Fforme has struck a chord with its elegant and sculptural approach to womenswear, offering mobility and comfort to high achievers.
The brand, which aims to empower its customers with stylish, no-holds-barred clothing, was one of the best-received new brands at New York Fashion Week. Now its three founders are looking to continue that momentum with an event at the end of Paris Fashion Week, planned for Tuesday night.
“We are creating a luxury brand, not a fashion brand,” said Nina Khosla, co-founder and main investor of Fforme. The company’s slow approach to fashion and clientele, all with a technological twist, has won praise as a remarkable new business model.
Fforme is a direct-to-consumer brand that will primarily live online. While his designs speak to the kind of new luxury minimalism that has been making the rounds for a while, his business model sets it apart. The brand offers what is among the most cutting-edge luxury e-commerce sites: displaying clothing in 3D for an immersive and informed experience.
Prices sit at the upper end of luxury: starting at $500 for a T-shirt and peaking at around $8,000 for outerwear. There’s a concerted focus on quality materials, like the supple double-faced cashmere chosen for a coat priced at $7,500.
The company’s trio of founders now hope to capture select wholesale accounts during the Paris market week, but they see wholesale as more of a tool for increasing brand awareness than driving sales. They have made it a main rule, for now, not to accept accounts from department stores. “It’s really important that we maintain the value of ticketed merchandise and not become part of the markdown system,” said co-founder Laura Vázquez.
Instead, they’re busy hiring a customer service specialist to help facilitate direct ordering and planning sales events at high-income resorts like Aspen. They will also be holding multiple in-person sale events over the next few months in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Conceived as architectural forms for intellectual working women, Fforme’s clothing is designed by creative director Paul Helbers, who previously envisioned menswear for Louis Vuitton and The Row.
Continuing Fforme’s d-to-c strategy, Helbers has designed clothing in a way that requires little tailoring. “We build them in a way that gives people peace of mind and comfort without the need for major modifications. The clothes were made in an alpha size range and are relaxed silhouettes that anchor somewhere on the body, not just oversized clothes. It would be just a minor alteration to the length of a sleeve or the hem of a pair of pants,” Vázquez said.
The first collection of Fforme
So far, it’s translating into sales. In Fforme’s first 12 days of trading alone, there was one day of sales of $25,000. Vázquez says that sales have been spread evenly across the collection’s various price points.
Despite the huge cash flow required to launch a luxury brand, Khosla says she is committed for the long haul. “It’s a great investment and I think that’s what makes it an interesting opportunity. There are very few new things and I think so far we have achieved what we set out to do and we are on the right track,” she said.
“We are committed to growing slowly and that is what makes it really challenging as an investment. It’s a slow-growing industry that’s all about longevity and having customers stick with you. At this luxury price point, it’s all about that slow growth. It is the only way to make it sustainable,” he added.
Of all the opportunities she could have pursued, Khosla said she chose fashion because: “When I think about fashion and luxury, what I think is so powerful about them is that they create culture. I am not someone who was going to invent the next AI that will change the world, they are my brothers. I realized that if I really wanted to make an impact, one of the ways to do that was to work with the culture and the aspiration thing.”
Using Vázquez’s background in fashion business management and Khosla’s background in technology to build Fforme’s online experience, Helbers was the missing secret weapon the two women needed.
“In the beginning, we were really only talking to female designers, and meeting Paul made sense of the rigor and discipline of menswear. Women’s clothing is faster and more frenetic in a way,” said Vázquez.
Helbers said that he believes that the initial success of Fforme lies in the fact that “we are whispering and not shouting. We’re not trying to dictate a look, it’s more of a fashion approach, and that sets us apart.”
He added: “In America in the past there has been Geoffrey Beene and Halston and not much is happening. The fact that Americans embrace this level of luxury proves it. Being listened to is a good surprise and also a confirmation in the market that there is an appetite. When there is enthusiasm, it is a sign that the times are moving to where things are going.”
Source: news.google.com