Quick note: I'm giving a virtual talk at the upcoming Style & Scale Summit on "What's Working On Meta For Fashion Brands In 2026".
The talk will take place at 11a EST on March 3rd–click here to sign up.
In the last issue of the newsletter we dug into the reasons why product quality alone is not a differentiator.
To illustrate this point, I did a positioning audit of the men's tee shirt brand HIGHR and explained why they were struggling to scale with Meta ads.
This week, I'm going to do the opposite: dig into the positioning strategy of a brand that's successfully using "quality" as a value prop. The brand is TWP, which stands for Trish Wescoat Pound, the founder.
TWP 101
TWP was founded in 2022 in New York City and reached $30 million in sales by 2024. For a bootstrapped brand who started out with minimal eCommerce presence, this is impressive growth.
Within a year, TWP received funding from Andrew Rosen–founder of Theory and investor.
Trish Wescoat Pound (the woman) got her start working in design and merchandising at Theory, then started her own label in 2015: Haute Hippie.
Haute Hippie perfectly captured a moment in the mid-2010's when the Olsen Twins/Nicole Richie/Rachel Zoe boho waif indie sleaze aesthetic was peaking in popular culture.
Although Haute Hippie was a hit with department store buyers and the contemporary fashion customer, financial mismanagement and operational chaos forced Wescoat Pound to sell the business, which shuttered soon after.
TWP (the brand) shares some common themes with Haute Hippie, but the aesthetic and positioning are a complete 180. The line focuses on elevated basics with a classic, quiet luxury sensibility.
Haute Hippie celebrated print, pattern and embellishment, but the use of those elements in TWP is minimal. If Haute Hippie's core item was a "going out" top or a mini dress, TWP specializes in shirting and cashmere knits.
A Breakdown Of TWP's Positioning & Differentiators
Differentiator #1: Quality For The Price
All of the cut-and-sew in the TWP collection is produced in New York City and made of imported fabrics.
The benefit is that Wescoat Pound and her design team can keep a close eye on production to ensure quality. And the hardcore fashion consumer has taken notice–in the brand's first year it was hard for their wholesale partners to keep the brand in stock because it would fly off the shelves.
The drawback to this approach is that it increases the costs of production, so the brand operates on tighter margins that is standard for the industry. That limits initial growth velocity.
Instead of charging "opening designer" prices to make up margin, TWP hits the advanced contemporary price point. It delivers comparable quality and fit to brands like Khaite and The Row for prices that are 20-40% lower.
That makes it feel like a bargain for the woman who regularly shops at the designer price point. In a moment when even the 0.01% feel that apparel prices are too high, this is powerful positioning.
Differentiator #2: Fit
Wescoat Pound is a talented designer and subjects new styles to multiple rounds of fittings.
For many fashion brands–even those at the tippy top of the price distribution–fit is an afterthought. Garments are fit on a runway model. If you don't have those proportions, you're out of luck (or you can buy one or two sizes up and have it tailored).
But TWP takes a different approach, releasing a narrower range of styles each season and obsessing over fit and proportion.
Again, the customer who is willing to shell out $495 for a button-down in multiple colors notices this immediately...and proceeds to buy her favorite fits in multiple colors.
Differentiator #3: "Styled For You"
Many of the brand's most popular styles like The Next Ex top have "styled for you" details, like pre-rolled sleeves with multiple buttoning options.
Each collection is designed with a strong merchandiser's eye. New styles are designed to work seamlessly with existing best sellers, making it easy for customers to build a capsule wardrobe.
The eCommerce site is also styled creatively but accessibly, inspiring even the least adventurous shopper to try new combinations and build up her cart.
There is also a heavy emphasis on styling in the brand's own retail stores.
How TWP Wins On Quality, While Others Fall Short
TWP successfully uses quality as a differentiator because:
- The brand focuses on quality markers their target market actually cares about
- It delivers more quality for the price relative to competitors
- It doesn't talk about any of this directly; the brand lets the press and customer WOM do the talking for them
As I mentioned last week, directly speaking to product quality can actually harm a fashion brand's appeal unless it's done very carefully:
- Hermes doesn't talk about quality, it talks about a tradition of craftsmanship (quality is implied)
- Quince doesn't talk about quality, it talks about sourcing product from the same factories as designer brands
- TWP doesn't talk about quality, it simply delivers more quality for the price on dimensions that are immediately legible to its target market
The key takeaways: quality can be a successful differentiator, but only when you tailor it to the context of what your target audience values.
Successful brand positioning starts with a clearly defined audience and a deep understanding of what matters most to them.