Wednesday 26 October 2011

My latest lot of well learnt lessons nearly killed my brand

Well girls as you may have noticed The Rock boutique is now selling its capsule collection on Asos.

As you can imagine this is a bit of a milestone on my journey to becoming a household name, all round amazingly famous fashion brand and earning myself invites to the coolest party's.  In fact when I first started my brand Asos was really where I wanted to be.

asos

Unfortunately its not all good news and us bloggers do have a we bit of a habit of only telling our followers the good stuff, so I thought id write a bit about the lessons I've learned in the last few months.

You might already know that I am doing this for the first time,  I've put everything I've got into this brand and I'm passionate about making it work, unfortunately passion doesn't always mean I know exactly what I'm doing.  I have no team of designers and no room full of accountants, PR people and advisers, Up until now I have worked on my own from my studio down in South London.  I design everything myself and handle all the manufacture too,  every single thing the Rock Boutique does or gets involved in I have organised myself, so I'm not ashamed to hold my hands up and take the blame when I get it wrong.  Well, I have to, there's no one else here.

Moi xx


I am the first to admit I am a creative person.  Alan Sugar, Richard Branson and Duncan Banatyne however are not, they are business minds.  Which means they can spend all day making good decisions and delegating out the tasks they don't specialise in.  That's the difference between me and them I guess.  Although saying that my book keeping is...well...my little dog would do a better job if he could hold a pen. 

Being creative is brilliant tho, I love it, I find inspiration in anything and everything.  If only all I had to do was design I would be laughing.  Focusing my design skills presents me with another issue as well tho, because my mind is constantly buzzing with millions of different design ideas. its hard to only produce the garments that will sell loads in the shops.  This is what happened recently with our winter collection.

I got to the point where the Asos stuff was going ahead and I had to produce a collection for general sale, this would then be sold to all the other websites and shops in the UK.  (hopefully) I understood that it had to be different to the Asos stuff because that was unique to them, that was the selling point.  So off I went...

My collections will always be based around the things the brand will be famous for, tattoos, vintage style, pin ups etc but I needed to give them a new twist.

As it turns out I twisted a bit too much.  I managed to get my brain full of Mathew Williamson style prints, swirling inks, water drops, humming birds and nature, all that sort of thing, and really lost focus on what The RB is about.

little bit crazy looking back

When I had 20 pieces finished I thought they looked amazing, which they did to be fair, the problem was they didn't fit my brand or identify at all with what was launching on Asos.

Here's the lesson...As I said before I'm just a designer, I've learnt allot but obviously I only know what I've taught myself over the last 4 years.  I had the samples made and placed them in the showroom ready to show the fashion buyers.  I was honestly 100% sure a massive order was only weeks away and I would be in Ibiza spending my money later that year.  That order didn't come, feedback was all a bit vague to be honest, I was told it was too different to the Asos collection and as I was fairly un-heard of shops wanted to see a similar style to what was on Asos.



swirls and inks


Samples don't come cheap and take weeks to print so there was no going back to the drawing board.  I now had a very big bill to pay for the samples and no order to cover it, not only that I thought I had burned our bridges with our stockists.  Ill be totally honest with you, I had 28 quid in my bank the day I realised what had happened.

This was pretty much the worst id ever got it wrong.

In fashion you work at least 2 seasons ahead, no one tells you what will sell, you can do your best to trend forecast but at the end of the day its still a gamble.  Bigger more established brands can get round this to an extent because they are famous, people know who they are and what they represent so there clothes will sell.  They will have good seasons and not so good ones but they will sell.

Being an un heard of brand is allot more tricky.  If you don't get the designs exactly right the shops that have bought them wont stock you the next season, then you’re out of the game before you’ve even started.

So here's me sat in my studio, with no money, no orders, no stockists and no flaming clue what I was going to do.  This by the way was only a couple of weeks ago.

I have now most definitely learned that focus, delegating out what you do not specialise in and not taking your eye off the ball for a second are key in business, and I will not be forgetting those lessons.

Red Alert Showroom London

un like the normal one most people live in by the way.

A couple of days pulling my hair out, a million black coffees and one very important crisis meeting with Sophie later I had a plan.  Its a plan with no money behind it but its a plan.

I realise you don't want to read about the couple of weeks I then spent working as a builders labourer and a removal man in the day and printing t-shirts for stag do’s at night so I wont go into details, but I raised enough cash to keep me going during The Rock Boutique first major crisis.


