Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Fresh Collective - Shaping Designer Dreams

Greetings from Fresh Collective HQ! My name is Allison and I’m excited to get to write the this blog post for Art of Fashion through their partnership with Fresh Collective!

A fun aspect of this partnership is getting to do these very posts on the AoF blog in which we can provide key learnings that have shaped and grown our business throughout our 10 years in the Toronto fashion retail industry.

Our business mission is to provide transformation to everything we touch, and provide inspiration and joy to designers  to help them live the life of their dreams. It was a no-brainer for us to say yes when AoF asked us to share in the journey of several new designers and gave us the opportunity to share what we know with them.

The Fresh Collective business is designed to send waves of transformation out into communities and to the world; to inspire people in a viral way. We are very much looking forward to helping foster and develop new talent in the Canadian fashion world!

Fresh Collective CEO/Founder Laura-Jean Bernhardson, Marketing Manager Jenna Cloughley and Social Media Manager Allison Dunnings

Three things you should know about Fresh Collective:

1. We are committed to success!
Fresh Collective provides the opportunity for local, Canadian and select international designers to reach new audiences through our retail stores. Our customer service, marketing support and online community build a network for our designers to reach their audience, learn what they want and create products that come together to form a complete look. We’re committed to our designers successes. Every day we refine what that looks like so we can support them with business knowledge, numbers, systems and communication.

2. We sell more than just clothing and accessories through our stores
We know we don’t really sell dresses, skirts and tops. We sell confidence, beauty and self-expression through fashion. We inspire women to let their outer self reflect their inner self, and think of fashion as a daily form of communication and art that tells the world just who we are.

Web finance guru Shannon Simmons and fashion blogger Nicole Wilson admire images from the Fresh Collective REAL WOMEN campaign - featuring FC fashion shot on our staff and designers.

3. We have an amazing team!
Founded and built by Laura-Jean Bernhardson in 2003, the Fresh Collective team has been built and refined over the last 10 years. Our team is founded on a commitment to communication, action and accountability. We do what we say we’re going to do, by when we say we’re going to do it and, if we can’t, we communicate about it. The business is built on the e-myth system of doing what you love by building the structure and team around you to support your dream. Laura-Jean’s background is in neither fashion nor business – she simply followed her heart and did what she loved. Through that she built a team around her of retail sales experts, marketing and promotion gurus, designers and curators. We all work together to provide the best customer service, the best of unique, beautiful fashions and products that make our customers feel special, and the best business advice and support we can to our partners to help them live the life of their dreams.

Fresh Collective CEO, Laura-Jean Bernhardson (center), with designers Jennifer Fukushima (Paper People clothing), and Marnie Kramer (The Blushing Maple).

Stay tuned for monthly guest blogs from Fresh Collective and keep up-to-date by following them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and at www.freshcollective.com