There are four seasons—well two if you're from somewhere like Arizona like I am, where there's the hot season and the somewhat-hot season.
In fashion, there are four seasons, but really, we pretend like there are two: S/S (summer/spring) and F/W (fall/winter). All designers follow these seasons, with the exception of other "seasons" and lines like resort, swim, and menswear. Now, this rule is being broken by the iconic trendsetter herself, Tamara Mellon.
If you don't know who Tamara Mellon is, you can thank her for what the luxury shoe industry looks like today, and for those cute Jimmy Choo shoes on your holiday gift list.
The Jimmy Choo company started off small in Malaysia by a shoemaker named Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat. Mellon met him and suggested a partnership which formed the shoe empire we know and love today.
This empire broke rules and boundaries by being the first luxury shoe company to go public, and its namesake appeared on shows like "Sex and the City" and the "Sopranos." Currently, the brand is under Michael Kors Holdings (the same company that bought Versace a few weeks back) and is making the brand lots and lots of money.
Adding to Michael Kors' already $9.56 billion net worth, Mellon and her Jimmy Choo team are ready to become the breadwinner of the company.
In addition to the many styles and types of shoes Jimmy Choo comes out with every season, there will now be a continuous, seasonless style of shoe offered. The Tamara Mellon shoe (yes, it's named after her) will feature six new seasonless styles every month!
Instead of producing four giant collections for every season, Jimmy Choo will produce a smaller, continuous cycle of new shoes. Mellon explained that in the new age of technology and consumers with a we-want-it-now attitude, companies have to stay on top and give them what they want and when they want it. Hence why it's more profitable for Jimmy Choo to have seasonless shoe options at the tip of their computer mouse.
Some other innovative thoughts that Mellon has been acting on is the company's social media presence and using it effectively. We all know that now, most retail sites have their own social media ranging from Facebook to Instagram and everything in between. What other companies aren't doing, however, is using their accounts to their full potential!
Most companies go over analytics on how well certain products sell, what consumer type buys them, and what makes people actually buy the product. This method costs time and money, two things of the most value when looking at any business, and especially in the retail industry. To get instant information and confirmation if a new style is going to do well in the market, she simply posts on Instagram, "who likes it?" and if the responses are positive, she puts it into production. This method creates shorter lead times from design to production to get the shoe to the final customer.
These intuitive ways are making Mellon and Michael Kors Holdings not only rich with money but also rich with knowledge and innovation. With new ways of thinking and new companies added to the Holdings company, maybe there will be a new leader in the fashion industry?
