How to build a luxury brand
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the intricacies of building a luxury brand, distinguishing between premium, designer, and bespoke categories. It explores the importance of performance, aesthetics, and craftsmanship in luxury branding, emphasizing the value of time and brand history. The speaker shares insights from their career, discussing the challenges of different brand types, from basic to discount, and offers strategies for success in the luxury market. The script also touches on the speaker's personal journey with luxury brands, their experiences, and the creative process behind crafting premium products.
Takeaways
- 🔍 Luxury is not solely defined by high price; it encompasses various categories and brand types.
- 💼 Basic brands struggle to stand out without a unique selling proposition or significant history.
- 💰 Value brands offer premium products at lower prices, but face challenges with profit margins on platforms like Amazon.
- 💳 Discount brands risk devaluing their brand by constantly offering sales, leading to a reputation of being only worth the discounted price.
- 🏆 Premium brands charge more for their products, but not all are considered luxury; they must offer a distinct user experience or performance.
- 🏃♂️ Performance brands cater to consumers who demand high-quality products that enhance their activities, such as athletic wear.
- 🎨 Designer brands are recognized for their aesthetic appeal, often becoming desirable even beyond their functional benefits.
- 👔 Bespoke brands focus on craftsmanship and personalized products, offering a unique experience to customers.
- ⏳ The element of time is crucial in elevating a brand from designer or performance to luxury status, as it builds reputation and heritage.
- 🛍️ Brands can position themselves based on tactics, fulfilling user needs, or translating an artistic vision, each with different market approaches and challenges.
Q & A
What are the different types of luxury brands discussed in the script?
-The script discusses several types of luxury brands including Performance Brands, Designer Brands, and Bespoke Brands. Performance Brands charge a premium for products that offer superior functionality, Designer Brands succeed based on the aesthetics of their products, and Bespoke Brands are based on craftsmanship and creating custom items for consumers.
How does the script define 'luxury' in the context of branding?
-The script defines 'luxury' as a brand category that goes beyond just charging a premium. It involves a combination of performance, design, bespoke craftsmanship, and the aspect of time, where a brand has a history and reputation that makes it synonymous with quality and desirability.
What is the difference between a 'value brand' and a 'discount brand' as described in the script?
-A 'value brand' is one that offers products at a lower price point, arguing that price is the main reason people buy. However, a 'discount brand' starts off normal but then relies heavily on sales, becoming synonymous with being purchased only when on sale, which can erode brand value over time.
Why does the script suggest that being a 'value brand' can be complicated in 2024?
-The script suggests that being a 'value brand' can be complicated in 2024 because of the rise of platforms like Amazon, increasing fees, and competition from overseas communities that can produce and sell at lower prices. Additionally, the competition includes entities like Timu, which can ship directly to any country, offering lower prices.
What is the role of 'time' in elevating a brand to the luxury category according to the script?
-The script suggests that 'time' plays a crucial role in elevating a brand to luxury by establishing a reputation and history. It implies that a brand that can consistently deliver on its promises of performance, design, or bespoke craftsmanship over a long period can be seen as a luxury brand.
How does the script differentiate between 'premium' and 'luxury' brands?
-While the script acknowledges that 'premium' and 'luxury' are often used interchangeably, it differentiates by suggesting that not all brands that charge a premium are luxury brands. Luxury brands have additional elements like a strong heritage, consistent high-quality performance, and a reputation that extends over time.
What are some of the insights from the speaker's history working with various brands that are shared in the script?
-The speaker shares insights such as the importance of understanding the dynamics of luxury branding, the significance of performance in outdoor and tactical brands, and the celebratory aspect of luxury as seen in custom-made products. They also discuss the challenges of creating and maintaining a luxury brand in a competitive global market.
What is the concept of 'displacement' as it relates to product design mentioned in the script?
-The concept of 'displacement' in product design refers to creating a product that is made from an unexpected material or has an unexpected functionality. For example, making pants that look like flannel but are actually made of leather, or designing a beach pant from a knit material to be lightweight and airy.
How does the script discuss the idea of 'elevation' in product design?
-The script discusses 'elevation' as taking a common everyday item and enhancing it with better materials, construction, or design to make it more premium. It's about offering a product that is not just functional but also aligns with a higher standard of quality and aesthetics, such as creating a cashmere hat that feels ultra-premium at a reasonable price point.
What advice does the script give for testing product ideas for a brand?
-The script advises starting with a single unique product in the $1 to $150 price range, leveraging organic content and ads to test the market, and iterating based on feedback and sales performance. It emphasizes the importance of having a flexible brand identity that adapts to cultural shifts, personal passion, and market validation.
