Kris Van Assche Talking About Design Concept

As the designer said, nothing in his early achievements can be compared with the step taken in 2004. "Walking down the assistant seat of the big fashion house and leaving this relatively comfortable environment to start a personal brand is the most sacred and great thing I have ever done. At that time, I was 28 years old, already able to pay my rent, get a good salary, and give up all of this to build my company, which is basically two different from gambling. "

Kris also admitted that he was not satisfied with the situation at that time. "At least for several years before leaving Dior, I felt very frustrated for a long time and wanted to find another way out. It's not that I was in a bad position at that time. I just felt that I had been helping others to realize my dream. Then, at a certain moment, I realized that I had my own story to tell. I graduated from my great and strict alma mater, not to be a lifelong assistant. I have been an assistant for such a long time, but I have never forgotten the moment when I graduated from the fashion show at school. At that time, I felt that everything was worth it. I couldn't wait to get that feeling back. It really means that I can release my fashion statement and dedicate my design to the world.

The ultimate establishment of the brand is thanks to the efforts of friends and the insistence of the designer himself. "I basically drove all my friends crazy, and then they told me one by one that they contacted some investors who were willing to subsidize young entrepreneurs, though they had never invested in luxury goods or fashion brands. To this day, they are still my business partners. " He said he would not reveal the identity of investors. "I used to show them this concept from a fashion manifesto, without presenting any data."

Kris needs a business plan. He was very inconsistent at first. "I don't care about business, but I learned from Yves Saint Laurent and Dior that everyone should do what they are good at. I know I'm not good at making business plans. "

This time, friends once again offered a helping hand, which is also the result of Kris's perseverance in seeking help from them. "Finally, I became a business plan with a group of people who had never met before. They were also introduced to me by friends whom I really could not bear to talk to and ask for help. Some of them work in banks. I can explain to them the perspective of my problems and then make them a reality with their help. German designer Dirk Schonberger is also a member of the Kris personal consultancy team. "What budget to buy fabric, how to budget a model, etc." - this is what Dirk told me. He collate several valuable ideas for me.

"My first reaction is," I don't know how to make a business plan, so I won't do it. You guys are doing business. You fix it. I'll do the laundry. " But they said, "no, you have to build your own business, so you have to make your own business plan." I have learned to bear the responsibility bravely and keep on learning, which is one of my greatest gains.

"In [2004]11 1, I finally had my own office, and now I remember the moment when I put the fax machine on the socket, because I ordered the fabric by fax, I always wanted to have my own fax number. My fashion show will be released in two months. "It's a nightmare," Kris recalls. "We have only three people to do everything." Despite this, Kris's personal brand has attracted the attention of the industry since the founding of the army. The authoritative Fashion Critic Suzy Menkes also appeared in the debut of its first fashion show.

Ten years later, Kris said that independent brands still face challenges. It is not enough to make good fashion shows and good series. You have to learn everything about it: you have good salespeople, good press spokesmen, good strategic vision, good accountants, etc. These are just as important as walking show, and to a certain extent, it is more difficult to do well.

Later, Kris had his first fashion rule: "the more you sell, the more trouble you get." After the first release of the brand, Kris estimated that there would be 15 customers coming to the door, but then 45 retailers dropped the order. "It sounds great, but at the same time, it means you have to get things done quickly, buy Fabrics and put them into production. If you want to send your clothes to customers in June, they won't pay you until July, so we really don't have enough cash to do all this. The bigger the business stall, the more money you need.

In 2007, he left at Hedi. Dior Homme Kris was invited to be the brand creative director by his former employer. He admitted that this step led to the operation of personal brand. "The appointment of [Dior] will push things forward to the next stage. My personal brand has just been released for the fifth time and attracted a lot of attention at once.

Over the past few years, Kris Sales are steadily rising - he declined our request to disclose the exact revenue or growth data of the brand - frankly speaking, his brand has been faced with some challenges, especially during the financial crisis of 2008. "I understand that young brands can't be smooth sailing. If everything goes well, it's likely that your ambition is not big enough, "he added." you have to constantly adapt yourself, for example, when the financial crisis sweeps the globe. Retailers will buy fewer brands, and they will buy more famous brands for insurance. We can feel that. If you are a small brand, it will affect you. But on the other hand, "the advantage of small brands is that you can make decisions very quickly, and you can change your mind at any time, and the consequences will not be too serious." Kris said.

Today, you can buy Kris brands in 150 stores in 31 countries around the world. "From the first day, our second largest market after Europe is Japan. Now the market in China and the United States is becoming more and more important. But independent brands in the United States are harder to do because they have to get through many connections and have plenty of resources, and we are not a young company.

In recent years Men's wear market The sudden outburst also means that the market is already as important as the diversification of women's clothing market. However, there are huge differences between the two markets, and to some extent, the men's wear market is more difficult to do, because you can't do some it bags or it shoes like a lot of women's clothing brands. The designer said. But his brand is no shortage of hot products. He sells best T-shirts and knitted fabrics. Shoes are also selling well, especially for the black and white golf shoes with "multi layer bandages" which are released every quarter, which are slightly different in the quarterly Version (for example, the 2014 spring and summer version is alligator skin splicing). The retail price of sports shoes is about 500 US dollars (about 3080 yuan), which has become the favorite footwear of French football players. The bag has also become the most profitable product of Kris's personal brand, thanks to the two-year collaboration with Eastpak, which Kris calls "considerable success." "After the successful launch of the four seasons bag, we intend to suspend the cooperation, but we have learned how to design bags and have trained our customers." (Kris rejected other requests for cooperation: "I think cooperation should at least bring something I don't know how to do, and vice versa. Because these cooperation can't make any money, so you have to do something else to continue it. " )

Kris doesn't like to look back at the past. But when it comes to the spring and summer series sold in stores, he became very excited and called it a turning point. "This series marks a time when I decided to try my best to make fashionable clothes. I think this is a good thing for brands. For me, I will strive to make the brand more fashionable and visually more eye-catching and more interesting. But the designer also admitted that the move alienated some early cooperative buyers. "We used to be associated with some mature brands. When we put them together, we looked very cool. I think we are regarded as a "slightly modern classic". There are many fashion shops to buy our clothes now. For some shops, we have taken a prominent position. "