RAPAPORT... Forget the image of the crazy cat lady with curlers in her hair who never leaves the house and stays up all night shopping on television. Nothing could be further from the truth, say designers who create collections for the television home shopping networks.
The television home shopping consumer is, in fact, just the opposite — she is sophisticated, smart and savvy, with financial resources. She watches all the jewelry shows, has learned about gemstones and has found her favorite designers. A self-purchaser, she has also learned how to mix her jewelry and create a jewelry wardrobe. All of this knowledge comes from listening to the stories designers tell about their collections. It’s a winning combination of educational information presented in an entertaining format.
“We’re selling by telling,” says Carol Brodie, whose show “Rarties: Fine Jewelry By Carol Brodie” for HSN has been on the air for just over a year. “We’re providing an expert opinion and point of view. We teach people how to wear jewelry, we talk about gems, we tell about the inspiration for the piece and then I’m the influencer.”
Richard Palermo, who also designs a collection for HSN, agrees. “It’s infotainment; we’re telling about the piece and the person watching is being entertained. Everything has to have a backstory. We’re doing a collection based on famous diamonds. We have reproductions of those diamonds, we show them and talk about the history, mystery, intrigue and legends of the stones. Then we re-create the cut in a colored gemstone for accessibility and put it in a mounting inspired by the history of the stone. In a brick-and-mortar store, you’re often dealing with a salesperson who does not have vast knowledge or time, but on television, you’re watching a professional designer make a presentation.”
Designer Stephen Dweck, known for his bodacious colored gemstone fashion collections, agreed to create “Dweck Diamonds for QVC” because it gave him an opportunity to tell another story. “At first, I didn’t think that doing a line for QVC was the right fit for me, but I don’t have diamonds in my collection, so this gave me an outlet to tell another story,” he explains.
In 2005, while at the JCK Show in Las Vegas, designer Elizabeth Showers was approached by QVC to do a collection. It was the mission of her message that prompted Showers to create a QVC line. “I thought it would be a fun way to reach a broader audience with my message, ‘Empowering all women to be beautiful.’ With a high-end line, there was a limited audience I could reach. But with QVC, I could reach a lot more women with my message.”
Design Directions
Once the story is in place, every designer has a different approach to creating a television home shopping collection. For some, the collection is an extension of their line at a more accessible price point — for others, it is an entirely different look. Getting the proper mix of price, style and quality is a constant challenge.
Showers goes back into her collection for designs that were first introduced in her line two or more years ago and then re-creates those pieces using enamel instead of gems, silver instead of gold and white topaz instead of diamonds. “It gives us a bigger look for less money,” Showers explains. “But we use the Hope Star logo — an imperfect eight-point star developed to remind all women to feel great about themselves — on everything. That is our continuous thread.”
Brodie develops her collection by drawing upon the creations of famous design houses or iconic jewelers and reinterpreting those items in limited editions for her line, which is aspirational, affordable and about value. She has built her Rarities brand through electronic media. In addition to her show, Brodie interacts with her customers through Facebook, email, a blog and twitter. “I read the reviews: when something bad comes in, we know and we can fix it; when comments are good, then we can build on that. My customers can reach me through Facebook, my blog and email. I answer each one personally; it’s time-consuming, but it will make a brand successful.”
Instead of doing a line extension, Dweck created a whole new look for his QVC collection. “What I do for my brick-and-mortar retailers is mostly color, it’s fashion and it tends to be seasonal. What I’ve done with Dweck Diamonds is more seasonless. It’s sculptural. I used textures and themes from my signature collection.I delved into my archives, but I didn’t want to repeat what I’ve done. I had a new story to tell. It was time to mature and do something with diamonds.”
According to Palermo, one of the biggest challenges of designing a collection for television is coming up with new ideas all the time. “They always want something new and unique. Nothing matches, but it has to go together. It is harder to design.”
The home shopping networks provide designers with a huge branding opportunity as well, allowing them to reach a far greater audience than they could any other way. “When we first started talking, the executives at QVC told me seven minutes on QVC is like a big ad for your brand,” concludes Showers. “It’s a great way to get your name out while reaching and connecting with so many women.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2010. To subscribe click here.