M A RM A R 2 0 11 2 0 11

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!!!!!!T hT h e L o v e r s i s s u ee L o v e r s i s s u e !

Journeys end in Lovers meeting

Love You…

until the day…

after Forever

When are you ready to take a chance at Love that you’ve always dreamed of…but never dared to believe?

Statement of Purpose:

My name Vy Nguyen and I created a catalog called “The Lovers Issue” for my fashion brand Mon Bel Amour.

Mon Bel Amour offers innovative and quality clothing targeting demographics from 15-29. The brand highly embraces the concept of young vulnerable romance, as we take the first step open up our heart to one of the most beautiful thing that life makes no sense without: Love. We want to transform this passion into the love for life and the love for fashion.

The “Lovers Issue” introduces Mon Bel Amour Spring Summer 2011 collection. We include an article about Abercrombie and Fitch New York City flag-sip in-store experience and another article discussing Copyright legal issue in the Fashion Industry. I have also included a press release announcing the grand opening Mon Bel Amour very first store in Seattle Washington, a Biography page about my life and my vision of the brand and an interview with marketing majored Ellen Cha about her experience in the industry.

Jane Shorty: #12262

Dot print bra top: #17263

On Him:

Jackie Cardigan: #27162

Obrien sweet sweater: #29172

HELLO SHORTY A shorter hem for a leggie you.

Flaunt your legs in style with a casual-sexy appeal!!!

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Ashley Hoods: #20384

Bikini Bottom: #12974

“Hold my hand tight…

till the end of time”

“Is not a kiss

a very autograph of love?”

FLIRTY DRESS

Left-Sakura dot dress: #12972

Right-White hot dress: #12374

Bottom-Diane floral dress: #12304

BE CHARMING IN EVERY MOVE

Romantic print

Victoria dress: #19838

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BE IN HIS HAND

WITH CONFIDENCE

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"#$!%&'()*$&$+),'!!"#$%&'())%'#)'%-./0&$/$,'1!'#$!2&)3&$11!4.%*!56789:!

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MAKE A STATEMENT!

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NEED A LEGAL ACT FOR THE “ORIGNALS”?

By Vy Nguyen

The lack of fashion copyright is said to play a major role in “stimulating”

innovation and benefit the industry overall, but as a designer it’s never easy to watch

your own design being blatantly stolen without doing anything about it. Passing

copyright for original design protection has always been a hot debate for several

decades. Would the new law bring the end to the battle between the “original” and the

“copycat” or it’s just a beginning of a major meltdown in fashion innovation?

What is “Original”?

Copyright law is made to avoid

duplication, and something cannot be

granted “duplication” if it’s not exactly

the same, and exactly means 100%.

Although most of the knock-offs appears

to be pretty obvious in where the

“Inspiration” come from, they are never

completely the same. Something is going

to be different: a button, a seam… To

what degree a design is determined to

violate intellectual properties from the

“original design”? The answer is it’s

almost impossible to figure out.

Another headache issue is how to define

“Original”? Fashion is a repeating cycle.

Nothing now is really a complete

“original”. Take denim as an example,

once upon a time flare bottom jeans was

the hottest trend, then here comes the

skinny jeans, then the flare comes back.

A newborn design is most often inspired

by what already been made before. The

concept of “Original” is vague in the

fashion industry.

Marc Jacobs

sued Christian

Audigier for

trade dress

and trademark

infringement"!!

Copyright Chaos

According the current Copyright Act,

since clothing is not all about art work,

“It can’t obtain copyright protection

aside from features that can be identified

separately from, and are capable of

existing independently of, the utilitarian

aspects of the article.” It is a huge

challenge for lawmaker to draw the line

between which types of garments would

be considered utilitarian and which one

would be art.

If the copyright protection for fashion

design gets passed, many small

designers are going to be out of business.

Retailers such as Forever 21, H&M,

Zara would be the first to be out of the

game. The industry overall would suffer

tremendously. How would top designers,

who most are European, help the

American fashion industry pick up

economically? Take the issue at a

different angle, if the original design is

protected; only the top upper class in

society, who makes up a very small

percentage of the whole population,

would wear innovative designs while

everyone else wear pretty much the same

style. How boring would that be?

Knock-off market! Would it really

hurt?

The effect of knock-offs on the original

designers is mainly about morality.

Obviously it is never right to make

money off something you don’t own, but

to be truthful the knock-off market has

very little effect on the high-end industry

economically. It’s simply because their

demographics are extremely different

from each other. Up-scale designers’

main revenue comes from the wealthy

class, who almost never want to hurt

their reputation by shopping at knock-off

retailers. Secondly, it is a very rare

chance that a broke college student

would have bought the bag at Chanel

instead if she did not see a similar

looking one at Zara. The point is if they

cannot afford it they would not buy it

regardless. The consumer group who

frequently shop at Zara most often

would not shopped at Chanel.

