There are certain brands in SL, that pretty much everyone has heard of. Businesses and products that have become so popular everyone will be aware of their work, if not have something by them in their inventory. One such brand is Barerose (or B@R as a number of outfits I own have stamped upon them). Operating out of their main HQ at The Bare Rose sim, Owner and Designer June Dion produces a wide range of clothing for both men and women, all at highly affordable prices. One thing that sets Barerose apart from the rest, apart from their long standing in the sl community, is the high standard of design on the textures, along with the variety of styles and colours contained in each pack. To learn a little more about what happens behind the scenes at such a massive operation, I managed to get June to agree to meet with me, along with general manager Tori Heart, who also helped with the discussion, since my Japanese is a LOT worse than June's English:


Voodoo: So, when did you you start Barerose?
June Dion: 3 years ago, when I starting SL after while :) I guess 2005 Aug
Voodoo: What were your reasons for starting to make clothes?
June Dion: Because I shop lot in SLX. I spent $30 in a day, and thought should make by own X)
Voodoo: Do you have any experience in design in rl?
June Dion: No but just could use photoshop so, I tried to make it, and still learning about design and art :)
Voodoo: Barerose has become one of the biggest brands in SL. Did your success surprise you at all?
June Dion: Yes didn't know such a big, as you can see, our logo is very simple, I was just enjoy to make clothes and didn't thinking it gonna be so big store
Voodoo: What would you say has been the secret of your success? After all, there's a lot of competition out there?
June Dion: Like Tori here, we are working with staff together, only alone, couldn't make it :) and just keep think how to make smile for people as we can possible
Tori Heart: I think you can say that June makes clothing very affordable at super high quality. For instance, almost all her sets come with 3, 4, 5, or more colors all included. Most places give you 1 color, and she always tries to keep her prices low under 200L. Most are even cheaper 180L or less. Plus she makes it fun to shop at her store. For instance there's a raffle ball in all our stores that give away free clothes, we have fun parties and events. Since our clothes is transferable, can share with friend or can combination with another clothes too :)
June Dion: There is another fun they can get, also made it easy to change color. If it take time, I will release separated, like Kimono released today.
Voodoo: What would you say your aim is with Barerose?
June Dion: Hmm how can I say, can be clothing store as entertainment, if we can be.
Tori Heart: You mean have clothing and entertainment together?
June Dion: yes X)
Voodoo: Think that says it very well. Has the success of the business, and the sims, brought many challenges, and if so, how have you tackled these?
June Dion: Not so much difficult with our friends help, and don't I start something if I haven't time or budget. But idea is most hard to get,
Tori Heart: Ah trying to decide on an idea of clothes?
June Dion: Ya, and things like SIM environment and such :)
Tori Heart: One thing, too, Voodoo, June builds all her own stores too. Shes quite the builder on top of designer and all 3 of the sims are different too.
June Dion: Yes we have casual section, formal section, goth section, japanese section and couples section on another SIM, but people come hq mostly X)
Voodoo: One thing that comes with popularity is that with more people wanting to come and get your products, the lag increases...
Tori Heart: One thing we cant control is that the more success June has the more people in the sim, so its a sl issue to be sure, but we try to keep the lag to a minimum as we can. For instance, on the black cat sim there are 3 other stores of ours: a couples store, a branch store, and a haute couture store, so people can shop there as well. Plus white wolf sim, which is Japanese and goth only. So they don't have to shop at just one store, there's options =)
Voodoo: Finally, what advice would you give to anyone wishing to follow in your footsteps and become a designer in sl?
June Dion: Just enjoy to building what you like, it's key to doing what people like. And love lot of stuff as you can possible, if not just try :)
Tori Heart: June is a great person to emulate for success, her pricing and customer support would be great to follow.