Agitprop accessorises Blue Clothing label brand

Agitprop has created the name and identity for Blue Clothing’s womenswear label Melt, as the company branches out with its first own-brand next week.

The company, which has historically supplied major high street chains, will distribute Melt through boutiques and department stores in the UK and Ireland.

It has agreed distribution with Selfridges, Urban Outfitters and Harrods among others. The label launches to consumers in spring 2003 and will target ‘fashion forward’ 25to 35-year-olds.

According to Blue Clothing sales director Garry Smith, the company has identified a gap in the market for a ‘bridge collection’ between high street and designer labels.

‘We recognised independent retailers and department stores were looking for a collection with a more accessible price point [than designer labels] and decided we could use our knowledge and infrastructure to create our own collection,’ says Smith.

Agitprop, which has been working on the project for more than 12 months, has created marketing materials, swing tickets and labelling, in addition to the name and identity. Showroom graphics and a website are also planned.

The consultancy has created an ‘individual and eclectic’ positioning for the clothing brand, says Agitprop creative director Jim Holt.

‘The identity and positioning reflects the specialness and limited availability of the collection and the brand. It’s not something mass market and we wanted to communicate that,’ says Holt.

‘We chose Melt as the name because it has a sense of being a bit ephemeral, hard to find and not too bold,’ he adds.

Finding the balance between a timeless and interesting identity was one of the consultancy’s challenges, according to Holt.

‘A name and identity need to be timeless, but, particularly in the clothing business, it can’t look dated in a few years time.’

Agitprop was appointed in autumn 2001 on the strength of previous work that it had carried out within the sector.