You Are Your Own Designer

photo via: NY Times

In our earlier post, we discussed the recent trend of online shopping sites empowering online communities to take part in dictating trends and design picks. While the sites we previously mentioned discuss how designers first upload their collections and then the customers vote on their favorite, today we introduce you to Blank Label, a customization-focused concept brand that allows its customers to take part in the complete design process, from the initial stages of fabric and color to the final style, design detail, and fit. Fast, convenient, and affordable, Blank Label focuses on customized men's shirts with step-by-step online instructions, allowing customers from anywhere around the world to purchase a co-created product.

photo via: Blank Label

The success of Blank Label reflect the times of today where customers are not only more educated about fashion, but also want something more than just the traditional shopping experience of walking into a store and making a purchase from what is presented. The fact of the matter is, we live in a deeply customized-centered culture. Whether it is choosing our toppings at Pinkberry, placing a photo into our desktop background, or decorating our smart phones with skins and cell phone accessories, we like to have choices and feel unique. Do a Google search of "customized" anything -- customized stickers, wallpaper, towels, etc. -- you are sure to find a store that will do it for you. With globalization and technology, practically everything we purchase is made in mass quantities. Therefore, the ability to customize is, and will continue to be, essential. It offers a sense of ownership and a deeper personal relationship between the object and it's user, making the product distinctive from the rest.

photo via: Vans

And fashion is no exception. We are aware that Blank Label is not an entirely revolutionary concept; let's not forget that footwear brands like Vans, Nike, and Converse have all been offering customized shoes for some time now. But nonetheless, Blank Label's focus on tailored shirts is a simple yet brilliant concept that we are excited about. So instead of giving you our opinion, we take you straight to the source as we reached out to one of the founders, Danny Wong, for a quick interview to share with our readers.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and the company. 
Blank Label is the brainchild of Fan Bi and Danny Wong, two young entrepreneurs looking to change the way men shop, starting with co-created dress shirts. Our other two founding partners are Zeeshan Muhammad and Alec Harrison. We have been around for about six months now, launched in November 2009. We value affordable luxury and the ability to design-your-own, or co-create your own, products, since standard styles and sizes do not work for everyone. Consumers should be able to get a product individually made for them, at a less-than-outrageous price. That's why our custom dress shirts start at $45. 

2. How did you get the idea of starting a customized shirt business?
Fan and I loved the idea of custom clothing, and we wanted to put a real neat spin on it. We originally ran Blank Label as a custom tailor shop selling suits and dress shirts, which would be made-to-measure, but the business had some issues of its own. We decided to scrap that business and build something we thought was sexier. Something that would be far more appealing than something your local tailor would offer. We chose the co-created dress shirt because you could really customize every aspect of the dress shirt and still look casual and not over-the-top. I suppose it was also a great test product too, and we were right because we've been doing co-created dress shirts ever since we launched.

3. Who is your customer? How international are your clients?
Our customer is the new-age male who is slightly metrosexual, cares about his style, appreciates a good fit, hates buying off the rack since most other guys can buy the same shirts, and is a middle to middle-upper class male. Most of our customers are US local, but our other big markets are the UK, Spain and Australia.

4. You are based in Boston, but the shirts are made in Shanghai. How did you determine which factory to work with and how do you regulate the quality & production of your factory?
We are currently in Shanghai for the summer, but when we first set up production, we visited a decent amount of tailors and production facilities and found one we had great synergy with. We have someone who is paid for Quality Assurance, so we are confident our product is quality while still being affordable.

5. Do you have any plans to expand Blank Label and offer customization for other types garments? Womenswear?
We have thought about doing women's custom dress shirts, but we don't because we aren't ready to expand, plus we are only four guys who don't know enough about women's fashion other than what looks good and what doesn't on a woman. Other thoughts have been going back to doing suits, maybe trousers, jackets, boxers, etc. 

6. What has been the most challenging part of running Blank Label?
The most challenging thing has been building demand for co-created product. Most consumers are happy with product and industries the way they are now, but we are looking to influence consumers to be more co-creation conscious to have more men actively searching for co-created dress shirts, which mean more business for us, and more supporters of co-creation, which is just good overall because we are looking to change the world so in a few years, anyone can get a whole custom outfit they co-created without paying a premium price, even if Blank Label didn't co-create it. 

7. As technology is advancing, how do you see the fashion retail industry changing over the next several years?
The Fashion retail industry might start using more advanced tech like augmented reality, hologramming, or just better designer applications where consumers can easily design product without ever using a needle or thread. 

