Building up a loyal band of customers takes more than just good clothes, as these top labels reveal.
STOLEN GIRLFRIENDS CLUB
They'll be out in force at the show, in sexy dresses and skinny jeans. Artfully mussed hair, nonchalant attitude, great legs... and that's just the guys. Hip young things love Stolen Girlfriends Club, and nowhere do you see this crowd more than at their shows. Creative directors Marc Moore, Dan Gosling and Luke Harwood throw a good party, and their customers love them for it. These parties - which have involved alcohol in jam jars, rock 'n' roll bands and lots of tall, skinny guys - have helped reinforce the culture of their brand, and allowed them to communicate with their audience directly. "I remember [designer] Kirrily Johnston came to our NZFW show in 2008 and said it was such a buzz to see our market, our customers - they were like troops for SGC," explains Moore.
But guess what? There's more to Stolen Girlfriends Club than hipsters in torn denim. Since last year's Fashion Week show, SGC has grown up, just a little, and with this maturity has come new additions to their gang, both younger and older.
"With the parties you're only really hitting one kind of customer. You're getting the indie kids, people who are into rock 'n' roll music and drinking - but there's also that younger generation coming through. They're about 13 and they've been that Parnell, Newmarket customer, and now they're coming into Black Box - they have so much purchasing power," explains Gosling, who owns Auckland boutique Black Box where SGC is sold. As well as this much younger crowd, he's noticed more mature customers starting to follow the brand ("mature" meaning older than their typical 18-25 audience). Their recent winter collection, which featured more tailoring alongside the sexier pieces that they've built their name on, helped open up this older market - notably the puff-sleeved blazers and chunky knit "grandpa" cardigan. In fact, one of Stolen Girlfriends Club's biggest customers is 45-year-old Donna McCort.
"I love SGC because of its cool, 'muso-chick' vibe ... I can fantasise that that's me.
"It's sexy-grungy, and that's perfect for someone who has trouble remembering to comb her hair," she explains.
It's this mix and versatility that dedicated follower Elisha Deed appreciates. The 24-year-old mum has bought about 12 pieces since last summer, from T-shirt dresses to hoodies to the sexier pieces. "I'm a mum, and it's good for me ... and it's also good for the gorgeous little model."
Ah yes, models: they, too, flock to SGC. Samantha Shorter is one such model fan, who bought her first Stolen Girlfriends Club piece in 2007. She now has about 15 pieces, with plans to add more from the summer collection - like the high-waisted orange crocodile short shorts. She thinks models like SGC for the mix of sex appeal and femininity. "They have a cool mix of tough and pretty, and lots of flattering pieces that show off your body - which is great for castings."
Shorter's first SGC purchase was the "Stolen Girlfriends Club Says Relax" T-shirt, a piece that also acted as the gateway for Gavin Pook - although his was the original.
"As a label, Stolen Girlfriends had been going for only a few months and somehow I persuaded Marc to 'gift' me his original T-shirt that he was pretty much wearing every other day. I particularly wanted his one because it was essentially a sample and at the time hadn't been produced." Alas, Pook never got to wear it, as his partner Tatum Savage, also a dedicated follower, "stole" it.
Pook now owns about 20 SGC pieces; he sees them as being "an alternative to the masses of mediocre and mundane". Plus, he appreciates their clever branding. "I'm a marketing guy - I live and breathe it working for Red Bull - and SGC resonates with me because it is a unique and clever brand.
"These guys each have a unique personality and they cleverly and intentionally created a very unique personality for SGC - it's on this basis people connect." He says if SGC were a person, "they would be an ingenious storyteller and people would constantly want to hear what happens next.
"It's all about how the story is being told. Marc, Luke and Dan have used great platforms, like art and music, and have chosen innovative ways to tell the SGC story - from T-shirt slogans, installations, garment and range names, to creative exhibitions, profile events like NZFW, and of course those ridiculously cool parties." But for Moore, it's an attitude that attracts people to their club. "The brand's got a youthful spirit and I think that anyone that's got a little bit of a youthful spirit relates to it."
SGC and their followers (pictured left to right): Harriet Mahaffie, Emma Cruickshank, Wendy Gosling, Samantha Shorter, Donna McCort, Dan Gosling, Elisha Deed, Marc Moore, Tatum Savage, Luke Harwood, Gavin Pook, Gabrielle Mirkin, Troy Mentor, Guy Coombes, Jordan Rondel, Ryan Glover, Veronica Crockford-Pound, Nicole Clulee, Louis Moore.
RUBY
Their stores are an explosion of prettiness, with Bambi lights, ceramic animals, fresh flowers and lollies, frequented by girls with a penchant for combining girly dresses with tomboyish charm. This element of fun and youthfulness is what makes Rachel Soo Thow, Ophelia Mikkelson and Erika Evans - and many other girls - dedicated followers of co-labels Ruby and Madame Hawke.
