Local fashion retail brand hails new "stylepreneurs"

MANILA, Philippines - Thanks to social media, almost anyone can become a “fashion entrepreneur”: just set up a Multiply or Facebook fan page, find some supplier of trendy-ish and cheap-o clothing, text, e-mail, and tag everyone on your contacts list — and boom (or kerplunk): a business is born.

As seen with successful fashion retail brands, however, certain tried-and-tested business basics help a lot not just in establishing a name but also ensuring its longevity and success. Local clothing brand Blued, for example, has been a steady presence in the local fashion retail industry for the past 19 years. From its beginnings as a college marketing project, the brand now has 14 branches nationwide and has established its identity as a provider of basic yet fashionable apparel for both men and women at affordable prices.

To help business-minded young folk get their own start in the fashion industry, Blued recently held The Blued Project, an inter-university design and marketing planning competition that tapped students from different colleges and universities who want to launch their own fashion lines — aspiring “stylepreneurs,” as the clothing brand puts it. Blued VP for Marketing Chinky De Leon says, “The project is an initiative to encourage enterprising students to design their own Blued line and create a plan to market their ideas.” The Blued Project started last Jan 23 and culminated in a mini-fashion show and the announcement of the winners on March 24 at the Market! Market! activity center.

Blued by you: Vibrant summer hues, nautical stripes, a tinge of safari the competing schools integrated Blued’s easy casual style into their designs.

Competing institutions were whittled down to student representatives of Southville International College, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and University of Santo Tomas. Incorporating the Blued brand’s casual style into their design proposals, the students presented their integrated marketing communication plans in promoting their designs to a panel of judges comprised of social marketer and GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Inc. managing director Brad Geiser, fashion public relations consultant Pam Gonzales, Young Designers’ Guild of the Philippines president Louis Claparols, newly elected Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) president Jon Rojo, and Blued president Benzon Tan. Each team’s designs, which ranged from nautical to safari-themed summer trends, had also been uploaded on Blued’s Facebook page for online voting.

The team from Southville International College was declared the winner, and selected designs from their Summer Safari collection will be launched by Blued. The winning students also won a cash prize of P25,000 and an exclusive business immersion with Blued clothing, where they can further hone their fashion marketing acumen.