When C.I. Castro & Co., Inc. decided to launch a new line to compliment its well regarded luxurious girls' dresses worn to elegant functions, it looked outside its own corporate design tables for creative inspiration. Rather than hire a new design team in-house, the company retained the consulting services of CT Design Studio.
"They were known for their dressy dresses (designs) flower girls wear in a wedding and they were looking to branch out," explains LeeAnn Stover, co-founder of CT Design Studio, referring to C.I. Castro for which the consulting company is now designing the Sorbet line. "It's less expensive to hire outside (consultants) rather than staff up. People are always looking for fresh ideas. They may have their own design staff but many (companies) want a fresh take."
That new look is often arriving from outside consultants, with many offering an array of expertise from design to production to sales and marketing. After successfully founding and operating their own children's clothing companies, a number of well renown industry designers are now electing to work as consultants, offering design expertise on a contractual basis. And amidst a tight economy in which businesses are striving to contain costs and remain competitive -- yet innovative and creative -- these industry consultants are discovering high demand for their services.
"We are full service," says Sarah Leff, director of strategic design for Style Strategic, a one-year-old consulting company based in New York. For instance, Style Strategic works with Little Esop, a children's clothing company. While that firm's founder Judy Posey continues to design the 100 percent organic line, Style Strategic oversees multiple facets of production, from fabric sourcing to manufacturing to distribution, Leff explains. "She designs the clothes," adds Leff. "We do everything else."
The term "everything" is gaining popularity among children's industry consultants. In fact, as more companies seek out the services of consultants, this new breed of industry innovators is reconsidering its nomenclature.
"We do consult, but we do a lot more," says Stover of CT Design Studio, which was started three years ago by Stover and Deborah Schoch, co-founders of the children's apparel company Cozy Toes. "A consultant comes in and gives an opinion. We back it up. We create product. We're full service and in today's economy, (our clients) are not having to hire a full time staff. They don't have to deal with insurance and all the costs of having a full time staff. They are just paying for the services and not paying for all the extras."
Adds Judy Pokonsky, the inspiration behind Queen Bee Baby, who co-founded VERS, a Los Angeles-based design and consulting company with clients such as Appaman and US Angels: "People are watching their bottom line (yet) they have to up their game. No matter how successful you've been (as a company), you have to look good (each season). What's attractive is that I work on a freelance basis, on a contractual basis. Sometimes a company knows what they need, sometimes they don't."
Essentially, Pokonsky says, a company realizes it "needs help," but "can't afford" (to hire) someone with the required and desired experience. "They have ideas, but they don't know what fabrication to use," explains Pokonsky, who ran Queen Bee Baby for 10 years, reaching about $1 million in sales. "The details is where I come in."
And details are what companies are seeking as they calculate how to design and launch new lines.
"We keep in mind what a garment might cost," says Stover, who developed Cozy Toes into an estimated $3 million company. "We have a business background. We know what goes into a garment, and what it might cost, what is feasible or not feasible and we can offer a production-ready pattern."
Most industry consultants work on a freelance or contractual basis, working on either an hourly or per-project basis. Estimates suggest that fees for children's apparel consultants may range between about $125 and $200 per hour, although many consultants prefer working on a per project basis with a flat fee. Others establish a monthly retainer with given clients, which could range from $5,000 to $10,000 per month. Regardless of the financial structure, consultants say the ability to offer design and production expertise - without the expense of a full-time staff - is highly marketable in this current economy.
"Clearly this industry is dealing with a recession, and the recent numbers reported for sales within the retail industry have fallen," says Vondra Barnwell-Williams, who founded high-end dressmaker Smitherman & Barnwell and is now CEO of Sparkling Butterfly. "It's no secret that companies are trimming their design teams and they also need to present something new to the consumer. In order for companies to survive the current economic downfall, they have no choice but to downsize."
Sparking Butterfly, Barnwell-Williams writes, charges a "one-time fee" to develop and design a collection. The consulting firm offers four "packages" from which companies may choose: from a basic package to "revamp, renew and refresh" an old collection to a "high-end luxe" package analyzing a company's brand name, creating a story board for a collection and presenting the fabrication, pattern and grading for the client.
Consultants say that remaining attentive to their clients requirements is essential.
"We work in different capacities for different clients," says Stover. "We're partners." Adds Pokonsky, ""It's not about ego. I get to show up and design, but I follow through on (their) point of view. This is the look of their line. What is going to work for their customer? I might push the (design) envelope, but I don't stray too far from their customer base. It's competitive out there. You can't come up with an old idea."
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