As designer Deanna Didovich explains, "Our best customers will come into store four times a week, even if it is just to say 'hello'."
Soo Thow, who owns 10 to 15 staple Ruby pieces and makes them her own by combining them with opshop, chain store and other designer finds, says, "When I walk into a Ruby Boutique I instantly feel a sense of gratification and of being 'young' again. They combine fun, individuality and current trends, and I always feel like I'm 'part' of the Ruby environment,"
She has been a dedicated follower since buying a pair of Ruby "Poolsider" shorts and a Madame Hawke leotard last summer.
Ruby's secret to winning over such loyal fans? Communicating with them. Retail staff send texts when new pieces arrive in store, and they use social networking to their advantage. As Ruby brand manager Eleisha Balmer explains, "We like to stay in touch with our customers as often as possible in as many ways as possible - through our Ruby Boutique stores, our Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts, the blog, offering work experience to fashion students and holding events where our customers can meet our designers and the Ruby team". They also produce a seasonal "Ruby Journal", working with a range of young creative talent who are often customers as well.
Balmer explains that they want to make those who shop with them feel like they are part of the team - making the Ruby experience about more than just seeing a garment on a rack in their store.
Example: this morning's NZFW show, comes with a twist that directly involves their customers. "Fashion Week shows are generally exclusive to trade only, exclusive to those in the industry. We wanted to open up the NZFW experience to include our customers and involve them in the event. If we could invite all our customers to our show, we would," explains Balmer.
Instead, the Ruby team has given away tickets to the show, and will release a special "Fashion Week capsule collection". Five garments shown at this morning's show will be "re-created", with 300 limited edition pieces being sold through their stores. Think of it as a preview of what's to come. The full range that they show this morning won't be available for their customers to purchase until next year. Ruby stores are also having an all-day fashion week celebration, with the show streamed via video and cupcakes and pink bubbly on hand - bringing Fashion Week to their followers.
Ruby and their followers :Emily Miller-Sharma and Deanna Didovich with Ophelia Mikkelson, Rachel Soo Thow and Erika Evans.
ZAMBESI
"The Zambesi customer is someone who has gone beyond being dictated to by fashion."
Thoughtful, independent, mysterious: these are the types of customers that Zambesi has cultivated over the years, followers who have remained dedicated to the iconic brand despite the whims of fashion. And in an age of fast fashion and consumerism, it is refreshing to discover someone who has been loyal to a label for 20 years - although perhaps not surprising to find that that label is Zambesi. Dedicated follower Marilyn Paraone first began shopping at Zambesi when she was in high school, and has been committed to it ever since. "I have the most sincere love affair with Zambesi and each season I find myself falling in love all over again."
Her first piece was a maroon textured vest with antique portrait buttons, worn over an extra long-sleeved white shirt with frilled cuffs, and her school ball dress was also a Zambesi piece.
"I love how vintage cuts are given innovative reinterpretations, like my school ball dress called the 'Minnie Pinnie' from the late 80s, reinterpreted for winter 2006." She describes her ongoing Zambesi collection, with each item being special, "like fine jewellery".
"I have these connections with the garments where I associate each piece to moments in your life - like the blush Portobello dress worn on the Golden Gate Bridge ... and then worn many times to Pak'N Save." Her reasoning behind her 20-year love affair is simple: the garments are not instantly recognisable, but always thought-provoking and beautiful.
"I quite often get strangers wanting to know who I'm wearing and wanting closer inspection of the fabrics. It's a label that certainly has a sense of discovery." Her affection for the garments also extends to a genuine respect for Zambesi designer Liz Findlay.
"She is an amazingly talented artist, and all Zambesi pieces I own are simply works of art. The style, the innovation, the fabrics enable me to have this very individual, adventurous and free spirit in the approach to fashion."
Zambesi Man has also built up a strong cult of personality: Matt Benns is one such fan, whose first piece was a black "Dirty Harry" jacket gifted to him by a friend.
The Stephen Marr hairstylist explains his appreciation for menswear designer Dayne Johnston's work as being about "the construction and intelligent thought process behind each garment".
"I'm attracted to strong silhouettes with androgynous fabrics and the way each garment has been cleverly constructed. Dayne has an understanding of how I feel men should dress." His earliest memories of the label are of being too intimidated to walk into a store, "but now I feel as though it's part of who I am".
Zambesi's Findlay says the loyalty to the brand is important to them and inspires them to keep making clothes. "Our retail staff have a loyal following and have built lasting relationships with their customers. This cultivates a trust and loyalty in the brand," she says. "It is a strange feeling when you realise that you have created an identity or 'culture' without setting out to do so, but we feel very proud and humble to receive their endorsement. It makes what you do valid."
Zambesi and their followers: Matt Benns, Marilyn Paraone, Dayne Johnston and Liz Findlay.