Outlines
💎 Building Luxury Brands and Understanding Premium Pricing
The paragraph delves into the intricacies of constructing a luxury brand and the various types of luxury in the market. It challenges the common misconception that high price equates to luxury, emphasizing the need to understand different brand categories. The speaker outlines the video's agenda, which includes discussing strategies for luxury brand building, the distinction between luxury, premium, and designer brands, and sharing personal insights from a career working with such brands. The paragraph also touches on positioning a brand based on skills, products, and potential for success, using examples like Bonaga jackets and smoothies to illustrate the concept of perceived value and luxury.
🛍️ Types of Brands and Their Market Positioning
This section categorizes brands into basic, value, and discount brands, explaining the challenges and market dynamics each faces. Basic brands struggle to stand out without a unique selling proposition, while value brands, despite offering lower prices, find their margins eroded by platforms like Amazon. Discount brands risk becoming synonymous with sales, attracting price-sensitive customers but not building brand loyalty. The paragraph then transitions into the realm of premium brands, which command higher prices but are not necessarily luxury. It introduces the concept of performance brands, which offer superior functionality and justify their premium pricing through enhanced user experience.
🎨 The Intersection of Design, Performance, and Bespoke Luxury
The speaker explores designer brands that thrive on aesthetics and the historical shift towards design as a differentiator. They discuss the evolution of brands like Alessi, known for their design-centric approach, and the power of design in commanding a premium. Bespoke brands are introduced as those offering custom craftsmanship, providing a personalized experience that justifies a higher price. The paragraph culminates in a discussion on how time enhances a brand's luxury status, using examples like Herman Miller to illustrate how a combination of design, performance, and longevity can elevate a brand to luxury status.
🏔️ Navigating the High Peaks of Performance Brands
The focus is on performance brands, which are revered for their functionality and ability to meet the demands of extreme users. The speaker shares personal experiences working with outdoor and tactical brands, emphasizing the high stakes of meeting performance expectations. They discuss the transition of brands like Arc'teryx and Benchmade from performance to luxury, highlighting the importance of time and consistent performance in establishing a brand's reputation. The narrative also touches on the celebratory aspect of luxury, as seen in custom products for special occasions, and the speaker's journey in the luxury sector.
🚀 Launching Brands with Tactical Excellence and User-Centric Design
The paragraph discusses three types of brands: those that excel tactically by leveraging platforms or relationships, those that fulfill a user need by offering superior experiences, and those that translate an artistic vision into products. The speaker advocates for a realistic approach to brand building, emphasizing the importance of identifying a brand's unique angle. They share their experiences with creating products that resonate with their audience and the market, focusing on concepts like displacement, elevation, and the unobtanium factor. The speaker also stresses the value of customer feedback and iterative product development in shaping a brand's identity and success.
🌟 Elevating Everyday Items to Luxury Status
The speaker shares their process of creating luxury products by elevating everyday items, using a cashmere hat and fuzzy dice as examples. They discuss the decision-making process involved in material selection, design, and branding, aiming to offer premium products at more accessible price points. The paragraph highlights the importance of vendor collaboration, product iteration, and the balance between artistic vision and market demand. The speaker also reflects on the dynamic nature of brand building in the digital age, where customer engagement and feedback play crucial roles in shaping brand identity and product offerings.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Luxury Brand
💡Premium Brand
💡Performance Brand
💡Designer Brand
💡Bespoke Brand
💡Value Brand
💡Discount Brand
💡Brand Positioning
💡Tactical Branding
💡Artistic Vision
Highlights
The video discusses the intricacies of building a luxury brand and the different types of luxury brands.
There's a distinction between premium, luxury, and designer brands, and not all premium brands are luxury brands.
Performance brands charge a premium for products that offer superior functionality.
Designer brands succeed based on the aesthetics of their products.
Bespoke brands offer customized craftsmanship, which justifies a premium price.
The function of time is crucial in elevating a brand from designer or performance to luxury status.
The video shares insights from the creator's history working with various luxury brands.
Positioning a brand based on skill set, product offerings, and market positioning is crucial for success.
The video delves into the creator's work with valuable studios, focusing on Kashmir leather and other luxury materials.
Different types of brands include basic, value, discount, premium, performance, designer, and bespoke.
The video explains the challenges of being a value brand in a competitive global market.
Discount brands risk becoming synonymous with sales, which can devalue the brand.
Premium brands that charge more need to offer something that justifies the higher price to consumers.
The video provides examples of how to create a brand with a tactical, user need, or artistic vision.
Testing products with a specific price point and running ads can help validate brand ideas.
Brand identities should be flexible and adapt based on cultural trends, personal passion, and market performance.
Transcripts
everyone wants to charge a premium for
their product build a luxury brand we
see $12,500 bonaga jackets $23 aan
smoothies youor charging $210 a plate
and you get that weird feeling of who is
buying them and why are they spending
their money on them it happens with
almost any expensive object there's a
number of reasons but price doesn't
equate luxury and even though we often
use the words premium or luxury
interchangeably there's actually a lot
of different categories that I like to
use to describe where a product or a
brand sits so in this video we're going
to talk about how to build a luxury
brand the different types of luxury
Brands and then dive into difference
between luxury premium designer all the
various ways that you can charge more if
you're creating your own brand or begin
to understand as a consumer why you're
paying for what but in addition to that
I'm going to hit my history working with
these kind of various brands of
different types and the insights and
lessons I learned throughout my career
Journey we're talk about how to position
your brand based on your skill set the
products that you're making and where
you'll be able to find success and then
some of the specific products I've been
making for valuable studios in Kashmir
leather and more so you can learn a
little bit about how elevated things
come to life and strategies and
positions you can take to actually
produce because the Journey of how these
things come together even if you've
begun to understand how you can actually
order and create things is really
interesting to see and then to then
gauge their commercial success let's
dive in so first there are different
types of brand we'll start with what I
would consider just to be a basic brand
brand that sells a reasonable thing that
people like there are other alternatives
to at a reasonable price this alone if
you don't have some kind of stored
history and availability isn't enough as
a new brand to stand out and a lot of
lot of Brands get caught up in this
position and don't understand why they
don't have any specifics that allow them
to go anywhere then we have a value
brand a value brand takes something you
can get at a higher price and literally
just offers it for a value they're going
to argue that they position themselves
price being the reason that people buy
and this is a Surefire way to win but it
becomes really complicated in 2024 you
log into Amazon it is filled with value
brand while Amazon continues to raise
their fees and if you're one of the
people positioning based on price your
margin is getting continually eaten into
by one of the largest Platforms in the
world and you're competing with an
increasingly active overseas community
that doesn't need us people to go
enforce and create those Brands they're
able to do it on their own and sell on
value against anyone who's doing that
domestically and win and the same thing
goes for Europe as well and even worse
you're now competing directly with timu
shipping and even worse you're now
competing directly with timu who is
going to be shipping into any country
that you're in and offering still things
at a lower value and you are competing
with the lowest of the low China pricing
which is what these value Brands would
do already they would go to to get the
cheapest thing they could from overse
and bring it over and offer it at a low
markup now you're competing with the
people that do that directly this is a
place that I can recommend anyone right
now start a brand in without some huge
massive significant advantage that they
already own through a factory or a
process or Machinery that I'd say 99.9%
of us don't have but even worse position
to be in in my mind is Discount Brand
This is a brand that starts off normal
then you start running sales and you
realize oh we get more customers when we
run sales and all of a sudden you're
running sales all the time your brand
becomes synonymous with buying it when
it's on sale to the point where you're
running sales almost constantly this is
a position where you're basically
attracting customers have little to no
brand value they only buy based on that
lower price point and you're setting
yourselves up to always be in this
discount scenario and there's some
regulation around always offering
something at a lower price versus being
at a higher price but also there's just
something intrinsically about always
being on sale that does not present you
as a premium brand to the customers
you're selling now you can still provide
value we'll talk about that a bit later
because I'm doing a little bit of that
with my brand but it's not a place you
want to set yourself up so now let's get
to the category of Premium Brands brands
that charge more for the things that
they offer which is where a lot people
want to live and honestly I think it's
one of the only categories that's going
to survive our current Global sales
competition where we're actually
competing directly with people shipping
out of the countries that make most of
these products anyway is if you're
positioned from a premium angle but not
all brands that charge a premium are
luxury Brands and I much as anyone else
will use those words interchangeably
just because it's just natural to roll
off the tongue but we have a couple
categories to dive into the first is a
Performance Brand performance Brands
charge a premium for something that does
better for people that care about having
better in whatever experience it
provides so satisfy I look at as a
Performance Brand they are charging $420
for running short how much better can
their running shorts be than any other
running short on the market when you
dive into it and break it down you look
at okay they're preparing you for
certain weather conditions they have all
this you know specific trademarked
custom Fabrics they've developed
specifically for running Ultra
lightweight they thought through every
aspect of the user experience for
someone that is a absolute pro at this
that cares the most of our performance
they are giving every single thing that
that person wants and they are charging
a premium and if you are able to engine
engering experience matters this much to
the people that care they'll pay almost
anything for that and this is a good
example of why this brand gets to a
success level they have and then you'll
have a brand like arct that's done this
forever I'll talk a bit about my history
with arcs later then you get to a point
where because so many people who are
engag in performance wear it you know
