Saturday Afternoon Ruminations
Since we officially have a working version of Mona Lisa Style up, I’ve been doing some research on how to best approach our marketing campaign. So, I spent the last 6 hours of this ridonculously freezing day in NYC browsing the internet and looking for new resources.
I started with the usual suspects in industry news (Business of Fashion, WWD, JCReport) and luckily found blogs of industry insiders. No, not the teenage bloggers who sit front row at the shows or create shoes for Urban Outfitters who see only the finished product or magazine editors, but the people who work day in and day out making clothes with sometimes crazy, sometimes high maintenance big-name designers — I’m talking about the technical designers, planners, assistant designers, production managers, sales assistants, interns — basically everyone in a company that is not a salesperson or the head designer. These are the hard working people who execute and carry out the vision, get blamed for all mistakes, and get no glory.
The perspectives of these people are important, not only because I am one of them, but because that’s what the fashion industry really is. The fashion industry has a fluffy, superficial, and bitchy veneer to those not in the industry but it’s all just a big show to get consumers to pay $900 for a pair of shoes. How many times have you seen an intern or assistant from the Midwest complain about how fashion wasn’t anything like she thought it was and then walk out 3 days into the job? Did that intern know she would be taking out the trash, steaming clothes, delivering garment bags, and pushing trunks 5 blocks in the middle of rush hour?
People who are interested in the fashion industry should know what’s behind the scenes. There’s so much more to fashion than being beautiful and thin, wearing designer clothes that no one who actually works in the industry can afford (thank you sample sales),and going to fashion shows that you weren’t even invited to because you’ll be dealing with all the last minute details.
People need to know the truth!
Here are some of the blogs I came across today that inspired my post:
39th and Broadway - Having worked as a sales assistant at evil corporate big apparel company, the Incompetent Salespeople post resonated with me. It is all so so true!
Fashion Business, Inc. Blog - A great resource for designers just starting out.
Posted via email from Mona Lisa Style | Comment »
2 years ago
