Aya Bapani Domus Academy Master in Fashion Management competition entry

1. Almagul Kassymova
Astana, 2013

2. Description of the product
Production process
Strengths and weaknesses of the product
Choice of products for international marketing
Target market
Distribution channels
Commercial strategies
Future development opportunities
Sources:
www.ayabapani.com
www.tvoystyle.kz
www.thefrontrow.kz
news.ivest.kz
Table of contents and sources

3. Description of the product
Aya Bapani produces high quality clothing primarily made
out of felt. Felt is a hand-made fabric, which is produced
from sheep wool.
The designer has developed her own unique technology for
producing felt clothing so that it does not shrink after
washing, give away color or tear easily.
Aya creates prêt-à-porter de luxe collections, which can
include smaller pieces, like jackets and skirts, as well as
such complex designs as dresses and coats. She also
provides custom tailoring.
Currently, her products are priced between $1,000 and
$3,000 per piece.

4. The wool used to create the designs is imported from
Australia. There are some local producers of wool;
however, Aya explains that the local product is not
clean and soft enough in order to be able to make
pieces of the desired quality.
The process of making a simpler piece of clothing, such
as a jacket, a skirt, a coat or a short dress takes from 1
week up to 2 weeks. Creating evening gowns, can take
as long as 1 month.
The technological process of pressing felt is quite
complex, so even if additional labor is used, it still
requires close supervision by Aya herself.
Current available facilities include a workshop and a
show room in Almaty city.
Production process

5. Strengths and weaknesses of the product
Strengths
Strong product identity makes her brand easy to
remember
Unique technology makes it hard to replicate her
designs allowing for high exclusivity
High quality of products
Exclusivity of the product and its high value added
allows for high gross margins on the products
Weaknesses
High cost of production due to long production lead
time and labor intensive production process lead to a
High risk associated with supply of wool from
Australia
Limited choice of distribution channels due to low
production volumes

6. Choice of products for international marketing
Outerwear would represent a higher value added as a
prêt-à-porter de luxe product. The lead time for
producing coats and jackets is relatively short less varied
design forms would allow Aya to teach others to produce
them.
Accessories would allow for the highest profit margin,
also requiring less time and materials for production. Felt
could be combined with other materials like leather to
increase the appeal in terms of quality and robustness of
the product.
Custom tailoring for up-scale customers would not only
help to increase the margin even further, but would also
be a great marketing tool for Aya’s retail products. Since
some complex pieces need more time to be produced,
and therefore, have a lower profit margin, it would be
too risky to produce complex pieces in advance for ready-
to-wear sales.

7. Target markets
The primary target market in terms of geography would
be Europe and CIS countries due to their higher proximity
and climatic diversity, which makes outerwear a more
relevant product.
Individual customers
Wealthy fashion-conscious women, who shop at luxury
goods stores for outerwear and accessories.
Public figures, who are looking to emphasize their unique
style and image through custom tailored designs.
Public organizations
Theatres, opera and ballet companies, movie production
companies.

8. Distribution channels
Luxury retail networks
Distributing Aya’s outerwear and accessories through
up-scale retail chains would be the most cost effective
strategy, eliminating the need to incur high overhead
costs for maintaining her own shops.
Air-freight transportation and workshops
For the custom tailored products, the main
distribution channel would be air-freight
transportation. She could use her existing workshop ,
as well as set up a couple more workshops, for
example, in Moscow and/or Milan, to make it easier
for her customers to place orders and come for
measurements and fittings.

9. Communication strategy
In order to position her brand as a luxury brand,
Aya should market to a very limited auditory.
European Fashion week participation is the classic
choice for a communication strategy for any
brand, where she could target only the designated
customers.
Advertising her products by donating/renting her
pieces to public figures, who would be willing to
wear them to largely-attended ceremonies, would
be a great positioning strategy for her custom
tailoring services.
A professionally enhanced official website
AyaBapani.com would make her work known to
the wide audience, but would not serve as a
distribution channel on the initial stages.

10. Future development opportunities
Diversification of production
Eventually, having established a strong brand, it would be
possible for Aya Bapani to explore lower-scale markets by
creating pieces, which require less hand work, but will
still include her signature prints and some felt elements
in them.
Brand identity
Despite the possible growth of demand for Aya’s ready-
to-wear luxury product lines, it is crucial that she
maintain a high focus on her custom tailoring services,
since this is and always would be her highest paying off
investment not only in financial terms, but also in terms
of brand image and further business opportunities.