It’s not just the big supermarkets honing in on home brands.

Over in a much different sector, a new guard of young, independent fashion chains are changing the boutique retail game.

Traditionally known for stocking a vast array of wholesale designer brands, boutique chains like Incu, Green With Envy, and FAT are now focusing on their own internal production.

“We started ours because we felt there were particular styles and categories missing from the collections we were buying,” says Brian Wu, co-owner of Incu.

Incu, which has five boutiques in Melbourne and Sydney, was one of this trend’s earlier adopters, introducing its own made unisex apparel brand, Weathered, four years ago.

“We haven’t really ever promoted it as a house brand before. This is actually the first season we’re saying that it’s by Incu,” says Wu of the label’s growing focus.

Over in Melbourne, a chain that Incu is often compared to, FAT, has also been growing its internal line to complement its mid-to-high local and international designer selection.

Unlike Weathered, FAT’s self-dubbed brand has been more obvious about its origins since it’s introduction last year.

Yet both have a similar premise: stylish yet competitively priced staple fashion items that sit comfortably instore next to drawcard and emerging fashion designers.

It’s the same deal at Melbourne chain, Green With Envy. The three store network, which stocks mid-to-high local and international labels, introduced its Nicholas label this year.

Items like monochrome knit jumpers, silk tops, and skirts, as well as some footwear, front Nicholas’ AW12 collection, at prices about 30 per cent less than it’s wholesale designers.

The cost benefits for adopting this trend are obvious: much like with grocery items, internal retail margins are better with fashion house brands than for selling wholesale labels.

This is a definite plus during the last few years’ retail downturn, with house brands giving hesitant customers a ‘sure thing’ staple purchase outside more expensive drawcard designer pieces.

“Margins do have to do with it,” says Incu’s Wu, adding that it keeps its margins for Weathered at 45 per cent in order to keep prices low for customers.

“But there’s also seasonality to consider for Australian retailers, which plays a big part when you’re buying from overseas labels.”

He says Weathered, which represents less than 10 per cent of takings, lets Incu stay close to its customers and be responsive to their buying trends.

Since debuting four years ago, Weathered has grown its external stockists across Australia to over 25.

Even single-operator stores are delving into the trend, like Melbourne boutiques, Alice Euphemia, with its ‘One Trick Pony’ label, and Comeback Kid, with CBK.

Of course, home brand isn’t for everybody. Brisbane-based boutique owner, Thea Basiliou, who operates The Outpost and Blonde Venus, told Inside Retail it’s something she won’t consider.

“As far as a house brand goes, that’s just too generic for what we do,” she says.

“We’re all about the design of our clothes,” she says.

She adds that she studied fashion design and could feasibly make a house brand work for the two stores, however, “it just wouldn’t suit the brand”.

Balancing wholesale suppliers

Comeback Kid, which this year closed its single bricks and mortar store to focus on e-commerce, launched its inhouse label a year after first starting business.

“It began as just a nice way of bulking up our range of products and offering a more accessible, basics option for our customers alongside existing brands,” says Greta Larkins, co-owner of Comeback Kid.

“There’s definitely a profitability side to it as mark-ups tend to be slightly better that the standard retail markup for our in-house labels.”

“That said, with the way customers shop now, we need to continually have new products available,” says Larkin, adding that CBK allows the store to do this.

Larkin says Comeback Kid’s foray into house brands was made easier by her and co-owner, Patrick Roberts, backgrounds in product development.

The growth of cheaper and faster offshore production in places like Bali also helps, as does the digital age, which has broken down some of the inaccessible barriers of fashion design.

Both Larkin and Incu’s Wu say wholesale fashion suppliers have been supportive of the retailers’ decision to delve into house brands, with their being benefits for them, too.

“It means you can buy more interest stand-out things from suppliers. It definitely pushes us to make sure the produce we buy is more unique,” says Wu.

One supplier of Green With Envy told Inside Retail this chain was “borderline” undercutting its design territory. For example, this season Green With Envy’s Nicholas was selling a teal coloured ‘Beck Lace Long Sleeve Dress’ for $370.

It remarkably similar design to the teal ‘Christina Dress’ by Lover, at RRP $595.00, also stocked in its windows.

One brand stocked by Green With Envy, which is not the Australian women’s label, Lover, but from a similar category, told Inside Retail it has its eye on Nicholas, but is for now remaining supportive of the chain.

“I think to do house brand well you obviously shouldn’t do exactly the same thing as your suppliers. It’s about designing a collection for things we think are missing,” says Incu’s Wu.

“It’s not about duplicating things we have or good sellers. It’s about when we come back from our buying travels, that we fill in the gaps for what we think we need.”

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