8. Where is your fabric from?
Our fabric is sourced here in mills in China. 

9. What is your view on the rise of eco-friendly fashion?
Eco-friendly fashion is definitely a valuable market. Consumers want to reduce their carbon footprint and if they can get a nice product and know they are helping the environment, they are happy. 

10. Do you offer eco-friendly options? Is Blank Label eco and/or socially conscious? And if so, how?
While we do not have eco-friendly fabrics, we operate as a eco-friendly business because we are not wasteful like most retail stores since we only produce product when consumers demand it. Normal retail stores try predicting demand and there's an inefficiency there because they might underproduce which just makes for a lot of 'wanting' customers or they might overproduce which leads to waste when they can't sell off product, especially with high-end fashion which would prefer to burn clothes rather than discount them to sell all inventory or give them away to charity since they do not want to devalue their brand. 

11. For anyone else interested in a start up company, what are some of the lessons you have learned and can share from your own experience?
Some lessons we've learned are that you have to be prepared for scary surprises, and good surprises as well because sometimes good things can turn bad, really quickly. Understand that crazy things happen, and be very flexible with your business too. Being customer-driven is also very important because you live and die by your customers so taking their advice to heart is incredibly important and using their suggestions to improve your business is a valuable way of leveraging user feedback.

J. Crew (New York)

While Abercrombie flounders, another brand with a similarly preppy heritage is working wonders. Under the leadership of spurned Gap CEO Mickey Drexler, J. Crew has completely shed its '90s-era identity as a catalog company hawking affordable, bland button-downs and khakis, to become a retail power player, a staple of Michelle Obama's high-low wardrobe with its colorful, up-to-date, fresh yet ladylike women's styles and complementary accessories; as well as a go-to designer for simple, well-priced wedding gowns and bridesmaids' dresses. Their little-sister brand, Madewell, is beloved by youngsters and fashion writers alike for its slim yet rugged, classic yet on-trend, Americana-inspired selection of rumpled jeans, stompy boots, and soft cotton shirtdresses. 

And now, the J. Crew juggernaut is expanding its hold on Soho, with its third-ever freestanding men's store opening next door to the much-hailed Topshop colossus. With its separate suiting department, antique furnishings, and restored original storefront, the new shop could be the middle-class man's answer to Tom Ford's uptown palace.

Now for a dose of reality: In spite of the critical raves, same-store sales were down 13% in the fourth quarter of 2008, leaving the company with a net loss of $13.5 million for that quarter. But Drexler and other execs took no bonus for the year, and say they're looking to make long-term investments in the company's future with developments like the men's store, a separate children's catalog, and a new in-store concierge service.

The Gap (San Francisco)

The economic downturn has been punishing for many apparel companies and designers, but it could prove to be a new beginning for the Gap. After all, while the economy grew in recent years, the 40-year-old basics chain floundered; but with fashion-world darling Patrick Robinson at the helm, and shoppers increasingly seeking value for their limited budgets, the Gap may just be poised to reclaim its position as America's go-to line for simple, reasonably priced clothes. 

Collaborations? They've got 'em -- and juicy ones at that. Pierre Hardy shoes, Albertus Swanepoel hats, the annual white shirt collections from CFDA/Vogue nominees... and most recently, from the company that continued to crank out mom jeans well into the new millennium, a surprisingly up-to-date new denim collection. Robinson challenged designers from higher-priced denim lines to see what they could produce for the Gap's under-$60 price range, and they came out with a worn-in boyfriend jean and a super-skinny cigarette jean that, at least in thumbnail-size photos, rival any designer version. In a ringing endorsement from the fashion world, Style.com has gone so far as to include the fall collection among the runway shows on their website, alongside such up-and-comers as Josh Goot and Cushnie et Ochs. 

Still, the company's website and in-store merchandising don't yet seem to reflect Robinson's high-fashion-at-low-prices vision. Which makes us wonder: Will we see a gradual roll-out, or is corporate hobbling him? Can the Gap become the Uniqlo of the USA? It could be. It just could be.

News flash: Menswear sales are up!

Yes, you read that right – UP. In this market. 

Tom Ford and Lanvin menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver declare in Saturday's Financial Times that this is because men shop for necessary things, whereas women shop for recreation. This from the purveyors of extremely necessary $10,000 fur boots and T-shirts "decorated with a bib of wooden beads", respectively…

Still, one can't entirely fault their logic. Let's face it, men have (for the most part) been keeping their closets pared to the essentials, which means that if something wears out, they have to buy a new one, no matter how gloomy the economic outlook. Women, on the other hand, all have giant closets like Sarah Jessica Parker's in the "Sex and the City" movie, and can always dig into their bottomless archives to find something to wear. 