I sat down with Red Alert who handle all the wholesale for me and we realised that we had 2 weeks to come up with a collection if there was any chance of selling for Spring Summer 12.  Red Alert is a brilliant company, they know exactly what they are talking about and I will now be working a lot closer with Sophie (weather she likes it or not!ha!)

With my newly learned lesson in mind I came up with my new spring collection, I made sure it was well in my brands handwriting, was on trend and most importantly worked well as a range.  I introduced some cute little summer dresses but kept most of the shapes similar to those on Asos.  So it all ties in nicely.

Over the years I have built up a close relationship with my printers and manufacturers and they agreed to make my new set of samples, they had next to no time to produce them and its not an easy task.  As you are reading this now they are working hard on the new stuff.

I still had the issue of being a new unknown brand so on Sophie's recommendation I employed Florescent PR, they agreed to work hard for me to get my designs worn by celebs and in magazines.  Other than expenses they only get paid when a celebrity actually wears my stuff.  which buys me some time.  You should be seeing us in the press very soon.

Our new PR Company, exciting!

To help them they need professionally modelled shots of the new collection.  Luckily for me I know the beautiful Aimee Singer who had previously modelled for me in exchange for some portfolio shots.  I put an advert out on facebook and a fan, Jasmine Dominique has kindly agreed to let us use her studio for the day.  The shoot will take place on the 11th Nov and I am very very grateful to everyone that's helping out.


The stunning Aimee!

The new revised collection will be shown to buyers in The Red Alert showroom on the 7th November.  This is really the last chance for my little brand now so I hope it sells.  I can actually say that I have put blood sweat and tears into this collection, all I can do now is cross my fingers.

the new collection

the new collection


coming to a shop near you (I hope)

Sunday 2 October 2011

ASOS Launch Competition!

To celebrate the launch of The Rock Boutique on MAJOR online store ASOS this month, we have decided to kick off the excitement with a competition for you to get your hands on some of the goodies!

Up for grabs is a selection of our finest pin-up inspired tops, including a one off green sweater and 2 limited edition tees! A total prize package worth almost £100!


There are 2 ways to enter this competition, via Twitter and Facebook, and here they are!

1) Follow us on Twitter and tweet the following!

RT & Follow @Rock_Boutique to win this £100 haul http://bit.ly/nK36YD and celebrate our ASOS launch!

AND/OR
2) Like us on Facebook and tell us you can't wait to see us on ASOS on our wall, then share away! 

Every tweet and share will count as an entry to the draw, so get yourself noticed!

Contest will run for 2 weeks ending on 17th October. Contest is open to everyone who follows the rules above! Good luck RB-ers!

Wednesday 13 July 2011

THE ROCK BOUTIQUE SAMPLE SALE STARTS TODAY





Sample sale 2011:  We are selling off absolutely loads of stunning RB goodies, some stuff will be completely unique, some limited edition and some customised vintage.

This is a once in a life time opportunity to grab some great sweats and tees at bargain prices straight from the designer.


I will also send the item completely free

SIMPLY CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SHOP



Tuesday 5 July 2011

Inspiration station

Im sure a lot of you know by now that I am one of those designers that takes inspiration from all over the place.  My personality is such that i'm constantly changing my personal style, my hair, the decoration in my flat ect ect.  However the strong tattoo and fifties pin up influence has always been evident in my tops.  I love old skool styles and anything vintage or antique.

A few months ago I had a meeting scheduled late on a Friday with a buyer in Camden.  It was one of those part business part social type meetings.  I had mentioned that whilst I love drinking in the Hawley and The Lock Tavern I was so bored of going to the same old places all the time, so we decided on a place I had never been to before.

The Black Heart, Camden

Hidden away down an alley behind HSBC, next to Camden Town Tube Station is a little boozer called the Black Heart.  Although it has no sign, no massive generic pub hanging in the standard sans-serif font.  All it has is a massive Black Heart hanging on a one side.  How cool, I thought, and I liked the place before I was even inside.  To be honest they had achieved what I think good branding is all about.  They could of charged me a tenner for a lager when I got to the bar and i'd of happilly paid it because they had created a great atmosphere in the place with the deco and style.

The meeting was about me creating an exclusive range for the buyer, she wanted my strong fifties pin-up influence, but after a bit we got chatting about the props and decoration in the bar.  Wierdly I had never thought of the whole Mexicana, Day of the dead, Catholic artwork thing before but I was finding it all pretty inspiring.


We came to the conclusion that this little collection should keep the Rock Boutiques handwriting and was going to feature the pin ups as intended, but with a bit of a nod towards Mexicana.

