About the Brand

King Apparel (KING) is an upscale streetwear brand from East London in the UK. Established in 2003, they were a pioneer in modern British fashion; specifically, streetwear before the term was even coined, and have cultivated a global reputation as a leading proponent of directional British streetwear.

Case Study

Traditional Beginnings

‍KING has grown primarily using traditional channels for wholesale sales via trade shows, in house sales reps, sales agents and e-commerce since 2007.

In terms of finding buyers, KING has a robust methodology and foundation for success. “Generally this has been through our own research, via our agent's network and also through trade shows such as Liberty Fairs. The normal kinda routes, but we have been and continue to actively evolve those processes as the digital age becomes more important” says Tim Hoad, co-founder of KING.

Tim also runs brand direction and development for the business.

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“Connect Marketplace has been a bonus, particularly this season as we have had quite a lot of stores discovering our brand that we have also been able to reach out to” - Tim Hoad - King Apparel

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Digital Development

‍Different countries and markets have varying approaches to business. Tim has expressed frustration with the local wholesale industry in the UK being stuck on PDF presentations and excel order forms.

“It’s messy, overly complicated and that leads to lost sales”, he says. “Brandboom has been invaluable in terms of enabling us to get our collection presentations directly into the hands of the buyers, and a super easy way for them to place their orders”.

Ever-keen to be on the forefront of the industry as well as technology, KING has been using Brandboom Connect Marketplace as an alternative channel for sales. “Connect Marketplace has been a bonus, particularly this season as we have had quite a lot of stores discovering our brand that we have also been able to reach out to”.

Building Trust

The most important thing is having a reliable platform that is easy for both sellers and buyers to use.

For Tim, he says that 80% of KING’s US wholesale business is done via Brandboom. “The customers know it, understand it, and view it as a legitimate way to place their orders with trusted brands. It has certainly given us a platform from which we can grow business in a new market”.

Along with our industry-standard Line Sheet product, Brandboom has our Connect AI helping customers every day; learning more and more about products and customers. Tim thinks that “as it becomes more refined and tweaked, then I think it could become an even more important resource”.

We certainly believe it will.

For further information on King Apparel visit www.king-apparel.com or @kingapparel.