Comments on: the future is “boutique”?

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 17:53:36 +0000

“Don’t fucking touch that one. That is your golden egg.“
Yeah Chris, that is what I’m thinking as well. At least for the foreseeable future.

By: Chris H.

Chris H. — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 12:01:18 +0000

Hugh,
why not do a Jamie Oliver. Create and Sell the books, sell the videos, sell other bits of merchandise (themed around the idea of bespoke or Thomas). That’s where your mass market is. Don’t kill your meme — finest suits money can buy hand made by craftsman. Don’t fucking touch that one. That is your golden egg.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 04:13:37 +0000

Hugh,
How about leveraging the brand and having some else handle the logistics? You see this all the time with clothing “labels” where the big company (e.g. Claiborne?) buys up the label, leaves the designers/founders/brand builders in place and supplements their efforts with world-class logistics and distribution.
I think the $300 suit idea could be done … with the right partner!

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:26:26 +0000

Yeah, Pat, I’m starting to think the same…

By: Pat

Pat — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:03:52 +0000

Hugh,
My gut says the $300 suit is a bad idea. It could be a successful business move but it runs the risk of being a complete pain in the ass and much less fun.

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:43:12 +0000

Eric, you nailed it in one. Suits are very much like software…
Price insensitive customers are best!!!!

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 20:59:19 +0000

The problem, in my experience, with pricing questions like these is that the $300 customer expects every bit as much customer service and attention as the $3000 customer. i.e. (in software) You cut somebody a break b/c they are a non-profit, and give them a $10,000 website for $2,500, with the understanding that it might not have a glitzy CMS or be fully integrated with their existing database. Still, they’re happy to have a site that looks like they spent a lot more than they did. But then, guess who’s calling you 3 weeks after launch asking you to add new content, new pages, export the database and etc. Then multiply this by the number of discounted sites you had to sell to equal the price of one full-price job. But maybe customer service is different with suits. I mean, what could go wrong? =)

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:04:23 +0000

Rob, I totally agree. The web is indeed a wonder.
To do what Tom and I are doing without the net, you’d need to add at least 3 zeroes onto the end of the numbers.

By: Robert Paterson

Robert Paterson — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 18:54:04 +0000

Hugh
Is not the point that in a world when we all can buy a cheap suit that having a real one that is hand made satisfies a need for maining. I bought a corkpuller the other day — the really fancy one — for $20. 10 years ago these cost $250. You can buy a DVD player for $35. Stuff is cheap and getting chaeper — but the process to make stuff cheaper is socially and spiritually debilitating.
My son has a friend Jen who makes besposke handbags that sell for hundreds of dollars. Imagine that you are married — it is your wife’s 30th. What would it mean to give her a Jen Bag. What would it mean for her to buy you a Tom suit.
Isn’t the wonder of the web that Tom and Jen would only have a small local market but now can access the world?

By: frosty

frosty — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 18:25:31 +0000

People who work for very rich clients are sometimes called “artists.“
What about $300 bespoke GapingVoid t-shirts?

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 18:09:16 +0000

If you can sell one 3000$ suit, then you can also sell another and another, and when you’ve sold ten, you might as well sell a zillion more.
Otoh, maybe you’ll never sell that $300 suit.

By: Eugen Erhan

Eugen Erhan — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 17:55:33 +0000

No, it’s not easier.
If you can sell one 300$ suit, then you can also sell another and another, and when you’ve sold ten, you might as well sell a zillion more.
Otoh, maybe you’ll never sell that $3000 suit.
In Roy Williams’s words, news flash: sell to the masses, live with the classes. Sell to the classes, live with the masses. (oh and my favorite: people who work for very rich clients are called ‘butlers’)
sorry about the approximation of the quotes.