Company Anon
Founder Ben Smith
Every edition Ragtrader talks to a previously profiled business to chart its development in the intervening years. This week, Assia Benmedjdoub talks to Anon founder Ben Smith.
What were the key issues or challenges for your company when you started out? What are they now?
When I first started out, the biggest issue I faced was financing. Where was I going to get the money to put a collection together and how I was going to make it happen? As we grow, the issue just grows. Instead of financing a small sample collection we are facing the issue of meeting minimums for production; working out a way to get the best value from every style.
What was the range like back then? What is it like now?
When I first started out as a designer, I started with my own signature line. It was almost demi-couture; one-off pieces, lots of hand finishing, collections that were more conceptually driven. My new line is more focused on the customer. It is driven by the notion of providing great, chic, elegant and easy basics that women can build a wardrobe out of. Clothes that have a sense of quality, luxury and importantly in the current climate – value.
How many stores/wholesale accounts did you have back then? How many do you have now?
I started off my previous label selling to department store Browns in London as a student at the University of Technology, Sydney. I ended up selling to stores such as Elizabeth Charles in New York and Husk in Melbourne as well as opening my own boutique in Sydney. My current label is just beginning its wholesale expansion and has taken part in showcases like Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. We have been really lucky to pick up accounts with Jean Brown in Brisbane and Periscope in Perth.
What was the retail climate like for your business? How has it changed?
I think our collection is really well pitched for the current economic climate. Women are being more considered in their purchases and want things that have a real sense of value to them. Things that they can wear all the time, that are going to work in extending their wardrobe. Pieces that are chic and easy, things that allow the woman to come to the forefront. I have been really fortunate doing trunk shows around the country and showing the collection directly to clients, educating them on how the collections work, gauging their reactions, learning and knowing what is working best for them. On average, I manage to sell six to seven pieces to a client. It’s about putting it together as a package – an entire wardrobe solution, a selection of pieces that mix and match and style to suit the woman and occasion.
What was your approach to marketing and promotions? What is it now?
Previously I had been content to make my collections, show them and leave the work to stand by itself. Now with my new collection, I am more focused on meeting clients through trunk shows and other events, educating them about how the collection works and what it can do for them. Listening and learning from this interaction.
What was your approach to staff training? How has it changed?
We are still small so we don’t have a large number of staff. A big part of my training with new retailers is doing in-store trunk shows, showing their customers and training their staff how the collection works as a wardrobe concept. How to put it all together, how to show women the possibilities of seven simple easy pieces.
What was the greatest moment/most significant development in the life of your label?
It was what I learned from creating my new label. Looking at what women didn’t have and wanted and needed in their wardrobes. I was sick of looking at (and creating) clothes that were well designed, that were conceptually interesting and really beautiful but had no meaning in the life of real women. It was the decision to make carefully considered basics that women could really absorb into their lives.
What has been the worst experience?
I don’t know if I can detail what the worst experience has been. Everything I have done, every mistake I have made has informed me. I’ve learned and grown from any hiccups I’ve experienced and this has bought me to where I am today. I am so happy with what I am doing. I really relish the feedback and positivity I am getting from women wearing the collection. Everything has been worth it.
Name: Anon
Challenge: Financing
Range: Demi-couture
Marketing: None
Staff training: None
Name: Anon
Challenge: Minimums
Range: Customer focused
Marketing: Self-driven
Staff training: In-store