Here are three observations that I have made regarding brands and their efforts to outsource design, sourcing and product development.
1 – Global apparel brand: Hired an existing vendor to deliver trend-right styles closer to market. After seeing the vendor’s capsule, the brand rejected it and sent them back to square one.
2 – Womenswear lifestyle label: Licensed all design, sourcing and distribution to a UK/EU vendor, downsizing its own team. The licensee’s line missed the brand’s aesthetic and was rejected.
3 – Vendor perspective: An executive from one supplier told us about holding six-figure costs in unused physical samples because client brands passed on the designs.
When a brand rejects vendor-designed pieces, it’s left with open assortment slots. Often, the brand is now stuck to figure out how to fill the slots in a very tight time window. On the other side, the supplier is sitting with the “time + effort + money” costs of their rejected collections.
Naturally, as you would expect, this creates a little tension between parties and chips away at trust.
But, what are root causes here?
Is it growing pains and the vendor will go back, try again and get it right? Are the brands not helping the vendor be set up for success? Is this level of interdependence exposing existing cracks in the brand/supplier relationships? Are vendors promising the world but can’t deliver?
The best answer is a combination of all of the above.
To build a successful partnership where both the vendor and brand win, here are a few things to consider:
1 – The brand and supplier must define the field of play of their relationship. This eliminates any uncertainty about expectations.
2 – Roles and responsibilities at the vendor level should be elevated. Analogous to what brands are doing within their operating models, the vendor must appoint their own Chief Merchant or Chief Product Officer. This ensures that a merchandising expert is present who can fully understand a brand’s DNA and customer.
3 – The vendor must be incorporated into the product creation calendar of the brand and included at relevant key alignment moments.
4 – Merchandising checkpoints should include early sketch reviews to digital design previews and clear go/no-go calls before any physical sampling takes place.
5 – Proto reviews must serve as a final assortment check and vendors are empowered to handle fittings.
But, if low-cost sourcing continues to drive the brand/supplier dynamic then just “paper ball” what I have written above and throw it in the trash.
I wouldn’t be offended.
