Zeeman introduces fake ‘Frank’ during fashion week
If there’s one retailer in the Netherlands with a cheap image it’s Zeeman. Last week the clothing (and textile) brand that sells t-shirts for €2.5 tried to radically turn this image upside down by buying a show during the Amsterdam Fashion Week (AIFW) to introduce the fake brand ‘Frank’ – nice pun. The brand is named after the Swiss designer Frank Kungl of whom 6 designs will be sold at Zeeman. Though Kungl is not as famous as Karl Lagerfeld, it’s clear that the Dutch brand was inspired by H&M. By doing the same thing Zeeman wants to prove that ‘looking good doesn’t have to be expensive’. The show was hyped by spreading fancy leaflets and seeding rumour around the brand. At the end of the show – that featured among other items a slip dress with padded cups for €14.99 – Bart Mausen of the AIFW commented that from a distance it looked ‘quite nice’, but giving it a closer look the quality proved ‘inferior’. Though the guerrilla stunt – organised by Amsterdam based Coz – has already proved very successful in harvesting free publicity, the idea is not new. TBWA did the same thing for IKEA in 2006 by introducing the new brand D-Project during the Amsterdam Interior Design trade show – this won a golden lamp in 2007. In September Zeeman will also be selling underwear designed by Bas Kosters.
