LOYDFORD SPRING 2021.... asked & answered

 I have long said that LOYDFORD is an evolutionary brand. The designers have turned trend into trademark DNA and create their own looks that reflect their brand and resonate with their clients. They continually win new customers at both the retail and wholesale level by actually designing and creating rather than referencing and copying. There are not many privately owned and financed niche businesses that remain so they are to be congratulated for weathering the storms of present-day life as well as the ungrateful and lazy media who go after advertising dollars rather than spotlighting true talent.

 

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I felt this was an important time to speak with them again as so many others cannot continue and yet they persevere and have grown despite all odds.

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 After viewing dozens of  collections for spring 2021 , I can honestly  say  the best  reactions come from those who have a realistic outlook which is that clothes need to be easy to wear, be  mix and match  with  what you might already own, can  be worn at almost any time of day and lastly but maybe  most importantly is that the clothes need to make you feel good when you wear them.

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 In this pandemic world what do you think are the biggest challenges for a privately owned and operated fashion business such as yours? Production? Fabrics? Retail apprehension? Financial?

 Production: the biggest challenge was in the beginning adjusting to the lockdown when everything closed and suddenly the daily routine got totally blocked and production places moved in very slow motion, half occupied factories, 3-day work weeks and everywhere with everyone being social distanced. 

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 Fabrics: we stopped ordering custom made fabrics from our mills with whom we have built long term relationships so we made our move onto Korean textiles where we got one amazing new fabric made while all other fabrics were just ok. We have a local partner for printing our silks so in that aspect we are ok. The costs were just very challenging given the circumstances.

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Retail apprehension: it was a great challenge to dive deep into customer service and turn our fashion house into an almost charitable organization .... joking of course but we turned everything into consignment and gave great discounts and everything worked out well for all concerned except for just a few retailers who proved to be very unprofessional and then we just had to rid ourselves of them.

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Financial: we are moving carefully and working double time for half… Sounds like nothing has changed…  underpaid, over worked and over stressed before and after the crisis began. Our management style has proven successful for us since we have remained in business since 1999 

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 What message do you hope to send with your collection to your buyers at both the wholesale and retail levels?

 Look at the quality of the item and its uniqueness…. Understand and realize where your wardrobe comes from ... Be aware of what you wear and how you wear it. 

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 What reasons have your retailers told you as to why your clothes seem to be so appealing to their clientele?

Timeless, effortless, unique, an attractive price point ... and simple in the fact that it is clothes you wear every day any way  you want. 

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 As time moves on how do you foresee the growth of the collection in terms of new looks and silhouettes?

More dresses… we want to go back to party dresses as soon as parties can be had, we have been playing nice BUT we need some excitement and some fresh action!

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LOYDFORD 2018... the fashionable conversation

It’s been 4 years since I was introduced to a then burgeoning and made in USA brand by the name of LOYDFORD. Since that time I’ve developed a friendship with both the brand and its designers. If you have ever read my commentaries/reviews about LOYDFORD, you already know that Franck Ford is the voice of the brand.

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Today it is Franck and I discussing the evolution and metamorphosis of LOYFORD during our “relationship” as well as the fashion business in general. In essence you get more of an insider’s perspective rather than just mine which is more from the outside looking in. 

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What consistently attracts me to this brand is its constant flux yet always retaining its DNA and to a great degree while increasing its design vocabulary season after season. It is still all about “lace n love” and still holds onto its rocker vibe but it is now not just about dressing to go out to a black tie or a cocktail party; it is more of a wardrobing or lifestyle concept. I find it interesting that once upon a time accordion or sunburst pleating was a ubiquitous component of endless collections yet these guys have adopted it and turned it into a signature for LOYDFORD and that to me is an example of how fashion and brands evolve. One more time it is all about massaging and tweaking a brand’s DNA to keep it looking fresh and attracting new business opportunities and opening more doors … literally and figuratively

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Another aspect to keep in mind, as is mentioned within the chat, is that LOYDFORD has one secret weapon that most brands cannot boast and that is actual sales at retail… not the blah blah blah hype… not the bullshit... but the real deal …. Money in the bank!  I continue to tip my hat to the brand and its designers, Franck Ford and Stefan Loyd ... and now let’s talk branding and fashion… 

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Jeffrey Felner: Last we spoke, spring 2017; the brand was all about lace, all about dresses and very much a dressy dress collection. Since that time, LOYDFORD has evolved, transitioned and possibly had a recalibration. Can you explain why and how this happened?

