Images_Digital_Edition_August_2019

w w w . images- ma gaz i n e .c o m AU G US T 2 0 1 9 i ma g es 8 3 IS INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT i m p o r t an t th a t w e en h a n ce o ur ima ge .” A t 1 5 0m 2 th e n ew s t or e is b i g eno ug h to h o us e th e en t ire A S C ol o ur r an ge a nd its l o cat io n m ea n s t h at i t c a n a l so func ti on as a ce n t r al Lon d o n sho wr oo m. “Part of our d e ci s i o n t o o p en t he s h o p was to b oo st b r an d a w a re n es s , ” ex p l a ins Jon atha n . “As t h e l oc ati o n i s g oo d there’s a d ual b e nefit: it c a n wo rk as a st an da l o n e r e t a i l stor e and a s a to o l f or wh o le sa ler s [i m pr in t cust om ers]. T h ey c an dro p in w h e n e ver t he y ar e o ut a n d ab out in L o nd on, o r th ey c an s en d t h eir c l ie n ts i n to h av e a lo o k aroun d. ” F as hi o n -c o n s ci o u s c u s t om e rs S i nc e lau n chi n g in N e w Ze a l an d 12 ye ars a g o, AS C olo u r h a s b u il t up i t s whol es ale b u si n ess s up p lyi ng prin t ers and retai le rs a n d ha s also s uc c ess f ul l y la unc hed in t h e U S. T h e c o ll ec tio n n ow i nc orpo ra tes m or e t ha n 10 0 p ro duct s ac ro s s a w id e r a ng e o f c ate g or ie s i n cl u di ng T -shir ts , s w ea ts hi rt s, j a ck et s, h eadw ea r and ba gs. T h e 22 0 g sm C la ss ic T e e (5 026 ) is o ne o f th e m o st p o p u lar s ty l es i n it s ran ge , a s th e so f t fa b ric , hea v y weigh t , cle an n e ck l i n e a nd e xt ra le n g t h me a n s th at it c a n co m m an d h e alth y p ric es w hen so ld b y hi gh s t ree t re ta iler s , J on at h a n re po rts. “In th e U K, A S Co lo u r’ s cu st o m er ba se is p r ed om i n antl y s m all-to - m ed i u m br an ds w ho us e o ur p ro d uct s , t he n r e-labe l a nd r e -ta g, ” he adds. “ Th e se are cu rrent ly s o ld i n A s os, T op s ho p a n d Se lf r idge s, but y o u wo ul d n’t kn ow it . W e a l s o do a lo t o f m us ic m er c ha n dis e a nd sup ply a l l the S h oreditch i n e ast L o nd o n is the e picentre o f U K hip s te r st y le – al l I T and artis a ns, craf t b e er , bushy b eards and si n gle-s p e e d c ycles. Thi s summer it al s o beca m e h o m e to th e UK ’ s first AS C o l o ur re t ail s t o re – a ne w v e nture that w ill dire c tly benefit w ho le s ale custo m e r s, pro m is e s the bra nd . Th e S horeditch s t o re ma y b e a first fo r AS C ol o ur in the U K , how e ve r it j oins a n es ta bli s hed and s u c c essfu l in t er n ationa l re ta il operation: t h e r e are a lr e ady 17 ot he r s tandalone AS Colo u r r e t a il store s in A ustralia and N ew Zealand, al l of w h ich a re located i n simil a rly fa s hiona b l e ne ig hbourhoods. “ S h oredi t ch mirrors t he lo ca tion of our ex i s t ing st o re s ,” e xplain s Jo n at h an Wintle, AS Colo u r’s g e neral m an ager for Euro pe . “For e xa mp le, we hav e a s t o re in Fitzroy, Me lbour n e, A u stralia: t he ar ea h a s a conte m p o rary, c o o l r e putati on w h ich m irrors wh e r e the b ra n d is positioned and hi t s t he rig h t d e m ograp h ic – pe o p le who ha n g out in co ff e e shop s , do n ’t b uy into ma i n s tream fa s hi o n, sho p i n bo u tiq u es and fav ou r inde p e n d e nt bra nd s.” Ac co r ding to Jo na than, a ll o f t h e stor es lo ok t h e same, rig ht down to th e very last de t ail. “Our L o n d on st o re is i dentic a l in fi t o u t. The stor e fi ttings ha v e been m an uf a ctured in Ne w Zea l an d and our [U K] s h owroom in M arlow ev e n has th e sa m e wooden fl oors, w hi c h were sh ip pe d over fro m N ew Z e aland, to ke e p th e identity of the b r and c o n s ist e nt. W e’ re s elling plain produc t s s o i t ’s Jonathan W i n tl e e xpl ai ns ho w t h e o p eni n g of A S C o l o u r ’ s fi rst UK re t ai l st o r e w i l l be ne fit i t s im p rin t cu s t ome rs Living colour ma jor m usic l ab el s i n t h e U K f o r b ot h me rch an dise an d t ouri n g. W e ’ re a im ed a t the m ore f a s hi o n - c on s c i o u s c u st om er b a se – o ur f abr ics a n d c u t a r e b e t te r th an t he bo g- stand a rd p r od u c t s i n th e in du str y . ” B u si ne ss- to - bu si ne ss T h e Sh o redit ch st o r e i s o p e n se v e n da ys a w e ek, an d n o r m al tradi n g h o u rs a re 10 a m - 6 p m, w i t h la t e o p e nin g o n T hur s d ay s. “ W e’ll i nv ite a ll o u r c us tom e r s to b o ok an a p poin tm ent or h a v e a wa n d e r r o un d , ” s ay s Jo n athan. “T h e y c a n al s o s e n d the ir cl i ents in . W e ha v e a fa c ili t y t o c o n ta ct t he sto re an d sa y a c lie n t i s i n t e reste d , s o we ca n th en m ak e an a p p o in t m e nt t o talk th em thr ou gh t h e r ang e. S c re en p r inter s c an com e i n wi th th e i r cl i en ts or f ee l co m fort abl e se n di n g th em al o n e, as c u sto me rs w il l o n l y e v e r s ee t he R R P . T hi s h e lps t o mai nta in t h e i n te g ri t y o f t he b ran d .” T he L o ndo n stor e i s m a n a g e d b y Guy J a nsen , w ho ha s wo rk e d a s a st o r e ma nag er in New Z e a la n d fo r t h re e y e ars. “ G uy kn o ws t h e r a n ge i ns i d e out a n d is us ed t o d eali n g w it h w h o l e sal e c u sto me rs,” say s Jo n a th a n . “ H e ’s wel l v e rsed in the i m pr i n t ma r k et a n d h e c a n he lp cus tom e r s , w h e t her th e y ju st w a nt t o buy a c oupl e of T -s h ir ts o r h av e mo re c o mpl ex w h o l es a le re que s t s.” T he n e w A S C ol o ur s to r e i s l o c a te d a t 50 R e dch u r c h S tr e e t, L o n don , E C 2 7 DP . To arr an ge a n a p p o i ntm en t e m ail: i n fo@ asc ol ou r.c o . u k ww w . a scol ou r. co .u k The new UK shop is large enough to display the entire AS Colour range