thesis collection: my market and thesis statement

my next step was to think about my customer market, and also write my thesis statement. determining and narrowing down on a market is really important – knowing who my customer is will determine everything – what they are looking for when shopping for clothing, how much they are willing to spend, if they are looking for trends or if they prefer pieces to love forever, what the quality of the fabrics and finishings would be, and so on.

a lot of designers design for themselves, and i think i am no different. i know my designs do not appeal to everyone. a lot of people might say, “oh my god, i love your designs.” but all the oh-my-god-ing is not going to help pay the rent. designers only sell their designs when someone is buying them. but i know that my very small and very niche market is somewhere out there. it has to be.

who is my customer?

my customer is someone who might or might not have a job. she is between the ages of 18 to 40, or she can be a grandmother with an attitude and the personality to wear whatever she pleases. she might be a student who is a little more well-off than the average person, or someone who works part-time for extra cash just for clothes.

she might buy her clothes from boutiques or select shops, but never from snooty departmental stores with sales staff who assume she cannot afford it. she might find an incredible deal on ebay. she has a few favourite designers and is very loyal to them. She might not be able to buy an item every season, but she will come back to admire often, and when she can finally afford to treat herself, she will get her hands on one special item to love for decades.

she is someone who expresses herself through her dressing. she might have insecurities, and so she covers herself in layers of clothes. she might not be great at communicating her feelings, so she allows her clothing to speak for her each day.

she shops at specific places. in new york, she shops at comme des garcons, maison martin margiela, yohji yamamoto, seven new york, oak, and opening ceremony. but 80% of her wardrobe is from tokyo. she shops at restir, isetan shinjuku, comme des garcons, undercover, mercibeaucoup;, dog, number (n)ine, ne-net, sunao kuwahara, and the like. her favourite places to shop in this world, are in soho, chelsea, the meatpacking district, ura-harajuku, and aoyama.

she has a love for interesting, different and avant garde clothes, and accessories that will completely change an outfit or throw it overboard. she prefers to spend her money on quality items rather than mass-market trends, but is sensible enough to know that it is crazy to spend $250 on a t-shirt. (but she lets herself do it if it is an extra special one.)

my muses, my style icons

i made myself mood boards of my style icons and muses. i have several. isabella blow, lynn yaeger, and anna piaggi are especially inspiring to me. they are, in my opinion, the epitome of personal style, having the ability to inject their personalities into what they wear. ohhhh what i would give to raid their wardrobes, to steal isabella blow’s hats, to nick basically all of anna piaggi’s, well, everything, and make away with lynn yaeger’s comme des garcons frocks. but it’s not just what they own. it’s the way they wear them that makes it special.

in many ways, they are like the customer that i described in my customer profile, who expresses herself through her clothing, or perhaps used her clothes to hid a part of herself that she hated. i know i’m just assuming and it’s always convenient for one to just make a presumption, but i felt a connection with them and they are who i aspire to be one day, and who i aspire to dress.

isabella blow

anna piaggi

the all-important thesis statement

Tagged as: design, parsons, senior thesis