CATH KIDSTON: INSIDE THE BRAND

Carlota Lopez
Jan 2, 2018
4 min read

For my summative project we were given a trend story, a brand and an outcome. Mine were Applied Arts, Cath Kidston and an event. We are supposed to research into those three things and then develop a variety of ideas and mood- boards explaining them.

I have made my research of the brand and this post will be about it. I have to admit that at first I was really upset that my brand was Cath Kidston, I think its very basic and different from my style but at the end it was linda interesting to go out of my comfort zone.

Cath Kidston is an international chain of home furnishing and fashion retail stores. The designer Cath Kidston opened her first shop in 1993 in London, selling hand- embroidered tea- towels and renovated furniture. It was been a sucess since then and the brand has even grown to other countrys and to Asia where they have lots of fans.

Gradually the artist began to design her own prints and products. One of the first was a printed ironing board cover, practical, peculiar and with a floral print. This became later the signature of the brand, floral prints with a hint of nostalgia. The product base has expande to include and extensiva range of Women's and Kid's fashion and accessories. Her sim was always to create well- priced, and products with quality that are fun and original.

Over the years Cath's high- profile collaborations have included creating tents with Millets, Nokia mobile phones, Disney clothes and collectible radios with Roberts. The brand has also collaborated with Tesco to produce printed eco shopping bags. You can see the products bellow:

"People either love it and want a little bit of it very much, or want to stab us."

After making a survey that counted 100 people, from all ages and genders, the results were more or less what I expected. A lot of people (83%) are not familiarized with the brand and the ones that are (only 17%) are mostly between the age of 31- 50 which means that the brand is having a problem reaching the younger generations.

Only 10% of the people that kindly answered my survey had bought anything from the brand before and it was mainly bags, furniture and clothes. When asked if Cath Kidston was a female, male or for both genders brand the majority of the people answered that it was a female brand and I was expecting that because even without a survey we can make this assumption due to the feminine floral patterns that it is famous for.

Bags were voted as the most popular product product of the brand and when asked about the popularity of the brand the results were divided between "popular" and "other". A lot of people voted "other" since they weren't familiarized with the brand, others said "Not popular yet but rising." or "I have never heard about it before but now that I have researched it I like it, I think it has potential but if it was more advertised it would be more popular".

Bellow you can see the thoughts of the people on the brand:

TARGET AUDIENCE

Cath Kidston targets are mostly females and as I mentioned before it is easy to see why since it is all very feminine colours and patterns. It also targets a wide range of audience in terms of age. This is because although the brand has a very feminine aesthetic it can do that in a very childish way approaching the kids, but also in a formal way, reaching the older generation.

PRODUCT OFFER

The products have a nostalgic feel attached to them, we can get a 40/50s vibe from the brand. The product offer ranges from clothes to kitchenware to home furnishings, the brand offers products for everyday life. I consider that their most famous products are the bags but other people can think differently.

SHOP EXPERIENCE

I have no idea if you ever entered a Cath Kidston store before but if you have you will get what I say next. Entering a store from this brand is like entering in a fluffy world where nothing bad can happen. There is a lot of femininity and if you are like me it can be a little bit sickening. Ok I am overreacting.

You get this vintage vibe from the 50s not only from the products but also from the layout of the store. I consider the products a little bit expensive but probably the fans of the brand would not agree with me on that.

COMPETITION

"There is not a direct competition" said the CEO.

Because there is a broad range of products, Cath Kidston does not fit into directly competition with any distinct brand. Looking at the products, we could say that Primark, Tiger or Accessorize offer similar merchandising but the brands differ majorly in terms of niche, target audience and price.

I also made a pen portrait like I learnt in my last seminar and now I can see that it can be very intuitive. I did it in my sketchbook but I took photos so you can see it below: