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Posts from the ‘Get Involved’ Category

Feb 20

Bento at LMFF

We’re pretty excited to announce that Bento is participating in not one, not two, but THREE events during the upcoming L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. This is a pretty big step from last year when you may remember we attended, but didn’t show.

Anyway… the first one to tell you about is the Midmouse catwalk show on Friday the 9th of March. There are two shows and a huge after party. The first show kicks off at 7.30pm. Tickets are just $15 a pop and you’ll get to see lots of other emerging labels as well as Bento.

The Bento team will be there in full and it’d be fantastic to have your support and perhaps get to meet some of you on the night.

You can find out more and purchase tickets here: penthousemouse.com/events/aw12/midmouse-runway.

Stay tuned, because there are more events to tell you about very soon (and the others are free!).

Jan 24

How Important Is It, Really?

Team Bento is currently on our annual sabatical, this time taken in Georgetown, Penang. Of course, I couldn’t visit another country without engaging in a little of one of my favourite hobbies, window shopping.

Something rather curious that I’ve spotted here is that it doesn’t seem to be essential to provide information about either fabric or country of manufacture of the garments being sold. I’ve been trying to rationalise this in my mind, but for me these make up such a very large part of my measure of value.

Here it seems quite acceptable for garments to be sold with literally no tags except the one showing the brand. At first I thought it was perhaps just at markets – items that were handmade by emerging designers and thus more difficult to police – but on closer inspection in a department store I discovered that this is actually a widespread phenomenon.

In Australia of course, it’s compulsory (and legally enforced) that we show not only the fabric used but also the country of manufacture and care instructions too. There are even guidelines for how long the tag should remain readable.

So… how important is this information to you? Do you ever look at the care tag, fabric tag or country of manufacture before purchasing an item? Does it factor into your decision making?

Jan 9

1 Comment

The Ruby Dress Challenge

We were absolutely thrilled to learn today that Bento friend, fan, customer and devotee Cheryl Lin of Business Chic has set herself a very Bento-esque challenge: to wear our Ruby dress in black to work, every week for an entire year. You can read more about the project and follow her progress here: http://businesschic.com.au/2012/01/the-businesschic-black-dress-project/.

We thought we’d show our support and kick things off by giving her a few styling ideas to try. So here goes…

For a super serious board meeting:

White Shirt by Jil Sander at Netaporter

We know you’re not a fan of collars, Cheryl… but with the neckline on the dress it will stay in place so nicely!

To have a play with texture, we suggest pairing it with a thick belt that has some interesting detail. Patent would work well too.

Wide leather belt by Bottega Venetta at Netaporter

To make it all about your legs:

Wolford at Netaporter

Get a big snuggly when it gets cooler…

Cashmere knit by Gucci at Netaporter

Channel biker-chic:

Leather jacket by Dolce & Gabbana at Netaporter

And on casual Friday…

Boots by J.Crew

Bento denim jacket

Good luck, Cheryl! We can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with.

Dec 29

Your Bento Needs YOU!
7 Comments

A Big Question

Ever since my first week writing this blog, I’ve been asking you for your input.

Readers of this blog helped choose our sizing system.

Readers of this blog decided what fabric we’d use to line our clothes.

You even selected images for our first lookbook.

So now I’m coming to you again and asking for your opinion. Why? Because Bento isn’t about me. It’s not about the designer or the brand. It’s about you. It’s about the people that make it and wear it, so it’s important that you have a say in these things.

Now it’s no secret that Bento is all about ethical and sustainable fashion. The reason I keep working to make Bento a success is for one simple reason:

To provide the world with clothing that is both luxurious and sustainable – in terms of style, people and environment.

As far as I know, Bento is the only label in the world that does this. Some are luxurious. Some are sustainable in terms of some elements (but not all three). I don’t know of another that has the same ethos as us.

As 2011 draws to a close and 2012 is upon us, I have the following very big question to ask you. It’s just one question, but it will require some thought. And if you read this blog, I genuinely hope you care enough to contribute.

Bento items are typically priced as follows:

T Shirts $75 – $195
Knits $195 – $295
Skirts $245 – $295
Jackets $495+
Dresses $395+
Denim $195 – $345
Shorts $245 – $295
Trousers $395 – $445

I’m not going to justify these prices. What I am going to ask you is this very big question…

What would you need to get to invest that kind of money in an item?

Fit? Longevity of style? Origin of manufacture? Care? Tailoring? Bespoke detailing? Quality of workmanship and fabric? A maid to dress you in the item? I don’t care how outrageous it is. I don’t care if your initial response is “I can’t afford to spend that much” – you live in the Western World. You have this sort of money, you just can’t justify it based on your experience with clothing to date.

Men, women, old and young – I want to hear from you!

Dec 13

1 Comment

What’s Basic To You?

At the Bento studio, whilst everyone else is thinking of Christmas 2011, we already have our heads in Christmas 2012. Why? Well… our next collection will be in stores by then. In designing this collection, I’ve looked back to the original Bento style philosophy – luxury basics – and worked from there.

