Feature

AW 11/12 Regeneration Footwear Forecast

There's something about places like Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden that seems to nail contemporary style. Ahead of her forthcoming trend forecast at Fashion Exposed, co-located with Australian Shoe Fair, Eryn Behan explains why.

Eryn Behan is director of Ginger Trend Consulting, the exclusive agent for UK trend forecaster Mudpie and its online platform MPDClick, and a provider of fashion forecast services and consumer insight trends to the fashion and interior design industries throughout Australasia.

Don't miss Mudpie's Autumn/Winter 11/12 trend forecast on Sunday 29 August at 9.30am at Fashion Exposed, co-located with Australian Shoe Fair. To book, visit https://tickets.aec.net.au/default/shop

Influenced by contemporary, functional architecture, Regeneration's ethos is inspired by the innovation and originality integral to the Nordic States. Urban spaces, lifestyle and fashion are rejuvenated. Casual cool styling mixes clever classics with an eccentric twist. A clean, minimal geek chic persona ensues, exuding the now world famous Scandinavian cool.

The most commercial footwear trends going into store late summer for AW 11/12 include buckles and suede wedged heels. Include a modern twist on classic design by using contrasting textures like knitted trims. Key colours are workwear inspired think metropolitan greys and navy blue hues.

Enduring Legacy - Converse & the master's touch

The iconic status of Converse has been given added piquancy thanks to an inspiring new take on its premium label First Sting. Ahead of her forthcoming forecast at Fashion Exposed (taking place alongside Australian Shoe Fair and the Bags & Accessories Fair), Mudpie's Eryn Behan reports.

This season, the art of traditional Italian shoemaking has been re-mastered by Ryusaku Hiruma for the second collection of Converse's premium label, First String.

Based in Florence for over a decade, Hiruma has learnt from the true masters of shoe craftsmanship. Using the classic 'Jack Purcell' and 'One Star 1974' designs as inspiration, he has created a timeless interpretation which reiterates the legacy of the brand as well as its strongly held value of age-old skill. In either off-white or black, these precious creations are made totally by hand, down to every perforated detail and stitch.

The personality of Converse is further shown through a cut out star detail in the vintage tan leather laces, and, adding a premium factor, the leather soles are printed akin to rubber.

The collection's sense of extravagance and nostalgia, imbued with the value of restoring heirlooms, links it seamlessly with one of Mpdclick's upcoming trends for the spring/summer 2012 season.

Don't miss Mudpie's Autumn/Winter 11/12 trend forecast on Sunday 29 August at 9.30am at Fashion Exposed. To book, visit https://tickets.aec.net.au/default/shop

Bread and Butter Berlin - spotlight on men

The recent spring/summer 2011 edition of the renowned Bread & Butter fashion trade show comprised three long and exhilarating days packed full of the "best brands, best buyers and best business". Mudpie reports back with some hot men's footwear tips.

This hugely popular event, held in Berlin's historic Tempelhof airport, once again delivered on its grand promise, presenting a truly outstanding brand portfolio, some exciting new concepts and a vibrant party atmosphere; it is no wonder Bread & Butter is considered the trade event not to be missed.

Bread & Butter's success is by no means an accident; it can be largely attributed to the tremendous collaborative efforts of the brand and its selected exhibitors. Each season sees the two parties unite to plan the best spaces and ensure that BBB retains its status as the world's leading international fashion trade show.

Key Male Footwear Trends of the show:

Shape: Fashionable Oxford style shoes are a vital shape amongst footwear this season; opt for classic suede or even vibrant leather.

Colour: White painted boots have been acknowledged this season; cracked edges create that distressed, haphazard style.

Detail: Visible stitch detail on footwear accentuates the shape and reflects each individual style.

Italy's finest: Pitti Uomo

To sample the hottest and best men's footwear, Italy's Pitti Uomo fair is unsurpassed. Ginger Trend Consulting for Mudpie reports back from the stands.