everyone who's kind of Crest some you
know crazy Mountain that people who want
to then feel akin to that or who look at
those people as aspirational begin to
buy the brand even at a premium price
point even though they don't need its
capability because of the logo the
association of the brand there's a power
in becoming a Performance Brand then we
have designer brand so designer Brands
succeed based on the Aesthetics of the
object and this is in our current modern
world an excellent way to stand out but
has been for long long time and it used
to be I feel like designer Brands had a
combination of function and Aesthetics
you can look at it from that perspective
too like a brand like alessie design is
the differentiator and that design can
be purely aesthetic or it can be
aesthetic and function but you know this
may may or may not be the most effective
juicer that you can buy but it is
certainly one with a particular
aesthetic and so standing out as a
designer brand being known for the
design of the objects is another way
that you can charge a premium because
people will pay for Aesthetics and for
the names associated with we'll get into
the names in a second cuz an is a great
example of people buy this espresso
machine because it is a concrete block
it's amazing brutalist it's Unique and
they succeed purely based on the design
of this no one knows Anza they don't
know what they stand for they don't know
who the designer is but something that's
consistent across all these things that
I feel separates a Performance Brand or
a designer brand eventually into a
luxury brand comes from the aspect of
time but before we get to time we're
going to talk about bespoke brand so
bespoke brands are based on
craftsmanship and there's a couple words
you can use to describe this but spoke
as a go if you are buying the
craftsmanship a person or set of persons
that make something custom to you that
they're taking the time to give you
something of innate craft tailor to your
whether it's your house as a Furniture
item or it's a suit which is kind of
your most common cobbler making you a
pair of shoes direct for your foot is
the idea of a customized experience
created specifically for you there's
another reason to charge a premium
instead of buying a mass-produced object
you are buying something customized for
your experience so let's look at all
three of those topics designer Brands
based on their design performance Brands
based on what they actually do for the
user's experience and then bespoke band
Brands based on Crafting something
unique for a consumer those are three
Surefire ways for your brand you can
charge a there are some other
positioning based things that we'll talk
about later that's kind of Three core
topic now then you add the function of
time on top of all so Anza for instance
doesn't have the function of time
they've made one thing that's gotten
relatively popular they haven't done a
bunch else with it but let's assume that
they were to release a number of items
and over the course of 10 years become
very much known for applying their
aesthetic and even better if it has a
great function goes or someone like
Herman milk great example saying start
off is a designer brand but also a
performer they are taking two
combinations of these you want to sit in
their chairs because they are good for
you they have lumbar support ergonomic
but also they have beautiful design and
they continue to exe execute those
across time and I would say that they
have elevated themselves into both a
designer and Performance Brand that also
borders on becoming luxury I don't think
they present themselves necessarily as a
some like Heritage Luxury company but
they are and because of the amount of
time that's been spent there and people
treat buying a Herman Miller as a luxury
experience something that that they do
and spend their extra money on because
of its performance its look and its
history and name when you're able to
achieve all three of those things like
adding in that reputational time element
I feel like you've really entered into
this zone of luxury when someone chooses
to spend their premium for these reasons
and they've chosen to continually do
that over like a long spam or becomes a
resisting choice in their life that's
something I think all brands can aspire
to whether we put names on it or not I
think that's when we create things
something we want to look how do we have
that longevity how do we have something
the worth matter how do we have a brand
that stands for something and stand for
something worth paying because plenty
people create brands that stand for
their particular product or that exist
in the market and people know of there's
a difference between that and you know
what when I have a choice I choose to
spend my money on that at a premium
which brings me into some of my
experiences with luxury I'm going touch
on this and then we're going to get into
types of Brands and how you kind to
position yourself for Success whether
you're in performance or design or any
of these categories but first I want to
talk about my intersections with luxury
because something I stumbled upon end up
working most of my life in things that
are priced at a premium price but it
really started when I was a graphic
designer I went to school for design
came out I was design in for a
Hospitality firm they did a lot of like
Staffing and events and things like that
and then I got a client that was a night
one of my first recurring clients I
created their brand identity and they at
the time this is maybe 15 years ago sold
expensive exclusive items they had $30
drinks with gold flakes inside they had
a wall of Ace of Spades like in the in
the back of the area um I have one of
those bottles you floating around you
may have seen some of my other videos at
the beginning you could only access with
a memb car which was something I
designed it was like engraved in wood
wooden menus something else I had put
together but it was all in the Founder's
Vision you know he had kind described
this I I put some of the Aesthetics into
reality but he basically wanted to have
the trappings of something exclusive to
be able to create that that certain
sense that when someone came in it was a
super small area it's prestigious the
menu matched the aesthetic matched the
clientele that he was able to attract he
had a vision for what a destination was
worth a premium looked like and then
match that aesthetically and as someone
who hadn't had any experience in that
industry kind whatsoever this was very
