Bill Blass was once one of the most valuable brands in the fashion industry; however, it failed to adapt to the new trends in customer preferences after its founder’s retirement. The initial Bill Blass peaked in the early 80s, catching the customers’ attention with urban, colorful silhouettes and innovative designs.
After a long hiatus, a young creative director Chris Benz succeeded in reviving a legendary fashion brand’s spirit.
The new face of Bill Blass is young and fun. The label shifted its focus and acquired a new target audience of modern consumers. Mr. Benz transformed Bill Blass and adapted its fashion to the fast-changing trends at the rise of e-commerce (Friedman, 2017). The results of the new collection demonstrate the success of Chris Benz in the rebranding. He combined novelty, consistency, and a multi-price mix of youthful clothing, which at last gave the brand a second life.
The new collections of Bill Blass implemented an innovational sales strategy, where the items would only be available online. Such a plan created a sense of exclusivity, which evoked the interest of new clients. In a way, it was a plan to adapt to the modern audience by going fully online, where youth mostly shops. Nevertheless, the collections kept the old-fashioned Bill Blass spirit, referencing its original design in new interpretations (Ferla, 2015). The renewed brand’s rebellious character represents the relevance of their acquired customers, who live for such innovative business moves.
The ever-changing shopper needs are challenging to follow; however, easy to set. Bill Blass’s sophisticated yet colorful collections respond to the customer’s preferences and resistance to monotonous styles and colors. The distinctive, bright clothing is what Mr. Benz states, is missing on the marketplace (Cheng, 2015). Counting on the brand recognition to do its work, the new creative director executes entirely new collections of American sportswear’s most famous brands.
The fact that Bill Blass was once a widely known brand in the 80s, there is a high chance that the young audience will decrease the recognition of the company. Therefore, it must adapt its strategies to attracting modern customers. If Bill Blass builds the concepts around e-commerce, a feasible method of acquiring buyers is through social media and cooperating with influencers. Such a contemporary and accessible way, if correctly implemented, will ensure the reach to a multi-thousand audience and bring the desired customers to Bill Blass.
References
Cheng, A. (2015). How designer Chris Benz is making Bill Blass cool again. InStyle. Web.
Ferla, R. L. (2015). Revived Bill Blass to start online. The New York Times.
Friedman, O. (2017). An evening of fashion with Chris Benz. Ivy Magazine.