Event: Pitti Uomo Trade Fair
Location: Florence, Italy
Show dates: 15th - 18th June 2010
Market: Menswear

Pitti Uomo is the leading trade fair for men's fashions, featuring some of the industry's most prestigious brands and latest trends, presenting high end goods with a cutting edge ethos. The event hosts an eclectic mix of exhibits, representing numerous contemporary styles and the contrasting worlds of formal and casual wear, presented in a systematic manner.

Pitti Uomo also strives to present a balanced view of innovation and elegance, bringing together products from leading luxury brands, as well as new and forward thinking labels.

Leather remains the fabric of choice for footwear, with polished leather ideal for accessories to be styled with business attire, while scuffed, weathered and tanned finishes add a rough luxe edge to casual looks.

Some of the most memorable footwear designers at Pitti Uomo were F.lli Giacometti Marmolada's distressed; weathered; worn; brown leather footwear, including H'katsukawa from Tokyo, whose use of scuffed, weathered and worn suede in light brown footwear was innovative, offering forward thinking versatility for casual wear.

Rocking the utility look

Clogs, up-styled sneakers and hard-edged buckles and straps will feature big in the upcoming spring summer season, in which utility is a key look. Ginger Trend Consulting for Mudpie reports.

Retail Tip - Merchandise your way to fame!

In a highly competitive market with consumers watching their wallets, it pays to make your in-store experience as enticing and engaging as possible. As Mark Davis reports, creative visual merchandising is the key to this. What's more, it needn't cost a lot of money, and if you're plugged in to online networking, it has the potential to turbo-charge your business.

An expert and trainer in all things retail, business coach Mark Davis divides his time between Australia and Europe, traversing the globe to share his retail, sales, business and Internet marketing insights.

Great displays are an art form. For many years they've been the domain of window dressers, merchandisers, company reps and strategic designers. But given the current move to cost cutting, retailers now have to improvise, using their imagination and the tools immediately available. For many this is less about having enough merchandise, or risers, or stands and racks... and more about creativity. In all likelihood it's also about leveraging the power of that little thing called social media.

A display that grabs customers' attention, be they old or new, and tempts them to take more interest in the rest of the store, is a powerful motivator to get them to stick around, hopefully for long enough to buy! Just as a good website encourages users to click and browse, the key merchandise displays in your store are there to grab attention and engage with customers.

In some cases, people will often make the journey to a destination just to see stand-out visual merchandising. Be it a mountain of teddy bears and tigers in the Disney Stores or an eye-catching seasonal display, a destination or feature merchandising ‘moment' can be the thing that makes your store a must-see in your town, city or suburb. Department stores' Christmas window displays are a good example of this, but there's no reason to limit creativity to Yuletide.

And take note; social media has given good visual merchandising an exponential power boost. People love to take photos and put themselves up on Facebook, whether it's next to a living Statue of Darth Vader on Hollywood Blvd, or beside the logo of the store they just shopped in. They hold up bags, they pose, and they promote your store for you. If someone poses with your stock items, in your store, with your staff, next to your renowned merchandising display, then posts the photo to Facebook, you get 100 to 1000 free advertising shots.

And it doesn't end there. Offer to be the photographer for them, take three or four snaps, from which they can create a mini-shopping album, and you get even more photos online. Ask them to add your business to Facebook, and you can tag your store as well!
Remember, people are going to take photos of things they like. Now you can let them promote you for free!

So, to re-cap:-
• Create a merchandise display people want to be photographed beside and tell their friends about.
• Encourage photos.
• Tag people in photos including your Facebook profile.
• Get creative. Have competitions, prizes and offers for all your Facebook friends.

Never forget that the fusion of visual merchandising and social media creates an unbeatable way of driving more business into your store. Good luck with designing that display!

www.coachmarkdavis.com

World Cup Fashion Fever

Sport has long been considered a fashion influence, but with a global ‘sporting moment' such as the World Cup afoot, the sports shoe category is really kicking goals, as Ginger Trend Consulting for Mudpie reports.

