Kiwi fashion designer Andrea Moore's new clothing line to be sold in Farmers
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Kiwi fashion designer Andrea Moore, is hoping to raise up to $750,000 to develop her label.
Moore who renowned for her bright, patterned designs has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Snowball Effect with her partner Brian Molloy.
The couple aim to raise between $250,000 and $750,000, or between 6.7 per cent and 17.6 per cent of the shares in the company, to help finance their next business venture.
Molloy said $500,000 would provide a jump start for the business, with plans to employ more staff, open another shop in New Zealand, and begin talks with Australian department stores.
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New investors would be rewarded with incentives such as gift certificates, shareholder events, tickets to New Zealand Fashion Week, and in the longer term, dividends.
Molloy said crowdfunding from customers was preferable to bringing in passive cornerstone investors.
'Whereas actually inviting customers who had been wearing our clothes for 10 years to become shareholders felt right,' she said.
Alongside the crowdfunding campaign, Molloy and Moore have signed a deal with New Zealand department store Farmers to sell a new range of cheaper clothing.
The new line called I Am will be go on sale on August 15.
Moore described it as a 'more playful, preppy grunge label' that sat alongside her ''slouchy, elegant' namesake brand.
'We've always had mind for it to come into a mass market situation and that's where Farmers came along, and we thought that would be the best home for I Am.'
'It kind of works and often the person who buys Andrea Moore buys it for work or an event, and then they buy I Am for the weekend,' Moore said.
Since starting the business in 1999, Moore and Molloy have navigated the ups and the downs of building a fashion brand in New Zealand, operating seven stores and closing some too.
The business survived the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes, where it lost a shop on High St, but still managed to keep all staff employed in its Merivale shop.
The launch of I Am in Farmers marks a step change for the brand.
Moore is the creative side of the brand, while Molloy handles the business side.
Moore said she would have to scale up production significantly to launch I Am. Previous exporting efforts had been curtailed.
'We used to be in Australia and Korea, but we've pulled back from that to consolidate the business, because there are so many more opportunities here that we can control.'
The current tough times afflicting fashion retailers, with Valley Girl and Temt the latest victims, were not affecting her end of the market as much.
'I don't think the big internationals are impacting on us too much. All our designs are original, all our prints are considered and designed from the ground up in our workroom.
'To be honest, the internationals may have one or two stores in New Zealand, but Farmers has 50.'