Some designers claim knock-offs items

hurt their brand’s reputation. But again,

it’s more of an assumption than a fact.

There’s no obvious measurement for

reputation’s damage when the high-end

market target a completely different

demographics.

Another thought on designer market is

that design the design easily goes out of

style after a couple of seasons. The profit

gained from each particular design does

not last long. Innovation still has to keep

going. It’s not the end of the world to not

protecting a design that value is

diminished quickly in the market place.

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“We hire good-

looking people in our stores.

Because good-looking people

attract other good-

looking people”

Mike Jeffries-

Abercrombie and

Fitch CEO

ABERCROMBIE EFFECT

How could you not giggle when a six

feet tall model staring at you with his deep

blue eyes and a gorgeous smile? Low rise

ripped jeans are never easy to pull off, but

the tan topless man-boy makes sexy look

effortless.

By Vy Nguyen

As a business majored sophomore, marketing tactic usually has very little effect on me.

But it worked this time. It’s hard to walk away from

the out-of-ordinary Abercrombie and Fitch flagship store located in the heart of central Manhattan.

Overly crowded storefront is an everyday affair.

Shirtless “greeters” pose for snapshot with giggling

teens. I am not fifteen anymore, but the beautiful model, who looked like he walked off a Calvin Klein

print ad, did make me blush for a moment there.

The overwhelming storefront experience got me step inside for a visit after all.

The dimly lighting surprisingly created a pleasant sensation. High traffic of visitors and the

upbeat techno music transform ordinary retail

atmosphere into an exciting clubby feel. Multiple sale associates in short-shorts and flip-lops dancing non-

stop on the balconies. All over the walls were sexy

blown up ads that depicting passionate lovers in

suggestive poses. To a certain extent, it effectively created an emotional reaction in young consumers to

look at. The desire for a beautiful love life kicked in

and makes me want to fall in love all over again, especially when the soundtrack was “When I get

close to you”. Sexual messages communicated

throughout the entire store.!

I was amazed at how Abercrombie sustain business with offering pretty much the same things every season: Destroyed jeans, Muscle fit Polos, graphic tees, bold logo hoodies, you name it. It’s not necessary a bad tactic as classic looks never go out of style. But it can be boring indeed. The “Varsity Break” male cardigan collection brought a new breeze to the “cool” look this season. Urban is definitely “in” for a couple of seasons so it’s interesting to see cardigans make their way into Abercrombie. The collection was very well designed to create unique expression of an outdoorsy but yet classy atmosphere. However it still kept the overall cool “Abercrombie" feel with the finely ribbed trims and embroiled logo at left chest to avoid looking like the next J.Crew.

The whole in store experience hit me with its last shot when I stepped up to the third floor. The smell of Cologne 41 became so intense as if you could even taste it just by breathing in. Over the counter, here came two leggy female associates in short-shorts dancing up a storm and waving at customers. Four to five male models caused sensation as they walked around shirtless greeting shoppers. Elderships tend to find it hard to handle the overall intense “Sex sell”. Many even walked away offensively. But there’s no deny that Abercrombie and Fitch is the real game in town as no other retailers in Fifth Ave offered anything close to this exciting experience.

This is the brand you would love to hate. The strongest intangible element it goes after is “Emotional reaction” and it can only

be created through shock value. The models, the lifestyle, the “cool” factor all come to consumers’ perception about the brand before fashion comes into play. Love it or hate it you know it gets you react.

If you take a step back and enjoy the experience in a distance, the dynamic in all of the marketing elements to create this unique in-store experience is truly a masterpiece. Which retailer does not use “Sex sell” after all? Abercrombie is just really good at making a stir out of it.

Smiled goodbye at the sexy model standing by the front door…I left the store fantasying about one thing…

The preppy belted short-shorts.

"Listen, do we go

too far sometimes?

Absolutely. But we

push the envelope,

and we try to be

funny, and we try

to stay authentic

and relevant to

our target

customer. I really

don't care what

anyone other than

our target

customer thinks."-

mike Jeffries-

Abercrombie and

Fitch CEO

AN INTERVIEW WITH ELLEN CHA

COLLEGE LIFE

CAREER

PASSION

FASHION INDUSTRY

I sat down with 24 year-old Ellen Cha on a cold February day at a coffee shop

across the street from Nordstrom Downtown Seattle. Working a fulltime job as store manager at BCBG, taking four classes at the Art Institute of Seattle and

getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor Degree in marketing, it was very nice of her to spend a few hours of her super busy day for a quick interview with a classmate. I have known Ellen for over two years, but yet never had a

chance to learn more about her life and working experiences besides a few casual talks about weather.

Q: When did you start working in retai l El len?

A: It was a bout four years ago; I started out as sale associate at the Gap

Working in retai l environment for a while , what do you l ike the most about i t?

