It Rains an Awful Lot in Ireland. We’re Looking for an Outerwear Brand.

There are certain things you can rely on in Irish fashion.

One of them is that sooner or later, it’s going to rain.

Usually sooner.

Elevation Agencies is currently looking for an outerwear brand to represent in Ireland, and we’d like to hear from international brands interested in developing the Irish market.

Based in Fashion City, Dublin, we work with independent boutiques and retailers throughout Ireland, representing a carefully selected portfolio of international womenswear and accessory brands.

And right now, we have a gap.

We’re looking for outerwear.

Ireland and outerwear make quite a lot of sense

Ireland isn't exactly a market where outerwear gets a particularly short selling window.

Our weather has a habit of ignoring whatever season happens to be printed on the calendar.

Jackets can be relevant on a summer evening. Coats can start selling long before winter officially arrives. And rain rarely needs an invitation.

That makes outerwear an important category for Irish fashion retailers — but, as always, the product has to be right.

We're not looking to add another brand simply for the sake of adding another logo to the Elevation portfolio.

We're looking for a collection that we believe can genuinely work for our retail customers and, ultimately, their customers.

What kind of outerwear brand are we looking for?

We're deliberately keeping this reasonably open.

Great brands don't always fit neatly into a checklist, and we'd rather see an interesting collection than rule something out because it doesn't fit a predetermined description.

We're interested in hearing from established and emerging international outerwear brands with collections suitable for the Irish independent retail market.

The important things for us are strong product, good design, commercial potential and a brand that is serious about developing the Irish market.

Most importantly, there needs to be a reason for an Irish boutique owner to put the collection on their rail.

That's something a spreadsheet doesn't always tell you.

What does Elevation Agencies offer?

Elevation Agencies is a Dublin-based fashion agency working directly with independent boutiques and retailers throughout Ireland.

Our role goes considerably further than putting a brand on a website.

We present collections from our showroom in Fashion City, introduce brands to suitable retailers, arrange appointments, communicate new collections and opportunities to our customer network, follow up with buyers and provide our principals with feedback from the Irish market.

Behind that is Elevation OS, our own system for managing retailer relationships, appointments, communication, collection interest and follow-up.

Technology helps us stay organised.

The actual selling still involves talking to people.

Fashion has stubbornly refused to automate that bit completely.

We know the Irish independent retail market

Ireland is a relatively small market, and that makes relationships particularly important.

Independent boutique owners know their customers extremely well. They know what price points work, which silhouettes sell, what their customers will try and, occasionally, what will sit on a rail looking beautiful while everybody politely walks past it.

Local market knowledge matters.

Our job as an agent is not simply to show as many collections as possible. It's to identify brands we believe have genuine potential within our customer network and then work to develop them.

That's the approach we'd take with a new outerwear partner.

Already selling internationally?

Good.

If your outerwear brand already works successfully with independent retailers elsewhere in Europe, the UK or other comparable markets, we'd be particularly interested in hearing about it.

Tell us where you're currently selling, the type of retailers you work with and what has been performing well.

Equally, if you're an emerging brand and believe you've developed something genuinely different, we're happy to take a look.

We don't expect every brand that contacts us to be the right fit.

And we won't be the right agency for every brand either.

That's perfectly fine.

The point is to find the one where both sides look at the opportunity and think:

This could work.

Looking for an outerwear agent in Ireland?

If you're a brand owner, export manager, international sales manager or outerwear company looking for fashion representation in Ireland, we'd like to see what you're doing.

To help us assess whether there could be a fit, please send:

• Your current lookbook or line sheet
• Wholesale pricing
• Typical retail price positioning
• Delivery windows
• Current international distribution
• Details of any existing Irish representation
• A brief introduction to the brand and company

We can then have a look at the collection and determine whether it makes sense to have a conversation.

There doesn't need to be a 47-slide presentation.

Good coats will do most of the talking.

Let’s talk

Elevation Agencies is actively seeking an outerwear brand for representation in Ireland.

If you think your collection could work within the Irish independent retail market, we'd be very interested in hearing from you.

Send us your details, lookbook and collection information and we'll take it from there.

And if your collection looks good in the rain, we should probably talk.

Michael Cloney
Elevation Agencies
Fashion City, Dublin
michael@elevationagencies.com