Fashion boss says sales know-how is vital

Dublin Fashion Week:One of the most difficult things for young designers is knowing how to sell, said Philip Stephens, managing director of Concrete PR in London and founder of the successful Unconditional label, at a public talk for Dublin Fashion Week yesterday.

"A lot of talented young designers start up and then fail because their product does not relate to the marketplace."

He said that because he had a shop, he had "an infrastructure for my own label".

Stressing the importance of gaining industry experience, his advice to young designers launching a new label was to "do a small capsule collection first, not too big, with a few pieces that are commercial and with a point of difference; then let it grow".

He added: "It is really important to establish a market and to keep targeting those customers and gradually build up a brand."

With wide experience of the fashion industry, Stephens worked in event management, interior design and club promotion before setting up his fashion/lifestyle consultancy Concrete PR in London in l996, which promoted many up-and-coming young designers.

Four years later, he opened a London shop of the same name and launched his own brand, Unconditional. Its combination of luxury knitwear basics and American-style simplicity earned widespread recognition and the brand now has more than 90 international stockists including Havana in Dublin. High-profile customers include David Beckham, Jude Law and David Bowie.

"The value of press coverage can be questionable," he said. "Press tend to shoot the more extreme items, and more and more editors are told to shoot clothes from advertisers. It can be difficult to start a new brand when there are an incredible number of labels around the world, so you have to think about what brand values you can offer and what your point of difference is.

"My success came from sales of Unconditional - press followed. There's a difficult balance between doing something new and filling a market need, and when you start you have to keep going. It's tough today."

Though acknowledging the creative strengths of London's Central St Martin's fashion school, in his opinion the London School of Fashion "is a lot more practical for the marketplace".

A former trend forecaster, he believes future trends will centre on green fashion. "A lot is market gobbledegook, but I think there will be a consumer reaction to pressure to buy more and more at cheaper prices.

"There will have to be changes and I think we should all buy less, but better quality. People doing green T-shirts and flying them around the world in plastic bags is not what it's all about."