#19 Denim Forecast with Judy Blue Creative Director, Christina Choi.

Get ready for episode number 19 of Boutique Chat. I can't wait for this one, you guys. We're visiting with Christina Choi, the creative director at Judy Blue. Now, those of you who carry denim in your stores are no stranger to the brand. So I can't wait for you to hear this backstory and to hear what's trending in the world of denim. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. This week, you guys. I'm so excited to visit with Christina Choi, who's the creative director at Judy Blue. Now, not only is Christina the creative director, but I've got to tell you, she's been involved with the brand every step of the way, because, in fact, Christina is Judy's daughter, the founder of the company. Now, many of you carry Judy Blue denim in your stores and have for years, and they've got a pretty unique backstory that I think you're going to like hearing. It was a few months ago. Now, I remember getting an email in my inbox from the team at Judy Blue to talking about how Judy was intrigued by the Boutique Hub because she had such a heart and a love for retailers and for boutique owners, which is why you only find this line in retail boutiques. Now, the reason behind that is really what's interesting. Judy started out running a retail store, and unfortunately, during the LA riots in the 90s, the retail store was burned to the ground. But as you and I know, something good comes from every bad situation, right? So. So although she lost her store, she found her newfound love and passion and then created a business from that seed. Now, like I said, Christina was there every step of the way, watching this brand grow from their garage into what it is today. A brand that so many of you love and trust to carry in your store. So not only are you going to hear about this backstory today and learn a little bit about manufacturing along the way and starting your own line, but you're also going to hear some market research in terms of what's trending in the world of denim, because Christina is your go to girl who understands all of the trends in fashion and in denim and translates those into designs and pieces and cuts that you can carry in your store. So get ready to hear what's coming for fall 2018 and spring 2019. Guys, I can't wait for you to hear this episode. Make sure you take a screenshot or a photo and let me know over on Instagram Jalderson what you're doing while you're listening to the show. I'd love to hear more about your business and how this podcast is helping you in that business. Plus, if you ever have guest recommendations, we're getting ready to air a number of new shows and we would love to hear who you want to see on the show and learn from or what topics are most important for your boutique to cover. Guys, I want to jump into it. This is going to be a great show this week. I can't wait for you to meet Christina Choi and the creative director at Judy Blue and hear the entire story of the brand. Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast. This week, I'm so excited to bring you a brand that I know so many of you already know and already love. So let's get into it because today we're going to talk about what it's like to build a brand in a highly competitive market, but also build a company that, that is so focused on customer service, you're gonna have customers coming back for more. So please help me welcome Christina Choi, the creative director at Judy Blue.

Hi. Hey.

Thanks for joining me today.

Thanks for having me.

I am so excited. We've got a lot to talk about. We've kind of been chatting offline here for a little bit, but I'm excited to share the story of this line. Cause I know so many listeners already have these jeans. I have these jeans and love them. And I want to share the story behind it, but also kind of dig into your takes on the wholesale industry today and how retailers can be successful. So let's start. I know you guys have such an interesting story. We connected several months ago, I think, just talking about the line and how you guys had caught wind of the boutique hub and what was happening. And I was able to experience some of your denim at that point. But I'd love to hear from you. Just kind of how the company got started and Judy, who is your mother, how she started in retail before building this brand.

Yeah. So Judy had a retail store in Los angeles in the 90s, early 90s. It was unfortunately burned down by the LA riots that occurred in 92, 93, I believe. But after the riots, she, she always loved fashion. So it's Always been a part of her life. She actually went to fit, which is a fashion school in New York. And that's when she started her journey in fashion. And then she opened her retail store. Unfortunately it was burnt down. But after that she started working for a denim company. It was actually a men's denim company that she worked for, but that's where she fell in love with denim.

Awesome. So how did she start to take those first baby steps into creating her own line after falling in love with denim?

It took her a few years because it does take some time to develop and some money to fund that. So she saved up a little bit and she didn't have much, but she saved up just enough to add in a few pieces of her line and then start selling them. She actually started her line in her home in her two car garage. That's. That was our warehouse. We eventually moved to a bigger home. A little bit bigger. But the one thing she always looked for when we were looking for a bigger house was the garage size. She wanted to move up from a two car garage so that the warehouse could grow. Oh my goodness.

And hopefully at some point have a spot for an actual car in the garage on top of it.

No, never, Never had a con.

So what was that like for you as a kid? Because I'm sure you grew up just in the middle of the warehouse, right. And watching this business develop. Did you have a love of denim early on as well?

