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MOODBOARDS/ VISUAL RESEARCH.-

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RESEARCH.-

2022. FMP. BOAT COAT.TECH PACK.EXCEL SKILLS.-

TECHNICAL SKETCHES

Scuba hooded coat

Garment to be fully linned

Facings on sleeve cuff, bottom hem, neck collar and around

Arm band nozzles and boat handles to be glued directly onto the coat

Table of contents

Introduction:

In this report, I’m going to research in-depth Maison Valentino focusing on their marketing strategies, their brand identity and their competitors in the industry.

This information will be backed up with data from Mintel, Edited and other sources. It will offer new strategies and a personal view of what I can bring to the company.

Market Analysis:

The Valentino brand focuses on Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter collections for men and women.

This is complemented by their accessories and fragrances to support the income of the brand.

They also do collaborations with other brands as well as more accessible (economically) goods.

The luxury market has dropped significantly by 18% in 2020.

It is expected for sales to recover slowly throughout 2021 but it is not forecasted to return to its original revenue until 2022. (Mintel,2020)

The focus of the market since the COVID-19 pandemic started has shifted from traditional Brick-and-Mortar stores to online shopping.

Due to the pandemic,in-store sales have been damaged and this has caused the closure of several shops.

Since the main activities are happening online at the moment, brands are pushing their websites and virtual shopping experiences to a higher level.

It is known that online sales in 2019 for the luxury market online-only counted 7% but it is known to increase by 2020. (Mintel, 2020)

The fashion and leather industries have the biggest contribution towards the luxury market ( 47% in 2019) but since COVID-19, they have been severely damaged.

Although it will remain the largest sector to contribute to this specific market, This will allow brands to provide the consumer ‘luxury at home’ taking into consideration partnerships with loungewear brands.

Companies will have to be aware of the brand they collaborate with since it can lower the value of the brand easily. (Mintel, 2020)

Figure 3: Global luxury market by type of product, Mintel 2019

Com pa ny Ana ly sis

The Maison Valentino was founded by Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti in 1960.

Former creative director Valentino passed on the legacy to Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2016.

The Maison is on the leading charts of the luxury fashion market.

Company profile:

They can be positioned here due to their Haute Couture collections as well as their Prêt-à-Porter womenswear and menswear lines.

This is supported by their accessories, leather products, eyewear, fragrances and a licensed partnership with L’Oréal. (Valentino website,2021)

The Valentino House has made clear the importance of humanitarian awareness. Garavani and Giammetti founded in the nineties the ‘L.I.F.E.’ association to help children with AIDS.

They have also committed to several sustainability changes within the company such as the elimination of hazardous chemicals and have a zero deforestation policy when working with leather and packaging.

The materials used for the Haute Couture collections are always of the highest quality possible, hand-made and crafted from their providers in Rome.

They also claim that the rest of the collections are made with the best quality materials and care for the making of each piece resembling an Haute Couture work ethic on every collection.

Designing is their main key point to stay active in the cosmopolitan market.

Not only the products but the stores, website, installations creating a unique Valentino experience giving extra care to the consumer and attention to detail.

Their values have doubled from 2009-2013 and will continue to grow based on the success of the brand.

Key products and USP:

The brand has made several design choices to make its mark in the industry.

They are well known for their hand-bags and shoe collections. The house Unique selling point is based on innovative design and collaborations with unique renewed artists.

They have also managed to stay true to certain values since the start of the company as the use of the well-known Valentino Red.

The incorporation of the fragrances line has given them a wider range of costumers making the brand name available to a bigger audience.

Company Financial data:

In Figure 6 we can appreciate the different prices of Valentino products in different countries (start, end and average).

The country that brings the most income towards the Company is Italy followed by Japan and in third-place China.

Valentino is known for its Haute Couture collections.

Unfortunately, they do not bring money to the company since its a very expensive collection to make with one-of-a-kind outfits making it impossible to be accessible to the masses. The Pret-a-porter lines cost between 5,205.00-315,00 pounds having a wider price range than the rest of the products that the brand offers.

This is followed by Valentino Garavani, the accessories line including bags, shoes and eyewear among others. In the last place, with the lowest price range and also the lowest overall prices, they have the Valentino Red.

Clothes are way more affordable and therefore are made more accessible for everyone with prices that go from 30.00-1,465.00 pounds.

The Company Financial data does not issue under any reports due to the company having a private owner.

The Valentino; Zoom Company Information provided by the database Lexis states that the revenue of the company is valued in USD 21.000.000 (Lexis,2021)

The clothing and footwear sector continues to account for the highest number of companies in the Top 100, but they have the smallest average company size of just US$1.2 billion. (Deloitte,2020)

Figure 6: Price architecture of the Valentino products across the globe. (Edited,2021)

The focus of their marketing campaigns has always been the use of celebrities to associate the brand name to a certain aesthetic depending on the celebrity.

Their latest campaign features Zendaya to approach a younger audience and give a more contemporary luxurious but yet affordable image to the brand.

They also use social media as a marketing strategy. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are their main channels of communication.

