Paper Crown Fall 2011

[Zposen]

I personally would not pay $400 for that dress... though I want to know more about the material used... the clothes do look well made from pics...

I think the blazers are best so far in the collection... great tailoring and fit...

 

[couturecouture]

^ That dress is 100% silk chiffon.


I love the tiered maxi and especially the blazer. I love that the tailored basics are very versatile and classic, those pieces are investment pieces, expensive but if they are made well enough to last a long time, they are worth it IMO.

 

[D A N A]

Nice but boring. We've seen it all before. Her skills seems to be more stylist than designer. She's good at matching pieces...if she's the one doing the matching.

Totally agree..., the styling is quite good. I can inspirations from Chloe and American Apparel..

 

[loladonna]

I don't think it's fair to expect Lauren to always make "affordable" clothing. Just because she has a reality background doesn't mean she should be charging cheaper prices because her name isn't Marc Jacobs or something. She --like any designer--should be charging in accordance with the materials and quality which seems to be high in this line. Her Kohl's line fulfills that requirement people seem to have of her to make something affordable for fans. Paper Crown seems to be more a labor of love and for a wider audience.

I think Paper Crown will benefit from not having her name attached and therefore not being associated with The Hills. Someone walking into a store might love and buy the line whereas they wouldn't if the name "Lauren Conrad" was on the tag.

 

[couturecouture]

^ I agree. I feel like she is going to be criticized for the price point but she did not do this line as a celebrity line, she is putting her heart and soul into it and considering the materials, where the clothing is manufactured (US mostly), and her target market, I think the price is warranted.

 

[Aoedele]

I'm not criticizing her price point, all I'm saying is Paper Crown is certainly not for the Kohl's demographic. I like the maxi dress too, but I wouldn't pay $400 for it, whomever the designer.

 

[CherryBomb01]

I love the tan blazer outfit, that's a total winner.

 

[tiny]

I placed my order for a few of her pieces, since we're going to carry her line at my store. It arrives in July, can't wait!

 

[loladonna]

^Did you see the line in person? How did you rate the quality of the pieces?

 

[tiny]

I didn't go to the show but they buyer came back and said that he was impressed by the quality of the line. Also the leather isn't actual leather but a faux vegan(?) leather - don't quote me on the vegan part and that it feels supple like real leather. And that Lauren is very friendly in real life

 

[lisalam84]

Will you be carrying the "leather" shorts at your store? Plus where in Toronro is your store located and name of your store?

 

[loladonna]

Maura McManus--the COO of Paper Crown-- and Lauren have been friends since elementary school. Maura graduated from USC and left her job at Rachel Palley to start Paper Crown with Lauren. She gave a really great in-depth interview with the website Imagine which touched upon a lot of interesting topics related to marketing Paper Crown including:

How they are keeping Paper Crown seperate from Lauren's Kohl's line
How they plan to use social media to promote Paper Crown
The relationship with departments stores including how they must alter some designs at the request of certain major retailers.
The downside of starting a label with a celebrity

It's a very long interview but here are some highlights

blogs.imaginepub.com

What’s different about Paper Crown from Lauren Conrad’s other clothing line sold exclusively at Kohl’s?

Well first, we have to be very careful that we don’t go anywhere near Kohl’s in terms of design or price point because we are catering to a different demographic that is a little bit older and has more money to spend on clothing. There’s definitely a difference between the two lines, but Lauren works very closely with Kohl’s and they do all kinds of trend research and have different ideas even on the construction of the garment so her knowledge there is definitely helpful for us. We distance ourselves in terms of who we are trying to target. Hopefully they support each other. There is Vera Wang who makes designer clothes and wedding dresses but she had a line at Kohl’s, so it’s like you can go get a t-shirt that says Vera Wang but then a beautiful $1,000 dress at the same time. It fills two different places.

How do relationships with department stores influence a brand?

Eventually, once you get moving with a department store, you usually go exclusive with one or two and a lot of times they will ask you to remake the dress you are offering, say in blue, but you want it to be in a print that is yellow and red. So you give them some options and they’ll agree or they won’t like it and they actually have quite a bit of say in something that they want. [For] something that’s exclusive in the store, they have the right to say it’s exclusive to Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s or something along those lines. And we’ll, of course, work with those offers and it makes you catapult to the next level.

