Communicating your brand ethos

noordinarysuit

“The first step to creating or sustaining a strong brand is to define its purpose – why do you exist?” This is something I just read and I think it makes sense. One of the difficult questions in starting a business (and I’d say, an online fashion retailer in particular as there are already plenty) is to figure out why we have a place in the market. What makes us special and what’s so different about our vision compared to the rest?

Everybody wants to change the world with their ideas. If not the world, then the local landscape at the very least. It’s easy to get carried away by wanting fame and/or fortune and forgetting why you started your business in the first place.

Me, I wanted a curated wardrobe with a small but highly relevant selection of affordable, suitable and ethical clothes. But that was just half of it. I always felt guilty about spending money on luxury items (that’s essentially what it is, isn’t it? Buying items your life doesn’t depend on?) when the world is crumbling and others are much less fortunate. Nobody likes feeling guilty and if you give something to people who need it, who cares about the reasons? The important thing is that you do it and that it helps.

So here’s my purpose: Creating an easy and relatively guilt free option of buying clothes for yourself or someone you care about and at the same time, helping others and knowing that the items you buy have been sourced and produced sustainably and ethically. I think that’s a pretty good start!

noordinarysuit

No Ordinary Suit was inspired by me (Helena), who as a full-time employee found it challenging and time-consuming to trawl the internet to find pieces to wear that wasn’t too far away from my personal style. I was looking for items that made me feel confident and well dressed for meetings, pitches and presentations without having to wear a "uniform" and at the same time, feel comfortable enough to wear in a fairly relaxed office environment or going out in after work. The internet is full of "super stores" with tons of stock where you can find anything under the sun, and as quite a particular shopper, I feel that it gets very confusing. More often than not, even though I really need something, I end up not buying anything at all which ultimately means - I have nothing ton wear! I decided to go on a hunt and find items that would be great for the office but with an attitude, be that edgy, sassy, romantic or cheeky. I'd put the relevant pieces in an online retail store, where professional women, corporate or creative, can find apparel that is as stylish and interesting as it is professional. It should be fun and easy to find suitable clothes for the office that make women feel confident and individual. We have chosen a handful of brands and designers to feature on NoOrdinarySuit based on the novelties that they have brought to fashion and their uniqueness. The garments we present are special in themselves and will perform even better for you when paired with other pieces in this website chosen according to your own taste. NoOrdinarySuit is owned and ran by Scandis and as natural born tree huggers, it is essential that our partners comply with our high standards when it comes to ethical trading and sustainability. So far they have exceeded our expectations and as a customer, you can rest assured that the selection of brands very much supports us in our causes. We also wish to make a tangible and direct difference to women less fortunate than us and as such, we have decided to share part of our earnings and efforts with WOMANKIND. This is an international organisation for women’s rights working to support women and girls to improve their lives and communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They work to tackle issues that affect women’s lives and strive to empower women, providing a fair world where being a woman does not limit choices, opportunities or rights. Furthermore, NoOrdinarySuit is a small, family ran, independent retailer supporting young designers and up and coming brands, mainly from Scandinavia. We are not part of any mega system and the experience with us should be personal and friendly as well as effective and honest.

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