In the next 5 years, we're looking to make co-created custom men's dress shirts as popular as custom t-shirts are today. We're certainly not sure if co-created dress shirts will ever be as big an industry as custom tees, but heck, we're going to try.
But if that doesn't work out, maybe we'll move onto pants, suits (again), or even men's underwear. If it does work out, we're still going to look at how we can continue to revolutionize men's fashion through co-creation.
The purpose of our existence (aside from making money, which certainly is not our main goal) is to change the way men consume. First, we're starting off with men's dress shirts online by using our dress shirt design app to put the power in YOUR hands to create and design something that you wanted, something individually made, tailored with the exact details you wanted.
At Blank Label, we're hoping to revolutionize the men's fashion and retail industry. Maybe we won't be the company that is the be-all and end-all of co-creation, but we still envision a world in which consumers have an actual say in what retailers are creating. I'm personally tired of shopping for things that I want, and never being able to find the product that fits my exact specifications. Isn't it also incredibly frustrating when that awesome dress shirt you bought, which you thought was totally unique and funky, was bought by 70 other guys in your town? I experience this a lot in my hometown of NYC, where 8 million people live and where many others travel to. I'm very likely to pass by strangers wearing clothes that I have in my wardrobe. Sometimes, I see guys wearing the same thing that I'm wearing that day!
That's part of the reason why I love Blank Label, because the clothes that I wear were created by me, designed to my exact specifications, and were made only for me. Therefore, out of the 6+ billion people in this world, I'm the only one with my individually made custom dress shirt.
Since mass-production and mainstream retail have failed consumers by providing product that is one-size-fits-all and one-style suits many, uniqueness and creativity are out of the question, so we're leading a revolt!
We're fighting against mass-production, lack of individuality, and being a slave to the all-mighty retailer. We're fighting for co-creation, personalization, and consumer empowerment.
Here are several ways for you to join the revolution:
1. Tweet this post and mention @blanklabel
2. Share this post with your friends on Facebook
3. Spread the word about co-creation and convince people to turn away from big retailers if there's some company out there that can provide product you're looking for that you can personalize and is affordable too (we're not in the best economic situation, I know)
4. Email a link to this post to your friends to get the word out
5. Link to us and this post on your blogs, tumblr posts, websites, etc.
6. Consider buying any co-created products, perhaps a co-created men's dress shirt (if you're female you can snag a shirt for a male friend or family member), to support companies looking to be a little disruptive to mainstream retail. For other co-creation companies, see my post on mass-customization, co-creation and fashion 2.0
We'd appreciate your support of this movement. We're not entirely looking for you to give us money so we can make you dress shirts (naturally we're not against the idea either). That's definitely not our biggest motivation. We're looking to really push the co-creation movement. Regardless of if we're the bigger co-creation company in the next 5 years or not, we just hope to convince traditional retail to adopt co-creation or to support co-creation companies in their initiative to crush the stubborn traditional retailers. But the only way that can happen is if YOU the consumer adopt and support co-creation too.
This post was written by Lead Evangelist Danny Wong, pushing the co-creation movement each and every day on the co-creation blog.