36/ R E V I E W wwb-online.co
2017
The year in review
From the lowest lows to the highest highs, a year in the fashion industry is full of extremes and never boring. WWB asked brands, retailers and agents to sum up their highlights and challenges of the last 12 months, and look ahead to 2018.
DERYANE TADD, OWNER, THE DRESSING ROOM, ST ALBANS What has been your highlight of 2017 in terms of your business? 2017 has been a really strong year for The Dressing Room as a whole. We have seen the business go from strength to strength since we expanded the store space last year. It was a big risk in terms of added overheads and initial financial outlay, but it has really paid off and our customers have responded incredibly well to the new layout and increased collections. Online sales have really ramped up in the past 12 months, with a lot of the styling initiatives we put in place at the beginning of the year really making a difference to the online shopping experience. We are also seeing more and more online customers making a 3 or 4-hour journey to visit the store now after loving the online shopping experience and social media presence so much. What has proved a particular challenge, and how have you/are you overcoming this? As the business has expanded, we are always looking for motivated and dynamic people to join our team and recruitment in retail is always the biggest challenge. We currently have a fantastic team of 16, but we are always looking for more and it takes quite a long time to find the right people who are not afraid of hard work! What have been the biggest developments that have affected your business? There have been a lot of additional costs added to small businesses this year; our rent and rates have increased, this in addition to the workplace pension scheme and St Albans became a business improvement district this year, which is positive, but all adds to the overheads. What is your outlook for 2018? I’m an eternal optimist and am always looking to improve what we do at The Dressing Room to ensure we stay relevant and exciting for our customers. I think 2018 will be difficult as there is a lot of uncertainty in the country at present. However, as long as we provide fantastic products in an exciting shopping environment with a great team, then we should be able to continue to grow and develop as a business. What are your plans for your business in 2018? There is always plenty in the pipeline, but ultimately I will be focusing on growing the business as a multi-channel indie through events, influencer outreach and social media.
JOHN SNARE, FOUNDER, THOUGHT What has been your highlight of 2017 in terms of your business? 2017 has been a great year. Our main highlight was our rebrand from Braintree Clothing to Thought, which has been so well received by all of our customers. We have also opened some high-profile accounts such as John Lewis and Fenwick (Newcastle and Tunbridge Wells), as well as growing our independent boutique business. What has proved a particular challenge, and how have you/are you overcoming this? We are growing at a very fast rate and managing the growing pains that this growth brings us, which is both challenging and rewarding. We have taken on more people, are investing in new systems and are always looking to keep ahead of what is happening in the industry. What have been the biggest developments that have affected your business? The poor dollar rate has had a strong impact on our business as all our products are sourced from the Far East. In addition, we are also very aware of the difficult retail environment for our independents, so for our s/s 18 collection, we changed our mark-up and were able to pass on an increased margin to our customers, at a loss to us. We think of all of our customers as partnerships and always want to work together with the longer term in mind. What is your outlook for 2018? I feel optimistic about 2018, we’ve had a strong 2017 and we see no reason not to take this forward into next year. We have had a very encouraging reaction to our s/s 18 collection and can’t wait to showcase a/w 18 in the upcoming trade fairs around the UK and Europe. Of course, Brexit is a worry for all, but we try not to be distracted from what we do best – creating affordable, contemporary fashion made wholly from natural, organic and sustainable fibres. What are your plans for your business in 2018? In 2018 we will re-launch our B2B website (which has been a major project in 2017) and we will continue to investigate pushing the brand further internationally.