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Mid-April is when the bridal fashion season kicks off with bridal fashion shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other markets throughout the country. It’s where the industry’s leading designers strut their stuff on the runway for retail buyers.
These shows are mostly to-the-trade, as The Knot Couture, the industry’s premiere show, doesn’t permit “bloggers, planners or anyone that is not a buyer of bridal fashion for retail” to attend. This seems self-defeating in this day when the bridal retail market is shrinking and getting in front of the real decider – today’s bride – is what every designer needs.
One rapidly-growing bridal fashion brand, Azazie won’t be showing this year. It doesn’t need to, as Azazie is focused 100% on delivering bridal fashions that brides want, not retail buyers. Azazie is an e-commerce-exclusive bridal boutique that uses a crowdsourcing platform to let the brides design the styles for their wedding day.
Personalization and customization of the entire wedding experience is the leading trend of the day. Short of having a bridal gown custom designed for the bride, Azazie offers the next best thing – bridal designs chosen by the brides themselves. “Today’s customer is very savvy and wants to be heard,” says Charles Zhong, CEO and founder of Azazie. “It is time for companies to take note and utilize their biggest resource: their customers.”
Azazie designs for and with brides
Launched in 2014, Azazie didn’t start out doing crowdsourcing design. But the company recognized its potential, when its customer service team would get generous feedback from brides who had thoughts on specific details or styles they were looking for. “We felt it important to listen to our customers to improve our products and deliver styles that really met their needs. With a network of over one-million engaged newsletter subscribers, we have a large pool of customers to tap into to receive real-time feedback,” Zhong shares.
Every month the company’s in-house design team sketches 25-30 styles of bridal and bridal party gowns and posts them online for feedback. Based upon the results, 3-5 styles are moved forward to development and are available for purchase 2-3 months after voting.
Today the Azazie catalog includes about 100 bridal gowns and over 200+ bridal party dresses in more than 60 colors, all hand picked by the customers it serves. “It results in our customers having more of an emotional connection to Azazie, as they feel like they are an extension of our design department,” Zhong says. “And we, in turn, know we are delivering exactly what they want.”
1 bridal grown, but five bridesmaids dresses
While the bridal gown gets much of the attention, dressing the bridal party is one of the big opportunities that Azazie has tapped. According to The Knot’s 2017 Real Weddings Study, brides spend just over $1,500 on their gown, but their five bridesmaids, on average, need coordinating, complimentary gowns as well.
According to the company, Azazie’s bridal party dress sales have increased three-times from 2016-2017. In a typical month some 10-15% of customers use the bridesmaids sample program where the bridal party gowns can be experienced firsthand at home before committing to the purchase for a fee of $10 per gown. Bridal gowns can be sampled as well for $25.
Zhong believes its direct-to-consumer model is the wave of the future in bridal fashions and crowdsourcing a powerful business model that gives brides a hand in designing the styles that she wants, not some retail buyer or designer believes she does.
By eliminating the middlemen and the high costs associated with operating retail stores, Azazie can pass along those savings to its customers. Bridal gowns range from $199-$449 and bridal party dresses from $89-$159. Plus each dress is cut and tailored to the customers’ measurements, in sizes 0-30, to assure personal fit. “Azazie takes body inclusiveness very seriously,” Zhong says.
Traditional bridal retail is struggling, with Alfred Angelo’s going belly up last year and Moody’s credit-rating agency just downgrading the 300-store David’s Bridal chain. In a note to investors, Moody analyst Raya Sokolyanska wrote, “This is a reflection of the intense competition in the sector and casualization of both gowns and bridesmaids dresses.”
Azazie has an answer to that. Brides get to vote on the styles that are as casual or formal as she desires.
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Mid-April is when the bridal fashion season kicks off with bridal fashion shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other markets throughout the country. It’s where the industry’s leading designers strut their stuff on the runway for retail buyers.
These shows are mostly to-the-trade, as The Knot Couture, the industry’s premiere show, doesn’t permit “bloggers, planners or anyone that is not a buyer of bridal fashion for retail” to attend. This seems self-defeating in this day when the bridal retail market is shrinking and getting in front of the real decider – today’s bride – is what every designer needs.
One rapidly-growing bridal fashion brand, Azazie won’t be showing this year. It doesn’t need to, as Azazie is focused 100% on delivering bridal fashions that brides want, not retail buyers. Azazie is an e-commerce-exclusive bridal boutique that uses a crowdsourcing platform to let the brides design the styles for their wedding day.
Personalization and customization of the entire wedding experience is the leading trend of the day. Short of having a bridal gown custom designed for the bride, Azazie offers the next best thing – bridal designs chosen by the brides themselves. “Today’s customer is very savvy and wants to be heard,” says Charles Zhong, CEO and founder of Azazie. “It is time for companies to take note and utilize their biggest resource: their customers.”
Azazie designs for and with brides
Launched in 2014, Azazie didn’t start out doing crowdsourcing design. But the company recognized its potential, when its customer service team would get generous feedback from brides who had thoughts on specific details or styles they were looking for. “We felt it important to listen to our customers to improve our products and deliver styles that really met their needs. With a network of over one-million engaged newsletter subscribers, we have a large pool of customers to tap into to receive real-time feedback,” Zhong shares.
Every month the company’s in-house design team sketches 25-30 styles of bridal and bridal party gowns and posts them online for feedback. Based upon the results, 3-5 styles are moved forward to development and are available for purchase 2-3 months after voting.
Today the Azazie catalog includes about 100 bridal gowns and over 200+ bridal party dresses in more than 60 colors, all hand picked by the customers it serves. “It results in our customers having more of an emotional connection to Azazie, as they feel like they are an extension of our design department,” Zhong says. “And we, in turn, know we are delivering exactly what they want.”
1 bridal grown, but five bridesmaids dresses
While the bridal gown gets much of the attention, dressing the bridal party is one of the big opportunities that Azazie has tapped. According to The Knot’s 2017 Real Weddings Study, brides spend just over $1,500 on their gown, but their five bridesmaids, on average, need coordinating, complimentary gowns as well.
According to the company, Azazie’s bridal party dress sales have increased three-times from 2016-2017. In a typical month some 10-15% of customers use the bridesmaids sample program where the bridal party gowns can be experienced firsthand at home before committing to the purchase for a fee of $10 per gown. Bridal gowns can be sampled as well for $25.
Zhong believes its direct-to-consumer model is the wave of the future in bridal fashions and crowdsourcing a powerful business model that gives brides a hand in designing the styles that she wants, not some retail buyer or designer believes she does.
By eliminating the middlemen and the high costs associated with operating retail stores, Azazie can pass along those savings to its customers. Bridal gowns range from $199-$449 and bridal party dresses from $89-$159. Plus each dress is cut and tailored to the customers’ measurements, in sizes 0-30, to assure personal fit. “Azazie takes body inclusiveness very seriously,” Zhong says.
Traditional bridal retail is struggling, with Alfred Angelo’s going belly up last year and Moody’s credit-rating agency just downgrading the 300-store David’s Bridal chain. In a note to investors, Moody analyst Raya Sokolyanska wrote, “This is a reflection of the intense competition in the sector and casualization of both gowns and bridesmaids dresses.”
Azazie has an answer to that. Brides get to vote on the styles that are as casual or formal as she desires.
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