WeeklySA_AdminBaby Steps: In time market will be more defined
By Mpumi Brown
STARTING a brand is no mean feat but Nicole Meyerson decided to take the bull by the horns. At a tender age of 24, Nicole realised that it was a question of now or never, and she jumped in head first and launched her own fashion brand in February this year.
Wear Daydream – is an online store that is, according to Nicole, still finding its feet among women between the ages of 21 and 55-years.
“Some items are more popular amongst our customers in their 20s and others, which are the more-expensive items, are usually purchased by our older segment,” she explained.
She said at the moment, the brand is still trying to figure out exactly which type of a South African woman relates to it most.
“In time we believe our target market will become more refined. Although our clothes are youthful, many of our customers enjoy wearing modern and up-to-date pieces regardless of their age,” she said.
Nicole, who hails from Johannesburg in Gauteng, said they are aiming to create an opportunity for South African fashionistas to shop locally and ethically. This they do by making their clothing affordable and practical.
Wear Daydream, as an online-only store, takes a new twist to an exclusive experience by offering customers the opportunity to make an appointment at The Wear Daydream Studio to check in and view their collection in-person.
She said: “Wear Daydream represents comfort, practicality and feeling good. The worst thing that could happen to anyone is wearing clothes that you cannot wait to rip off when you get home.
“I want my customers to gravitate towards their Wear Daydream pieces every morning when deciding what to wear. Wear Daydream should mean feeling good because you look good, but also feeling good because you feel comfortable.”
With ethical and environmental businesses having to face the realities of global warming and honest business practices Wear Daydream is bridging the gap of fabric waste.
The use of off-cuts does not go to waste as all of their packaging is made from off-cuts and eliminates the need for single-use packaging.
“All orders are packaged in gorgeous drawstring bags made out of our fabric offcuts. We often encourage our customers to use these bags for their daily errands,” said Nicole. Being a fashion enthusiast and entrepreneur Nicole has shown great struggle in the fast-paced fashion trends.
She said starting a business is not easy and comes with a lot of challenges some of which stem from the fact that are new and small.
“Suppliers tend to mess you around something they will never do to those big and established brands. Something as small, but integral as buying fabric, you find that suppliers will put you at the back of the line and sell you ‘left overs’,” she said.
Nicole said they however take it all in their stride. And, as a business, spend a lot of time on Instagram interacting with their clients and potential customers.
“We really want to be releasing products that our customers want and so we create a lot of polls to find out exactly what it is that they’re looking for. It’s almost as though they are designing with us.
“We offer them an opportunity to make an appointment to view our collection in person. This is a great way for us to get to know them and an opportunity for them to try on our clothes before purchasing them. As a predominantly online-only store we feel this is important,” she added.
As to what was her biggest achievement from starting her brand on social media, Nicole said they try and celebrate the little achievements such as reaching 1000 followers and then 1500 followers on Instagram.
“However, I would say our greatest achievement so far is having to receive good feedback from our customers, telling us how much they love our quality, fit and design.”