Promotional activity and data :

They are often featured in magazines and editorials as well.

Since they are positioned in the luxury market, they can do catwalk shows which help to endorse the name of the house.

The investment in online campaigns and print editorials that are shown in magazines, billboards, tv… is quite redundant and plays a big role in their marketing campaign.

Concept stores and the website makes the shopping experience unique therefore it’s attractive to the consumer.

The continuous collaborations with different artists allow them to be discovered by a new audience and therefore achieve a bigger market for their products.

Valentino’s online presence has been improved over the past few years.

In 2018 the collaborated with Alibaba to expose several platform combinations like a 3D online virtual store on Alibaba’s online luxury shopping channel, Tmall Luxury Pavillion.

This platform resembles Valentino’s physical Candystud Factory pop-up store in Beijing. (Deloitte, 2020)

Con sumer Ana lysis:

Target consumer groups:

Valentino is one of the top companies in the luxury goods market, it has always had a target audience of Millenials and Boomers especially.

Furthermore, in the past years, they have been opened to target a younger audience like Gen Z to stay in an upbeat and modern image status.

They target people with a medium to high income, with an appreciation for art, fashion and Haute Couture that dress for pleasure and not a necessity.

Most of their stores are located in the urban fashion capitals throughout the world. This is an indicator of a consumer with a medium to advance fashion knowledge following trends and styles.

The luxury market has been affected by the pandemic. The average consumer is not comfortable with buying online products as much as in-store. Nevertheless, with the pandemic being active, consumers are still stuck at home and they are not willing to spend a big amount of money on clothes that they can not wear outside. (Warc,2020)

The biggest knock-on effects that the pandemic has had on an average luxury market consumer have been devastating for the industry. Cautious spending, health front of mind, agile innovation and digitalisation of the shopping experience have been the most shocking and hard to put a solution to. (Warc ,2020)

Figure 9: Consumers who have bought luxury goods in the last 18 months, May/June 2016, May/June 2017, May/June 2018, June 2019 and May 2020. (Mintel,2020)

4.0 Competitor Analysis: 4.1

Identify key competitors:

The luxury industry is a very competitive market with several different brands and not an abundant number of consumers.

In these competitors, we see brands like Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Cloe, Dior…

Mainly, the key competitors of Maison Valentino are those brands that can create Haute Couture collections and that have to make most of their profit in their accessories or Pret-a-porter lines.

]Figure 10: Product Matrix between the competitors (Edited, 2021)

Price/Quality matrix:

Price Architecture:

The media price that Valentino charges for a product is 881.47 Pounds. The rest of the competitors are quite similar to the Italian Company. Even though Valentino has less amount of products, it still manages to charge the same amount as its competitors that are also in other markets like Dior in jewellery.

Figure

5.0 Self-evaluation:

By executing this report

I have learned how a company is built and what to take under consideration when exposing a brand to the public. I have been able to research data on different databases such as Mintel, Edited, Deloitte among others giving me a basic knowledge of how a brand is structured and where its positioned on its designated market.

When looking at financial data, I have been able to understand the different numbers that companies need to provide and how fashion brands are structured depending on the owners. It has helped me to improve my knowledge of how a certain market works, looking into the competitors and the different strategies that each brand uses. Gathering information about the different marketing campaigns and analysing them has made me link concepts that I have learned over the years and put them together in a report form. By looking at the consumer analysis, I have realized the importance of brand identity and how to improve and evolve over the years without losing the fashion house essence.

I have also improved in my layouts on Indesign which will be very helpful when going into Year 3 as well as my research skills. Contrasting the different information that’s on the cloud to build an in-depth analysis of a company has been interesting and has made me realize everything that has to be done when putting a company together in the fashion industry. Being able to write something other than an essay has helped me understand the different tones when writing and how to edit the information that needs to be in the report.

Creating a collection for a brand has also made me take into consideration its Unique Selling Point, colour range, pattern cutting and in my case the type of collection. I decided to do an Haute Couture collection for the design brief and that has helped me improve my fabric knowledge, thinking about what fabrics are approved and which ones are not. I have had a lot of fun creating this type of collection and realizing how big the fashion industry is and how much freedom the designer can have when in the right company. By doing the marketing report, I have been able to understand the design process from the brands perspective and what the consumers are asking for. With the Haute Couture collections, the brand can show the development of their identity and how they are adapting to the changes that society has every day.

Overall, I have enjoyed this project and I have gained very useful skills for my personal development. Understanding a brand from within is essential when designing for them.

Conclusion:

Maison Valentino is a company that is positioned in the luxury goods market. Its key competitors are other classical fashion houses like Chanel, Burberry, Prada…

Their target audience is mainly women from ages 16-45, they have been very persistent with their latest campaigns to bring the attention of the younger audience.

Within the market, they are positioned in a good balance between the prices and the quality that they offer.

With the new creative director, the brand has managed to step out of the thin, tall and elegant mostly ‘untouchable’ woman aesthetic and has brought a more inclusive modern look to its collections and products and therefore attracting a wider range of costumers.

