1. CREATING
AN
APPAREL
LINE
MARKET ANALYSIS & TARGET MARKET
Term 1 / Product Development & Design / Robin Hall

2. BRAND
OVERVIEW
• Karen Walker started in 1988 with
$80. She made one shirt and sold it
on consignment.
• She now shows at New York Fashion
Week and London Fashion Week and
is stocked in over 350 stores in cities
including New York, London, Paris,
Los Angeles, Sydney and Tokyo.
• There are five Karen Walker flagship
stores in New Zealand and one flag
ship store in Taipei.
• Karen Walker also has a Jewellery
line, Eyewear line, KW Paints and
also a diffusion line, Hi There, sold
exclusively through Myer.
• Karen has dressed Björk, Sienna
Miller, Jennifer Lopez, Claire Danes,
Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler.

3. MARKET
ANALYSIS
Identify and document long-term
and shor t-term social and
economic trends that are
relevant to your target market,
and explain how they influence
apparel purchasing behaviour.

4. SHORT
TERM
ECONOMIC
TRENDS
• Consumer confidence in Australia is still
low and there’s more saving and less
spending.
• Significant portion of fashion spending
is going offshore. Consumers want
access to a greater product range and
fashion-forward pieces. Australian
retailers need to not just serve the
Australian market but expand to new
markets via online sales.
• Zara opening in Australia with no
competition. The Australian market is
devoid of giants such as H&M and
Uniqlo, so Zara has its own niche. This
will effect retailers such as Sportsgirl
and Witchery.
• Strong Aussie dollar has halved the
number of international delegates to
RAFW (110 international buyers and
retailers down from 200 last year.)
Designers are counting on buyers from
Asia, Europe and the UK.

5. LONG-­‐TERM
ECONOMIC
TRENDS
• Continuing strong dollar (On the
other hand if our relationship is
not maintained China may start
to look elsewhere (to Africa and
Latin America) as a different
source for commodities.)
• Global Textile industry affected
by a price on carbon – will
garment manufacturing cost
grow?
• Consumers will expect more
from local brands and expect
them to live up to global brands
• Consumer confidence grows in
Australia more spending less
saving

6. SHORT
TERM
SOCIAL
TRENDS
• With the death of Osama bin
Laden and the eventual
withdrawal of the US from
Afghanistan, fashion will
gradually become less
somber and conservative and
more joyful and experimental.
• Brit-fever as William and Kate
marry and London hosts the
2012 Olympics.
• Boardwalk Empire hits Aussie
screens – think drop waists
and embellishment again.

7. LONG-­‐TERM
SOCIAL
TRENDS
• Consumers will increasingly (and
automatically) receive targeted ratings,
recommendations and reviews from
their social networks.
• Shopping will become increasingly
social, even when consumers and their
peers are not physically together
• The cult of the individual. As social
media usage increases so do blogs and
fashion galleries like The Sartorialist
and Lookbook.nu. People value unique
garments and being ‘individuals.’
• Custom-made becomes big. Bike by Me
allows you to choose the colour of every
part of your bicycle and Trikoton allows
you to buy clothes that reflect the sound
of your voice - a computer turns your
speech patterns into knitting patterns.
• A return to eco and natural fibres, and
hand-made techniques

8. MARKET
ANALYSIS
Identify and analyse three
competitors for your apparel line.
Describe their strengths and
weaknesses and how your
apparel line will create a
competitive advantage.

9. SHAKUHACHI
www.shakuhachi.net.au
STRENGTHS
• Collections are always
youthful and fun
• Great fabrics
• Physical stores in Sydney and
Bali
• Online shopping
WEAKNESSES
• Prices are cheaper on other
sites
• No social media marketing
• Online store technology quite
dated

10. PIXIE
MARKET
www.pixiemarket.com
STRENGTHS
• Multi-label so more variety
• Really strong social media
marketing
• Great fabrics
• $15 international shipping
• No physical store, so low
overheads
WEAKNESSES
• Mostly only available in sizes
under Aussie 10
• Not a ‘happy’ brand
• Small volumes, so quite
pricey

11. MODCLOTH
www.modcloth.com
STRENGTHS
• New products added daily
• Multi-label so more variety
• Sell homewares as well
• No physical store, so low
overheads
WEAKNESSES
• As they’ve grown bigger the
fabrics used have decreased in
quality
• Doesn’t appear very exclusive –
brand is a bit ‘cute’ – not great
for Aussie market
• No flat-rate international
shipping

12. MY
BRAND
STRENGTHS
• There aren’t a lot of Aussie
online stores doing eCommerce
well.
• Intend to market to a worldwide
audience, not just Australia.
• Have eCommerce, advertising
and Social Media marketing
background
• Inhouse fabric design
• Want to work with only natural
fibres (silk, cotton, linen,
leather, wool)
• Want to release two main and
12 mini-collections per year to
keep website fresh and current.