I didn't really pay attention at first. It was just something Judy did, my mom. But it just. It just became a part of me too. My mom was always really inclusive. She always told. I don't know if she did this on purpose or not, but she always talked to me as if I was an adult. She would tell me all the problems she was having, whether it was financial with the business or whether it was a manufacturerial error that she was having to deal with. But she always included me, so I always grew up with it. It was something that my mom put a lot of her time and energy into. So it was kind of like Judy Blue was a younger sister of mine.

Perfect. So it seemed like it was probably a good fit right from the start that you grew up and came to work for the company or did you kind of take a break, go to school, have your freedom and then come back?

I took a break and I'm glad I did. I went to school actually for business economics. I wanted to know more of the business side of it rather than the design and production part because I just Thought that it would be best that I learned from experience and through Judy.

So when did you come to join the company then?

I joined in the summer 2011. So that was right after college.

So today you are the creative director of the brand. So tell us what that's like and how you've seen this company evolve since it first started. And it was 99 when it first started, correct?

Yes, it was 99.

We didn't.

We started with very little. I remember there not being a lot of styles, but all of the styles we did have, they were great quality. My mom always pushed. Judy always pushed quality quality, even if it meant that she had to price them a little bit higher than what, what everyone else was selling for. She made sure that that was the number, number one priority. There's a lot of changes that happened when I first joined. That's when the Internet and E commerce aspect of it was growing. And so it was, it was kind of change that we had to go through. It wasn't something we were familiar with. And we were. We were used to doing the wholesale operation in our showroom in Los Angeles. And that's pretty much all we did. We didn't really have. Well, we did Fashion Go early on. We were one of their first few customers as a wholesale brand, but we weren't getting a lot of traffic there. Not a lot of people were signed up to be a retailer who purchased on Fashion Go at the time. But to transition from just having a wholesale storefront and generating sales mainly through that and then, you know, having it transfer over to having online. Most of our sales now either through markets or on our online platforms, either Fashion Go or our website directly. That's, I think, the biggest change that has happened.

I bet you've even seen just in the last 18 to 24 months, even those numbers shift dramatically. What is it like your ideal customer experience? Does someone meet you first online or do they meet you at market and then they transition to buy from you online? What's that progression look like?

For the past about a year or two, it was mainly first that they met us at market. We didn't do a lot of marketing and we did mainly word of mouth or organic marketing. So we didn't. We weren't putting ourselves out there as much as we could have. So when we first started Market, that's when people were starting to discover us. They didn't know we existed, even though we've been in business for 18, 19 years now. So that in the last, I would say two to three years, when we first started market, that's when they first discovered us. They would purchase there, and then most of the reorders would go through either Fashion Go or our wholesale website. But as of this year, I see a little bit of a change. I don't know if it's through word of mouth through either Boutique Hub or the Facebook forums or pages, but a lot of our new customers, our new retailers, have been through word of mouth, and they call us and tell us that they've heard about our brand and was interested in carrying our brand. So a lot of this year, I would say, was a lot through word of mouth more than through market.

That's exciting because your brand is one that we hear a lot about on the Boutique Hub for a number of reasons. Quality, fit, price point, customer service, open sizing, all these things. So I'm excited to hear that that's actually transferring into people calling you and placing orders. That's awesome. Tell me more about who the ideal end customer is, the woman who wears the denim, but also more about those retailers who carry it. Are they in certain niches? Are they of certain sizes? Are they online stores, brick and mortar? What do most of your customers have in common?

Our ideal customer, I would say, is someone who is a bit fashion forward, is a go getter, and really appreciates functionality. A lot of our denim, almost all of our denim, is very comfortable. It has a lot of stretch, but it's not too flimsy. So I see a lot of soon to be moms. Moms and also working professionals, young working professionals, really enjoy.

Our jeans are there, I'm assuming, just because you are living in the land of denim every day. And I'm just thinking about the pairs of Judy Blue that I own myself. They're a little higher rise, which I'm a mom of three, so totally makes sense. You have to tuck that in. Right. What are the trends that you see that you love in denim right now?

Right now? I loved all the cropped. All the cropped skinnies, the cropped straights, the crop flares. I'm loving all the crops. I don't know if it's because it's spring and we're going into summer, but that's what I'm really getting into. We're also really liking. It's kind of an older style, but boot cuts and flares, we're starting to really like that, and we're showing a lot of that in our collection now.

I love those trends too. So one of the big pieces is not only the trend, which I'm a high waisted and I love the flares. I love the crops too. I need some sun on these legs. Being from the Midwest, if we're being honest, one of the other cornerstones besides the fit and the trend though in Judy Blue is customer service. One reason why people keep coming back and shopping with you again. Can you tell me more about how that culture was built? Was there something that your mom did along the way to really put emphasis on customer service that helped develop that culture within the company?