7.0 List of Illustrations:

Fig.1 Valentino A/W 19 Haute Couture fashion illustrations by Julian Scarry. At: https://www.showstudio.com/collections/autumn-winter-2019-haute-couture/valentino/fas hion-illustration.

Fig 2. Global luxury goods market size, reported and total retail sales and forecasts (excluding VAT), 2015-25 (prepared on 13th August 2020)[Chart] At: https://reports-min tel-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/display/1036547/?fromSearch=%3Ffreetext%3Dluxury%2520fashion&highlight#atom10

Fig 3. Global luxury market by type of product (2019) [Chart] At: https://reports-mintel-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/display/1036567/?fromSearch=%3Ffreetext%3Dluxury% 2520fashion&highlight#hit1

Fig 4. Valentino (no date). Available at: https://www.valentino.com/en-us/experience/valentino-garavani-roman-stud (Accessed: 16 March 2021).

Fig 5. A NEW BIRKENSTOCK & VALENTINO COLLAB (2020). Available at: https://mvcmagazine.com/en/a-new-birkenstock-valentino-collab/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021).

Fig 6. EDITED (no date). Available at: https://app.edited.com/#market/dashboard/426435/484356?analysis_view=architecture&in_stock=true&is_second_hand=false&list_ style=image&order_by=found_desc&retailers=valentino-ch%7Cvalentino-cn%7Cvalentino-hk%7Cvalentino-it%7Cvalentino-jp%7Cvalentino-uk%7Cvalentino-us&vertical=a pparel&view=analysis (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Fig 7. Howarth, D. (2014) David Chipperfield’s Valentino flagship store set to open in New York. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/24/david-chipperfield-valenti no-flagship-store-new-york/ (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Fig 8. Valentino (@maisonvalentino) • Fotos y vídeos de Instagram (no date). Available at: https://www.instagram.com/maisonvalentino/ (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Fig 9. Consumers who have bought luxury goods in the last 18 months, May/June 2016, May/June 2017, May/June 2018, June 2019 and May 2020. [Chart] At: https://re ports-mintel-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/display/996180/?fromSearch=%3Ffreetext%3Dhaute%2520couture&highlight#atom8

view=analysis (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Fig 11. EDITED (no date).

at: https://app.edited.com/#market/dashboard/426435/new?analysis_view=architecture&brands=burberry%7Cdior%7Cgucci%7Cmi chael-kors%7Cprada%7Cvalentino&in_stock=true&is_second_hand=false&list_style=image&order_by=found_desc&product_searches=887%7C890%7C893%7C896% 7C899%7C902%7C905%7C914%7C917%7C956%7C962%7C992%7C995%7C1010%7C1025%7C1028%7C1031%7C1034%7C1055%7C1072&vertical=apparel&view=analy sis (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Fig 12. [Valentino campaign] (no date).

at: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/592364157224774981/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021).

Bibliography:

Deloitte (2018) Global Powers of Luxury Goods. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/gx-cb-global-powers-of-luxury-goods. html (Accessed: 17 March 2021).

EDITED (no date a). Available at: https://app.edited.com/#market/dashboard/426435/484356?analysis_view=architecture&in_stock=true&is_second_hand=false&list_ style=image&order_by=found_desc&retailers=valentino-ch%7Cvalentino-cn%7Cvalentino-hk%7Cvalentino-it%7Cvalentino-jp%7Cvalentino-uk%7Cvalentino-us&vertical=a pparel&view=analysis (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

EDITED (no date b). Available at: https://app.edited.com/#market/dashboard/426435/new?analysis_view=architecture&brands=burberry%7Cdior%7Cgucci%7Cmi chael-kors%7Cprada%7Cvalentino&in_stock=true&is_second_hand=false&list_style=image&order_by=found_desc&product_searches=887%7C890%7C893%7C896% 7C899%7C902%7C905%7C914%7C917%7C956%7C962%7C992%7C995%7C1010%7C1025%7C1028%7C1031%7C1034%7C1055%7C1072&vertical=apparel&view=a nalysis (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Lexis (no date) Valentino; Zoom Company Information. Available at: https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=91abc7b0-e8c1-4ddb-8836-3a82b7810 0e8&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fcompany-financial%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5PYD-RV60-D725-11R8-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=345230&pd teaserkey=sr3&pditab=allpods&ecomp=7bq2k&earg=sr3&prid=ba7841c8-d566-421f-a87b-2498d5f0d610 (Accessed: 21 March 2021).

Mintel (2020a) Designer Fashion - UK - December 2019: The Consumer – What You Need to Know. Available at: https://reports.mintel.com/display/996196/?fromSear ch=%3Ffreetext%3Dhaute%2520couture&highlight (Accessed: 14 March 2021).

Mintel (2020b) Luxury Goods Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - International - August 2020: Tod’s Group. Available at: https://reports.mintel.com/display/1037263/?from Search=%3Ffreetext%3Dluxury%2520fashion&highlight (Accessed: 5 March 2021).

Valentino Online Boutique: the Maison Valentino official site (no date). Available at: https://www.valentino.com/en-us (Accessed: 9 March 2021).