Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Smartphones try fashion makeovers to stand out from pack
1 of 5. A phone with a wooden back on it rests in a display at a launch event for Motorola's new Moto X phone in New York, in this August 1, 2013, file photo.
Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson/FilesBy Alexei Oreskovic and Poornima GuptaSAN FRANCISCO | Sun Sep 8, 2013 10:24am EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Bright colors, funky textures and personalization are coming to a smartphone near you as mobile phone makers turn to fashion to buoy sales in a crowded market.
Apple Inc and Google Inc's Motorola are among those trying to score style points as game-changing technological innovation becomes harder to achieve in the maturing business.
Since the first touch-screen iPhone hit the market in 2007, software features have become easier to replicate and improvements in speed, weight, display size and resolution have become routine. The explosion of me-too products is already hurting profit margins and nibbling at Apple and Samsung Electronic Co Ltd's market share.
Time to bring out the paintbrush.
Apple has invited reporters to an event on Tuesday where it is expected to introduce new iPhones in a much broader palette of colors, perhaps even gold.
One-time leader Motorola, now owned by Google, is trying to win back consumers with the Moto X, relying partly on customized colors and, soon to come, engravings and unusual casing materials such as wood.
Robert Brunner, founder of design consultancy Ammunition and a former Apple industrial design chief, said personalization is a well-worn tactic employed when a product's uniqueness fades.
"As something becomes embedded in lifestyle and as it starts to become commoditized, people look toward more superficial design things to differentiate or at least reach more people," said Brunner, whose clients have included Amazon.com Inc, Dell Inc and Nike Inc.
"And colors are the classic. If you do it at the right time, it will create a significant increase in sales every time."
Much of the speculation around new iPhones this year has focused on colors and material, in marked contrast to previous years when hopes ran high for a breakthrough feature.
PERSONALIZATION IS KEY
The consumer electronics industry lives and dies by innovation, and resorting to aesthetics is at best a stop-gap measure until frequently talked about new technologies such as fingerprint identification, holographics or flexible displays become reality.
Smartphone shipments grew 52 percent in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC. But the market is getting crowded, with everyone from Alcatel Lucent to China's Huawei producing an abundance of look-alike phones based on Google's Android software.
Consumers face a sea of "rectangles that are black and white" that all use similar software and capabilities, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with research firm Gartner. "So you need that instant hook in the store to get people to pay attention, and that comes from the fashion and style."
Nokia's phone business, soon to be part of Microsoft Corp, was one of the first to try color. Nokia's Windows-powered Lumias came in a variety of shades from blue and red to yellow, helping boost shipments by 76 percent in the second quarter and outpacing the overall market's growth rate.
"We have always believed technology is highly personal, highly individual," said Yves Behar, the chief creative officer at Jawbone, who has designed a successful line of customizable gadgets including the Up wristband and Jambox wireless speakers. "We get more people wanting to customize their Jambox than we get people not wanting to."
Making more stylish phones, however, can increase production costs and make inventory management and demand forecasting more challenging. Also, taste varies from region to region. So success in the fashion game requires mastering new supply chain and manufacturing skills.
"If you try to predict in advance precise numbers, it is a sure way to over stock or under stock," Behar warned.
BUILT TO ORDER
In 2010, Apple had to delay the launch of the white iPhone 4 twice, citing manufacturing challenges. While the company did not provide details, speculation ranged from color-matching difficulties to an issue with the device's back light.
More recently, Motorola delayed offering the personalized engravings it promised for the Moto X, and the special wood panels that consumers can choose for their phones will not be available until later this year.
To help with logistics, Motorola is using a Flextronics International Ltd contract facility near Dallas that can custom-build phones and ship within 6 days. Its long-term target is 4 days.
That kind of customization requires a completely different supply chain system, said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Simchi-Levi.
Instead of optimizing for the lowest cost components, a build-to-order model needs to focus on speed, said Simchi-Levi, who has previously consulted for computer maker Dell, which popularized the model in the 1990s.
Done right, the build-to-order model can generate richer margins and provide flexibility to respond to demand: maintaining stockpiles of components means lower cost and less risk than keeping inventory of finished goods, Simchi-Levi said.
Analysts have said the impact of Motorola's new strategy on its profit margins is unclear. Mark Randall, the company's senior vice president of supply chain and operations, said it knows a build-to-order model will not be easy but is convinced that is the right approach for today's market.
"We decided on this approach ourselves, relying on some market research but also our own instincts. We thought it was time to get away from just having a white or black phone."
TRIED AND TESTED
In the 1990s, cellphone makers relied on aesthetics to stand out. Phone makers pumped slider phones, flip phones and "candy bars" in the hope of getting a hit like the sleek Motorola Razr.
Some compared the industry's evolution to watches, which rely on 50-year-old quartz or centuries-old mechanical technology and are the epitome of a business that hinges on fashion.
"Mobile phone makers are going to some of the watch suppliers to get the kinds of finishes and the quality feel that have been in the luxury watch business," said Gregor Berkowitz, a consultant who specializes in consumer electronics design.
Swatch Group, one of the world's largest watchmakers, shows how lucrative fashion can be, analysts said.
"The company benefits from being vertically integrated," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said. "They have the designers in-house. They own the manufacturing, the distribution, they control the brands and pricing very well."