Okay, not exactly; but for years, retailers have been encouraging women to buy, buy, buy for each of the year's 12 seasons, er, months, and for all of the current trends. And here's where that business strategy defeats itself: Women now have enough clothes, and are well able to opt out of shopping when the going gets tough. So they're staying home in droves, and organizing clothing swaps with their friends – bad news for the retailers who sold them too many clothes in the first place! Case in point: H&M, whose sales are currently down 5 percent, apparently due to consumers' developing distaste for fast, disposable fashion.

Via The Cut

Tillmann Lauterbach (Paris)

Born in Germany, raised in Spain, schooled in Switzerland, the former bank trainee-cum-model Tillmann Lauterbach is another of the multifaceted, international generation of young designers coming out of the legendary ESMOD in Paris. Draped loosely around the body, his women's collection brings to mind a sportier Rick Owens, with more color and less leather, while his boxy menswear harks to Raf Simons gone grunge. With their asymmetry, colorblocking, and surprising fabric mixes, Lauterbach's clothes make imperfection an art. 

Coming Soon (Tokyo)

Yohji Yamamoto's contributions to fashion have already been substantial: his own, avant-garde main line; Y's, a second line; Y-3, his sporty yet sophisticated Adidas collaboration; and more recently, his daughter, Limi Feu, whose line is a boxier, tomboyish take on Dad's fixations with black, Edwardian, and deconstruction. As if he weren't busy enough, his new under-the-radar label, Coming Soon, debuted this year with a 200-piece collection of utilitarian clothes and accessories, all marked by a discreet circle logo. Instead of a runway show, the line gets a 21st-century treatment: a grainy black-and-white YouTube video directed by Max Vadukul. Pieces include a black-and-white inside-out trenchcoat; boyfriend jeans; dropped-crotch "skirt-pants" (skants?); and button-downs with patchwork detailing.

Shipley & Halmos (New York)

After leaving their quirky, young label, Trovata, designers Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos started their eponymous line quietly last year, garnering rapt attention from buyers and fashion media without so much as a runway show. Shying away from the fanciful mismatched buttons and gaily patterned linings that characterized Trovata, Shipley & Halmos has an understated, almost quaint aesthetic, cribbing from traditional tailoring while keeping it young and fresh with charming details such as Peter Pan collars and bow ties on a girl's blouse, or a brash rock 'n' roll stripe on a slim men's suit.

Photos via Style.com

C.Neeon (Berlin)

When they started their line in 2004, fabric designer Clara Leskovar and fashion designer Doreen Schulz were told they needed to make their designs more conventional, more feminine and sporty, if they were going to succeed. Luckily, they ignored that advice completely, creating a daring line of garishly colored, geometric-printed hoodies and loose, mostly knit separates that shows at London Fashion Week and is now selling in cities around the world, including New York, London, Copenhagen, and all across Japan. C.neeon's avalanche of honors includes the Hyères Grand Prix, participation in a slew of museum exhibitions, and collaborations with Topshop, Lumas Gallery, and a project with Nylon Japan. When they said the future would be bright, this must have been what they meant.

Bless (Berlin)

Approaching fashion as conceptual product design, German/Austrian design duo Bless create thrice-yearly collections of limited edition objects, many of them wearable, and many not -- such as a wooden sculpture of a sweater. In 1996, their debut "furwigs" were snapped up by Martin Margiela, and designers Desiree Heiss and Ines Skaag were suddenly thrown into the hot-young-designer spotlight. Through the years, they've designed sock boots, disposable T-shirts, coats for tables, and fabric-covered shoes for Adidas... and the surprises just keep on coming.

Franzius (Berlin)

Stephanie Franzius apprenticed at Anne Klein and Viktor & Rolf before returning to her native Berlin to start her men's and women's line, Franzius. Modern yet traditional, loud and soft, classic with surprising tweaks, each collection is inspired by a strong female muse, from Françoise Hardy to Juliette Lewis and Tilda Swinton. Having caught fire in Berlin, the line is now sold as far afield as Tokyo and Moscow. 

Read more at Goethe-Institut and JC Report.

Photos via Franzius

Primark (Dublin)

With no advertising and no real website, Primark sounds like a relic, yet the Ireland-based retailer rivals Topshop as one of the major fast fashion retailers serving the UK. Selling clothes for absurdly low prices, such as a dress for 4 pounds, the fashion giant has often drawn criticism for its manufacturing practices, namely its well-documented sweatshops in India and Bangladesh. Nonetheless, its new Oxford Street flagship store remains crowded with eager consumers.