With the World Cup about to kick off in South Africa, it appears everyone is catching football fever. Even at Mpdclick HQ, we were all ears when we heard that the newly-designed team kits were about to be revealed. After all, as the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, it's important that the players look good!

German sportswear brand Puma are greatly involved in the 2010 World Cup. To celebrate the history and culture of South Africa, Puma have teamed up with African American artist Kehinde Wiley, commissioning him to design a clothing and footwear collection to coincide with the tournament.

Known for contemporary paintings that merge street style with traditional portraiture, Wiley is showing this collection around the world before concluding in South Africa just before play commences on 11 June.

Highlights of the collection include tribal inspired clashing print trainers with frayed edges, and colour blocking animal print hoodies.

From Google to glamour

Sydney based company Shoes of Prey has harnessed the power of the internet to create something wonderful - custom designed shoes. SFO talked to co-founder and director of fashion Jodie Fox (pictured) about an unusual but highly successful combustion of web smarts and delectable heels.

When was Shoes of Prey founded and what has its growth been like since?

Shoes of Prey went live (after a nine month gestation period!) in October 2009. Growth has exceeded our expectations with over a million unique visitors to the site and sales beyond our projections.

What part did founders' understanding of the World Wide Web play in launching shoes of prey?

It definitely played a big part. Both of the Michaels [Michael Fox - co-founder and director of operations and Mike Knapp - co-founder and director of technology]
had been working at Google and brought with them skills that have been absolutely integral to our business. Mike Knapp had been working as a software engineer and therefore had the skills to develop our shoe designer and website. Although he's very modest he is extremely talented - besides being able to do the production side of things, he is also able to create a website that operates clearly from a communications/design point of view. Michael Fox had been working in advertising sales and so brought with him an intimate understanding of Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing, which has been brilliant for underpinning all of our marketing and PR work. Generally speaking, both are well-versed in all things online.

How have you advertised or promoted the brand since launching?

We've really focussed our efforts on PR and social media. There's definitely value in more traditional advertising, but you may have seen that we were voted a finalist in the TechCrunch best boot-strapped start up in 2009, so as you can assume, we don't have the marketing budget that's needed for that kind of advertising.

What's new at Shoes of Prey at the moment?

We're looking to hire a full-time staff member in Australia, you can check out the job description at our website (below). We're also in the final stages of preparing for our launch in Japan, while 2010 is the year of cracking some vegan shoe options as well...!

Any shoe trend predictions you'd like to share?

Yes - this winter try out socks with high heels and make sure you own a pair of dark purple heels. Moving into summer, nude patent leather is essential. Marc Jacobs didn't show any heels in his last collection, suggesting that we're moving away from the teetering heights of the last 18 months - but I personally don't see this trend ending just yet! We're also keeping on with heavier shaped heels and thick straps, but the studs and heavy-duty, metallic footwear embellishments both seem to be finally falling off the radar - we're now exploring heavier heels and thick straps in a more feminine way.

www.shoesofprey.com

The Boys Are Back

Equestrian influences, fringing and sports styling were the key shoe trends from the AW 10/11 runways, as Ginger Trend Consulting for Mudpie reports.

Boots were the key trend seen on the men's global runways for the autumn winter 10/11 season. These were presented in a range of styles, including equestrian inspired riding boots shown by leading luxury designers Dsquared and Etro, whose use of panelling and leather versus fabric styles made for smart yet practical shapes.

Also drawing on the equestrian inspiration were brogue lace ups, with Salvatore Ferragamo's interpretation in deep burgundy a must-see.

Fringing prevailed as a key detail for smart shoes, while contrasting fabric and worn out effect trainers stood out in the sportswear sector. Check out Cipo & Baxx and Vivienne Westwood, Ginger Trend Consulting's number one picks for leading the sports footwear trends this season.

For a concise overview of the latest footwear trends and shapes visit www.mpdclick.com and register for a free trial.

'Generative Art' meets footwear

Fashion takes its influences from the zeitgeist of the world around it, and today's trend insight from Mpdclick examines an unusual collision of art and shoes.