We always try to recommend styles that are really selling. I know a lot of sales rep get, they get tied into or get caught up into trying to sell, sell, sell and, and just push styles that are, that they have stock in. But we're kind of the opposite. Even if a style we have overstock in it, we don't, we don't push it. If we don't know that it will sell well or if it's not performing well, we don't recommend it. And I think a lot of people appreciate that. But sometimes it can come off as us being pushy. Sometimes we know us style will be a guaranteed sale so we'll push that style for our customers. But sometimes it can be read as pushy. But most majority of our customers do appreciate that we give them honest advice and suggestions.

So those styles that you're seeing pushed right now, crops like you said, what else are we going to be seeing? We're coming into June at Dallas market and I know you guys show in Atlanta as well as Las Vegas. What other trends and styles right now are bestsellers that you're going to be seeing at those shows along with all.

The cropped varieties destroyed skinnies are still in. There's a lot of hem detailing that's coming up and just more flares, I would say flares and boot cuts.

So besides going to market and meeting new retailers and brands there to tell me more about your marketing strategy outside of these traditional methods, do you guys work with influencers or market in other ways online?

Yeah, we actually work with a lot of influencers. This year we're focusing on micro influencers, which are influencers with 5,000 followers or less. We found that while working with micro influencers, we found that the engagement rate higher and more of an organic reach can be achieved when working with influencers with less followers. And they're typically really, really enthusiastic about working with us. And we love that kind of vibe.

Absolutely. It's good Instagram game. Right? So when a new boutique comes to shop with you and I Think this is probably true for any brand that's listening and any retailer that's listening. A key piece of a retailer making a connection with a new brand is education and understanding. Not only is this product a great fit for my business, but how can I best market and sell this product? So what are key components that you think, whether it's your brand or any other brand that's listening, key components that you should be sharing with new retailers when they come to learn about your brand that are most important examples might be your open pack sizing, how to best sell this product, market this product, what are the features of this product, what are those key pieces?

For Judy Blue, we really emphasize on the open sizing. Open sizing. Some people don't mind that the jeans are sold in pre packs, but for most boutiques and the boutiques we work with, it really matters. You're not spending money on the sizes that don't sell and just keeping that in stock, but you're able to focus on the key sizes that really work for you. And every boutique, every retailer is different. So we'll have customers who love the smaller sizes, can't sell the big sizes. And for them this is, is a game changer for them to be able to buy open packs.

Absolutely. Do you guys go through some new retailer education or training or help give them tips and strategies on how to merchandise and market the product for better sales?

We don't currently, but when we do speak with retailers, our customers on the phone, we'll let them know why our jeans are different and the fit of them, the quality, the stretch factor, all of that. And we emphasize that to them and we hope that that's what they take and emphasize to their customers as well.

Do you consider yourself to be a definite boutique brand more than a big box brand? You think boutique is your main customer and where you see this industry going.

It is, it definitely is. We don't currently, we don't sell to big, big brand department stores and off price retailers or anything like that. Our focus is to build boutiques and to build their business and help them along the way. Judy really, really loves that part of it because she was a retail owner herself and so she knows really the struggles of owning your own boutique and trying to have it be successful.

Absolutely. That's a pretty cool correlation. So you, as the creative director, where do you go to refuel and get new ideas and new direction for the business? Are there books or podcasts or events or fashion magazine inspiration? Where do you go to find these new ideas?

Oh, I do. I go everywhere and I do everything. I'm subscribed to probably all the fashion magazines. Some of them aren't real. Like, they don't really help me out, per se, but it really helps me see what's out there, what's trending, and then it helps me to transfer that over into denim. I'll go to the mall and just walk around, or I will. It's kind of embarrassing, but a lot of the fashion ideas I get are from watching reality TV shows too.

No shame in your game. I totally get it.

They're very fashionable, especially the Real Housewives type of shows. They're very trendy.

I'm gonna write that down as a tip in the show notes. If you want fashion inspiration, it comes from Real Housewives. I like it. What about books or podcasts? What about business inspiration?

For business inspiration? I love this podcast called How I Built this. It's about innovators and entrepreneurs and how they started their business and all the struggles that they had to go through to achieve their goals. It's really inspiring, and it helps. You really know that you can do it even though you don't have everything, all the resources, all the money, all the help you can. You can make it if you really have a passion for it and you just love what you do.

Man, that's so true. On that note, what would you say, you know, between you, in your experience just growing up in this industry and watching your mom build this brand and her experience in retail, if there was someone listening to this show today wondering, how do I build a brand like Judy Blue or how do I build a retail store of this level of significance and impact? What tips would the two of you give to those people who are listening, who are wanting to grow to the point that you're at?

I would say just believe. Believe in yourself, believe in the process, and just don't. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I know a lot of people think asking for help is a sign of weakness.