It’s been a year of reflection for Australian luxury womenswear brand Bassike, which has revisited how it operates in the last few months, from the way collections are designed and released to how it delivers products to customers. “Our existing focus on the digital space allowed us to pivot our retail energy to e-commerce. Our local supply chain positioned us well to cope with the disruption, giving us the flexibility to make ongoing adjustments and to respond quickly to product demands,”
” Bassike CEO Billy Voss told Inside Retail.
“The learnings gained through this experience have made us a more focused and efficient business. This is visible in our conscious approach to design through to manufacturing, marketing and customer experience.”
But some things remain, and despite the increased focus on digital for all retailers in the industry, Bassike still believes in the power of bricks-and-mortar and continues to forge ahead with the growth of its store network. After 13 years, the brand recently farewelled its first beachside flagship store in Avalon in Sydney and relocated to a 170sqm space, just a few minutes away from its original location.
Designed by Akin Atelier, the airy new Bassike flagship store evokes the luxurious feel of a modern beachside home, featuring lofty ceilings, huge pivot doors, timber ceilings, rugs, custom furniture and artwork on the walls. There’s even a courtyard at the back.
“While our online flagship store continues to grow and develop, we still see strong results from our stand-alone retail boutiques and believe a bricks-and-mortar presence is an important part of telling the bassike brand story,” said Voss.
“We love being able to connect with the community in each of our store locations and most importantly it is where our customer can touch and feel the quality of our designs.”
A conscious future
With its focus on sustainability and local manufacturing, as well as luxurious transeasonal basics, you could say that Bassike was already well set up to weather coronavirus and offer exactly what fashionistas are looking for in 2020.
But as a result of the pandemic, even Bassike is considering how it can operate in a more sustainable way in the future. Instead of overwhelming the consumer with an abundance of choice, the brand will design more concise ranges in the future, where each piece is designed to be easily styled with others in both previous and forthcoming collections. Versatility and longevity are both key.
Not only will smaller collections help the customer to create a more curated and sustainable wardrobe in the future, it has also helped Bassike streamline its processes around production, photo shoots and marketing resources.
And in order to help keep things fresh for customers, rather than releasing collections up to six months before landing in-store, Bassike is now consciously releasing its assets and presenting its latest designs closer to market for press and customers.
Since the pandemic, reports have shown a renewed interest from consumers in supporting local businesses and locally made products. Local manufacturing is part of Bassike’s DNA, despite the challenges and high costs it brings.
Voss is particularly concerned about the loss of local skills as the workforce ages and industry continues to move offshore.
“We have a very close working relationship with our makers to manage the workflow and output required not only for our current collections, but also to cover our projected growth,” he said.
“Producing locally does come at a significantly higher cost to producing offshore, but this is something we have been committed to since the brand launched in 2006, and it is important to us that our workers are being treated well and paid fair wages – our customers think so too.”