"Generative art refers to any art practice where the artist uses a system, such as a set of natural language rules, a computer program, a machine, or other procedural invention, which is then set into motion with some degree of autonomy to, or resulting in a complex work of art" (Philip Galanter - generative artist.)

Mpdclick recently discovered the work of generative artist Keith Peters. Peters' work, constructed through the use of computer algorithms, creates thought provoking images with complex codes behind them.

Influenced by traditional generative artists such as Tristan Tzara and John Cage, Peters' latest collection of ‘art from code' features cube farms and urban city inspired images created with Action Script 3.0 code. When questioned about the source of his ideas, Peters revealed that he takes inspiration from the world around him, and a passion for the translation of formulae and information into art.

Focusing on the beauty in science, Peters' art overlaps with Mpdclick's autumn/winter 11/12 ‘Innovate' trend. This trend is influenced by refracted images, the use of science and maths in design, and linear and geometric shapes, all of which can be seen in Peters' art work. This style of art also reflects new discoveries explored within the ‘Innovate' trend, portraying a minimal, futuristic feel.

Examples of designers already adopting this trend in footwear can be seen in the featured images including Versace, Binetti and Jill Sander.

Retail Tip 6 - Don't succumb to fear... or discounts

With commentators predicting a grim half year ahead for retailers, it's all too easy to throw in the towel and join the discounting frenzy. Here, Mark Davis explains why retailers should avoid such strategies at all costs... and what they should consider instead.

Right now retail is in a danger zone; interest rates are going up, the mortgage is getting tighter, sales are dipping... and everyone seems set to enter panic zone. So if you're sitting at your computer attempting to fend off the jitters, I hope that this issue's double-edged tip helps.

You don't achieve anything by being the same as everybody else. And you really don't achieve anything by panic discounting.

The other day I found myself walking through Melbourne's Crown Casino. Brand new, six-figure fit-outs of designer labels lined the walkway; we're talking sleek chrome, gold, black and silver windows, cool lighting, music and opening hours with guaranteed traffic that the rest of us can only dream of. And what was emblazoned right in the middle of most windows? "10-70% off"!

Let's think about this for a second or two: Was this a discount factory outlet? No.
Was this an ageing strip mall having a closing down sale? No. Was this a brand nobody knew about that was launching with a teaser item to coax customers into the store? No.

This was desperate shock advertising that completely disregarded the surrounding target market. Most people visiting the casino sincerely believe they're in for a win, and will then be able to buy expensive clothes at full price tag that they can show off to their friends. Even those not in the mood for gambling are most likely lapping up the high-tone, luxurious atmosphere.

So when you put a discount as your lead marketing strategy, it's a downer. And in the end, it's all people see. What they don't see is your store.

Arguably it's different if you're in a discount shopping centre, but even there such strategies are questionable... When you watch shoppers in outlet stores, no discount is ever enough... most of them are just window shopping. It's a high traffic, low conversion method.

In tough economic times, what retailers need is to break free from the herd. And here's why: a hundred sales at $100 is $10,000; a hundred sales at 50% is $5000. That may cover your cost and overheads, but not your staff, and you can say goodbye to profit. Discounting 50% should only be ever used for those last10 pieces on a rack by the door; never for a big promotion, never for attracting people into store, and never in your mind as a salesperson. If your staff focus on discounts, you'll be in serious trouble within three months.

Here's how we get those 100 sales and turn them into $20,000.

1. Teach your staff to cross-sell to other items. Not just suggesting, but walking customers and their initial purchases to the racks, matching the pieces, giving them four or five things to try on and encouraging them to get into the clothes.

2. Teach your staff the rule of three. The rule of three says that if you have three items, people will choose the middle one nine times out of ten. In terms of price, this means - budget option, good, and luxury. It helps to find out the shopping budget first, usually from assessing the customer in terms of their existing clothing, accessories, and attitude.

3. Talk to customers! Some women shop on days they feel great, and will spend a lot, others shop to get out of the house. If you take the time to build a relationship, they'll return, bring their friends, and buy more every time.