interesting to me to begin to see and
understand that and as someone who
couldn't afford to you know shop or be
at any of the places I was designing
something for began to really understand
these dynamics that play and how you
mark it that way and then I work to the
outdoors in which has a huge emphasis on
performance and a premium for
performance a subculture of guys who
spend tons of money to go on rare trips
to either hike a mountain or some exotic
hunt and at the same time mayd be paying
a bunch of money for a like inlaid
silver rare wood item that goes with
their hobby where a brand like arteric
and at the time before they had their
pop culture moment was like inherently
related to those who really were taking
on Feats of Strength in their own way
people who wanted to actually go scale
that mountain or go on like exotic ski
trip and who needed that performance
because they were training for something
same thing with the Solomon brand at the
time which was something where I was
working with a lot of people in the
military who really highly regarded
Solomon wear as something that they
would wear you when they were actually
deployed if they had the option and so
you begin to establish this notoriety as
a Performance Brand and if you want to
separate yourself it really came down to
standing that test of time and standing
that performance standard of what people
needed when they were doing a once in
the lifetime experience or doing
something that was a life or death
scenario if you do position his
performance the sticks are high that you
actually achieve
it if you want to create a brand that is
for marathoners or for the best
weightlifters or for people that are you
know actually need something deep in the
mountain you are need to make something
that succeeds because if you don't it is
a super serious thing that people are
engaging with and those customers are
while they can build your brand because
of how much they respect something that
does well for them can crush your brand
if it is a poor
experience and to find that premium and
to begin to get the respect of those
people was interesting the difference
between a regular knife and a Benchmade
knife focus on utility Etc I like
Benchmade as an interesting example
because you it became it's utility item
that branched into you know utility
Cutlery and they were able to kind of
Branch out into a number of you know
subvertical based on their like success
in the kind of tactical Outdoors area
when you take that same performance and
apply it to other areas in life for
those people might buy products and
you're known in that category that's how
you can expand a performance lineup and
then recently about 2 years ago I spent
some time working at the surgeon I
worked on sourcing products I work with
a design team work a little bit of
marketing and they would craft these
truly incredible designs for luxury
clients but everything was handmade in
Los Angeles designed by like a really
special team and other luxury Brands
recognized them as best-in class so
Bentley would come and collaborate lvmh
but what was interesting to me there is
they're offering this bespoke experience
and the people would get it for
different so for instance you'd get
cleats for obj for a special game or
just as likely you get someone
celebrating an event in their life who
want to celebrate it with like a custom
pair of shoes that like fit their Vision
because they hit a certain objective in
their life or they want to celebrate
time spent with somebody else or as a
gift to a friend and that idea of luxury
as a celebratory aspect much like your
Rolex 20 years into a position but then
reflected in something new reflected in
sneaker and the idea of how luxury kind
of permeates based on people's taste and
then people using as a celebration was
an interesting thing that I hadn't
thought about as much before you know
being immersed in it working there so
what does that mean for you we're going
to talk about types of Brands I'm going
to show you some of the actual things
that I've made a bit of how they came
together so you can understand some of
how these types of Brands make it into
reality the first type of brand and a
lot of this is related to how you
position by position I mean how do you
attack the market with a way that's
going to make sure you succeed every
brand needs an angle if you just exist
without an angle then you probably fail
so the first angle is brands that
compete on tactics they take something
other people already do but they know
they can do something they can either
get the product at a lower price than
other people which gives them more money
for marketing or allows them to offer it
in a value proposition or more likely
they're actually better at a network for
instance someone that really understands
Amazon is going to be able to take a
category that's big off Amazon if it's
not already big on there bridge the gap
to that platform Tik Tok what's
happening Tik Tok shock is a shop as the
perfect example now any big category
that exists elsewhere if you are really
understanding how succeed on Tik Tok
shop you are able to then Arbitrage that
to a new platform where people are
buying same thing with Organic social
media or if you have retail
relationships whatever it is if you have
some Advantage via relationships skill
set connections you can use that to
create a brand with a tactical based
value so your value isn't in the product
itself it is in what you're able to do
you specifically as an entrepreneur then
we have the second type of brand which
is the best type of brand which is
brands that fulfill a user need there's
something where you are providing a
better user EXP experience for somebody
than what is available to them already
selling based on this is the best way to
sell for anything and you can look that
across any category so for instance
ollipop and Poppy in these Prebiotic
sodas have blown up recently but it's
because it is a superior user experience
a lot of people do not want to drink an
extremely sugary drink like a Pepsi or a
Coke in from that era and they want
something it is significantly healthier
but still taste decent that is a user
need it fits into people's Lifestyles it
gives them a better experience and that
is part of why those brands are
destroying it you could argue the same
thing for a Yeti where they're
engineering a perfect cooler experience
most performance Brands fall into this
user need and if you can find a value
proposition here that is the best way to
go about creating a company that has