This plan got me thinking however… what constitutes a wardrobe basic? To be fair, it’s definitely different for everyone. That said, I’d like to think that we all have some level of ‘staples’ in our wardrobe across all sorts of styles. Denim. Beautiful tees. Silk shirts.

What are your basics? Please share… now’s your time to have your input!

Sam

Nov 27

Bento Joins Polyvore

Okay, we need to warn you… if you like looking at pretty things and tend to get sucked into the internet for hours at a time (*cough*like us*cough*) then it might be best you don’t know about Polyvore.

If the damage is already done and you know what we’re talking about, or at the very least you think you can restrain yourself, Polyvore is a collection of all things beautiful.

On this website, users all over the world can create little “sets” of lovely things and share them with other people of similar tastes. Like this:

UNTITLED

 

UNTITLED by passionfruit101 featuring a trench coat


Top
cea.com.br

Kain silk shirt
$155 - net-a-porter.com

Aquascutum Ltd trench coat
600 - harrods.com

TopShop chino pants
36 - topshop.com

Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio Eau De Toilette
$120 - saksfifthavenue.com

Three-Tier Fountain
$2,425 - neimanmarcus.com

 

Here’s one we did with a couple of Bento items and some other pieces by Lanvin and Bottega Venetta showing a summer weekend look we’d love to get around in:

 

Luxe Weekend

 

Luxe Weekend by thisisbento 

 

 

If you’re a Polyvore fan, search for Bento now! We’d LOVE to see how you incorporate Bento with other things.

Oct 20

3 Comments

Should We Make This Dress?

Wholesale orders for Autumn/Winter 2012 have so far, been slow. Less than ideal, yes… but more a comment on the current economic environment than the calibre of the collection.

Anyway, with wholesale orders being slow this means we have to make some tough decisions on a few styles that we haven’t received orders for. Do we pay to have them made anyway and sell them online or in a pop up shop? Or do we just scratch that style completely?

One of the styles up for consideration is the Eliza wrap dress, shown below. It’s 100% Australian merino wool jersey and will retail between $299.95 and $349.95 depending upon the volume made. I’m actually not a big wearer of maxi dresses, but I like to try every single Bento item personally before they go into production. Put simply, you feel things in wearing that you can’t see on a model.

You can’t really tell from this picture, but the front of the dress is cut in a tulip shape so it comes up at the front, meaning you can see boots or tights you’re wearing underneath. It’s also less likely to get wet when it’s raining! Finally, it can be worn as a long cardigan too.

The weekend just gone, I wore the dress out shopping… and was literally inundated by people asking where it was from. At one point I even had a small crowd standing around me wanting to know about it and touch it.

So now I’m thinking – should I pay to have this dress made for sale? Would you buy it given the price listed above? Keep in mind that I don’t have endless wads of cash. If we make this dress, we won’t be able to make something else. There’s no value making it if it won’t sell.

 

Thanks for your help!

Sam

Aug 22

1 Comment

Bento & The Mercedes-Benz Brisbane Fashion Festival

Hey, Brisbanians!

If you’re in town come along to the Fashion After Hours discussion this Tuesday (23rd August) at the state library to hear some great folks ponder the topic “Industry & Autonomy: what is sustainable fashion?” Can the term ‘sustainable fashion’ really exist, or is it a paradox? (http://mbff.com.au/index.php?id=18)

It’s a free event, so come and say hi. There’s even a pop-up vintage store to fondle.

Hope you can make it :)

Jun 12

airmail

eNewsletter

Just a quickie… we’ve finally got around to formalising our enewsletter thing. Basically we send an email to people who like us once in a while to give them first dibs on great prices and tell them about new things. Want in?

Fill in the form on the right! —->

Jun 6

1 Comment

What’s In A Brand?

When visiting Singapore recently, we stumbled across The Unbranded Brand. In a nutshell, the unbranded brand is a mens denim label that makes unwashed jeans with no label on them which aren’t supported by ad and PR campaigns.

Whilst we love the idea, the truth is that no label can be without a brand. In marketing we’re taught that branding isn’t just about the name. It’s about so much more – the ethos, the story, the concept, and the website for The Unbranded Brand is very much about creating and reinforcing a brand concept and way of thinking.

Sometimes, a brand concept is very organised and clear (think Nike or Apple). Other times, it can be almost accidental and more organic (we’ll let you think of your own examples… goodness knows there are plenty). Neither is necessarily better than the other and each has their own benefits. What is very clear though is that any given individual’s idea of a brand can be exceptionally difficult to change once it’s set.

Having tried out a few different things with the Bento brand, we’re now at the point where we need to be getting a little stricter with what exactly Bento means.

Bento should be timeless, understated and effortless. The label was started with the intention of becoming a luxe cult basics label. We’ve tried a few things on for size (like prints and shooting our lookbook in a campaign style) that didn’t fit, and others that did (like Australian-made fabrics and plain background lookbooks).

Now it’s over to you though. What do you think our brand is about? What would you like to see more / less of?

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