As usuall, when I discover a new style or a new way of looking at things they generally not only slip into my designs but take over the rest of my life too.  Sure enough the next day I was on ebay searching for candy skulls and gothic crosses and by the end of the week I had a gothic arch built in my office.

I also purchased some great pictures from an antique dealer friend of mine.  I started flicking through tattoo flash and art books to find some really detailed virgin mary images that I love!!


My flat now has religous statues on the floor and big black iron crosses on the wall and I am still soaking up everything I can in this style.


The collection is being made into samples over the next few weeks, so if (fingers crossed) everything is approved it should be available to buy for next AW!


Pin ups and Gypsys, gothic scrolls and roses

Sugar skulls the Rock Boutique way!
Feeling lucky!?!


Hope you like em, talk to you all soon

Jack

Sunday 26 June 2011

WIN £150 of The Rock Boutique Goodies!!


If you're here reading this, chances are you have heard about how amazing The Rock Boutique customised sweats and denim line is - and this is your chance to win an RB starter wardrobe!

Yep, this merry bundle is worth a whopping £150 and includes:


Super hot Vintage Customised Denim Shorts!
Soft and yummy Vintage Sweater in Grey!
Pink Pin Up RB Tee!
Cute White Swallows Tee!
One Off Bleach Summer Sundae Tee!
Essential RB One Off Vest in Grey!
Essential RB One Off Vest in Navy Blue!


And YOU could be the lucky winner! So how do you enter!?


You can get up to 3 entries in the random draw -

1 - Firstly, you need to FOLLOW the blog (hit the FOLLOW button in the right sidebar) and comment on this post! You must at least do this or any other entries you make via Twitter or Facebook won't be counted!

2 - For an extra entry, follow us on Twitter (click to open new window) and tweet the following:

I'm following @Jackrb83 and www.rockboutiquethoughts.blogspot.com to win this haul http://bit.ly/ke1Oyy!

You can tweet as much as you want but only the first will count :)

3 - For an extra entry, follow us on Facebook (click to open new window) and just say hi on the wall!

Contest will close on Sunday 10th July at 8pm so you have 2 weeks to enter!
Open worldwide. Draw will be totally random and will include all valid and verified entries.

Good luck!

Friday 24 June 2011

Festival Chic part 2 (please read part 1 below)


)The fashion wasn’t done and the outfits kept coming. The girls in the tent next door opted for matching ‘your tent or mine’ red t-shirts all with denim shorts and wellies and they all looked stunning, The Bournmouth girls rocked Glastonbury chic in flowery maxis and big shades and the young ladies from Southampton went for jean shorts and cut tees, one wearing a stunning vintage iron maidon tee!! Amy pulled all the stops out for day 2 with Cheryle Cole eyelashes, urban outfitters fluorescent bikini top under a burnt out white tee.


Burnt out tee and hunters, a festival must have!!

The lads didn’t let us down either, Dean emerged from his tent about 12, cracked open a beer and proudly announced ‘think its gonna be a stripey day today’ with that he disappeared and popped back out 20 mins later wearing blue and white horizontal striped tee, blue and white striped shorts, denim shirt and converse. Steve went for his favourite ‘Rock out with your cock out’ tee. Stevie a Zara t-shirt, denim shorts, converse and a straw hat and I went for flowery tee (as seen on Joey Essex) chino shorts and espadrilles. Naturally Mott wore exactly the same as Dean but in red. they both looked very fashion forward but did unfortunately clash with all the people dressed as wares wally!


Stripy day!!

The next day fashion was forced to take a back seat. It rained, and I mean it rained. It rained so much we had to make a bee-line for the army surplus store. 50 quid and half hour later we left kitted out with hooded waterproof coats and wellies, although they didn’t stay waterproof for long. We stood watching that main stage for hours pretending we didn’t care we were soaked through. Then Beadey Eye put in a Stirling performance with front man Liam shamelessly plugging his brand in a Pretty Green Union Jack parka. Kasabian headlined and made every second of rain worth it, I didn’t care about the freezing cold as they smashed there way through Shoot The Runner, LSF and Clubfoot. Flares went up as Tom Meighan started singing I’m on Fire and the air became thick with bright pink smoke, Serge looked the most stylish man alive thrashing at his guitar and the crowd went completely mad.


Denim shorts and boat shoes, classic! Strongbow Robot Hat optional.


Deano, Me (Joey Essex Tee) Steve, Mott and Steve!


Me pretendinmg I can still pull off vest and espadrills, only at a festival!


