5 Ways to Complete an Outfit and Get Brands Noticed

"What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language." - Miuccia Prada

What's one of the easiest ways to make a fashion statement? With accessories. From flashy and formal to subtle and relaxed, accessories can transform any outfit from day to night, work to play.

When it comes to corporate fashion, accessories give brands another touch point—one that complements garments in a traditional apparel program. For distributors, accessories offer an additional revenue stream that may have been overlooked. Here are five of our favorite ways to add accessories to your apparel promotions and get brands noticed.

1. Tie Into A Theme
For buyers that want a "wow" factor, look no further than custom neckwear from St. Louis-based Diane Katzman Designs. Diane Katzman, president, is mindful of trends and works with her artists to create tasteful yet fashion-forward designs. "Developing a design where the logo is subtle makes it a much easier sell for distributors, because recipients will actually want to wear them," she said. "There's a delicate balance to designing a banner for your brand without the logo being overtly in your face."

Katzman developed a men's tie and a ladies' scarf for H&R Block that incorporated the company's black and green color scheme and square logo in a tasteful and on-trend design that was featured in an online company store. To complement these, she added green square earrings for a corporate event and hand-beaded bracelets that were used as customer gifts. All the pieces worked in conjunction with one another in style and color so they could be mixed and matched depending on the occasion. [The scarf is pictured on page 22.]Katzman said, is exclusivity. "Because every design is unique, no one else can have them," she explained.