Launching Austentatious

As Austentatious will be sold at Harvey Nichols it will be launched in the OXO tower which is owned by them. The launch party will be champagne and canapés. There will be an exclusive guest list of celebrities and top bloggers. Emails will also be sent to the people whom bought tickets for Ladies Day at Ascot, inviting them to the event.

 

 

 

 

There will be a goody bag in an Austentatious shopping bag which will have a scarf from the range which has the logo printed on the bottom. So when they are worn their friends will see clearly where it's from and that's 'free' advertising. There will also be a little book about the brand and a sample of the brands signature scent.

 

Magazine Advertising

I will be advertising in the magazines they are most likely to read which are; Vogue and Harpers bazaar. They also like to read gossip magazines such as Ok and Hello but Austentatious fits better inside a fashion magazine.

There will a band around the outside of the magazine so that nobody can miss the advert as well as a glossy double spread advert in the middle of the magazine. This is the page that most people flip to and with the paper being a different texture it will stand out from the other adverts/articles. Keria Knightley will be the model in the outfits as she is endorsing the range.

We're now on Twitter: @austentatiousDS

I have created a twitter account called @austentatiousDS.  Most of my target market have smart phones and they are constantly on social networking sites telling the world about new things they’ve bought or how their day is going, so I thought this brand has to have an account where it would be able to share news about the brand and let people see new designs before they go on sale. This is also a really easy way to connect to the target market and to talk to them.

 

For the twitter page I have used the blog header as the background and profile picture to create an authentic and uniformed look.

 

I have also put the follow twitter button on the side of this blog and this blog url on the twitter page so people are able to see all of the ways they can keep up to date with the collection.

Austentatious is flying First Class

 

 

 

 

The target market is often going on holiday to places such as New York, Sydney and Paris and they travel in style. Austentatious will be advertised in the first class lounge at the airports by having refreshments with their logo on the wrapper and having inserts in the magazines. The computers that are available to use in the lounge will have their homepage set to the Austentatious website so that everybody who uses the computer will see the website and it will stick in their mind. For this to happen there needs to either be striking imagery or something which is controversial, such as a pun which will make them look twice and think about the double meaning.

Once on the plane the screens in the first class will also have adverts for the brand which feature Keria Knightley. This advert will feature her stepping off a flight wearing clothes from the brand so the viewers can relate to her.

 

 

 

Celebrity Endorsement

 

As well as making sure my collection fits my target market I also have to make sure my marketing does too. To make sure that people can relate to the collection I've chosen Keira Knightley to endorse the range.  

Keria Knightley has a good reputation and has worked with other designers before such as Versace and her biggest endorsement being Chanel.'She embodies the classic and chic Chanel aesthetic' which I think is portrayed throughout the Austentatious range. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Austentatious

 

Although advertising is important and I need to make sure that there is hype around the arrival of the brand. I also have to make sure that it's not 'over advertised' and therefore losing its exclusivity. I will do this by having targeted marketing.

 

 

I've looked into my target market who is women aged 25-35, who are married to businessmen. They are ladies of leisure who lead a luxurious lifestyle of going to the theatre, dinner parties, cocktail bars and exclusive events. Their spare time is spent treating their two children, shopping and going to the gym. They like to read Vogue, Harpers bazaar and of course Jane Austen.

 

 

I've researched where these ladies spend their time and one of the main events is Ladies day at Ascot. Austentatious will be sponsoring the event and therefore the brand will be on everybody’s tickets and programmes. As well as featured around the event. Keria Knightley, as the celebrity endorsing the range, will be there wearing the brand.

Outfit #2 Finished

 

I've now finished my second outfit I began the top exactly the same as the toile, the tucks worked really well and I managed to make them without drawing the lines on the fabric. I originally was going to bias bind the armholes and neckline but I thought it would look extremely messy inside from all the tucks. So I lined the top, I flat stitched all of the seams and this has made a really neat finish on the garment. I am really pleased with the lining and it does make it look smarter, neater and the garment is now practical as it’s a good quality to be worn.  I also was initially going to sew an invisible zip on the back of the top but when it came to this stage I decided to change the zip to an open ended zip, as the top is fitted along the sides, and this just makes it roomier and easier to get into. I am so proud of my zip on this top. I took a lot of care with sewing it on and it has a really professional finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top took me such a long to do that I didn't leave that much time for the trousers. I have simplified the design of the trousers again since the toile by eliminating the hanging material from the front. I do actually think with the design of the top being quite elaborate and detailed the bottom half of the outfit needed to be simple. Although, if I had had more time, I would have improved the finishing of the trousers.

I made the trousers the same as the toile. I found it quite hard to press the seams open as the material was beginning to pucker. I embroidered the waistband, to match the yolk on the dress. I really like this section of the trousers although as I had to make the waistband bigger because the embroidery scrunches up the material it was hard to sew the waistband to the trousers. On the outside of the trousers I think the waistband looks smart but from the inside it could be neater. 

 

 

 

Overall with this outfit I think it stays true to my theme and the material of the top works really well. I think I should have used a heavier weight material for the trousers as I think that would have helped with holding it in place and stopping it from puckering.  I am really pleased with the top and don’t think I could have done anything else to improve the standard of it. I am particularly pleased with the application of the zip.  However I am disappointed with myself with the trousers, because I know if I had more time I could have delivered them at a much higher standard, and I actually think the waistband I applied on the toile is better. To have made the waistband neater for the final trousers I need to think how I could manipulate the ‘extra’ material into the trousers. In hind sight I think I should have interlined the whole of the waistband to make it more structured.