What I like most about it that you get to learn how to adapt with the pressure of time and responsibility. You

have to be early at work, you have to meet deadline, you have to make sale. You feel more matured after you work

in retail for a while.

I know you are a store manager now at BCBG, so do you think there i s more pressure when you’re a

store manager than when you were sale associate?

Definitely! It requires multi-tasking skill, you have to watch and help sale associates, take care of customers,

answering phone calls, sometimes work with visual merchandiser.

“it’s very easy to

become…I don’t

wanna say “fake” but

“pretentious” after

being in the sale

environment for a

while”-Ellen Cha

Let ’s say i f there’s not much dif ferent in the paycheck between a sale associate and a store manager,

what posit ion would you rather be in?

Store manager… Because you get to be more flexible in what you do. I can’t stand having somebody to tell me

what I do wrong or being under the pressure of making sales and pushing customers.

As your major i s fashion marketing, do you think the knowledge you get in school helps you with your

work or your working experiences help you to do wel l in school?

It’s both ways! But working is the most practical way to know the industry. I still appreciate the degree though.

Without it I probably would not get promoted to be a store manager.

What are some of the things that you learn through working experiences that school does not teach you?

The major thing I’ve learn from working is effective communication and dealing with difficult customers. It’s not

the same how you talk at work and outside work. Especially being a store manager, you want to get people to do

things without sounding like a control freak.

You mentioned “dif f icult customers”? Do you have a strategy to deal with them? Because I remembered

when I worked at Abercrombie and Fitch as a sale associate, i f customers give me a hard t ime I just

have one genetic respond “Let me cal l my manager” but you are already a store manager so i t must be

hard?

It’s very easy to be out of control when you deal with a rude or unreasonable customer want to return a dress she

accidently spilled coffee on. Something like that. I usually just talk to them about the store policy or offer

exchange instead of return if I can. The number one rule is “don’t argue with customers” that’s a “no-no”

Do you think the retai l environment changes you as a person in some extent?

It does have an effect. There are certain parts of you in terms of knowledge and social skills get better, but it’s very

easy to become…I don’t wanna say “fake” but “pretentious” after being in the sale environment for a while.

You feel l ike at t imes you have to say things you don’t mean?

Totally! You can’t just say “oh that shirt just does not look good on you” to customers right?

As you are Korean American, rais ing up to two cultures s imultaneously (Asian and American), does i t

g ive you the advantages or disadvantages as you working in the fashion industry?

There are some people have bias about Asian but not a lot of them! Most of the time I give more advantages

because I can speak two languages, I have a mix perspective about things so it makes conversations more

interesting

What’s your ult imate goal? How do you see yoursel f in the next f ive years?

A: I want to save up enough money and have enough experience to have a boutique on my own. You need to be

your own boss at some point right?

What is your perspective about corporate world? Wouldn’t you want to c laim up the ladder rather

than start ing your own business?

I thought about that too. One thing about corporate world that worry me is you need to have connections to

make things happen and I don’t feel like I know a lot of people. But we will have to see!

FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Vy Nguyen 206-331-3981 Nguyen.Vy@newagent.com

MON BEL AMOUR OPEN THE FIRST STORE AT

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE WASHINGTON

Seattle, March 10th, 2011. Fashion retailer Mon Bel Amour is thrilled to open a new store in at University Village in Seattle Washington on March 28th 2011. Following the ongoing success of the website www.monbelamour.com, the brand felt the urge to open its very first store and offer its customer compelling selections of high quality fashion brands. With 50,000 square foot and 2 levels, the brand new Mon Bel Amour store features a variety of categories including shoes, accessories, fragrances and women apparels. Trusting the brand, customers will not have to be worry about keeping up with trends, Mon Bel Amour designer group is always on top of providing hottest styles of the season. A special promotion will be offered during opening day: For every $200 purchase, customers will receive a goody bag including: a travel size “Till Forever” fragrance, $20 Mon Bel Amour girl card and many other surprising gifts. Adding to the excitement of the grand opening day, the door will be open by Mon Bel Chief Executive Officer Vy Nguyen University Village Mon Bel Amour grand opening is on Monday March 28th 2011:

! 8am: Door is open by Nordstrom C.E.O Vy Nguyen and over 30 Mon Bel Amour employees welcome customers through the door

! 9am-1pm: Complementary makeup consultation ! 2pm-6pm: Complement drinks and dessert at level 2 ! 9pm: Door close

Mon Bel Amour has been established as a young contemporary fashion brand since 2008 through its official website www.monbelamour.com. It has greatly developed reputation for outstanding quality products and youthful trends. The company is thrilled to introduce the next best thing in fashion to University Village community. For more information about the company grand opening day, online shopping, or to schedule an interview with Mon Bel Amour C.E.O, please contact Chace Crawford at: Mon Bel Amour, Inc. 206-931-5096 Chace.Crawford@newagent.com

M O N B E L A M O U RM O N B E L A M O U R