Franck Ford for LOYDFORD: Lace is still the trademark of the brand; we actually went deeper into lace treatments, varied qualities and more ideas for basic shapes giving a more casual chic.  The dressy dress collection was successful but limited for everyday sales. So, now we added more ways to our lace looks with pieces that are a bit less dressy but that’s because of less ballerina tulle looks not because of less lace. We started with solstice laces, even bridal laces and using them for sporty shells with spikes.  That’s our hidden treasure  is that we sell faster than a stylist could pull it for someone!  We are kind of hidden anyway ... coming to the point here of the question about transition/ recalibration ... we decided to sign on with a multi-brand showroom with offices in New York, Paris and Los Angeles. So here we are with 20 mini tulle dresses and some sequin styles going into a very real market! What’s the transition decision? Well… more and better! More opportunities and less hand sewn feathers on crazy pieces and doing what we did was "couture impossible." We keep our hand beaded styles and they even got stronger and more creative. In true evening clothes you can’t go too funky or too rock n roll. Now we can and it is evolving the right way for example we did an army jacket with our lace and embroidery and that finally hit the 500 units in production and that makes life much easier. Do I talk too much? Well it happened because we wanted it to happen. We even left Barneys so as not to be pigeonholed as only being known as an evening or after 5 resource. 

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JF: What is your feeling about the future of fashion in regard to brick and mortar stores vs. internet shopping … has there been a shift in your business because of how women are shopping today?

FF/LF: How does a woman shop today ?! I hope they shop till they drop ... but... 

Our business has declined a bit with European boutiques in high tourist areas but has gotten much stronger with doors in the USA. We are still not in enough doors for me to give a fully professional answer on the shopping today opinion. My feeling about the future of brick n mortar vs. online --- I believe in customer service while the roster of online shops  might be growing more quickly they lack the service and touch and feel of actual stores. There are still the neighborhood stores  where you walk in and have your coffee and buy a skirt  and it’s that " intime”  private kind of shopping " that will get stronger and draw clients while mall stores  and department stores will  suffer much more. 

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JF: Do you believe that there is any legitimate media given to brands other than those owned by the mega conglomerates or those “blessed” by the so called media elite?

FF/LF: Fake news in fashion? ...   Of course!!! The blessed can do anything without selling any product and still get more press than Jesus from Nazareth! Was that the question?  Not sure but I think that covers it.

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JF: If you could change how the fashion business is operating today, how would you change it and why?

FF/LF: I don’t feel anything has to change about how the fashion business is operating.  I can only adjust our rules and get better at avoiding conflicts with some issues but in general I am okay with it.  Well, I believe in detaching yourself from surrounding fashion is the best way to design fashion.

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JF: You have managed to build a core of loyal retailers who have been with you since the very start, how do you account for that and what do you see as the future of LOYDFORD in the fashion marketplace?

FF/LF: Yes we did build that but we also “burned bridges to light the fire” and by that I mean “may the bridges we burned light the way to the future” but nothing is predictable. Today the “now" counts and our marketplace is not yet set so we continue to build… even as we speak …

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LOYDFORD Spring 2017 paris

They inspired me to coin the phrase designers who design …

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“making an entrance” was how Franck Ford spoke of the inspiration for the Spring 2017 collection; Sondheim said it best when he said “making my entrance with my usual flair” as do all the ladies who swear by LOYDFORD for dressing up. My take is that making an entrance is easy when the clothes silently scream LOOK AT ME without being tricked out or lit up like a Christmas tree!  Women can wear the LOYDFORD signature style tutu dress, the current accordion pleated skirts (made for spinning like a dervish) or the newly designed cowl back halter and they are almost assured of entrance making and, in some instances, exit making attention as well as sidelong envious glances. 

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The unpredictable aspect about doing seasonal collections is that these designers operate from instinct and occasionally they just happen onto a trend without realizing it or trying to jump on board with it. LOYDFORD has never been a collection that relies or focuses on trend. They are of the independent spirit variety that eschews trend at all cost. It was only by happenstance that one of their newest signatures has been gobbled up by retailers and consumers alike. 

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LOYFORD is evolutionary, unique and distinctive as it is a constant work in progress. Both designers feel that they would prefer to offer more new styles rather than elongate the lives of their best sellers. The growth never ends but they retain their DNA no matter what. Even the color range has morphed over the seasons going from an all-black palette to the addition of ivory and a few colors and now to a full blown range of color options. During this growth process they have expanded their expertise from being strictly “lace masters” to introducing hand beading which has become a signature (totally designed by them, confined to them and engineered for their collection),   as well as a variety of fabrics and prints which make  “guest appearances” each new season. What you must keep in mind that despite the lightheartedness of design, the collection is always meticulously constructed as befits their position in the fashion hierarchy ... top tier!

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The reasoning behind all their design practices is simply so that the clothes will never grow stale when there is newness in silhouette, fabrication and embellishment season after season. One of their most potent secret weapons is that the clothes will, more than likely, outperform their “neighbors” on the retail selling floor. As the saying goes why fix what’s not broken? Apparently Loyd and Ford are not shopping for a new client every season but rather expanding their customer base with each new season’s offerings.

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