ALEXANDER WANG

BY EMILY MAE TOBIN

CONTENTS

Page 3 - IntroductionPage 4 - Past & PresentPage 9 – Financial Page 10 – Position In The MarketPage 12 – Consumer Mood BoardPage 13 – Consumer ProfilePage 14 – Online StrategyPage 16 - ConclusionPage 17 – ReferencesPage 18 - Appendices

INTRODUCTION During this presentation, we will be looking in depth at the fashion label

Alexander Wang. The purpose of this presentation is to gain a better understanding of the brand by

discussing:

Who created the brand and how was the brand established

The past and present status of the brand in the fashion industry

The customer profile and target audience of the brand

The marketing strategies the brand uses

PAST & PRESENT

Alexander Wang is an American fashion designer who was born and raised in San Francisco. At the age of 18, he moved to New York City where he attended the prestigious Parsons Design School for two years before deciding to pursue the

launch of his own his own eponymous label.

By 2005, Alex began designing his first collection, which was predominately made up of knitwear. In 2007 he launched his full women’s ready-to-wear collection inspired by 80's

Hip Hop; selling internationally to over 200 boutiques and retail stores.

Following the success of this first RTW collection, Alex received top honours as

the recipient of the Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund and launched a full

accessories collection in 2009.This collection was worn by icons such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Anna Del

Russo (Vogue Japans fashion editor) This earned Wang recognition by his peers when he was announced the

winner of the Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year award, followed by

the Swiss Textiles Award.

In 2009 after international success, 'T by Alexander Wang' (a collection of mostly jersey and basic wear) and a Footwear collection was launched; This was followed by a Men’s T by Alexander Wang and ready-to-wear collection launched in 2011.

These collections earned Alex the GQ magazines 'Best Menswear Designer of the Year' award and the CFDA for Best Accessory Designer that same year.

The brand Alexander Wang has now evolved into a fashion house of it's own right. The Alexander Wang flagship store opened in SoHo, New York in 2011 and as of

December 2012, Alexander Wang was named to succeed Nicolas Ghesquière at French fashion house Balenciaga; which sparks the question will the brand have guest

designers whilst Wang is working as creative director of Balenciaga?

Although the brand Alexander Wang has been successful, the brand has also faced recent setbacks. The latest being a $450 million lawsuit which claimed Alexander

Wang's factory in New Yorks Chinatown district was a "sweatshop” and that workers were treated unfairly. The case received widespread negative media attention however

after just under a year, the case was dismissed following an undisclosed settlement between both sides.

FINANCIAL Alexander Wang is an independent brand (meaning it is wholly family owned) and is

currently said to be worth around £15 million.

LVMH (short for Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy) a French multinational group which owns 60 brands; including Louis

Vuitton and Christian Dior, various lucrative champagnes and Bulgari (an upmarket

jeweller) are rumoured to be in talks to buy stakes within Alexander Wang.

The firm boasts that its sales have risen by 13% in the first half of this year (to €10.3 billion/$14.4 billion.) By buying Alexander

Wang, it will ultimately increase the brands financial position within the industry and it's overall net worth. This will be achieved by

giving the brand more financial backing and accessibility in countries with a higher

number of “extreme net-worth individuals” (people with so much money that a £4,000 handbag seems a bargain) such as Asia.

POSITION IN THE MARKET

Alexander Wangs position in the market is within the High Price and Fashion area of the 'Fashion Matrix'. The brands target market is fashion conscious, successful

individuals usually between the ages of 25 - 40.

The brand is known for having high quality garments which are innovative in design. Garments look clean and chic. The brand is made in the USA and stresses it believes in fair trade garments and respect for it's employees. The brands personality is edgy, cool, artistic, fresh, young and independent. People will often buy Alexander Wang,

believing that by owning the brand they are adopting the brands imagine and attitude.

The brand has a relatively underground edgy image and due to it being an independent label, it gives the brand the asset of exclusivity. This gives the buyer recognition purely for being aware of the brand. Now that the brand has evolved globally, it has been worn by a handful of celebrities who considered fashion icons. Wang is a designer who appreciates the value of celebrity; he has always has the most famous, hip models for his shows. This has given the brand a 'cult'/'IT' status.

This year, Alexander Wang will be entering into their first collaboration with SAMSUNG mobile phones to create a bag. By creating a collaboration with a brand that has a higher and well known

position in the market, it will build awareness and worth of Alexander Wang but take away the exclusivity

asset that the brand had previously.

CONSUMER MOODBOARD

CONSUMER PROFILEOlivia is a 28 year old female. She lives on her own, in a spacious one bedroom

apartment, in the Northern Quarter district of Manchester's City Centre. Olivia is a university graduate and currently earns £25,000 per annum as a Pattern Cutter for a company. One day Olivia wants to work as a Senior Creative Gerber Pattern Cutter

which will increase her salary by £20,000 per annum. This makes Olivia a class 15 on the Acorn Classification (An affluent urban professional) and a NRS social grade B.

