Advice; best practices; reports; statistics; facts; and resources
The U.S. fashion industry has changed dramatically since the early part of the 20th century when its main focus was manufacturing. In 1931, the Garment District in New York was home to the highest concentration of clothing manufacturers in the world. – The New Economy of Fashion | Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress […]
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There are strong signs of a bright future for sectors of the fashion industry—primarily in design and high tech manufacturing. Fashion is a multi-trillion dollar global industry, encompassing everything from textile and apparel brands to wholesalers, importers and retailers. Over a trillion dollars is spent annually on apparel and footwear around the globe, with nearly […]
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. . . And to Those Still Trying to Break Through the ‘Noise’. There are no impossibilities.
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The usage of social media with marketers ranks very high in the marketing efforts of connecting current and prospective consumers to their brands. As reported by statista.com, in the United States alone, social media marketing spending is expected to exceed 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 – almost ten billion increase, compared to 2014.
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The EDGE network of emerging designers share business tips and advice on their journey as an up and coming brand in the fashion industry. This is part of the EDGE experience based [to complement academic] educational best practice series.
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Alex Jaeger is an awarded costume designer based in Los Angeles. His background spans multiple disciplines of the performing arts and film. We gained insight on the costume creation process and the role it plays in the performing arts from our talk with Alex.
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A student fashion show is not just “show and tell”, but a collaborative educational experience that showcases student’s marketing, design, and event production talents. It’s applying the academics to real life. I wanted to learn more about the “what, why, and how” of producing a show by the student body and in particular how it […]
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The Chanel brand epitomizes a fashion brand that has stood the test of time through longevity, integrity, and creativity. Chanel continues to remain culturally relevant with a spirit of surprise and newness, yet staying true to its heritage.
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Business and design go hand in hand, now, and without understanding how each part is important you can easily find yourself losing your power in major decision making moments. . . – Brendan M Combs, designer.
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In today’s world, you need to understand what can be sourced at a level that will sustain commercial use. You need to understand that highly customized fabrics and trims will either have enormous minimums, enormous prices or both. – Jay Arbetman, The Sourcing District.
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The EDGE network of emerging designers share business tips and advice on their journey as an up and coming brand in the fashion industry. These direct quotes are from the EDGE Radar designer interview series.
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EDGE team contributor and technical designer, Melissa Lugo, shares her expertise on garment spec packages. We talked to Melissa, asking her pertinent questions regarding the importance of design specification packages. Melissa, what are spec [specification] packages and how important are they in the product development process? I use the word packages, because it is inclusive […]
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Amara Bessa, owner of Kariella Clothing Shop, took the time to talk to EDGE about her start in the fashion industry, how often and where she shops the market, and what she does to differentiate Kariella from other independent retailers. In a live audio interview, Amara tells us about her vision to be unique, build […]
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Artist Teresita Fernandez once said, You don’t need a lot of friends or curators or patrons or a huge following, just a few that really believe in you. Graduates of all vocations, yet particularly those of the arts, don’t wait for one or two years to truly own your life, empower yourselves now! Whether it is […]
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Focus on the consumer, not sales, believe me, it’s a win, win. To do this you have to intimately know who your audience is. Who are you designing for? You design for the customer – the retailer/buyer – and you design for the consumer – the ultimate end user. Knowing the consumer will position you […]
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As a veteran in the fashion business, this feature on business practices and tips are from my personal experience. Those of you that are recent graduates bear in mind that academia is a great foundation. Gaining complete knowledge of running a fashion business [designer, wholesaler, or retailer] is the combination of both academia and experience. […]
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You have a voice that can influence contemporary culture as much or more than anything else. If you love what you do, there’s nothing like the rush of having a great idea and then seeing it created. – Tom Ford, keynote speaker at the 2013 annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards dinner. EDGE up and coming […]
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Stella McCartney was the keynote speaker at the Council of Fashion Designers of America [CFDA] and Vogue’s annual Fashion Fund dinner. Her advice to the fashion class of 2014, as told by Marshall Heyman of wsj.com [and I share to the EDGE network]: • Go work in Paris. “It will serve you very well if […]
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IMAGINE A FUTURE LIKE THIS: Community Couture [Scenario 2] 1. The world is… struggling to cope with the impacts of climate change and resource shortages but community bonds are strong – many strive for self-sufficiency. 2. Fashion is… expensive new or cheap and second-hand… very high costs of raw materials and disrupted supply chains have […]
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The designers/brands that were truly professional would arrive a day or two in San Francisco [when I was a buyer for Macy’s] prior to our meeting. They arrived well in advance in order to shop the floor, shop the market, and understand the competition of both my department and their product competition. They wanted to […]
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Another lesson I’ve learned is that it’s so important to create strong relationship and to develop a strong network of professionals you can turn to for advice or support and know that they truly have the best interest for you and your brand. Building those relationships are like partnerships that will help strengthen your business, […]
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One of the most important challenges of your career as a successful fashion designer is to get and maintain retail and/or media exposure for your brand.
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Commit yourself to your vision and goals, and understand clearly what will and will not help you along the way. Stay in your “lane” or on the road that will lead you to accomplish your goals. Sometimes designers/brands encounter situations that appear to be opportunities, but can take them off the road in directions that […]
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During my many years as a buyer and merchandising executive, I got to know and observe a variety of successful designers and brands from around the country. Many of these designers were emerging designers, others were well on to becoming established, yet all of them were fast on their way to making not only national […]
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