value because if you get it in front of
the consumer with which it does better
for and they embrace it you're going to
win and then you have as long as you can
to uh create some sort of moat before
other people come in and come after it
and this is the cycle of busm the third
type of brand is a brand that translates
an artistic Vision if you have a
specific aesthetic Vision to bring into
the world sometimes that involves just
form sometimes that involves Form and
Function and you can create a brand that
is a singularly unique in its way of
I've done a lot videos on gentle monster
gentle monster is the epitome of this
where this brand is just art that
happens to make sunglasses they use
sunglasses as a vehicle like in Commerce
to get their Concepts and ideas out
there I'd also argue something like like
off-white is just a vehicle for Virgil's
design Vision to enter into the world
and for most fashion brands this is
really what you have you are saying I
have a certain aesthetic or design and
that vision is worth being brought into
life and here's where the problem
arrives is that 99% of those Visions
aren't actually interesting enough to
want to be brought to life or there's
unrealistic goals of where that Vision
can take them like you may have a vision
to appeal to a small subsection but
powerful enough to create some massive
you have to be realistic about what
those expectations look like and if
you're not any of these things if you
don't succeed based on certain tactics
or strategies that you have if you don't
fulfill a really specific user need and
if you're not translating some really
powerful artistic Vision then you're
kind of failing you're don't have a
position in the market which you're
going to be able to act and so it's
worth identifying as you think about
your approach which of those do you fall
in and also wor noting that building
Brands isn't for everybody but having
that framework to look at and choose
between the three helps you decide where
you so I'm going to talk about some
products that I'm working on and making
and how they've come to life to show you
a bit about what that process looks like
and I think a lot about Concepts as you
can probably tell in this video and I've
been thinking a lot about the concepts
that appeal to me that I feel are
interesting to people online whe they're
going to be able to come across
interesting on social media whether
they're going to be interesting in the
version of someone's going to want to
buy it for a specific reason or they're
just interesting to me and I am in this
third category right now I am making
some products that mainly are for my
aesthetic Vision I have some few things
that are functional based but still it's
about myself as a creator with an
audience creating things that are
interesting to me that I feel like will
have resonance with certain but to my
previous point my expectations are
realistic do I think this is going to be
a hundred million brand like probably
not and if it is I'm going to have found
something way more functional along the
way that I can lean into but in the
interim do I think it can be a
multi-million dollar brand sure and time
will up but the concepts I'm very
interested in I'm using a lot of are of
a break them ding so the first is
displacement something made out of
something unexpected are uh kind of the
kings of this right now kings queens
whatever you want look at like this
shirt is leather looks like a flannel it
is literally L this is a recurring theme
in fashion and something that's very
interesting to me how can you make
something that people use or see but do
it in a slightly different way so one of
the first products I put out was these
Knit pants that are a very light version
of that and I'll get to a little Deep
dive in in a second and the second
concept is elevation we've all heard
this term like elevated Basics things
like that but like its core elevation is
about the idea of let's take something
normal that you use every day and then
take the construction or the materials
or the concept of it to a higher level
an unexpectedly interesting level that
really really appeals to me for a few
reasons I I'll break them down and
something I'm still wrapping my head
around I have like a name for the
concept but I think about it a lot is
the idea that there's these like
unobtanium products people release some
fancy brand or brand with a huge
following will release like oh I'm doing
this $55,000 product and it's sold out
now no one can get their hands on it
even if you did want it you you're not
to be unable to hunt it down and I look
at lot of those things and I go hey I
actually know how to make those same
things I've hunted down similar
factories I've worked with similar
people I understand the construction of
it I can make something with which is
like that and there's sold out of it you
can't get your hands on it there's
probably some way to bridge a gap there
and even more so since a lot of those
are charged to kind of outrageous
premiums oh I can also make that as a
fraction of the cost and in this world
where we frequently talk about the
Virgil's 3% rule the idea you can change
something 3% and make it your own I
don't quite subscribe to that I'm very
interested in like the 25% of like all
right let's take some of these existing
Concepts and then you know shift it just
enough and then offer a different value
proposition as part of how it Chang in
terms of cost or availability and again
that's not a fully formed concept but I
want to just share a little bit of how I
think about this and this ties into like
the brands I've worked with and the
strategies we have is is like really
kind of diving into okay what are these
Concepts like why do they resonate is it
do they is this something the consumer
is going to think about are they are
they subconsciously or consciously
thinking about it diving into that
really gets you to start understanding
the why behind some of the brand
branding and and most importantly
product cuz that's what people are are
at the core buying so first I'll talk
about the dis so uh I released these
these Knit pants the idea was to make a
beach pant that um was light was Airy
would dry fast you could wear over your
bathing suit or you could style as its
own individual object and I like the
idea of pants but you know they're
they're made of something completely
different there I saw these knit shirts
happening on it' be cool to do that in
pants uh and then also have it be like a
cheap thing you can throw in a bag
