George Davies is launching a new clothing range at Elphicks in Farnham
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George Davies talks about new clothing range GIVe
By Rebecca YoungerSeptember 30, 2009
HOW many women dream of a store where they are not limited to the sizes that hang on the rails, are offered expert advice by sales people who are not afraid to tell them if something doesn’t suit them and can get their purchases tailored to suit them in-store?
George Davies, the fashion visionary behind Next, George at Asda, which revolutionised out-of-town shopping, and Per Una, the boutique fashion range which turned around the fortunes of Marks and Spencer, has done just that with his new project GIVe.
The range, which offers women designer style and luxurious fabrics at affordable prices, launches at Elphicks in Farnham on Thursday (October 1).
But the brand doesn’t stop with the clothing, GIVe focuses on moving the highest level of service and technology to the High Street customer, offering much more than the usual shopping experience.
Each GIVe store offers shoppers a team of style advisors to help them find what best suits them, as well as an in-store tailoring service and, in some retail units, touch screen systems which let customers view and order up-and-coming collections.
George has specifically selected his GIVe style teams so that each style advisor has a high service/retail background and has designed and sourced the latest store design and retail technology to revolutionise how women shop and browse in-store.
“I didn’t want lots of the same product on the shop floor – if you were to put all the sizes out you would have 26 sizes and no one wants to trail through four feet of black trousers, you want to find what you’re looking for,” he said.
“On top of that I have created something called the cork block. There are three different heights which means you can stand it these and see how trousers or a long dress hangs – it saves women from having to wear or carry around a pair of heels when they shop.”
And for those who may be embarrassed of their size, George has stripped the clothing of usual size labels and has replaced them with roman numerals to represent each size.
“If you were to hand your coat into a cloakroom for example, no one would know what size the jacket was as there is just a Roman numeral on the inside of the garment,” he explained.
“This ties in with the name of the range GIVe which has the Roman numerals in the middle.”
George said much of his inspiration for GIVe came from the women in his life, hearing about their wants and desires in terms of clothes shopping and learning from their experiences.
“I have a passion for women I suppose. Having had three wives and five daughters, it’s been in-keeping with everything I do,” he said.
“Family always tell you what they think and because they are all sorts of ages that’s very useful.”
Working with his daughter Emma Trayner, George will launch 140 styles plus key accessories and nightwear, which will sit in four colour palettes of purple and black, black and red, chocolate and mulberry and blue and grey.
His team has also researched the types of consumer in each and every location of the new GIVe stores to ensure they stock the type of clothing women in that area want.
“You’ve got to know your customer base within that town,” he said.
“Older women don’t like showing the tops of their arms for example. We created a profile for the women who shop in Elphicks and we hope we have got it right but we will know a lot more in three months or so.”
The GIVe range is due to launch at Elphicks on Thursday, October 1, and George is due to visit the store on Friday, October 2.
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