RETAINED DIRECTION FOR ESTABLISHED BRANDS

STUDIO ADVISORY.

Senior product and strategy direction, held with you season after season.

Some brands are past the point where they need me to make things. They have a team, or freelancers, or a factory that works. What they don't have is a senior product head in the room when the season's real decisions get made: what to build, what to drop, where it sits on price, which factory, which direction.

Studio Advisory is for those brands. I hold the product and strategy direction with you, season after season. I like being behind the scenes. You keep your hands. I keep the decisions honest.

I take on the brands I want to work with. There aren't many. Advisory is how the right ones keep me close.

WHAT'S INCLUDED.

  • A monthly strategy session. Up to two hours, by call, video, or in person at Cocoa Studios. Where the season gets shaped and the big calls get made.

  • Seasonal direction. Range architecture, the line plan, pricing structure, positioning. The thinking that decides whether a season works before a sample is cut.

  • A senior eye on your team's work. I review the tech packs, fits, and samples your people produce, and tell you what's right and what's wrong. My eye on the output, not my hand on the make.

  • Production and supplier strategy. Who to use, what to expect, how to structure a run, what good looks like. I advise on it; you or your team run it.

  • Direction between sessions. The decisions that can't wait, by email or message, within reason.

  • A quarterly direction document. One short, sharp written piece each quarter that names the decisions and sets the direction. Yours to act on, and to put in front of a board or backer.

WHAT IT'S NOT.

  • Not a delivery service. I don't build the tech packs, cut the patterns, or run your sampling and production. If you need that, it's Project Work or Full Service.

  • Not unlimited access. A monthly session and a sensible amount of contact between, honoured both ways. Heavy execution becomes a scoped project.

  • Not a rolling trial. Advisory needs a season's runway to prove itself, so it runs on a minimum term.

WHO IT'S FOR.

Brands that:

  • Have launched and are trading, with some traction and a small team

  • Are scaling, and feeling the decisions get bigger than one person should carry alone

  • Care about the product, not just the volume

  • Want a senior product and strategy voice without hiring one in-house

PRICING.

£2,000 + VAT per month, on a six-month minimum term.

A senior tier at £3,000–£3,500 + VAT for brands that want a half-day session and closer contact.

Paid monthly.

I cap Advisory at five brands so each season gets real attention.

Book a Studio Session
Email James

See all the ways to work with us

THREE QUESTIONS I GET ASKED

  • The Subscription is a scheduled hour and quick sense-checks — light, steady support that keeps you on track. Advisory is heavier. I hold the season's direction with you, review your team's work, and write you a direction document each quarter. The Subscription keeps you on the track. Advisory shapes where the track goes.

  • No. Your team keeps making. I direct, review, and decide alongside you. If you want me to make something rather than shape it, that's a separate project.

  • If we've not worked together, with a Studio Session (£750). At the end of it, if there's a fit, I'll offer you Advisory. If you're an existing client, email info@jameshillman.co.uk.