you're not worried about having
something to be too premium um and then
also make it interesting because you
know there's a choice there much like
when you're wearing like a leather full
handle shirt it changes the way you
interact with that object like when you
have these pants they're nip that means
they're basically they see-throughs that
changes how you style it how you think
about it you can't just wear it with
anything becomes a thing that requires
intention and that's really interesting
to me and it's a complicated purchase
Point I've had people that bought them
being like Hey how do I wear these or
like actually it's kind of weird with me
to wear this with underwear or other
people be like hey I love this because I
need to think intentionally about how I
wear it or it's a conversation piece and
this is the item that I made that I wear
a lot of what I've done out and about
all the time and I get asked about these
constantly and if you are able to kind
of stomach the okay I'm you know it's a
little bit different than what I
normally wear I'm showing a little more
leg or whatever they're unisex and girls
have a weier Time wearing it and
existing with it but I mean for guys
it's a little more interesting if you
are kind of work with that you get a A
Conversation Piece an interesting
fashion item and it's affordable and it
has some utility and so that was an
interesting concept for me to put out
there and that also highlights a bit
about like the conversation that is had
with so I'm releasing these you know I
got a couple hundred um cream and black
and it wasn't perfect it's not a perfect
item and I wasn't sure what people were
going to think and if it was going to be
mainly a male user or a female user cuz
I know my demographic Skuse male but
it's an easier item for a female we made
unisex I also knew like I was unsure
okay are people actually going to use
the pockets are they actually going to
wear it to the beach like as why I
released it I'm getting a lot of
feedback like on those things and as I
actually wear it and use it and I go hey
you know what I'd actually prefer this
if it was like a slightly different you
know let's change the material Let's uh
okay this back pocket isn't big enough
we actually would wanted to have cargo
Pockets I've had a lot of people ask if
it should be baggier you know like
there's a few of those things that are
continuing to happen but that
conversation is an important thing we
can do right now didn't exist as much
before so I can have that online via
email and on social media with my
customer and I can hone in you know
through generations to make a perfect
product and a lot of people want to have
that perfect product before they launch
but if you have enough utility or enough
aesthetic interest you can get to one
level and they continue to progress it
to further levels down the line but then
let's talk about elevation so this is a
cashmere hat a valuable cashmere hat uh
this is actually a sample so we did this
Embroidery in white but because of the
size of the embroidery you can only use
a certain number of styles I didn't like
the way it actually kind of shown on
here uh so I ended up swapping and I
I'll I'll unwrap the new one kind of see
it but the reason this was interesting
was because of this uh Lop Piana item so
Lop Piana sells a lot of these hats
they're $495 they are Kashmir they are
stormproof Kashmir which is not not what
I didou nicer Kashmere than what I'm
getting they obvious have access to some
of these best materials ever but it
basically this hat became sort of the
cheapest things you can buy from the
Ropo and because of its popularity the
popularity quiet luxury and sucession
and all that all these people wanted to
buy into the chir luxury lifestyle and
they sold a hell a lot of these $500
hats as a entry level price point to the
brand uh and then looking around at
other brands that are doing it like
Vince has one um this brand has one and
it's expensive you know they're saying
the $300 and this one I found after I
made this and it's like almost the same
in terms of like the fabric uh that's
being used at your double wool cashmir
blend baseball cap and so I looked at
and said okay cool they're selling $300
for that I know how this is made I can
make this for significantly less they
are getting massive margins on this uh
and so I thought about the user
experience of that let me unbox here for
a second the these are our valuable dust
bags we have for some items a couple
different bags I'm trying out you'll see
across different items I actually do but
this hat that we have here so you'll see
I went Brown on Brown which I felt looks
a lot better natural leather band on the
back graved it some macro shots over
there but it's got this fuzzy cashmir
which when you see it in person looks
Ultra Premium feels Ultra and is
something that we're selling for I
believe it's like $72 versus 300 or 500
and it's not weatherproof um like the
luro one is but for people wondering
like I've had a lot of questions about
like is it hot like it's a standard
shell inside we have on any other hat a
little valuable tag but I just like this
interesting idea of okay I like the idea
of an elevated hat what materials can we
have I don't want to do just a standard
D hat with a design on it um but I do
want to say hey for the fact that you
getting this much cheaper you're also
representing my brand kog have on it
that's interesting concept to me and
something that is premium at a realistic
price point and also branded and I feel
puts things in the right perspective and
I want to look at this as just a kind of
a phase one and where we got tons of
colors of these we look at applications
there but really it's about the
materials about me saying okay we've
seen leather hats we've seen you know
like elevated cotton or things on that
too like what else could I potentially
make this out of that makes it
interesting or has utility um but mainly
kind of has a like a looking feel that
feels synonymous with the brand and when
you go work with the avender on this
like I worked Avenger I worked with done
tons of hats and it was literally like
hey what Fabrics do you think will work
what can you get your hands on here's
some of what I can get my hands on let's
try some samples let's see how let's
tone in you know hone in the embroidery
let's say okay that going to be too hot
let's should we adjust the shell you
begin to look at those decisions and
you've made something interesting almost
inherently by just kind of elevating the
