

After the talk ended everyone stayed on to network and pick up on some of the issues discussed in the talk.

By Alison Lewy

Follow @FashionAngel1

Fazane's first business mentoring session with Fashion Angel

Alison Lewy, Fazane Malik, Joseph Malik

Both myself and my business partner Joseph were excited and honoured to attend our much needed first session with Fashion Angel and ASOS Marketplace this week!

We both work full-time still and as a result have had very little time to concentrate on the business side of things….any time we do have we spend on the creative side as it’s much more fun!!

We have known for a while now that we needed help with the business side of things and actually had Fashion Angel down as ‘MUST’ to contact…….so we were super excited when we won the competition!!

Joseph & Fazane Malik

'fazane' womenswear was launched back in June 2011 with a small collection that we have now added to and re-launched for 2012 as we didn't have the time to really put enough effort in the first time round. 

Our aim is to provide 'exclusive classic womenswear with a fashion twist....pieces that will fit easily into any working woman's wardrobe but still stand out in a crowd. Our USP is that we only make 50 pieces of each style (with each one signed and numbered) so once that exclusive 50 pieces have gone....that's it!! We try and use luxury fabrics where possible but keep our prices affordable for all (retail £45-£249) .

We arrived at ASOS head-office for our first session this week and met Alison Lewy our mentor from Fashion Angel and Katie Oldham from ASOS Marketplace and had a look round the building…….we want to work there! So many stylish people and such a great atmosphere!! It was inspiring just looking at people…..and the clothes well it was like being in heaven!!  

Joseph & Fazane Malik ,Katie Oldham & Alison Lewy

We sat down with Alison for approx 3 hours and discussed our concerns about the business, things we needed to do, things Alison suggested we do etc and really looked over the current state of our business in detail.

It was so great to get an outside opinion and be given targets and actions to do before our next session......our stress levels reduced just from those few hours!!

We are really looking forward to the next session and are actually really enjoying completing our list of tasks! We would totally recommend these sessions to anyone else looking to do them.....

By Fazane Malik

Creative Director - Fazane Womenswear

www.fazanemalik.co.uk

For more information about how you can get help from the Fashion Angel mentors go to 

our Business Mentoring page.

Follow @FashionAngel1

Fashion Angel announces Fazane as winner of business mentoring competition

We are  thrilled to announce that the winner of our business mentoring competition, sponsored by ASOS Marketplace, is women’s wear brand FAZANE founded by designer Fazane Malik. Fazane has won a place on our business start up mentoring programme. During the six months programme the Fashion Angel team will work with Fazane to develop the strategic and operational direction of the business to secure its growth and sustainability.

Fazane

The entries were judged by Fashion Angel Director, Alison Lewy and Katie Oldham, ASOS’s Senior Marketplace Manager

Alison Lewy, Fashion Angel’s Director welcomes this opportunity to support an aspiring design business in this way: “We were overwhelmed with applications which show the high demand for industry led mentoring support to assist fashion enterprises. It was a difficult task to choose a winner with so many strong entries. We selected Fazane as we loved the brand aesthetic and felt with the right support the business had potential for growth. Fazane will now have the opportunity to work with a team of high-level, industry professionals from Fashion Angel to ensure the on-going development and success of her business, as well as exposure for the Fazane   brand.”

James Hart, E Commerce Director of ASOS, said: “We are excited to announce Fazane as the winning recipient of the mentoring programme with Fashion Angel.  Their entry stood out because of both their eagerness to learn, but also their clear ideas as to the way they wanted to develop their business and expand their label.  Fazine’s commitment to her collection on ASOS Marketplace has given her  the strong foundations on which the Fashion Angel mentoring program can build. We can’t wait to see her business grow.”

Fazane Malik, Fazane Founder and Creative Director, said: “I am so excited to have won this competition and grateful to ASOS marketplace for giving me the opportunity to be mentored by the Fashion Angel team and benefit from their industry expertise. I am looking forward to developing my business strategy and with their assistance, taking Fazane to the next level”

By Alison Lewy

Follow @FashionAngel1

Top tips for social media success from the ASOS Marketplace team.

Jo(ASOS), Alison (Fashion Angel) and Katie(ASOS)

Wow what an evening! Our Social Media Success talk with the ASOS Marketplace team was our biggest ever. Katie Oldham, Senior Marketplace Manager and Jo Wiggins, Marketplace Editor, were super interesting speakers.

The main focus of the discussion was how to use Social Media to drive online sales, whether selling products on your own website or on other marketplaces such as ASOS Marketplace.

Their top tips were:-

• Make sure you have really cool images – you don’t need to use a professional photographer but if you are taking the pictures yourself, use natural daylight. Look at other brands pages for inspiration and to see what works.

• If you are setting up a ‘boutique’ with marketplace, make the homepage look enticing. Make sure your logo is a large enough file size to be expandable and you use an image that show what you are selling.

• The aren't standard image requirements for the various social media platforms  - you’ll need to have a few versions of your logo, in various sizes to fit.

• Your product descriptions should contain words/phrases that are likely to be used by anyone searching for that type of product on Google - you want people to find you!

• Give clear product information including accurate sizing measurements – this will help you avoid returns.

• Use the blog and feed tools – the best ones will get picked up and highlighted.

• Listen to customer feedback – its useful information on what you are getting right or wrong.

• You’ll always get some negative comments from annoying people but resist the temptation to get shirty –  kill them with kindness!

• Think of everyone as a potential customer.

• Actively use Facebook to engage with your customer and promote brand awareness - competitions work well. Google+  may not seem useful yet but it will be in the future and having a presence will help with your search engine rankings

• Twitter shouldn’t be just about announcing the new products that you’ve uploaded for sale – use it to start a conversation and ask questions.

• If you haven’t already, set up a Pinterest account – it’s very quick and easy to use and a good way of gathering followers.

• Give your customers a positive buying experience – think about the packaging – make your customers feel special – even a handwritten thank you note put in with their order will make them remember you!  This will encourage brand loyalty and recommendation to their friends.

The event was also an opportunity to promote the competition for an ASOS Marketplace seller to win six months of Fashion Angel business mentoring . For more information email info@fashion-angel.co.uk or you can download the competition application form here.

By Alison Lewy

Fantastic response to launch of ASOS Marketplace competition

Wow - response to the competition launch has been amazing - over 35 applications received in the first hour!

One lucky ASOS Marketplace seller will win six months business mentoring with our team of industry experts.

Read what the press have been saying:-

Fashion Insight 

Womens Wear Buyer

Startups.co.uk

Diary Directory
Fashion United
Fashion Extras Online

Click here to download an application form. Deadline May 23rd 2012.

Can't wait to see who wins!

By Alison Lewy

Fashion Angel launches business mentoring competition sponsored by ASOS Marketplace

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our latest competition, this time sponsored by ASOS Marketplace.

One lucky ASOS Marketplace seller has the chance to win one of our business start up mentoring packages.

The competition will be promoted at our Social Media Success networking event on 2nd May 2012 and continues our commitment to nurturing and developing young creative talent to turn them into successful businesses.

James Hart, E-commerce Director at ASOS, said: “We are very excited to be working with Fashion Angel to provide an amazing mentoring opportunity for one deserving ASOS Marketplace seller. We are looking forward to seeing the results of their business development on the site over the next 6 months”

The competition is open to fashion and accessory designers and vintage collectors that currently sell their products on ASOS Marketplace and have been in business fewer than two years clothing and accessory sellers who have been trading for fewer than two years.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday May 30th 2012.

The Prize
Fashion Angel business start up mentoring package


The winner will win a place on the Fashion Angel six month business start up mentoring programme.
For new fashion industry entrepreneurs its a fantastic opportunity to access six months of one to one mentoring from industry professionals.

By the end of the programme the winner will have an infrastructure in place and have the confidence to build a successful and sustainable business. They will also benefit from the exposure their brand will be receiving as a result of winning the competition. For more information on the mentoring programme click here.

Deadline for Entries: Wednesday  23rd May 2012
Finalist Notified: Wednesday 30th May 2012

Entrance Criteria
Open to ASOS Marketplace sellers who have been trading for fewer than two years in the UK.

To enter the award, entrants must download the application form,or request one from
info@fashion-angel.co.uk and submit 5 product images.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the application form.
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Crowdfunding for fashion talk a big success

Ben Hamilton talking to Alison Lewy

Last night’s talk on crowdfunding with Ben Hamilton from PleaseFund.Us was a great success. Most of the audience weren't really aware of it, so he gave an overview of the concept and then gave us his tips on how to create a successful campaign.

This model of raising finance uses an online platform that allows you to ask friends, family and a wider community to pledge money to help you raise funding for a particular project for your business.

In return, depending on how much money is pledged, you offer a reward. You set a funding target and typically you would offer 5-6 levels that contributors can pledge eg £5, £10, £25, £50 and perhaps a tier for the whole amount required., in case you strike really lucky!  PleaseFund.Us has run campaigns ranging from £300 - £19,000.

Crowdfunding first started in the US around four years ago with a site called Kickstarter.com – they now run thousands of campaigns and raise millions every month. Currently there are around 35 UK based platforms including PleaseFund.Us which has over 40,000 followers.


