Among the constant influx of bad news I came across an article from Forbes singing the praises of emerging designers. While this article talks mainly about fashion designers, I believe it can translate to other industries as well. The bottom line is that retailers are looking for new ideas to excite and motivate their customers to buy. To accomplish this they are turning to start-up designers that are willing to take chances. These upstarts aren’t overly preoccupied with their profit margins and don’t mark-up their products to compensate for outrageously high advertising budgets. This translates to lower price points which make the line even more appealing to retailers. The lower cost of inventory brings lower risk as the retailers get more “bang for their buck”. Morale of the story: Pushing the envelope right now might just garner you enough publicity and marketplace exposure to justify that thin margin… maybe?
Read the article here… http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/10/15/undiscovered-young-designers-forbeslife-cx_jp_1015style.html
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