13. TARGET
MARKET
Describe the target market in
terms of geographic/
demographic/behavioural and
psychographic characteristics.

14. GEOGRAPHICS
• Live in Australia
• Live in big cities
• Live in urban areas
• Have seasonal weather

15. DEMOGRAPHICS
• 25-34 years old
• In a relationship
• Have a Bachelor’s and Post-
Grad degree
• Make less than $50,000
• They are professionals
• They work in an office

16. PSYCHOGRAPHICS
• Middle class
• They somewhat/
subconsciously care about
fashion trends
• They identify as ‘individuals’
and do not belong to a
fashion tribe/pack
• Identify as urban and edgy

17. BEHAVIORAL
• Spend under $100 a fortnight
on clothing
• They value how garments
flatter their bodies,
individuality/uniqueness of
garment and bargains
• Willing to pay more for
individuality/uniqueness of
garment, natural fabrics (silk,
linen, cotton, wool, leather)
and tailoring

18. THEIR
STYLE
• Eclectic and urban
• Rate Audrey Hepburn, Kate
Moss and Chloë Sevigny as
top style icons
• Prefer neutral colours (blacks,
greys, beiges, khakis) and
jewel colours (amethyst
purple, ruby red, emerald
green, sapphire blue)
• They like colour blocking and
classic prints (houndstooth,
spots, stripes)

19. THEIR
SHOPPING
HABITS
• They shop online often – at
least once a month
• Favourite online stores are
Etsy, Ebay + Urban Outfitters
• Most they’ve paid for a
garment (excluding shoes/
handbags) is $100-$300

20. FASHION
TRENDS
ANALYSIS
Identify and analyse current
fashion trends for your target
market. Describe the direction in
which these trends are headed,
drawing on principles of fashion
and theory of fashion.

21. OVERALL
TRENDS
• Nautical
• Preppy
• Military
• Stripes
• 70s Pucci/DVF influence (flares,
prints becoming brighter)
• Subtle 80s does 40s influence
• Textures (lace, leather, fur)
• Muted organic prints
COLOURS
• Magenta and red
• Dull plum/dark lavendar
• Neutrals (khaki, beige)
• Naturals (rust, ochres,
mustard)

22. KW’s
MAIN
COLLECTION
• Mod and 60s
• Feminine/romantic
• Vintage-feel
• Beach Boys beach party
KW’s
HI-­‐THERE
• Much more ‘on trend’
• Nautical/Sailor
• 1940s dresses
• Stripes
• Muted organic abstract prints

23. MILITARY
• On the decline (especially
with death of bin Laden). To
be replaced with androgynous
or dominatrix look.
NAUTICAL/PREPPY
• This look is classic and the
Australian market is
conservative so I think this is
here to stay. The shapes might
become more 40s-inspired.
STRIPES
• Stripes are on the decline (they
are in discount and low-end
stores).
A/W 2011/12 showed a lot of
spots and circles.

24. TEXTURE
• Here to stay – especially as
Winter is approaching. Leather,
fur, sequins, beading were in
much evidence at A/W 2011.
Everything – all at once!
MUTED
ORGANIC
PRINTS
On the decline – bold prints are
back. Dots, baroque, bright loud
floral, feathers and lions and
tigers and bears, oh my.
WHAT
DECADE
IS
IT
AGAIN?
• The state of the world has put
us all in a nostalgic mood. Take
your pick from the Sixties,
Seventies or the Forties.

25. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Trendwatching
May 2001 Update
www.trendwatching.com
The
Conversation
Zara’s Australian Entrance to Challenge Local Retailers
www.theconversation.edu.au
Fashion
Allure
Spring Summer 2011 Trend Must Haves
www.fashion-allure.com
The
Economist
The status seekers, Global stretch: When will Zara hit its limits?, I've got you labelled
www.economist.com
Vogue
A-Z Trend Report
www.vogue.com.au
Creative3
When you are in a creative world, inspiration can come from everywhere
www. creative3.com.au
Karen
Walker
www.karenwalker.com