Dragon’s Give Fashion Brand Crucial Advice On Patents | Dragons’ Den

Foreign Dragons I'm Steve this is Michelle hello we're Here today to pitch for 60 000 pounds For 30 stake in our company Fat frocks is the only UK retailer Specializing in tall plus size clothing It's also the home to Wings Buying an everyday outfit without wings Charisse is wearing exactly the same Outfit with wings There are many reasons that women Appreciate arm coverage these comment From my personal reason which is Lipedema it could be bingoings it could Be scarring tattoos wings as you see are Fitted to the top of a woman's body They come under the burst and follow the Bra line all the way around the back The design was registered and they come In four sizes Steve feedback from customers has been 100 positive people are saying it's Fantastic why has no one done it before Thank you for for liberating our Wardrobe in the first four months we've Sold over 150 pieces of wings That's the end of our pitch thank you Michelle and Steve Ellis are looking for A 60 000 pound investment to expand Their online clothing brand into the Mass Market What will Peter Jones make of the Husband and wife team

Michelle Steve hi I'm Peter hi hi Peter So how long have you been doing this Have you got any success previously just Before you set up frocks I was busy Being a mum okay Um before that I was a bookmaker before That I worked in a wine shop before that Was a holiday around great but if you've Got experience but you haven't got Experience in the clothing Marketplace No but I love clothes I've always There's an Infinity with clothes I've Made fashion is a big a big part of my Life yeah and it's always been a problem Part of my life where do you get the Clothing from from India and you design All the pieces you sell I design all the Pieces how much money have you invested In this so far between the two of us 8 200 pounds the total business today is Twenty eight thousand four hundred And where did you get the extra 20 000 Family and friends family and friends do They own part the company yes So you've been going for four months What's your Revenue in those four months Yeah eleven thousand eleven thousand Pounds yeah Right but bear in mind this is a Completely new item of clothing there's No category we've been selling in eBay In tops and in jumpers and as you can See it's neither [Music]

Commitment and passion are evident but What of the business Retail Guru Theo per fetus knows this Market well The wings it's very similar to what Asian women wear underneath their sarees Asian women wear a tight fitting sleeve And it also it covers the bust and the Back whereas this allows you to wear any Neckline and any back line so like this One this is done as a wedding there's Plenty most wedding dresses the best Dresses that you can get you say you Have in this manufactured in India what Sort of volume then do you do it must be Small runs it is do we order minimum Order quantities of 30 pieces okay Um are you working from home yes yeah The stock is stored in a converted Loft At my father's uh not our house because She's got the three children so we're a Bit tight for space Michelle Steve hi I'm Deborah hi Deborah How much do the wings sell for 15.99 and 14.99 and what are they Costing you to buy about two pounds 80. I'm just trying to understand why is This better than using a shrug or a Shawl or a cardigan or whatever the Thing is there's plenty of options to do The thing that you're trying to do but These are sorry these are comfortable And it enables you to use the things in Your wardrobe more than you ever could

Have before the things that hang there Are news because there's no Cardigans to Go with it oh it's sleeveless I don't Want to wear that or you can use these To change the shape of a dress but the Trouble is if you just stick sleeves on A dress that was designed not to have Sleeves you've designed a dress for Yourself Foreign [Music] Entrepreneurs are proving Adept at Handling the dragon's questions Hilary duvet appears impressed Can I have a look please yeah We did have I mean the patent attorney Let's just have a look how it's attached To your dress Underneath on me And it's really comfortable I can move I'm not extra hot with a cardi I can't Move my arms forward I can move so I Suppose if he was slim there you could Wear tops without a bra by wearing it You could if you wanted so you've Registered this the band that goes under The bust and Carries sleeves is Registered all right okay Stephen Michelle are you saying you've Got a design register or a patent what You've seen you've got we saw a patent Attorney and he advised because it's Quite unique get a good element of Protection if someone copied and tried

To do something similar I did Applications myself Um do you think you've got an absolute Patent yeah to stop anyone else picking Anything similar to this at all yes Obviously there's no guarantee we can Apply for them but we'd already just Just you can't possibly have anything That prevents anyone else Selling the same thing Why yeah why Loads of people will challenge your Patent those are people who make clothes Who sell clothes constantly it will Challenge it It's a piece of cloth You can't possibly have Total Protection To this [Music] It's Michelle and Steve's first Knockback but all five dragons are still In Deborah meaden looks to be the first to Make up her mind [Music] Be very careful about your patent Because what people do with patterns is They take the first step They don't spend any money and then they Have to start paying their fees and then Before they know it they need advice and Then they think oh I've already spent Five thousand pounds I might as well Finish the process and I've watched

People rack up forty fifty thousand Pounds worth of fees on patterns and not End up with a patent And I'm just not convinced Particularly at about 14 15 pounds these Are not that they're not throwaway Pieces okay And I just think there's other ways of Doing it really sorry guys I won't be Investing okay I'm out A lesson in intellectual property from The experienced investor the duo lose a First dragon Is now ready to show his hand When people ask me If you had limited cash and had to start A business what would you do And the first thing I always say is I do e-commerce That's how I grow my business I knew Have adopted that same model so for that I congratulate you But then you go against the model When you ask me for sixty thousand Pounds Because now we're talking about serious Investment yeah I do like what you're doing And I would say to you carry on doing it It might take you that little bit longer But you'll still achieve your end goal I'm out thank you Michelle Steve

I do like the product I think I can see that there might be a Market for it very often going out with A product getting the brand out there Will have a bit a decent carry for you So the first to Market and your brand Existence is going to do it People are going to copy it people are Going to bring out derivatives of it People if it's successful okay they Won't if it's not so I wish you the best Of luck on your journey it's not Something that I can invest in so I'm Going to declare myself out thank you The duo seem to be getting plenty of Advice but as yet no cash Will Duncan bannatyne rescue their hopes Of investment Um look the best advice I can give you Is they're knocking a door in some shops I keep selling online But it's not a business where you want An investor to put sixty thousand pound Then who wants his money back over a Period of years because you will not Make enough to pay that money back I'm out sorry thank you thank you Well actually I love it But I personally don't think you need an Investor because for sixty thousand Pound I'd want to be the majority Shareholder

Which isn't them fair to the Shareholders that you've already got But I love your product thank you and I Think you've got a niche market But that's exactly what it is a niche Market I really wish you good luck Yes yes I'm out Michelle and Steve managed to tame the Dragons but not to extract the Investment they needed they leave with Nothing [Music]

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