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January 18, 2008
Our foray into fashion
Jackie Huba and I have taken an ownership stake in Erebelle, an Austin company that designs and manufactures clothes for women.
Erebelle is a small company with a handful of employees, but it makes great activewear -- the industry buzzword for clothes that range from workout wear to lounge wear. Jackie loves the stuff. (Alas, it doesn't make a men's line.)
Eric Simone, a smart and talented entrepreneur, started the company a few years ago. Jackie worked with him back in the olden days when they were both at IBM.
Erebelle has made inroads into several markets, selling through channels like boutiques and upper-end gyms. Its website is clean but spartan, a typical challenge for many small businesses. As of now, it doesn't do ecommerce.
Our goal as investors is to help Erebelle develop word of mouth, evangelists and, perhaps, some web 2.0 flair. Because the congregation is smarter than the preacher, our plan is to treat Erebelle as something of a real-time marketing case study. In the weeks and months ahead, we'll occasionally describe problems, challenges or ideas and hope you'll participate with your feedback.
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Cool investment, Ben -- count on us, your regular readers to help in any way we can. It will be fun watching the evolution of the company- and how lucky for Eric to have you and Jackie as the marketing experts on board.
What a great investment, and agree...how lucky for Eric! As a member of a high end gym, frequent purchaser of active wear, marketing consultant and former Texan, count me in!
Gorgeous clothes.. a bit pricey but look worth it because of understatedly elegant style.... do they wear well over time? I presume the blog is coming and people will say
Thanks, Michele and Jenna. Super-glad to have your interest in the project!
Kare -- They're a bit pricier because of the quality of the fabrics and construction (made in the USA, too). All indications are they wear quite well over time and through washings.
We have a few social media ideas in the works, too.
So you're moving from punditry to direct action, hm? Great idea! I can't wait to see how it plays out.
Since many fashion-oriented brands still live in circa-1998, this seems like a good test case.
I'm so jealous! Lucky Erebelle. I shall be watching with eagle eyes to see how the wisdom of crowds works for a real live company.
Happy to help!
The fitness clothing looks very good. It really brings out the shapes especially if you have been working out a bit.
While you say that the site doesn't do ecommerce, I see that you can buy the clothes through a partner that does do ecommerce. I was under the impression that you couldn't buy online based on your comment. Then I saw the link at the bottom of their home page.
http://www.girlnd.com/productcart/pc/viewBrands_h.asp?id=14&source=erebelle
Nascar -- Thanks for the feedback. We'll pass that along!
MarkS -- True, the clothes can be purchased through the partner site you highlighted (thanks for the link). My intention was to point out that the Erebelle site itself does not currently do ecommerce.
Is it pronounced "ear-bell" or "air-bell" or "air-a-bell"
@Dave: It's "air-a-bell."
I am not a female, but I work out with females at Gym's and running. Those clothes are very dressy for sports wear. Sportswears in the market is very sexy, but are designed for athletics.
Thanks for the good stuff!
Good post!!
