This term: fashion boutique

[arndis]

So this term's major project is a fashion boutique, abroad, for a trendsetting international designer. I'm going to use Anand Kabra, from India. He does clothes that are not just western, not just eastern:

http://www.anandkabra.com/

And since he has stores in India, but none abroad, obviously mine has to be in London.

So, if you were a haute couture fusion fashion boutique targeting both Indian and European women, where in London would you be? What neighbourhood, and would it be streetfront property or a mall?

And does anyone know how to efficiently mass-download images from a flash site? I do not want to have to download the damn things one by one.

Comments

[amazon-syren.livejournal.com]

Green Street.

Between Plashet and Upton Park.


Also: COOL! :-D

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

Hounslow or Harrow could also be options, though Green Street has the appeal of an established Asian shopping area to draw shoppers in. But those might be a bit too out in the suburbs for a haute couture fashion boutique, I dunno. What about Soho/Oxford Circus/Piccadilly Circus area? Regent Street or Covent Garden are also in the neighbourhood. I'd avoid Oxford Street proper though, as well as Tottenham Court Road, since those two tend to cater to big box stores. Depends on who you want to cater more to - European women would probably be less likely to go shopping in Upton Park, Harrow or Hounslow unless they happen to live in the area or are specifically looking for Asian-inspired fashions. Harrow and Hounslow are the London boroughs with the largest Indian populations.

[amazon-syren.livejournal.com]

Fair point about the suburbs. Soho/Piccadilly would be cool. :-)

[arndis.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about London, hence the post. I need advice from people who know better than me, so I can then pump them for about a page's worth of area writeup. ;)

The store is 4600 sqft total. Kabra's newer collections are clearly aimed at a more international audience, but still have Indian flavours. We have the freedom to locate it in a suburban mall or in streetfront property -- whatever is better for the target market and city. I'm going to be selling this as Kabra's logical next step in gaining international exposure, so an area known for haute couture is better than one known mostly for Asian goods. Which area does that suggest?

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

How upmarket are you looking to go? If you're looking to Gucci/Prada/Versace levels, you might want to look instead at areas in Chelsea & Kensington, which is a wealthy area of inner London. Apparently Sloane Street is the high-class shopping street in that neighbourhood. Or look at Bond Street in Mayfair. Similar story.

If you're looking for classy, but still affordable for most people, then Regent Street would probably work. Depending on whether you're trying to attract residents (that is, people who live and work in London) or tourists, Covent Garden could be a good choice. Covent Garden gets loads of tourists coming through.

If you want stylish, but more "gritty" -not sure what the right word is - yuppified maybe? "Bohemian"? An area that used to be poorer and still sometimes gives the impression thereof but is actually getting kind of expensive? Then Soho or Spitalfields could do. Even one of the Camden markets, if you spin it right. But I have the feeling that Regent Street or Soho would probably work better - space is at a premium in London, but nowhere more than in the Camden markets.

I'm a Londonphile, but I'm not sure how much I could give you in terms of area writeup for fashion districts. Not my area of expertise, I'm afraid.

[arndis.livejournal.com]

It wants to be at Gucci/Prada/Versace levels but isn't there yet. Sloane St is sounding like a good choice, because Karba should be competing at that level and it seems a little less stuffy than Bond St.

Most of what I need to know are things like what class level it is, what is the streetscape like architecturally. The professor is already sold on London (though I need to find some data to back it up), so I just have to justify why this area. I can probably talk for a paragraph or two on how Karba is looking for international exposure but wanting gain a head start from the large Desi population....

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

Okay. Hmm. Well, Chelsea and Kensington is really rich. That is where the rich people live in fancy homes that still have separate doors for servants. Lots of embassies in that area too, if memory serves.

Come to dagibbs' gaming thing on Sunday and we can chat more :)

[tocityguy.livejournal.com]

You can download entire websites with software like this:
http://bit.ly/cWUpi0

It's free all though you might have to play with the settings a bit to download just what you want like pictures.