This little return to my youth was well worth it, I met some lovely people (you know who you are) and had a brilliant time. A few lessons have of course been learnt. Skittles Vodka, beware! Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters, Good. Kasabian, better than good. Anything goes with festival fashion as long as your working it. It is possible to look stylish while completely drenched and freezing cold and there is such a thing as ‘a stripey day’!!

Jacks done. xx

Festival Chic, Skittles Vodka, Sunburn and Evian Showers!!

The Rock Boutique has been working very hard lately, with our latest collection dropping in USC and all our independent stockists selling well, we decided it was time for a much needed break. Isle Of White Festival here we come.

I would love to give you the standard ‘what we wore’ blogg post but being a lad makes it a little tricky, So I figure, what the hell, ill give you the lads eye view (fashion style) of the Isle Of White Festival 2011!! Fashions not just for girls you know!!

The last festival I went to was quite a few years ago and since then I had decided that I am definitely far too old for all that and I should probably leave it to the youngans. Well, then IOW announced the line up: Kasabian, Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters, Seasick Steve, Pixie Lott ect etc. and that was it, I dusted off my Hunters and my straw trillby and off to the south coast we went!!



From left: Mott, Me, Steve, Stevie, Amy

I went with 5 of the best lads you’ll ever meet and Steve G even bought his missus (well I think we actually interrupted a romantic weekend, but she was good as gold). All being very fashion conscious modern men (if I do say so myself) the next few days featured some brilliant festival outfits, some classic lad styling and a heck of a lot of jokes!! The characters in this adventure are easy to introduce, Stevie, my good friend for years, famed for owning just about everything Allsaints have ever made, Dean Stevie’s little brother, Motty, Deans best pal (think Mark and Arg, Croydon style) and Steve G my good pal and Stevies workmate. And of course the token lady and very stylish laddette, girlfriend of Steve G for almost 9 years, Amy.




Looking at it from a bloggers point of view id hit the jackpot, Dean and Mott are the youngest of the group, both 21, they are completely hilarious in a Joey and Chandler way, with there right up to date preppy/Essex style, classic dry wit and constant girl chasing, not only did they remind me of me about 8 years ago they had me in stitches doing things I just haven’t got the energy for any more. Between them I think they had packed half of Topman, Zara and Asos, a tiny useless tent bought from Tesco the day before and not a drop of food, water, sun cream, warm clothes or headache pills The two Steves, Amy and me on the other hand were a bit of a different story. Older and wiser you might say. Steve had everything from cooking pots to wellies to his famous festival jacket, I had a state of the art self assembling tent, arctic ready sleeping bag, battery phone charger and Stevie had got more lager than Fosters Xmas party and more food than my mums weekly shop (and naturally he had packed more than enough Allsaints t-shirts) Day one was spent recovering from the ‘quiet night out’ in Cowes, just around the corner from the festival. Although as it turns out it wasn’t that quiet and I’m pretty sure were not welcome in the sleepy village of Cowes again.


Steve and Amy


I woke up in our B and B and the sun was shining, what to wear was obvious, Aviators were a must (they also turned out to be a must for all of the other lads) Simple Topman T-shirt, ripped denim shorts and timberland boat shoes. Perfect camping/hangover clothing. Stevie went for much the same as me and Dean and Mott were wearing the same clothes as the day before. Don’t panic after breakfast they found a second wind, showered, changed and crawled out to the car wearing navy chinos, low v-neck t-shirts and Toms, and of course the classic Ray Bans. We met Steve and amy in town, looking every bit the stylish couple in buttoned up shirt and deck shoes and Amy in loose fit tee, skinny jeans and gladiators.

My state of the art tent was up in seconds, leaving me and Stevie plenty of time or a few cans and to help all the girls nearby with their tents, by the time we were done playing ‘me real man, build tent, help pretty lady’ Dean and Mott had just about finished arguing over putting up the Tesco postage stamp they were using as a tent and I think Steve had already cooked a 3 course meal on his camping stove.


Skittles Vodka and Allsaints!!


Next came my introduction to a drink I had not previously sampled, it cant be bought in shops and it actually does taste of the rainbow. It goes by the name of Skittles Vodka. Very simple to make, buy a bottle of vodka and separate into 4 smaller bottles then add skittles to each bottle all in different colours, one bottle red, one green etc.  The Skittles will melt and you have neat Vodka that tastes of skittles in lots of pretty colours, the outcome of this is that you forget you are drinking pure vodka and so glug it down by the gallon. Trust me this is a mistake as I was soon to find out.