Do their suggestions ever go counter to your vision for Paper Crown or Lauren’s vision for Paper Crown?

Sure, it’s one of those things where you are obviously making a garment that is spot-on and it’s your design and you don’t want to see it change, but at the end of the day, they know their customer, they know who’s buying what and in what color, of course you’re going to change it to meet the needs of the customer. But at the end of the day… sometimes they will even take a long dress and make it a short dress, so that’s completely changed the design integrity, but that’s something where they know the customer and they might also buy the long dress, but they know the short dress will sell exponentially.

Are there any downsides to starting a label with a celebrity?

Yes. Obviously I don’t feel it’s a downside, she’s one of my best friends. In the world of being taken seriously, it’s an uphill battle. We time and time again stress that this is her career project, this is what she has always wanted to do, and every other opportunity she’s been given over the past six years has led up to this, to finance her own clothing line. There is definitely second guessing and people who are testing us to see if we know what we’re doing and if we are taking the necessary steps to get the ball rolling and have a company.


Last week I met with Hilldun, a financing company for the financing industry, and he let me have it. He said basically ‘Look, I think Lauren’s great, I think she could have a really successful career, something along the lines of the Olsen twins who have really taken their celebrity away from their clothing line and it’s been successful,’ but he said, ‘It’s not going to happen if there’s not hard work, if there’s not a good team behind Lauren.’ I assured him that we are doing everything necessary to be taken seriously but his comment puts it out there that there are a lot of celebrity clothing lines that don’t do well. They’re there for 15 minutes and then they go away. That’s not what we’re trying to do here.

When can we expect to see more of Paper Crown?

Clothing will be in stores in summer of 2011, probably at the end of July and we’ll get things started at the end of July.

Incidentally the Hilldun company is now backing Paper Crown so it appears their meeting went well and there is confidence that Paper Crown can succeed long term.

 

[Aoedele]

I usually don't care what celebs do, but I wish Lauren good luck. She seems like a good kid with a good head on her shoulders.

ETA--With Paper Crown, does that mean her first line is done with?

Thanks for the article loladonna.

 

[Zposen]

Interesting article, thanks for posting Loladonna.

It seems that Lauren and her crew want it both way... they do not want Paper Crown to be a 'celebrity line' but they were willing to let it be at the center of a reality show until MTV cancelled it...

What is impressive about the Olsen is the way they have been able to use their 'celebrity' as child actors to implant themselves in the world of high fashion and taken seriously. They were successful because it was evident that they took sometime to personally study the fashion industry and that knowledge resonated during their many interviews... and they made a point to be a 'part' of it... and not just watch from the sideline...

How many CFDA dinner/party has Lauren ever attended? or the May gala? Lauren doesn't know much about the industry and what it is going to take to have a successful line like Elizabeth and James... at least this time she has people working with her that seems to know...

Maura is bringing her experience from Rachel Polly and Gary went to Parsons...

 

[loladonna]

^
Being "involved" with fashion isn't just about attending celebrity and fashion events (may of which are exclusive) and being a part of the "in crowd." It's the unglamourous work of going to school to learn, doing the internships, and working in actual retail. Lauren did all of those things. To say she has no experience or involvement in the industry when she has just built a fashion company from the ground up with her own money is reaching. Most designers-- Lauren included-- do not have the resources and connections of the Olsen's so making their road to fashion success some sort of example to follow is unfair.

Maura is bringing her experience from Rachel Polly and Gary went to Parsons...

Likewise Lauren is bringing her experience from LCC, Kohl's and every other fashion-related job she's ever held for the past 8-9 years.

 

[Aoedele]

Agreed loladonna. I think Lauren wants to be taken seriously as an actual participant, not just a recognizable name on a dress label, as many "celeb designers" are. I would think there are a lot of successful designers out there who have never attended nor been invited to fancy CFDA events, you know the ones with small boutiques, independent labels etc.

 

[loladonna]

Preview of Paper Crown Holiday 2011 collection

The image came from an email from Paper Crown

 

[sssanguine]

That's a great pic, thanks for posting it, loladonna! Loving the skirt.

 

[stateofbliss]

That is one lovely skirt! Look forward to seeing the rest of the collection!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[McClaire]

^I know right?! I totally want it.