Australian INfront

Kath Purkis is currently the director of two of Australia’s leading online retailers, Le Black Book; Australia’s luxury online shopping experience, which she founded at age 21 and Noir Shop; which Kath launched at 23, is it’s middle market sister business producing up to the minute fashions at attainable prices.

Noir Shop is Australia’s online answer to Top Shop and Le Black Book is its answer to Net-a-porter.

Every element of Le Black Book and Noir Shop is of the highest quality and technology. Le Black Book is the only online retailer in Australia to offer a comprehensive online shopping experience – with mediums such as the online magazine, Le Magazine, Le Black Book TV, Editor’s notes and a daily blog. Le Black Book has received editorial in Vogue Australia, Ragtrader, Cleo Magazine, Oyster Magazine, Nett Magazine and Dynamic Business Magazine. Kath is also currently working on her first book, which aims to inspire other aspiring businesswomen and online entrepreneurs.

http://www.leblackbook.com.au

Kath Purkis is a young entrepenaur who provided information about establishing a business, details about running an online business and the best ways with which to promote and enhance a young brand.

Kath started her talk by emphasising the importance of developing a business strategy before launching any business and understanding the scope of the market before committing to opening for business. She discussed her decision to launch an online business, brought about from the desire to keep her overheads low and to aim at a global market.  Kath made several mentions to her desire to 'be massive' and recognised as an international brand.

With regards to the content on the site and on the blog, Kath stated that websites need to remain visually orientated "people don't like to read" she emphasised.  The products that are featured on her store are photographed in a variety of ways; she includes both product shots and 'fantasy' images that involve professional stylised fashion shoots.
Retailers also need to utilise the power of celebrity and bloggers by including images of celebrities wearing products available on the site and using other bloggers to communicate the message about your brand. She gave the example of sending press releases to particular bloggers and also feature writing for bigger fashion websites. Interestingly, a large proportion of the audience seemed to be unfamiliar with finding fashion bloggers and Kath suggested that the best place to find fashion bloggers might be to 'read lots of fashion magazines'.

One of the key points that Kath had to communicate was that it is important for individuals to be the face of their brand. Each brand has a story and customers need to attach a person to the brand and she sees herself as the brains and the ambassador for her business.

A few interesting points were made regarding web designers. Kath suggested contacting anywhere up to 40 designers to get a quote. She pointed out that anyone can design your site, 'you just need to find the best price'.  She encouraged the audience to do their research and to get rid of web developers who don't achieve results - 'web guys are duds after a while and you have to keep harassing them'.

Overall, the talk was informative, particularly for designers and retailers wanting to an insight into a successful online fashion brand. She provided some interesting advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and her approach to representing her brand was admirable.