In brief: An ethical lifestyle clothing brand with a focus on offering apres’ activewear and resort wear emanating out of the Great Lakes region, with the ambition to weaving social consciousness and sustainability into the fabric of the brand. At Fresh Riviera® Clothing We call it Enclothed Cognition™. Wear what makes you feel good!™ Inside & Out!
Long-term – in a unique way shaping, growing and presenting our brand, a brand with meaning that resonates with many of the 43 million plus who call our region home. While benchmarking a company that cares like Patagonia®.
Inspiration
We feel that just by proximity alone we are stewards of the Great Lakes and want to do our part to help build awareness in a cool, fun way so all people around this region feel a kinship and stewardship towards “The Fresh Riviera”.
We will evolve and give meaning to the Fresh Riviera® lifestyle brand by offering quality, stylish, ethically and sustainably made apparel. Products the end consumer will be proud to wear inside and out. Making a healthy profit will support our mission to help to sustain a healthy Great Lakes region.
The East and West Coasts are both widely celebrated with many brands unique to each but there are few brands that celebrate the Great Lakes region in a meaningful way. We intend to be that lifestyle brand and one that our young daughters will be proud of. To celebrate the Great Lakes region and the 11,000 miles of naturally magical coast, surrounding one of the most unique bodies of freshwater in the world.
History And Progress
History and Progress: Operating on a shoestring budget we feel we have made some good progress. After test marketing a limited line of branded apparel in our ‘beach shack’ for two summers in a tourist area on the Fresh Riviera we have received very positive feedback on our brand and direction with the more than 750 paying customers to date. We now have secured a year-round retail, wholesale showroom space in a busy waterfront community main street location for 2017. In July of this year, we were awarded our Federally Registered Trademark for Fresh Riviera®. Also in July we were accepted into ‘1% for the Planet’ program started by Patagonia’s founder.
Business Model
Business Model: 1) Retail in-store(s) in select area. 2) Modern effective website with sophisticated marketing efforts to draw in outside sales. 3) Formulating a plan to grow wholesale accounts along the Great Lakes region, with a stated goal of 5 wholesale accounts a year from now. More details available in person.
Concerns and Competitors:
Concerns & Competitors: The fashion industry whole or in part is ethically challenged. Learning that the clothing industry (fast fashion) is one of the biggest polluting industries, the labor issues, and one of the industries that use the most energy we know as more young people learn about these issues they will seek out brands big and small that address these concerns. Competitors, there is a plethora of fast fashion clothing options but as a generation of concerned consumers more toward more sustainable, ethical options the choices here are relatively limited. As we build a brand with meaning and soul we feel strongly we too will find a significant favorable market for our goods.
Competitive Advantage
Competitive Advantage: Our mission is to make a difference as ethical, sustainable lifestyle clothing company. Offering resort wear and activewear that is the first to celebrate The Great Lakes Region in a meaningful way, to tell the story and create stewardship. Long-term – in a unique way translating the vibe of a California surf brand into one with meaning that resonates with the millions who call our region home. Benchmarking a company that cares like Patagonia. Our offering being U3 – Useful | Use Less | Unique. Useful as activewear or all day wear. Use Less – clothes have to be made but we will continually take steps in the slow clothes movement – using fewer resources (to make garments), ethically sourced resources and labor. Unique – The Fresh Riviera story.
We’ve been successful at inspiring and building teams in the past. We have a very innovative mindset we feel we can stand out as we have done in a variety of past efforts. Of note, we addressed the living wage issue in one of our family businesses back in 1997.
Inquire Be Part Of Our Funding Or Operational Team
We are very interested in starting conversations with those who may be interested in funding and those that may be interested in being part of development/operational team. If you have a long-term perspective and our effort resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you.
Thank you.
Tracy Andropolis
Pres. Business & Impact.
From our summer photo shoot. Our custom designed Fresh Water MermaidTM leggings
From our summer photo shoot.
