In the age of the direct-to-consumer business model, designer brands are out. Designer-quality items at a fraction of the cost are in.
Certainly, the brand name Brass doesn't carry with it the connotations of the likes of Tory Burch and Alice + Olivia. But the savvy shopper knows there's a way to score the same fit and feel of a high-end dress, just by ditching the brand name label and cutting out the notorious middlemen – department stores, marketers – that hike up the price of a traditional retail item by four or five times the original cost. And the founders of Brass, Lincoln-Sudbury natives Jay Hallstein and Katie Doyle, want to give such shoppers a way to buy high-quality, every day dresses without the mark up.
In November of 2013, Hallstein was working at a sourcing company in Waltham when she was sent on a tour of manufacturers in China. One factory that was producing high-quality fabric and items for designer label dresses caught Hallstein's attention: She realized that, judging by the difference between how much the items cost directly from the factory as opposed to how much they cost on the sales floor of Neiman Marcus, there was an opportunity for a direct-to-consumer company selling high-quality basics to women. After months of development, Hallstein, Doyle, and their third partner John Bush fully launched Brass on Thursday, September 24.
Currently, the brand sells five styles of high-quality, everyday-wear dresses: the Fit and Flare, the Sheath, the Shirt Dress, the Tank Maxi and the Tee Maxi. The dresses retail between $75 and $120, but Hallstein said that in a department store, the same type of quality dress would run between $300 and $400.
In designing the five styles, Hallstein said that in addition to focusing on the construction and fit of the fine fabrics, the team surveyed about 300 potential customers to find the type of dresses they would most want to buy. According to Hallstein, their goal was to find items that would be most "versatile" for a broad customer base.
"We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, or put out clothing you’ll see at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, but these are really tried and true styles that women love to wear," said Hallstein. "[They're] really flattering on a lot of body types, and are super easy to style."
Hallstein said that she sees Brass as "filling a need" for women in the age range of 25 and 40, who have grown out of buying cheap, fast fashion dresses that fall apart, but aren't in the position to spend $400 on a single dress. In the marketplace, Brass's style can be compared to that of Theory and Vince; in regards to business model and price point, Brass takes after fellow direct-to-consumer companies like Everlane.
The direct-to-consumer model has been gaining popularity in the retail space (just last week, Boston company OneGround launched a direct-to-consumer model for designer-quality shoes), and Hallstein believes that the surge in online shopping has opened up the door for smaller brands to build a name for themselves: Customers are now comfortable buying clothing without putting in any face time first.
And after launching a direct-to-consumer fashion company, Hallstein said a major benefit was the ability to control both the brand and the customer experience. She said they utilize social media to quickly connect and interact with customers.
"It's not face to face, but you can have really high quality interactions, and that’s an exciting part of e-commerce," said Hallstein. "I also think that’s what’s fueling the direct-to-consumer model. People [at companies] are making sure they’re part of the process. It’s a really exciting part of retail to be in right now."
If you're interested in the Brass brand, there is a limited number of their current dress line available to purchase in the online store. Coming up, keep an eye out for seasonal additions, like a sweater dress for the colder months and lighter fabrics in spring. Want to see the items in person? On Wednesday, October 8, you can sample the Brass products at Mass Innovation Night's Women Founders event at Workbar. Get the details here.
Images via Brass