Swatch, which owns Breguet, Omega, Flick Flack as well as its namesake brand, boasts operating profit margins of 25 percent. While that is below Apple's 35 percent-range on mobile devices, it is above those of Samsung and many other phone makers.
But while fashion can provide a nice way for phone-makers to buoy sales for now, smartphone companies ultimately need unique technology to maintain a long-term advantage.
"The way we think about technology companies is in terms of sustainable competitive advantages, or economic moats," said Wahlstrom. "It's not sustainable unless you have the intellectual property or patent support behind it that really creates a barrier to entry."
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco with additional reporting by Terry Wade in Houston; editing by Tiffany Chan, Edwin Chan and Richard Chang)
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Children's Fashion Cologne trade fair to begin from Jul 11
The Children's Fashion Cologne trade fair can look forward to welcoming even more top-class brands at its debut from 11th to 13th July 2013. Brands that have recently registered include BOGNER, Miss Blumarine, New Balance Kids, Polo Ralph Lauren Children Shoes, Verdecchia, UGG Australia Kids, Marc O'Polo, Tumble' N Dry, gsus sindustries, Monta and Kavat. I Pinco Palino, Simonetta and Agatha Ruiz de la Prada will also be on hand in Cologne.
Children's Fashion Cologne sees itself as the new central ordering platform for the European children's fashion sector and beginning in July 2013, it will offer a blend of exhibition and fashion show to its international visitors twice a year - in the spring and in the summer.
Sector reactions to Children's Fashion Cologne:
Petra Jost and René Drai of PM ModeAgentur Kids de Luxe in Munich say, "Super! Finally a new trade fair with a truly impressive concept. It will be an event that presents children's fashion in an environment that has emotional energy, projects creativity and lifestyle, and inspires a passion for fashion.
"Now it's up to the sector to show its team spirit and make sure that Children's Fashion Cologne becomes the main event for the sector. We support what's happening in Cologne and recommend that anyone who wants to get things moving in children's fashion should participate."
Magnus Ericsson, Chairman of the shoe factory Kavat AB in Sweden says, "Children's Fashion Cologne has the potential to be the European source of inspiration for high-quality children's fashion.
"The synthesis of product show and brand identity coupled with the perfect organization of the partners, Koelnmesse and Luna media, will help Kavat achieve its goal of improving sales in central Europe. We're looking forward to being at CFC in Cologne because, like a number of buyers and stylists from all over Europe, we see this trade fair as an important kick-off event for the new season."
Texas Tech students grab honours at PCCA fashion show , May 02, 2013Children's Fashion Cologne trade fair to begin from Jul 11 , May 02, 20131,000 brands to feature latest S/S14 line at Pure London , May 02, 2013Designer Nicole Miller bags ‘Spirit of Design’ Award , May 02, 2013Rihanna to design second line for River Island , May 01, 2013 ShowPopupOnScroll("footerdiv",0.2); var newsid='145611'; var tmp=document.getElementById(newsid); if(tmp!=null) { document.getElementById(newsid).style.display='none'; }
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Friday, May 3, 2013
Texas Tech students grab honours at PCCA fashion show
Three apparel design students at Texas Tech University took top honors Saturday (April 25) in the Cotton and Denim Runway 2013 design contest sponsored by Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA), Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated.
The contest is held in collaboration with the university’s College of Human Sciences, Department of Design’s Apparel Design and Manufacturing (ADM) program. Winners were announced during the annual TECHstyle Senior Fashion Show.
Caitlin Moore, a senior from Rowlett, won the men’s jeans category with a design for the casual market. Starting with natural-colored denim provided by the American Cotton Growers denim mill at Littlefield, Moore hand-washed and dyed the fabric gray.
She described her design as straight-fitted legs with clean and simple lines and minimal embellishments. Katelyn Ortiz, a senior from Lubbock, and Lana Stevens, a junior from Austin, placed second and third, respectively, in the men’s jeans category.
Elaine Morton, a sophomore from Plano, won the women’s jeans category with a design she described as an easy statement piece to fit any style. Her design featured leather panels and leather pockets. Moore placed second in the category. Emma Knowles, a senior from Matador, and Jocelin Villarreal, a senior from Rio Grande City, tied for third place.
Emily Taylor, a senior from Midland, took first place in the casual wear category where contestants could design any garment made from 100 percent cotton. Taylor entered a white dress that featured cotton guipure floral lace and cotton poplin. Cynthia Reimer, a senior from Lubbock, won second place. Alicia McDonald, a senior from Lubbock, and Lisa Hon, a sophomore from Lubbock, tied for third place.
Taylor also won the Cotton Research/Trend Board category. Ortiz placed second in the category and Meghan Rizkal, a senior from Colleyville, placed third.
“This year’s Cotton and Denim Runway event was the largest ever with 47 cotton outfits entered in the casual wear category, 23 in the women’s and men’s jeans categories and 31 cotton research trend boards,” explained Su Shin, associate professor and ADM program director. “Our students had an opportunity to take a cotton field trip and visit the ACG denim mill,” she added.
“Throughout the process, the students were very engaged in learning about cotton for their design and production development projects. Texas Tech University, the ADM program, and I appreciate PCCA, CCI and Cotton Incorporated for their support.”
Selected students in each category will be offered an opportunity to visit Cotton Incorporated in New York City and Cary, N.C.
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