QUOTE(chuakz @ Aug 6 2009, 09:28 PM)
yea man i understand totally....but the stuff they can afford I can't...lol....so will have to stick with fossil....I do know that burberry and some other designer brand's watches are actually fossils...although they don't count as premium watches....
plenty of ppl fall under this group! Not everyone can afford a mid range Rolex or IWC.
check out this poor man watch forum!
http://www.pmwf.com/nice read..
http://www.europastar.com/europastar/magaz...t_id=1000751981QUOTE
Fossil was founded in 1984 by Tom and Kosta Kartsotis, brothers, currently Chairman of the Board and CEO respectively, focusing on fashion and value at a time when no company was really doing that. The image the company communicated was vintage Americana, which turned out to be a huge homerun. Quartz movements from the Orient helped Fossil design and manufacture price point critical timepieces, fashion statements that could be mixed and matched, and repurchased when fashion changed, and the Fossil company was born. Since 1984, the company has experienced astounding growth. In 1993, with revenues of just over $70 million, the company went to Wall Street and became a NASDAQ listed company trading under the symbol FOSL.
Licensees
Fossil has been very successful with its own brands and this success has led to companies coming to Fossil to create licensed watch lines. The licensed watch lines that Fossil designs, manufactures and distributes include Burberry, DKNY, Armani, Columbia and Diesel.
"Fossil has done an incredible job over the last 20 years building a powerful business in the US and globally," says Steve Bock, President, Luxury Division, Fossil, Inc. "Given that success, one of the results has been the ability and opportunity to build businesses with brands like Emporio Armani and Burberry."
When working on a licensed brand, Fossil has to make sure that the brand fits with Fossil's approach, and then the creative teams are set to work understanding the brand. Each brand has its own style language which Fossil has to integrate into the licensed watches.
"Generally, when approaching a project involving the launch of a new brand, we'll get together with representatives of the brand concerned and our group teams (industrial designers, graphic designers, project managers, etc.) and brainstorm," explains Diarmuid Bland, Senior Vice President, Watch Product Development, Fossil. "We'll come up with a foundation for product development, always consulting with the commercial side, and the teams flesh out into specific sketches, line art, computer design and more. We have rapid prototyping facilities here in the offices and in our product development groups around the world, where we can build size and shape representative prototypes in resin or brass. Then we work with the factories, then prototyping on a mass scale. From there, we come out with a result we are all pleased with."
Fossil is open to new licensee relationships, but it has to be a good fit or it won't happen. "The licensing goes both ways - we sometimes seek out companies that would be a good fit and we get contacted on a weekly basis," says Kurt Hagen, Vice President, Relic/Michael Kors, Columbia/Private Label, New Licensing. "One thing we are looking for is brands that we can fit into our international network. We look for brands that complement our existing distribution or allow us to tackle new distribution."
This post has been edited by patryn33: Aug 7 2009, 12:30 AM