Cheap Monday (Stockholm)

Once upon a time, in an age before premium denim, $65 jeans seemed unreasonably expensive. Then came Diesel and Seven and True Religion, who taught us that denim could be sexy, and that the more we paid for our jeans, the sexier we'd be. Sure enough, we got sexier and sexier, and our wallets got emptier and emptier, until some crazy Swedish people had the bizarre idea that a simple pair of skinny jeans could be cheap and chic. Those people were Cheap Monday. 

The brand started as an in-house line for Weekday, a Stockholm shop that had morphed from vintage boutique to high-end fashion emporium. Designer Örjan Andersson had the idea for cheap, fashionable jeans, and starting in 2005, the brand's skull-logo jeans spread like wildfire around the world. Weekday's latest venture is a dressier line called Kostym, a slightly more expensive brand featuring high-end detailing on Chinese-made slim, classic blazers, trousers, bomber jackets, and yes, jumper dresses that work equally well at the office or onstage at a rock show. What's next? A world takeover is most likely in the works: H&M has lately bought a 60% stake in the company.

Whyred (Stockholm)

So you want to start a Swedish fashion label. You'll need a big dose of the color black. High-waisted pencil skirts and trousers. Chunky black leather heels, or let's say wedges. Drapey tank tops. A mannish blazer. A jumpsuit and a girlish X-back jumper dress. Got all those? Congratulations: it's Whyred's spring collection! 

If designers Roland Hjort, Lena Patriksson, and Jonas Clason have Swedish fashion down to a formula, there's a reason for that -- the three met as colleagues at H&M. They launched their men's line in 1999 and the women's line the following year, and have since grown Whyred into a global brand complete with eyewear line, art collaborations, and sales in 230 stores around the world, including three stores of their own in Stockholm. 

Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair (Stockholm)

With one British (Lee Cotter) and one Swedish designer (Astrid Olson), it seems almost too obvious that their line would be a blend of classic tailoring and androgynous, dark-hued deconstruction. And yet Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair seamlessly blends those styles to create a line of knits and wovens that is at once architectural, experimental, and fully functional, with pieces ranging from shredded cotton jersey tanks with the lowest of armholes to sharply tailored coats with layers of lapels. Ann Demeulemeester, eat your heart out!

Mongrels in Common (Berlin)

Designers Livia Ximénez-Carrillo and Christine Pluess met at Berlin's Esmod School of Design and never looked back. Their shared multicultural backgrounds inspired the name for their line Mongrels in Common, which won the Premium Young Designers Award for its very first menswear collection, for Fall 2006. True to its name, the line combines disparate elements such as masculine and feminine, classical and avant-garde, and bright and neutral colors, creating a fresh, sophisticated chic that encompasses draped and tailored pieces, day and eveningwear, all sewn from high-end European wools and silks.

Opening Ceremony (New York)

Having opened their Soho boutiqe with the concept of an ongoing competition between nations of designers, Opening Ceremony owners Humberto Leon and Carol Lim found themselves with a lack of basics to complement the edgy designer wares they sold. No problem there -- Leon, with a background in visual merchandising, began to design the shop's in-house line of colorblock hoodies and wide, cropped jackets himself. With its expansion into footwear and designer collaborations (Chloë Sevigny! Liberty vs. Nike!), the Opening Ceremony line has become a must-have brand of its own, and is now carried at Barneys New York, among other tastemaking shops.

photos via Oak

Acne Jeans (Stockholm)

From its humble beginnings as a promotional piece for a Stockholm creative collective, the Acne Jeans line has grown by leaps and bounds, recently opening its first U.S. store in Soho as a collaboration with cult fave Opening Ceremony. Flattering is not the word to describe the terminally hip line, which now encompasses chicly clunky footwear, handbags, and defiantly dumpy mens- and womenswear in odd-textured fabrics, as well as the brand's signature skinny jeans, now in a plethora of colors and finishes -- Acne being one of the labels often named as spurring the current skinny jeans fad.

House of Cassette (Los Angeles)

A high-end streetwear label catering to guys and gals, Cassette brings its dark, Europe-meets-Stateside aesthetic to the grown-up skater generation. With a heavy emphasis on black wool, the line's gothic mood would seem to be at odds with designer Peter Lee's sunny, L.A. surfer boy background, but its alterna-classic pieces in skinny silhouettes would look at home anywhere from New York to Tokyo to Copenhagen.

David David (London)

An art-school grad and onetime painter, designer David Saunders was drawn into fashion when he shared a flat with Fashion East director Lulu Kennedy. Now a darling of the London fashion world, with his David David line of mens- and womenswear selling at Dover Street Market and Seven New York, Saunders channels a less flowery Emilio Pucci with his colorful graphic prints, displayed for SS 2008 on a series of blazers, short jumpsuits, knitwear, and even socks.