Shopping the Stores

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to earn $150 by participating in a focus group about mascara. I love talking about beauty products. My friend "N" and I can talk about it nonstop for hours. So to get paid for it is extra nice.

It also gave me an opportunity to shop the stores. When I was at FIT and told my none fashion design friends that for my homework assignment I had to go shopping at Barney's they were all like, "where do I sign up for your class". I have to admit it is much more fun than my NYU days where homework would be spending a day in the library on the whatzumacallit database looking up industry info. so I can write a 10 page report on nothing.

Anyway, I started at Takashimaya and walked my way down Fifth Avenue. I love just going into the Takashimaya store. I always have to stop at their floral design shop at the entrance and just absorb all the beauty. This time I actually went up stairs and looked at their merchandise.

I saw a lot of innovative design as expected, but the target customer is definitely 55+ and above. All the merchandise was well designed and well constructed. Not my target customer but still nice to look at.

I also stopped at Saks Fifth Avenue where I spend the bulk of my time looking at everything from the designer collection on 2nd Floor to the evening dresses on 8th Floor. My main purpose this trip was to get a better feel of my competitor's price points, although to have Badgley Mishka and Vera Wang as my competitor is a honor I hope to live up to.

I was actually surprised at how much lower the price points were. I would say retail was $300 to $500 for a cocktail dress and $500 to $1,000 for a long evening gown. The styles were relatively simple within this price range. For the more complicated designs shown on 2nd and 3rd floor, the price point was of course much higher, but that's not where I want to compete. I was going to price my line higher, but after this trip I'll have to make sure my manufacturing can sustain the cost of production.

I think if I am able to deliver an innovative and fresh design within these price points, I will be able to be successful.

My lesson here also is to get use to bringing my camera with me everywhere now that I've started blogging. A blog is pretty boring without pictures right?