Getting Better.

A short guide.

Inspiration

Yes Please And Thank You.

“Over all, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe... That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.”
- John Coltrane

“The well dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice”

-William Somerset Maugham

Great Googly

(from: New York Times)

I'm sure you have seen this by now, if not its a satellite shot of the mall in Washington, DC for the Inauguration. Is it just me or does it look like a multitude of ants.

Wow.

What up FRANK!

Yo shouts to Dave C. over at Frank 151 for holding us down with Frank books every month! I remember when I would scour all of Chicago to find these little books. When the Chop Shop first opened in New York I just happened to be in town and stopped by for a razor line up. Mike Malbon, one of the co-founders of Frank was standing out front smoking a cigarette. We got to raping about Chicago and how he hadn't been there before, and found we knew a few of the same people as I was trying to throw a party with Frank and Alife at the time (which nonetheless never happened). He ended up taking me into the back office and blessing me with a whole bunch of old Frank's to hold down the collection. We've been building ever since. Good look!

What's To Come...

Found this article over at We Are The Market today. They (BPMW/We Are The Market) are in the midst of covering Capsule, Paris - which I imagine is a great show taking place right now in the city of love. I had the pleasure of attending the New York show last fall and was very pleased with the level of brands BPMW curates for the Capsule show.

As for the article, which was inspired by this post from Bruce Pask, menswear editor of the New York Times blog The Moment. I think the turn of "cool" into more trad wear was ushered in by the likes of Hiroshi Fujiwara the "father" of street wear, when he started Uniform Experiment. Considering that young Japanese trendsetters tend to have a major influence on their western counterparts here in the US. I.e. Bape, street wear, the sneaker craze etc. Perhaps this is why I found this article interesting, as it is a tale of what's happening right now in the "cooler realms" of menswear. I'm not talking about Milan and the runway or Paris and fashion week. I'm talking about hte people who set those "trends" before those looks hit the runway. Nonetheless we shall continue to push the boundaries of what it means to be Fre$h and Proper, indeed.

Amber.Rae.

My home girl Amber's blog always has some great dissertation on the world of branding. We normally kick it over tea, discussing the du jour of blogging, branding and anything else that comes to mind. It's always a dope experience and we both step away inspired. I normally leave the conversations wanting to get things done. Check her out.

Out a Jobs.

Jobs out until June, wow. Still I have a feeling it will only affect Apples stock, not much more. AAPL selling at $85.33 and down $2.38 for the day.


Times Article.

Desktop

What does your desktop look like? I can't close anything, a new browser is like a train of thought for me. Is this a problem, or is it just visual ADD.

Umm Yes please, and Thank You.

WWD x J. Crew

Another great article in Woman's Wear Daily this morning, as more CEO's begin to discuss the layout for 2009 and the affects the recession had on the holiday season. I particularly appreciated some of the things Millard "Mickey" Drexler had to say about J. Crew and the way they've positioned themselves in the market place - “The world is not about overpriced designer [goods] anymore,” [adding] “The days of $800 to $900 shoes are over. We [J. Crew] have adjusted prices and are going after [luxury] businesses that have grown hugely” - the article quoted. All of which I think is true, but in correlation with yesterdays article I also believe that people still have the money to spend, its just a matter of what they choose to spend it on.

Remember consumers are no longer frivolously spending, and consumers won't be as conspicuous with what they want to spend on. Which means you have to find innovative ways to know your market, and you have to be very involved with them. Whether that's looking at the blogs they are involved with, or inviting them for free beer and good conversation about everything else BUT your product, no matter what you must understand them. Which I think J. Crew has done, especially as of late with their new retail opening The Liquor Store in New York (previously mentioned here). It is very reminiscent of the Earnest Sewn, and Rogues Gallery aesthetic, while sticking to their brands original message and style.

Perhaps that's the reason I appreciated this article. Because coming from the CEO down, you can see how they've positioned themselves in the marketplace, how they understand who there client is and how that tailored message is clearly communicated from the top down, from the CEO to the client. Another good example of understanding your client and clearly communicating the message they want from top down.

Enjoy.

iT WORKS!

I just downloaded iWork 09' the 30 day trial free version. I will more than likely end up purchasing it as well. Things like this help creative people like me work more efficiently. Thank you apple.

Building A Giant.

I'm sitting here sifting through the internet, determining what's on my list of things to do, over some warm tea and MGMT Electric feel playing in the background. Trying to sift any gold nuggets of information to add to the business plan we're building right now. It's amazing to go through this process and start to put things together. It's also fresh when you start to seek information and how sometimes it becomes readily available to you. I like to save the mornings and early afternoon for reading blogs, news papers or any other pertinent information, I also like to utilize this time to write because my minds more active.

In reading this morning I came across THIS article over at WWD online. It's a very interesting article about the state of the financial times, and the "new mindset of the consumer." They specifically reference H. Lee Scott, the CEO of Walmart and his outlook on the economy after this past holiday season and the upcoming Recession issues of 09'. He thinks consumers have adopted a new mind set - “People still have money. It’s very targeted to the thing they want. If you don’t have what they want, if you’re off by 1/30th of an inch, forget it. You’d better understand your customer and inventory and open-to-buy. How much depth of assortment you have will determine your profitability” so says Scott.

I thought this was very interesting as we begin to build our business. Going through the executive summary, building the numbers, and building our client base, understanding your market is essential to each step of this process. That's one of the first things your taught as a marketer - know your market. But as he said you have to know them very well, you can't be off by even the smallest degree. The mind set doesn't allow for conspicuous spending, nor does it allow for mistakes. If you don't have exactly what it is your clients want, it could be the death of your business.

With that being said, building a business in an economy rife with recession you have to have some understanding of what the consumer mindset is going to be we when the recession ends. "The recession will create a very different economy when we come out of it - than the one we had when we went in it" says Carl Steidtmann Chief Economist at Deloitte. As we build we are thinking of things that can give us an advantage in the midst of the recession, but also particular goods and services we can offer our particular clients once the recession is over, once the spending power and the want to spend is back in the consumers mind-set. Steidtmann furthers this point with, "Real Wages are up 6 percent since July. Consumers have the means to spend, they just don't have the will." I would add to that by saying with the job markets tightening up, and the credit market at almost a stand still its obviously hard for consumers to spend widely on a various amount of things, the are spending on exactly what is they want nothing else. So no more than ever you must use every resource imaginable to understand your market. Social networking sites such as Facebook, and the now popular Twitter, furthered with a vast array of blogs and online zines. You should know what music he likes, what magazines he reads, where he shops for clothing, etc. The more detailed and refined your information is the better chance you have for success.


With all this being said, we will add a lot of these types of things into our business model. Control inventory and liquidity, know our clients well because we are involved with them on a day to day basis. We'll do things like create communities behind the culture we're involved in and give them outlets and a place to communicate. I can't tell you everything we're going to do because that just wouldn't be fair. But from this you can see where we're headed and hopefully see its going to be a good ride.

Get Smart.

A great site for inspiration, learning and quick snippets of information. I'm all about learning like this. If you're able to apply information like this to whatever it is your doing it can help make what you do better.

YO!!!

I've been around, at work right now. Feel bad about not staying up to date wit the bloggin. More coming soon, I promise. I've been inspired a lot lately. Stay tuned you little bums.