Retailers and brands are facing challenging times as the march to move business online continues. Independents especially, find tackling e-commerce an added frustration. Joanne Yulan Jong summarises key points from the Retail Fest Digital Master class and explores the easy wins to get visible online and boost sales. It’s always a pleasure to take part …
Read MoreBUILDING A PROFITABLE CREATIVE BUSINESS IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL
Original, open and agile thinking is key to building a profitable creative business in an ever more digital, post-COVID 19 era. Join the dots with Joanne Yulan Jong. Many brands approach Yulan Creative with a design and creative direction brief. Others contact us because they’re looking for brand strategy and financial and business advice. Ultimately, even though …
Read MoreTHE RISE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND FEMINISM IN FASHION
A few years ago a financial expert asked me whether the eco-friendly fashion platform Reve En Vert would be a future success. I told him “Honestly, I’m afraid customers don’t want to pay more for a garment just because it’s sustainable”. Well, that tide may be turning as their business has just had a successfully …
Read MoreTHE REVOLVING DOOR OF FASHION AND THE CHANGING ROLES WITHIN IT
Falling sales, shrinking margins and the digital age have forced the fashion industry into reboot mode. Unprecedented structural changes are taking place across the board and with this overhaul comes the shift of creative fashion job roles. Take for example Virgil Abloh who has recently been appointed to take over menswear at Louis Vuitton. …
Read MoreHARNESSING THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN FASHION
AI has the power to bridge the gap between clicks and bricks if we use it wisely. Joanne Jong explores the role of Artificial Intelligence in fashion. We have reached data saturation point. Futurist, Sophie Hackford says, “We are being observed and categorised by Artificial Intelligence in parts of our lives that weren’t previously watched.” …
Read MoreSUSTAINABILITY IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY – OLD HABITS DIE HARD
Each week, we read about a new high-street casualty. It’s currently the turn of fast fashion retailer, New Look, who has reported an annual loss of £235M. But even as high-street crashes pile up and consumers wise up, landfill sites aren’t getting any smaller. The truth is, the system is broken and achieving sustainability in …
Read MoreFASHIONED FROM NATURE AT THE V&A
Fashion exhibitions sell tickets and pull in the public, and the V&A knows how to do them beautifully. How refreshing to see them combining history into the relevant topics of the fashion business today with the current Fashioned From Nature exhibition. The discussions around sustainability have been circulating for decades. I remember even 15 years ago …
Read MoreTHE RISE OF THE GIG ECONOMY IN RETAIL
There’s a newcomer in retail town. It goes by the name of The Gig Economy and love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. Yulan Creative investigates. Zero-Hour Contracts As retailers fight against the tide of reduced footfall and profit margins versus rising overheads and wages, shortcuts are being made in terms of staffing. …
Read MoreTHE FIT FACTOR
As we watch the decline of retail, we might be forgiven to think that all fashion sales in the future will be online. This simply is not the case. In a recent report by Bain & Company, it is been projected that e-commerce sales, especially when it comes to mid to luxury brands, will plateau …
Read MoreNAVIGATING THE FASHION RETAIL REVOLUTION – PART 1
How consumers shifts have affected creative thinking across the fashion industry. In February, I was invited to speak to a packed house at Pure London Olympia, as part of their programme of industry seminars. I’ve been observing as we all have, the huge shift in consumer behaviour and its effect on the retail sector. I was …
Read More