Olivia enjoys shopping, travelling and reading fashion magazines. Olivia's style is a mix of smart and relaxed with edgy details. She enjoys wearing clean tailored shapes, high quality fabrics and accessories considered to be cult high fashion items. Olivia shops collections such as T by Alexander Wang for comfortable t shirts and dresses but also

the accessories collections for bags and shoes.

Olivia could be considered a Label Seeker and Social consumer. She enjoys keeping up to date with the latest trends and must have items each season. She follows

celebrities styles such as Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen and Leandra Medine of the blog 'The Manrepeller'.

As Olivia is a peacock, she is single and enjoys travelling and going out as often as she can for meals and trips with friends. She hopes that a promotion and salary increase

will allow her to wear more high fashion brands; as well as moving into a bigger apartment and city.

ONLINE STRATAGYAlexander Wang has a good online

presence. The brands own website includes a store (with catwalk images included), a blog with updates on the brand and a look

book. The collections can be bought straight from the brands website and also on

advanced online high fashion retailers such as NET-A-PORTER, Harvey Nichols and

Coggles.

The brand also takes advantage of the use of social media platforms such as;

Facebook - This platform is used to share articles, advertisements and general news on the brand as well as

showing photographs of style icons and celebs wearing the brand. This platform allows the reader/audience to see the highlights of

the brand.

Youtube - Used to stream videos of catwalk shows, collection advertisements and behind the scenes videos. These videos

allow the buyers to feel as though they are getting to know the brand on a more up close and personal level.

Twitter - This platform, much like Facebook is to share articles on the brand and photographs of celebrities and fashion icons

sporting the brand.

CONCLUSIONSO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT DURING THIS PRESENTATION?

Whilst putting together this presentation, I have learnt about different marketing techniques which are used to increase a brands position in the market. These include the use of social networking and collaborations. I believe that this year Alexander Wang will become a more known brand due to it's collaboration with SAMSUNG and talks of being bought by a large

firm this year. I do however feel though that it will decrease it's once underground and exclusive image. This expansion will also probably result in his collections being used for

inspiration for high street shops in the future.

REFERENCESPast & Present Biography

Alexander Wang. Biography. Available: www.alexanderwang.com/studio/biography/. Last accessed 28th of March 2013.

NY MAG. (2007). Label Overview. Available: http://nymag.com/thecut/fashion/designers/alexander-wang/. Last accessed 22th March 2013.

Style. (2008). Alexander Wang Fall 2008 RTW Collection. Available: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/F2008RTW-AWANG. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Tang, A. (2012). Alexander Wang 2007 - 2013. Available: http://www.theversastyle.com/2012/09/alexander-wang-2007-2013.html. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Fashion Model Directory. Alexander Wang - Fashion Designer . Available: www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/designers/alexander-wang/. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Jay. (2011). Alexander Wang: If Clothes Could Talk.. Available: http://visionaryartistrymag.com/2011/09/alexander-wang-if-clothes-could-talk/. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Swanson, C. (2011). Women of Wang. Available: http://nymag.com/fashion/11/spring/71655/. Last accessed 22th March 2013.

Grinspan, I . (2011). Alexander Wangs Soho Store Opens . Available: ny.racked.com/archives/2011/02/14/alexander_wangs_store_opens_this_thursday_february_17.php. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Socha, M. (2013). Wang to Take Reins at Balenciaga . Available: www.wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/alexander-wang-to-design-balenciaga-6510758?module=hp-topstories/. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Aqquim. (2012). Who Wears Alexander Wang Cat Eye Glasses?. Available: http://journal.aqquim.com/who-wear-alexander-wang-cat-eye-sunglasses/. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Legal Issues

Misener, J. (2012). Alexander Wang Hit With $50 Million Labor Lawsuit Alleging Unsafe Working Conditions. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/alexander-wang-lawsuit_n_1323852.html. Last accessed 24th March 2013.

Carrega, C. (2012). $50m suit alleges designer Alexander Wang runs chinatown sweatshop. Available: hwww.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/suit_alleges_designer_alexander_7hrwVZg5c6Mac1SBFX4sHK?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Manhattan. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Sowray, B. (2012). 'Sweatshop' lawsuit against Alexander Wang dismissed. Available: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9476820/Sweatshop-lawsuit-against-Alexander-Wang-dismissed.html. Last accessed 24th March 2013.

Financial

MASIDLOVER, N . (2012). Balenciaga Hires Alexander Wang. Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324355904578157460350150052.html. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Anderson, C. (2013). Alexander Wang & Samsung Are The Latest Weird Designer Collaboration . Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/alexander-wang-samsung-collaboration_n_2581633.html. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.

Unknown. (2011). The glossy posse: Catwalks in the West, action in the East. Available: http://www.economist.com/node/21530989. Last accessed 26th of March 2013.