Evocha

Idea

Introduction

Evocha will be an online-only fashion brand selling a limited, curated range of luxury fashion essentials manufactured using the highest quality materials in the best factories. Our designs will be simple and classic, with a focus on iterative product development.

Evocha will aim to sell products at significantly lower prices than existing products of the same quality. The company plans to take advantage of the shifting trends of consumer behaviour towards e-commerce, and the decline of brands made obsolete by the economy of vertical integration.

Emerging US-based brands have experienced great success by cutting out the middlemen and selling high quality products online-only. This is a timely business opportunity in a rapidly growing market that has yet to be exploited in Europe.

Evocha plans to quickly begin taking advantage of demand for luxury British fashion goods in China by selling products through Tmall with an emphasis on quality and low cost.

Intended impact

Evocha plans to remove the price barriers that prevent customers buying the highest quality products. Customers that previously had to settle for products that are poorly designed and constructed can now purchase cashmere, wool crepe and silk products made in the best factories around the world. This is a huge opportunity that has not yet been exploited outside of the US, and only to a small extent so far within the US.

Evocha aims to become an emerging market leader in the UK and Europe by challenging traditional views towards the manufacturing and sale of luxury fashion goods, and encouraging companies to think innovatively and ultimately benefit the customer.

Evocha will aim to inform the customer of the true value of premium goods, and encourage a preference for quality and longevity over quantity and disposability.

Evocha will be a lean fashion brand, and will differ from traditional brands in this respect. Instead of producing a new range of products each season, the existing products will be incrementally revised, developed and improved so that over time the company becomes known for a small range of incredible products. Customers will become familiar with the offering, and will recognise Evocha products for their consistent design and quality.

Evocha will follow the approach adopted by technology companies such as Apple that focus on incremental innovation, and occasional range expansion, instead of range renewal. This approach will reduce design and sampling costs, and enable the company to focus on customer feedback and the strengths of a few products.

Evocha aims to liberate style-conscious customers who appreciate simplicity, durability and quality yet are not able to afford the products of premium designer brands.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Evocha has achieved the following accomplishments to date:

- Incorporated in the UK
- Secured domain name
- Produced company logo and branding
- Worked with students in UK universities to produce initial product designs
- Purchased rights to dress design for launch range
- Produced samples of launch range products including wool crepe dresses, cashmere scarves and Oxford shirts
- Established relationship with UK and European manufacturers for launch range and further product categories
- Run detailed profit and loss analysis to establish pricing and initial forecasting.

We are almost in a position to place initial orders and plan the store launch upon receipt of investment.

Monetisation strategy

Evocha will make money by eliminating superfluous costs in the traditional fashion supply chain, without compromising on the quality of products produced. The simplified fashion supply chain is as follows:

Design
Sampling
Internal review
Approved products offered to fashion buyers
Manufacturing
Products sold by third party distributors

Evocha will reduce design costs with the approach of iterative design. Products will be designed without consideration for current fleeting trends, instead we will employ a simple, classic design approach to ensure longevity and reduce the requirement for refreshing the range with each season. The internal review will occur prior to sampling to avoid wasting money sampling designs that go unused, and the review will be ongoing throughout the product’s lifecycle. Any design revisions will be incremental and in the best interest of the consumer, and products will remain on sale generating revenue until the next iterations are released. In our experience, it is not uncommon for the total markup on a fashion product to be around 300%, split between the brand and distributor.

Evocha plans to sell products exclusively online using the Shopify platform, and will not use any third party distributors. Shopify charges £38 per month and a 1% transaction fee on all sales, but negates the requirement for developing proprietary e-commerce technology. The company plans to maintain a gross margin of 40% on all products sold. Low minimum order quantities have been agreed with manufacturing partners, to reduce potential overstocks and allow the company to react more quickly to customer feedback. The brand will only require a small team to operate, and the supply chain will be in a constant state of review. The US-based company Export Now allows Western brands to sell products through Tmall, charging an annual service fee of $5,000 and taking 20% margin for each product sold and fulfilled. Evocha plans to work with Export Now to establish a presence in the Chinese market.

Use of proceeds

Evocha intends to use the investment raised through Seedrs to fund the initial production run of the launch range of products, and to cover initial marketing costs.

Initially, the company will engage with early-adopters and influencers within the London fashion and technology community to gain feedback and develop the brand. Once a product-market fit has been achieved, the company will invest in marketing and PR to accelerate growth.

Approximately £10,000 will be used to purchase initial stock.

The launch range will include the following products:

- Dresses manufactured in London by the manufacturer of the Roland Mouret Galaxy dress
- Oxford shirts constructed from Albini fabric and manufactured in the last remaining shirt manufacturer in the UK
- 100% cashmere scarves produced by a world renowned Scottish mill.

£5,000 will be committed to working with early-adopters to develop the business, and the remaining amount will be held as working capital.

The company has taken a £9,950 loan from the Startup Loans Scheme, in the name of the lead entrepreneur. Whilst the proceeds of this funding round will not be used to repay the outstanding balance of this loan, interest payments of £49.88 for the first 12 months (and thereafter £233.75 for an additional 48 months) are repayable.