Fashion Marketing 101- for me at least...

Yesterday I spent most of the day at the Fashion140 conference, which is one of a series of conferences spearheaded by Jeff Pulver (look him up) and Lilly Berelovitch of Fashion Snoops.

It is a conference about using social media in marketing fashion- and the ways social media has changed the whole ballgame.

I missed a few of the earlier panels, but was there for most of the day and found most of it to be very interesting.  Myself,  I am a very inconsistent, low level user of SM to get my work out there.  And like a lot of people; I am not sure my clientele uses Twitter,  Facebook and the like to make their choices about purchasing.  I don’t know what I could possibly talk about and I don’t believe that many people would be that interested in what I have to say.  I am hardly a great writer and I am a very private person so all the “sharing” does not come naturally to me.  Not by a long shot. 

I am uncomfortable on twitter,  though yesterday I learned the app I use maybe making things much harder and much more confusing. (Can anybody tell me who actually can sit at their computer and get anything done with the constantly beeping updates in the corner that Tweetdeck overrides your screen with?  It’s insanely crazy making and took me forever to figure out how to shut it up!)

Anyhow the conference was over all very good for me, if in places lacking focus;  Robert Verdi rambled - is that the way he is?  Amanda Greene, who I expect was very, very nervous, got way too caught up in all the swag she’s scored as a result of her “Brand Ambassadorship” when her ultimate message was so much more important;  How she has successfully used that platform to promote awareness of Lupus, which she is very, very passionate about, having lived with it for 28 years.  She brought a tear to many eyes once she got to the point.

The Miss USA Panel I think was an excuse for an early lunch break. Kudos to the moderator on this panel- it was a tricky one.

Much more on point were Joe Zee, excellent!  The Beekman Boys, who I was pretty much unaware of before this.  Carol Brodie was amazing as was Yuli Ziv (again- no awareness of her before this) Andy Dunn- co founder of Bonobos. Seeing Marc Ecko’s master showmanship. The menswear Investment and Luxury Panels were all very good. 

Especially eye opening- (or eye-popping) was the gaming and tweens panels!  There was an audible gasp from the when the two 14 year olds said they had their own credit cards! (When I was 14, I had a $10.00 a week “clothing” allowance & a close to full-time after school/weekend job at a local fabric store! )

There were tons of other great speakers - the dial was set to 11 for speed.  I do hope the next Fashion140  will allow a little more time for the panels & it got rushed especially towards the end.

It was a lot - I had nightmares last night about maxing out credit-cards I do not own!

The woman sitting next to me was very encouraging about getting into the whole social network thing but said did not feel she learned much new from the panels. When I got home and looked at her website - it was Gorgeous!!  Obviously she has a real flair for marketing- social and otherwise. She is promoting herself as a complete personality, styling, selling closet makeovers and a small assortment of vintage on Esty.

I really admire this ability to market & I am completely in awe of it.  There is a real brilliance in it.  I really wish I had that talent, but my talent lies in another direction completely.  And I hope that my body-of-work speaks for itself until such time comes…

Fashion Marketing 101- for me at least...

Whose side are they on?

I met with a prospective intern Friday. They came to me on their own to see if we could do a credit internship. Their school is one of the big Fashion schools here in NYC, the so called "Fashion Capital of the World". The school did not direct them to me, since they requested an internship opportunity that would provide them with "hands on" experience. Apparently- the school basically told them - you're on your own since "nobody does that" anymore.

When you have an "industry" school completely discounting an entire class of independent & entrepreneurial and skill-based businesses in this city and beyond we are in a very, very sad state. Fashion is not all Illustrator croquis that you can punch up, mix and match and send to China with a spec sheet. I feel this is very misguided, and shows a real lack of support for these businesses and local industry as a whole.

Nobody does that anymore? Perhaps they mean Carlos Falchi,  Koos Van Den Akker, and many others?

Have they seen Etsy? All the smaller makers, creating unique and limited edition items at all price ranges. All the buzz on Brooklyn Designers? Not to mention all small makers from everywhere else in the world. Because of Etsy there is a new and nascent class of local, hand-made and specialty production businesses. EVERYWHERE. Turning out an amazing range of beautiful jewelry, (more on that later) clothing, corsetry, leather work, furniture, you name it. This is a whole new world, and it is not just people working at their kitchen tables.

The WSJ notes here that the biggest growth in the Luxury market is coming not from "the rich", but from "the Aspirationals" & "Newcomers".

I think a lot of this is also because people, across the board are sick of disappointing purchases. They want things they can enjoy for more than a single seasonal (or laundry) cycle. If it means spending more, -fine- in the end it lasts longer and is a much more satisfying -and personal- purchase.

It is up to us to support local, independent & entrepreneurial and skill-based businesses. Here in NYC, in Brooklyn or wherever you are.

Whose side are they on?