Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

The Spice of Life in Fashion

Vivienne Westwood

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The spices of life are more to some and less to others. Contrary to a captain with no hull beneath his deck, but a good steady wind and a pair of Denim flares more befitting a weather worn sailor feeling his years, to the Far East in search of spices. Time and tide won’t let a sailor sleep.

Now it’s the spices of fashion for men, the rising tide: And, dandyism still contrasting Beau Brummell rejection of 18th century frills, his mandate; a dark blue coat, buff-coloured pantaloons and waistcoat, black boots and a clean white neck cloth.

The modern sailor’s uniform, endures and has remained a popular choice for designers to mimic idiosyncratic characters, a simple uniform to draw inspiration from; each changing style to suit forms and functions.

A little more evidence on how history in fashion repeats itself: Bell bottomed trousers were another ‘icon’ of the square rig uniform. These were practical garments for men who worked sailing ships since they could be rolled up securely to clear the feet and ankles when working the rigging. In common with all other items of a sailor’s kit, trousers were kept folded ready for use in a kit bag. Kept inside out to avoid fluff on the outer surface and to avoid ‘shine’ by ironing, they were folded horizontally at about a hand’s width and taped into a rectangular ‘block’. When worn, this produced inverted vertical creases down the side of the leg and five or seven, depending on the height of the wearer, horizontal creases down the leg. In time these were accepted as the thing to have and were pressed firmly into place from the early years of the century. Since the First World War bell bottoms were purchased for tradition rather than any practical use but were replaced by flared trousers in 1977. (more…)

Careers in the Fashion Industry

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Interest in the fashion industry is on the rise, and so are the opportunities – and the competition. It is relatively easy to earn a degree in fashion design, merchandising, or fashion marketing. Each of these segments focuses on a different aspect of the fashion industry. As the fashion industry continues to grow, there is an increased need for educated and specialized staff in the fashion world. Those who have the appropriate fashion degree education will find that they are more marketable in this competitive industry. You will find that a fashion degree education offers programs that are tailored to what specific field you are interested in. The three main opportunities with a fashion degree are fashion design, fashion marketing and fashion merchandising.

Becoming a fashion designer is a dream for many people. But only those with artistic ability and serious determination will succeed in this competitive industry. A fashion designer has an eye for lines, textures and color and brings their vision to life through drafting. Once a final sketch is complete, the designer must choose materials to be used in the final product. After the fabric is chosen, a pattern is cut from the fabric and sewn together. (more…)

Making Money in Fashion – Starting Your Clothing Line Business in 8 Steps

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketEver imagined owning your own clothing line? Who hasn’t been to a store to find the ugliest design you’ve ever seen charge $50 and up? Or walked down the street and wondered how any human could allow them self to be seen in such an ugly clothing article? Have you ever thought to yourself, if they could design that and someone bought it, why couldn’t I?

Learn from my mistakes how you could start selling clothing with an upfront cost less than that of a PS3 game!! No hype, just the facts. Before I get to how that’s possible, let me walk you through having your own full fledge clothing line. I am by no means an expert, but I do know that what I’ve learned through blood, sweat, and tears can benefit any one interested in the same dream I had. I’m not selling anything, so the information I present is yours to use and assimilate as you wish.

1. Know your Market- Any business book or self-help guru will tell you this, but in the fashion industry this is especially important. Your market determines how much you can sell your clothing for, what style of clothing, what colors, even your clothing line name. It’s important to do research, which doesn’t always have to be in the form of sitting behind a computer looking up boring statistical data. Get out into the market, check out malls, movie theaters, and anywhere else your ideal market goes. Look at magazines that focus on your demographics, TV shows, even your own closet. Ask yourself why you spent the money you did on your clothing items. (more…)

Need Help?… Starting your own Fashion Company?

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We have compiled a list of resources and business assistance programs for clothing designers to start their own business. However, since this is a blog, they get buried under newer postings. So here is a post of different resources (by Location) to help you get started!

For Fashion Business Assistance in New York

http://thealexanderreport.com/fashion-business-centers-and-incubators-in-new-york

For London Fashion Business Assistance and Resources for Designers

http://thealexanderreport.com/london-fashion-business-assistance-and-resources-for-designers

For Los Angeles Fashion Resources and Business Assistance

http://thealexanderreport.com/los-angeles-fashion-resources-and-business-assistance

And for India Fashion Resources and Business Assistance for Designers

http://thealexanderreport.com/india-fashion-resources-and-business-assistance-for-designers

7 Steps To Get A Loan For Your Fashion Business

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketLoans are a time-tested way of raising capital for your business. We would love to tell you that it is as easy as going to the bank and asking for money, but as you probably know by now it is quite the opposite. We wrote the following steps to help you raise the right amount of capital to get your business going.

Step 1: Decide how much money you need.

This is an obvious but often overlooked. Entrepreneurs, particularly start-ups, when budgeting for their business often focus on what they will need to get their business going, or to finance a particular project without accounting for working capital or cash for contingencies. This is dangerous because lack of working capital can mean the death knell for the business.

On the other hand, some entrepreneurs, again start-ups, drastically overestimate their costs. This will make lenders not only question the entrepreneurs’ assumptions, but also question whether they know what they are doing.

Now that we decided on an amount, lets focus on the lender.

a) If you are a start-up:

Loan amounts below $25,000 are considered smaller, micro-loans. Not all banks will be interested in doing a SBA guaranteed loan for small amounts (more below). Micro-lenders and Alternative-lenders are better equipped to handle this type of loans. These lenders usually make smaller loans and have a community focus. Look to credit unions, local development corporations and other non-profit lenders.

Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loan is a guarantee to the lender. If the borrower defaults, the lender is guaranteed repayment of a portion of the loan by the SBA. You are still liable for the loan, so your obligation does not go away. From our experience, an amount of $50,000 and above is the usual range for SBA loans. The higher the amount requested the more the lender would look for collateral to secure the loans. Start-ups and existing businesses can apply for SBA guaranteed loans.

b) If you are an existing business: (more…)

Profession Of A Designer

By Olivia Hunt
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If you are going to take up a career of a professional designer, you must know some important facts about this profession. The positive thing of this profession is that it gives you challenges, gives you possibilities to create and get satisfaction from fulfilled the task seeing the results of your work. However, design industry is growing in great paces worldwide. Competition is number one in this sphere and you are to be the best to become successful and get the job. Besides, the advertisement influences our lives greatly. Another fact is that a designer can use it in an ethical way or visa versa. Indeed, the design profession has a high under-employment rate. That is why it is really difficult to find a good job with decent salary at a design company, to make up a good advertisement.

In fact, profession of a designer consists of several ones as it demands communicational, technical, analytical, artistic and advertisement skills. You must be really a good designer having necessary qualifications and most importantly necessary skills to obtain a good job. There are no regulations in designer sphere and everyone can say he is a designer and use unethical advertisement programs. Such designers can perform their work bad making company directors paying lower salaries to others. He will not pay you a good salary being unsure in the quality of your work. In addition universities accept many people who want to become designers overcrowding the designer market. (more…)

Stitching our Heritage, The Role of South African Fashion Design

by Renato Palmi
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An exciting new project under the auspices of the Ifa Lethu (“Our Heritage”) Foundation will be launched at the 2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week in June. Five prominent Durban-based fashion designers under the direction of Greg Wallis, Chairperson of the Durban Fashion Council, are busy finalising their designs for the Ifa Lethu fashion brand.

Creating seams between local fashion to South Africa’s arts and cultural heritage is an initiative aimed at inspiring the nation’s youth with a sense of pride in both their historic roots and a commitment to innovative South African products, explains Narissa Ramdhani, Ifa Lethu’s CEO.

After many hours of screening, the five designers: Karen Monk-Klijnstra, Gugu Msimang, Vino, Steve Manday and Bonga Bhengu – all with impeccable credentials in the fashion arena – were selected for Ifa Lethu’s debut foray into fashion, on the basis of their ranges being “street-smart, with a hint of ethnicity, aimed at a youth market between the ages of 16 and 24″, says Wallis.
(more…)

2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week

Presenting Opportunities for South African Designers
By Renato Palmi

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketOn a warm cloudless night in May, with the sound of the Indian Ocean basting the beach, the 2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week (MTN-DFW) was officially launched at a new venue – the Suncoast Hotel and Towers, situated in the heart of Durban’s famous Golden Mile. Designers mingled with socialites and the elite of the city’s fashion industry. The event will run over four days, from 27-30 June.

Thirty-four South African designers will present the products of their creative skills during 18 shows on a ramp set up in the unique glass encapsulated 504-seat marquee. One of the primary aims of the 2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week is to catalyse the careers of emerging designers. “After a national search, 14 young designers were selected to take part in the MTN Young Designers event”, said Vanashree Singh, convenor and director of the MTN-DFW. Singh said the future of South Africa’s industry lies in the hands and eyes of the new generation fashion designers, and the showcase event is “geared to promote the business of fashion and to allow these designers to network with industry leaders.”

One young designer is Michelle Lowe from the School of Fashion Design in Pietermaritzburg, whose range is a ready-to-wear bohemian look for the “metro-male”: “I am so excited about being part of the Durban Fashion Week and I know I will learn a lot from this experience.” Lauren Taylor from Durban’s University of Technology is another participant, who describes her garments as representing

“feminine elegance with clean-cut lines and a focus on promoting environmental responsibility. Another young designer taking part in the (MTN-DFW) is Melissa Paulus from Linea Academy. She entered because of “sheer ambition to be recognised as a South African designer”
(more…)

Associations & Organizations J-Z

Japan Sewing Machinery Manufacturers Association (JASMA): This association is dedicated to Japan’s sewing machinery manufacturers.
URL: http://www.jasma.or.jp/

Jewelers Of America:Jewelers of America (JA) is the national association for the retail jeweler. JA is both a center of knowledge for the jeweler and an advocate for professionalism
and high social, ethical, and environmental standards in the jewelry trade. The JA mission is to assist all members in improving their business skills and profitability.

URL: www.jewelers.org


Jute Manufactures Development Council (JMDC) based in India. National agency for promotion and marketing of jute fiber products. Link to Indian Trade Classification Codes for jute products. Categorized product directories. Events (more…)

Apparel and Textile Associations and Organizations D-I

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketDigital Printing & Imaging Association (DPI) members are at the forefront of companies that embrace the promise of new technology and play an important part in creating an ongoing imaging revolution. From digital printers to screen printers to photo labs;textile printers to reprographic shops, the benefit of DPI membership is the same. They are associated with Screen Printing & Graphic Imaging Association International (SGIA)

URL: http://www.dpia.org/

Embroidery Trade Association [ETA] (USA) : Non-profit membership organization for professionals and companies in the North American embroidery industry. Link to trade show calendar, educational materials, buyers guide and federal trade database.
The mission of Embroidery Trade Association is to strengthen the commercial embroidery business through member education, representation, networking, research and consumer outreach.
URL: http://www.embroiderytrade.org/

European Apparel and Textile Organization (Euratex) : Acts on behalf of the textile and clothing industry with the EU institutions on matters of common interest.
URL: http://www.euratex.org/

European Association of Textile Polyolefins : EATP is the European Association established to promote and develop the interests of manufacturers of Textile Polyolefins. (more…)

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