Fashion Slow Lane!

FREE. What Will It Cost You? The True Cost of Offering Something of Value for Free The word FREE has been used in advertising since the dawn of time.  We have all heard the old adage, buy one get one free.  Free gift with purchase.  In fact, I worked for a company in Venice Beach that built their entire business around the free gift with purchase model. The company did millions of dollars in sales of those cheap cosmetic bags that you get when you spend $35 or more at the makeup counter in Macy's. (p.s. They cost like 50 cents to make) When is FREE  not good for your business? How do you know when FREE is actually costing you too much time and money?  After over 15 years in the fashion industry, I have had my experiences with free. As a female entrepreneur, I have attended several seminars for women-owned business.  They tell you to give away something for free to attract new customers. For example, a free consultation, a few free hours of ...

Have you thought about bringing your Contemporary brand to Asia?  I am working closely with a well connected successful Chinese-American entrepreneur who has successfully launched American brands in handbags, belts, accessories and apparel in high end Chinese department stores and high end Japanese stores.  I recently met up with her in Beijing and Tianjin to visit some of the stores has launched American brands in. (The smog in Beijing/Tianjin was horrific but that is another blog post)   The American brands are successfully selling more per square foot in China than in USA department stores. China is an incredible emerging luxury market.  If you follow any fashion news such as businessoffashion or WWD I am sure you have read about this trend in the past few years. “One of the most exciting findings is that by 2018, in the next five years, based on our predictions and based on how fast the region is growing, Asia Pacific will be the biggest region in the wor...

We have a new shop in shop in one of the best department stores in Tianjin, a metro city of 15 million people not far from Beijing.   This store has several luxury brands such as St. John, Coach, Prada, Gucci, and many others.   We are able to get emerging American brands on the same floor in the same mall as these luxury brands. Here is some recent photos of a small American brand in one of our Chinese luxury department stores. (click on each image to enlarge) To find out how more about how we can help your emerging American brand expand to Asia please contact roccodante@gmail.com Thank you, Tara

Greetings from Thailand.  From a creative viewpoint Thailand has brilliant colors and textures that are amazing for design inspiration!  I love red and orange together which is seen in many temples around Thailand.   To learn more about my design and consulting services go to www.tarasauvage.com or email me at roccodante@gmail.com A few snapshots from my recent trip to Thailand! (Click photo to enlarge) Photos by Tara Sauvage copyright 2014 Sauvage Private Label LLC Golden Buddha-Wat Po 150 feet long Gnome on River in Ayuttaya-Thai girl. Monk Sweeping Around the Temple Grounds, North Thailand.  Love This. Roosters at a Temple in North Thailand..not sure why? Ayutthaya, Thailand ruins of temple Family at Ayutthaya, Thailand Wat Po, Bangkok Rural Wat in North East Thailand Dried Fish at Night Market Ayutthaya, Thailand Kop Khun Ka! Hua Hin Beach Ayutthaya Ayutthaya Baby Elephant in Hua Hin, ...

Thai baby & Pug.  Perfect. SEVEN years ago I went to Thailand to adopt my daughter from an orphanage in Bangkok.   In less than two weeks from today we fly back to Bangkok to show our daughter the country of her birth.   I am excited to show her the different parts of Thailand that I have loved over the years.   I love Thailand and now that I am better off than your average backpacker, on this trip I have booked "better" hotels. (When I used to travel to Asia I stayed in $20 a night cheap hotels)  However,  I really want to show my daughter what its like to live in the average village of Thailand. We currently live in La Jolla, CA which has some of the highest costs of living in the United States and the highest home prices nation wide.  We can't afford to buy the houses here that average about two million dollars so we rent a nice apartment.   My daughter is not spoiled, but by default she has every creature comfort of...

In one of my graduate courses we have a case study on Chad.  Its a little complicated and beyond the scope of my blog so I wont get into detail here.   I have never been to Africa but as part of the studies I have to learn a lot about Chad and Africa.   Its so easy as a middle class American living in a very affluent area to forget about how most of the people in the world live.  I have travelled to many third world countries where people don't have electricity and get their water out of wells in the ground, some of which include Laos, The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.   Its easy to forget in your dad to day life about how it really is to survive for most people on the planet.   That is where the quote comes from "first world problems."  Take for example, my iPhone. Its my second iPhone in 4 years.  Lately it erased all of my contacts and phone numbers...annoying, yes.  Life-altering...not really.   Is this a first world problem?...

I met this really great family owned business in Milan that manufactures and has traditional and unique hardware for handbags and leather goods. In fact, I liked them so much that I decided to help them to bring their business to the USA market. They have great quality hardware and I like the fact that they are a family run business and they can do smaller MOQ for custom hardware! Check out their online catalog here, and if you want to order something please feel free to contact me or contact them directly, I teamed up with them to help with the USA market. Smart Accessori If you need help with your handbag design and collection development, please email me at roccodante@gmail.com   I have been in handbag design for 15 years and can help you design and get your collection manufactured.   We work with leather and non leather materials. For more info on handbag and accessories design check out www.tarasauvage.com Ciao, Tara Sauvage Designer Sauvage Priv...