The Online Collection

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The TFM website is in production...

Blurring the lines...

Lea T in cut out swimwear for Blue Man...

Transgender model Lea T is looking hot in this outfit. Do we think Lea T's proliferation will affect the menswear market or is this one giant leap too far?

Take That Fashion

Robbie Williams and fashion... a natural combination? Who knows but he's giving it a punt! The menswear market develops further with branding and celebrity continuing to be big draws so will Robbie Williams collaboration with House of Fraser encourage you to part with your cash?

The collection named Farrell pays homage to Robbie's grandfather and will cost from  £35 for a t shirt to £350 for a crombie coat. Would you let this man dress you...?

Menswear continues to grow...

Mr. Porter has launched, men's cosmetics are growing faster than women's and now Topman have launched their newly revamped personal shopping suite (http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2011-05/25/gq-style-news-topman-personal-shopping-suite-oxford-circus-photos/lee-broom-interior). It seems that finally the world of men's fashion is creeping out of Shoreditch and into the mainstream. 

The personal shopping suite looks amazing and they've even got the experience right, tailoring it perfectly to the male psyche. Choose how long you want to be there, how much you want to spend and if you pre-book the look you're after will be displayed ready for your approval. Turn up early, or send a stylist out to collect a different shirt, t shirt, trousers, hat, scarf or snood and you can entertain yourself with the suite's X Box, Sky Sports TV, and charming cup of tea! This is definitely the way to get men to spend more...

Brands, Brands, Brands

Men love brands, which means for now I love brands... which I do anyway! If you want to know anything about the history of men's denim brands let me know! Here's an insight into my branding...

Square Eyes, sigh...

Staring at a computer all day is not good for you... I've got jeans fatigue! They all look the same to me now but some excellent progress has been made, even if it is at the cost of my 20/20 vision!!

Some more moods!

Here's another mood board for my line of tees and knitwear. This is going to be the autumn drop inspiration. I think you get the idea that I'm going for a countryside theme!! Hopefully with some pops of colour, to give the mood a bit of a lift...

Love your community

I've been emailing Aaron from Individualism (http://www.individualism.co.uk/) for some tips and insight into the male fashionistas mind and he's been so helpful! I really love how open bloggers are to helping one another!! Big up the community spirit!

Prehistoric

Feeling moody? This mood board that I created for the prehistoric A/W11 trend should help! This is going to be my inspiration for the exclusive range of knitwear and t shirts I'm creating for my imaginary shop!! This is the Winter trend so I need to move on to Autumn now...

Feedback!!!

Just got my range plan back with feedback... I've got a good eye apparently. Good News!! There are definitely areas for improvement so hopefully the FMP will make it into a distinction! Fingers crossed!

The Sloane Ranger

Awesome menswear blog Individualism (http://www.individualism.co.uk/) posted a great new editorial for their favourite summer look and it's perfect for the Sloane Rangers that I'm looking to attract with TFM!

Jeans, shirts and jackets are the lifeblood of the West London man and I want to take those key items and build on them. Bring a bit of fashion edge to them...

From this...

to this...

...and eventually this!!

Some News

J Brand the relatively young, new powerhouse in the world of denim has a huge presence in the women's denim market in the UK but until now haven't really had a menswear offering in this country. Well men everywhere should rejoice! The brand is bringing it's expertise to these shores. Launching in Selfridges this month, J Brand will definitely be featuring in my FMP and is a great addition to the denim mix in the UK!

Read more at drapers http://www.drapersonline.com/news/j-brand-menswear-debuts-at-selfridges-before-roll-out/5025085.article

An Overdue Update

So I've done some more research and I think I'm heading in the right direction. The only men's store that focuses on denim in London that I can find is http://www.sonofastag.com/. The store delivers the customer service, product knowledge and product mix that I'm thinking of. The website's pretty under developed and the premium denim offering is pretty small but I think we're on the same wavelength.

I want to develop a men's store that provides the same level of service and knowledge as Son of a Stag, with a premium denim range closer to the department stores. What I want is to actually make Trilogy but for men, so that's what I've decided to do. Instead of creating a whole new store and new brand, I'm going to work on a brand extension for Trilogy... TFM - Trilogy For Men. Catchy, no?!

So how far have I got in this new plan? I've comp shopped all the best men's denim stores in London and decided to axe the designer diffusion lines. Trilogy doesn't stock them for women so TFM won't be stocking them for men. I want to focus on denim specialist brands, to provide high quality products and a real focus on the denim industry. I think this will give the store legitimacy and a strong point of difference. I'll be bringing trends and fashion into the store through the collections that run alongside the denim brands.

Work wise so far I've written a biography of Trilogy to give an introduction to my idea (to follow later) and started my customer research. I've still got a lot to do! Mood boards a plenty, a range plan, sales plan, sourcing strategy, and I've decided to develop an exclusive line of British produced t shirts for the store. Nothing like making things hard for yourself... my favourite past time!!!

THE START

So the story is...

I'm a student at the Fashion Retail Academy and we just got briefed on our Final Major Project, which basically accounts for my whole grade regardless of anything I've done already!! A little scary but I'm sure it'll all be fine. The brief is what you might call, wide! Basically, we can do anything we like as long as it's vaguely original and in demand.


So what's my idea you ask. Well, the answer is denim. Now I know denim is widely available and incredibly popular so maybe not the most original idea but I'm talking about a concept here not just a product. I'm talking about a menswear store that specialises in knowing everything there is to know about denim. That can find you the right pair of jeans straight away, tell you exactly how to wear them and with what. I'm talking about a boutique with a strong e-commerce presence, where there's an advisor online to guide you through the difficulties of internet shopping. I want this to be a one stop shop for casual menswear that customers feel they know, understand and see as a friend. The best way I can think to describe my 'vision' is to say that I want to bring something like Shortlist http://www.shortlist.com/ to life in a retail store.

Possibly I'm cheating a little! I work in a store very much like the one I'm describing http://www.trilogystores.co.uk/. The difference is my store only sells to women. I get asked almost every day I'm there if we have a men's store or if we're going to open one soon so I definitely think this counts as a gap in the market! I want to take this idea and push it further, I want to develop a strong online presence and make the store a lifestyle concept that really develops a relationship with the customer.

So I guess that's it for now. I need to go away and do some research, develop my idea and see what people think. If there's anyone out there listening I'd love to know what you think!