by shada7980
Tom Wood is a Norwegian jewelry and fashion design organization, it was founded in Oslo in 2013 by Mona Jensen and is situated within the Fashion design industry because they create pieces of jewelry and clothing that both are fashion forward. Their jewelry was the first release, and clothes came second. They have collaborations with other designers, like for example Røros Tweed. They have also had exclusive releases in Japan and New York of their jewelry, like the Mickey Mouse skull ring collaboration with John André Hanøy.
Their clothes compete with other high end everyday-wear designers, like FWSS, Holzweiler and Designers Remix. The price range is higher than most chains who sell everyday-wear, but lower than many of their Scandinavian competitors, like Acne. They started off their clothes collection with denim and built from there.
In the jewelry department there aren’t many people doing what they are doing. Their growth has been formidable, in 2015 40 stores across Japan started selling their jewelry. In an interview with Elle Mona Jensen said that she feels the biggest hurdles in the fashion design industry is mass production, bad craftsmanship, unethical production and too many low-cost chains that flood the market with products that don’t necessarily meet the consumers needs. Tom Wood has had a steady increase in profit since they started six years ago and is probably one of the fastest growing success stories in Norwegian fashion design.
According to Sara Johnson in the Industry-embedded financial decision making: The case of a fashion firm, she states that 99% of businesses with less than 250 employees apply for a business loan, yet Tom Wood still hasn’t applied for a business loan. They live off equity. In the book How to run a successful design business: The new professional practice, by Shan Preddy, it’s stated that many nations now categorize design within the creative industries as an important aspect of the cultural economy and the link between design and innovation is increasingly recognized in innovation policy. Which all together means that Tom Wood is running an impressive innovation business.
They have never had an ad anywhere, still they are sold in several countries. How does a brand get to be one of Norway’s biggest exports within design with the bare minimum of marketing? It might be a combination between skill and luck. They have been on big celebrity spreads in some of the most influential magazines in the world. Mona Jensen started off as a branding designer and this has probably made an impact on their success. They have said “no” more than “yes” to stores who want to sell their brand. This makes it easier to brand the exclusivity of the design. The whole a-list store strategy is genius, it allows for the clothes and rings to market themselves instead of putting money and effort into marketing it in the media. It also adds yet another level of exclusivity.
Making sense of art and design industries 