4. Remember to tell your staff that it's not their decision when to stop selling. It's the customers' decision when to stop buying. I've had sales of $30 turn into $200 using this method. I've seen stores where a woman just wanted a piece of jewellery, and ended up buying the dress, shoes and bag to match.

Now, more than ever, the professional sales person earns their money. At Christmas they are just order takers; tough times are when they show why they were hired in the first place. Talking of which, the $5000 you were going to lose on discounting, you can now invest in training your staff to double their existing sales targets. Pay them commissions and bonuses, and you'll still be way ahead.

And please, as a favour to me, rip up those discount signs.

www.coachmarkdavis.com

Cut it out!

Mpdclick's monthly retail trend overviews provide the latest product trends emerging from the world's leading markets. This month the forecaster takes a look at ‘cutaway' footwear.

Focusing on footwear retail trends from London, Los Angeles, Miami & New York, this month's report covers target markets of all types to ensure fashion professionals have the broadest outlook of the global retail sector.

In the northern hemisphere we are seeing the emergence of 'Cutaway Footwear' as a must have accessory to add to consumers' wardrobes for the coming summer season. This trend is everywhere on the high street, with key retailers showing their individual interpretations!

'Urban Outfitters' used perforated leather and lattice uppers, while 'Office' had woven styles. Be sure to use clean, block colours, broderie anglaise effects and peep toe heels for commercial viability and appeal.

Cutaway Footwear for tweens has a summery theme; use metallic colours on casual silhouettes to make this key summer trend vibrant and fun.

Retail Tip 5 - Delegate!

One of the simplest yet most overlooked business secrets is that you can't do everything yourself. Here Mark Davis spills the beans on the art of sharing the load.

Being in business can be tough. Operating your own retail venture involves a multitude of skills: hiring staff, dealing with government compliance, keeping everybody safe and making sure you don't break one of the thousands of rules for your store, your franchise, your industry, your council, your state and your country.

So it's really important to consider this: the business doesn't run without you, so you need to replace yourself.

If you ever want to experience freedom in your business, you don't just need to delegate; you need to actively focus on replacing your activities with a skilled professional who can do the same things.

The funny thing is, when you do, you'll find that your replacement for say.... book keeping... does it faster and better than you - after all, it's their speciality.

As a business owner, you're probably a generalist - able to do everything. However if you can do everything OK, it makes sense to hire people who can do some things excellently.

Then you can take a holiday knowing that all the aspects of your business are taken care of. Some things require your physical presence, others don't. Book keeping can be done through elance.com or ymii.com with an outsourcer in India... Writing contracts, agreements, even your payroll can also be outsourced.

Other things, such as sales or merchandising, will require physical staff. For areas such as marketing, it might pay to outsource to an agency or a young graduate, whose fresh ideas will give your business a new lease on life.

Think about it!

Campaigning for success

This issue Ginger Trend Consulting for Mudpie reviewed some of the most standout and inspiring recent ad campaigns from Europe's luxury fashion houses. If you're looking for some creative inspiration, check out Eryn Behan's footwear advertising highlights.

Standout accessories from Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 10 collection are the dominating factor in the brand's new campaign, which features model Lara Stone. Like a magical cross between Bridgette Bardot and a dishevelled Alice in Wonderland, Stone poses in broken doll shapes on a mossy green grass background complete with fake doves.

With all the glamour of the 1950s and the aristocratic elegance of Claudia Schiffer in the style of Princess Grace of Monaco; Cristina Ortiz has gone out with a bang with her last ad campaign for Ferragamo. Classically elegant flowing scarves teamed with luxe python and, crocodile skin handbags shot by Mario Testino in beautiful Monte Carlo make for a truly decadent ad.

British model Ollie Edwards is shot by Josh Ollins and styled by Edward Enninful. Slick and every inch the Armani man, Edwards is pictured looking oh so dignified in profile, reclining in a beautifully cut grey suit with an oversized grey wool and, leather trimmed bag at his side.