Voices in American Fashion

          

Thursday, April 1 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Washington Post Style Editor Robin Givhan leads a conversation with past National Design Award Winners Francisco Costa (Women’s Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection), Yeohlee Teng, and Maria Cornejo about their work and the role of fashion in contemporary culture.

• Designs are featured in Design USA: Contemporary Innovation.
• Galleries open from 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
• Live Web-cast at www.cooperhewitt.org.

****
Location:
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
2 East 91st Street
New York City

Admission:
General, $15
Seniors and members, $10
FREE for students

Registration:
General public should register online at http://events.cooperhewitt.org

Fashion Meets Technology in San Francisco

As JC Report explained last week, “the digital revolution is officially here.” In line with this statement, San Francisco is now the home of Fashion Meets Technology, an organization “to connect professionals who perceive tremendous opportunity in, are passionate about, and are compelled to lead major innovation in the fashion industry, by embracing technology.”

I had the pleasure of attending the first kick-off event last week at Cantina SF. The evening was filled with great conversations between fashionistas and ‘istos in PR and marketing, indie fashion labels, designers and techies.

It was insightful to hear brands’ and designers’ perspectives on the fashion landscape as it begins to shift. One of the conversations that stood out was with Cordarounds, a two-man design shop based out of San Francisco. They were kind enough to share their thoughts on keeping up with today’s social media craze. They explained that every week, the brand introduces a new product online with in order for people to keep the Cordarounds brand top of mind. Makes sense, considering social media induces ADD-esq online behavior!

Watch out for the next Fashion Meets Technology event by joining the Facebook group. Hope to see you there!

The Death of Advertising

With social media quickly reinventing the way people communicate, this might just be the future of advertising agencies. Yikes!

The Last Advertising Agency On Earth from FITC on Vimeo.

Live Twitter Forum Gives Insight Into Entertainment and Fashion Industry

Looking to connect with professionals in the entertainment and fashion industry?

Check out @entprchat to participate in a live Twitter conversation with professionals and peers alike. Previous topics include the W hotel hiring a fashion director, Marc Jacobs banning celebrities from the front row of his fashion shows, thoughts on new show SPINdustry and many other timely topics.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of contibuting to the discussion as a guest speaker. It was so much fun to participate in a live forum – very refreshing than the usual daily tweeting!

Now, there are a few rules according to @entprchat: 1. Give a quick intro (name, title) 2. Tweet using hashtag #entprchat 3. Send questions to @alexiaharris or @kionsanders without the hash tag  4. Have fun!

Check out @entprchat on Twitter every Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT facilitated by @alexiaharris and @kionsanders.

Designer Spotlight: Gretchen

Last week, I was approached by the up-and-coming handbag label, Gretchen. The German label pays tribute to designer Anne-Christines’ roots in its German name, “Gretchen,” which means little pearl. In line with their name, the companies philosophy is “to create precious and exquisite accessories for ladies.”

The label has even taken the liking to Paris Hilton dedicating an entire page to her and the above handbag shown left. It’s important to note, leveraging a celebrity is a great use of PR to promote brand awareness.

Aside of fugitive short-lived fashion trends of the main stream market, Gretchen accessories have their own unmistakable and exclusive style that make them an object of desire for many seasons to come.

For more information about their Spring/Summer 2010 collection, check out their Web site at http://www.mygretchen.com/.