Fashion labels Enya Patricia and Hatastic have run successful campaigns on the PleaseFund.Us site. Both brands wanted to raise funds to pay for stands at trade shows. As a result both labels had the opportunity to participant in something they wouldn’t have been able to finance without this external support.




Ben’s top tips for a successful campaign were:-

• Create an interesting video – if you already have a  video of a show/exhibition,  you can use that, otherwise you should make one that will excite potential contributors. It shouldn’t be more than 2-3 minutes long.
• Upload good product images that reflect your brand.
• Include information about you and your business – people like to know who they are investing in.
• Once you have set your funding target – be transparent and outline exactly what you want the money for and the associated costs.
• Set a few different tiers offering different rewards to widen the appeal.
• Think careful about the rewards you offer – remember your campaign may attract many small pledges so you have to be able to fulfil them rewards and if it costs you to much to produce them then it defeats the object.
• Actively promote your campaign – it requires effort as you need to spread the word to as many of your connections as possible, they won’t come to you!

This method of raising money is set to grow quickly in 2012. For designers, and small businesses in general, I believe this method offers a genuine alternative to the traditional bank loan/overdraft route which has become very difficult to access.

If you have raised finance through crowdfunding I'd love to hear about it so please let me know.

For more information on how you can get involved feel free to email ben@pleasefund.us or go to PleaseFund.Us.

Author Alison Lewy
Follow @FashionAngel1

Project 104 - our second mentoring session

Project 104's designer Sarah Reader and I  had our second mentoring session on a lovely sunny  March day. I was so excited to find out what Sarah had been up to since our last session and was blown away by how much she had managed to achieve in the four weeks.

From not having any formal plan in place, using the Fashion Angel Business Plan Guide, she has now started to put together her  business plan and strategy for going forward with the business, and we have started to develop her USP and key messages that will be used to reflect her brand across all communications.

Project 104 jackets are now on sale on the Etsy.com website and she is investigating other online retail opportunities, as well as the development of her own website which is now underway.

An opportunity has risen for Sarah to participate in a pop up shop in May – this is a great way for her to promote her brand and generate income. Sarah attended our ‘Setting up an Accessory Business’ workshop and as we are moving into Spring/Summer season, has wisely decided to design a Project 104  limited edition accessory range.

It’s tight, but we worked out a manageable schedule so she can make up  enough stock to sell at the pop up shop and then online.

Accessories serve as a good way of allowing consumers to buy in to your brand at an entry price point level, even if they can’t afford to buy from a main collection.

It’s been a tiring month, juggling all the work entailed with starting a new brand, especially when you are also working part time and on a tight budget, but Sarah has done tremendously well and we are all very impressed with her progress so far.

As ever, we  finished the  session with some clear actions and target completion dates before our next session at the end of April.

Author Alison Lewy Follow @FashionAngel1

Project 104 - Business Mentoring Session

Today was  the first mentoring session with our mentoring competition winner Sarah Reader founder of Project 104,  which was sponsored by Etsy.

Sarah wear Project 104 jacket 

photo Jay Mclaughlin

We had a really productive session, first discussing the current status of her business and outlining what the goals Sarah wants to achieve over the six month programme.  We defined  the key areas that are a priority  to focus on in preparation for the brand’s launch to market.

There are always so many things that need attention when starting up a fashion business,  but it is important to be realistic with what can be achieved with limited time and resources. It is far better to take things slowly and make sure you have everything in place, rather than rushing, making costly mistakes and putting yourself under pressure.

As with many designer, Sarah has so many ideas and plans for the brand  but has yet to formalise her strategy into a business plan  Many people think you only need a business plan if you are trying to raise money, and whilst this is certainly true, your business  needs one anyway as it is becomes your roadmap and guide, allowing you to keep on track with your goals and objectives.

Sarah in Project 104 

photo Elliot Rose

I  have given Sarah our Fashion Angel guide to writing a business plan – writing a plan isn’t  as onerous as it sounds and can be broken down into small chunks. It’s not something you can put together quickly – it usually takes a few weeks while you refine your business model and conduct the necessary research.Working on the plan makes you think about the direction of the business and the many aspects to running a successful business.

The plan will evolve as new opportunities and challenges arise. Sarah is at the perfect stage of her business journey start working on her plan and working with the Fashion Angel team will give her the tools and confidence to do this.

Aside from this we discussed how important it is for a brand to have a clear USP which will be the cornerstone for all brand development activity and be reflected in all sales/press and marketing channels. Over the next few sessions we will be defining the USP, looking at  production options, costings and profit models and researching routes to market.

We rounded off today’s session with some clear actions and target completion dates and will review  progress at our next meeting at the end of March.

I am really looking forward to working with Sarah over the next few months and watching her label develop and launch to market!!

By Alison Lewy
Follow @FashionAngel1