material and then this third concept
I've seen these Chrome Hearts fuzzy dice
and they have a leather uh version as
well um but basically these are $5,000
you know or there were thousands of
dollars when you got them they're
retailing on grill for 5500 uh I've
Loved fuzzy dice and car Dice and I have
a whole car theme like inside the brand
so seemed very natural and so I went and
did a couple versions of this so one I
first did these these kind of leather
ones with a more basic stud U which I
liked a lot and then for actual release
um which is this version here comes the
same dust
bag slightly modified it so was a
shorter chain
the shorter chain makes it easier like
based on the vehicle you have um to be
able to put them in the car or to hang
them on wherever you want to but they're
large they're chunky and then I'm
looking at for the future going with
like a different chain uh a like a
really high quality leather and maybe
doing like some level of custom studs
but just taking an item you have like a
pure embellish but just giving it its
own like stylistic identity and you
notice some of like the difference we're
a couple Generations into samples on
this so it's perfectly ver this is the
first generation of sample on this from
a different vendor and it's a little
more puffy we're going to have to kind
of change a bit of how we actually put
it together to get to the construction
that matches this those are the things
you think about with uh the various
vendors that you're using and you know
to do this I measured out a existing set
of regular fuzzy dice um I you know I
picked from a variety of materials I
sent them like a breakdown of the actual
sizing the length of the chain the type
of the chain with the connection points
will look like you know and they had
some thoughts on how they can actually
make it constructed in fact they're
actually worried on some of these
samples cuz they the the corners aren't
like super perfect I'm like that's it's
not kind of what the product is right
it's more of a conceptual product about
having like a perfect corner and we kind
of move moved forward on on production
either way but those the conversations
you'll have you know with vendors but
that's not the process that I'm going
through as I look at like a new thing I
want to make an accessory or I want to
make a product I want to make a hat how
do you then take a material that is
different and offer something that is
elevated or offer something that is hard
to get but at a more reasonable price
point like how do you kind of bridge
those things together those are ideas
that are interesting to me that I'm
connecting together through iconography
and some of the storytelling that I and
eventually we'll kind of uh find the
brand identity and that's an interesting
thing to think about too is I feel like
in today's world you can take the time
to find the brand identity and you can
take the to have the customer
conversation those are really
interesting points like I have a lot of
ideas about this brand and what I think
it stands for uh and what I think could
be important about it but I get to
actually engage with what resonates from
a Content perspective and what I
actually can produce and put out and
then continually kind of shift that
until you find the right way which is
something that is available because the
internet gives you feedback based on how
your content performs how what people
actually choose to purchase when they do
see that content and you should be able
to adapt your brand to it much like the
conversation angle we have like talking
about those pants I'd sent some uh
samples to my friend Zach he'd been like
hey like this pocket is too small I feel
don't feel comfortable kind of wearing
these but like this other item you did
because of X and Y and just being able
to have those conversations is really
important for someone to think
critically about it for me to think
about okay for this type of user they
engage with this or engage with that
that's part of the brand building that
happens naturally now and uh I did a
little Meetup in La this morning where a
bunch of people from uh Instagram and
and Twitter came and met with myself and
Ashwin at Chago on on social and one of
the things that came up is a bunch of
people had their own like kind of
smaller Brands we're talking about how
do they do how do they test they have a
lot of money what do they do and one of
the things I recommended I think is
interesting is is if you do want to test
you want to test what will sell from
content and you want to test running ads
especially that's kind of how I present
most people to test what you're doing is
be like all right can I post organic
content in it sells or can I put meta
ads out and it sells uh and if you're
Tik Tok proficient enough can I put it
on shop but that's another level and to
do that it's like okay you don't need
five things you need one thing and a
reasonable price point and I love $1 to
$150 cuz it gives you a lot of room on
meta to make a sale with a with an ad um
it's like hey don't just get like a
standard t-shirt or a standard thing get
your unique item your you know
go and get your mq 100 200 you can find
someone who will make you 100 or 200 of
something of like a really specific
jacket performance short or car
accessory whatever it is find it in that
price point that speaks specifically to
it and then run that organic content and
Those ads like to sell through it until
you do and keep testing until you do
sell through it and then you're going to
learn a lot about what actually worked
if that price point is relevant if your
performance is there before you actually
go invest in a bunch of items people
want to kind of jump in fast usually and
have a wide collection of validate add
more iterate change based on what Tex
brand identities need to be flexible
based on both like what's happening
culturally the things that you feel in
love and what actually works and we're
in a time period now where we just get
more feedback on that faster than ever
via direct conversation with customers
that we can have or via like actually
the performance of how we sell things so
things worth noting and worth so if you
have any questions about like how some
products come together these ideas of
luxury and performance and premium
products uh drop them in the comments
I'm kind of shaping how this series of
this goes you know over time and I would
love to kind of put out more about it
thank you for watching
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