Los Angeles
Fashion Week 2005
Interviews in the showrooms
March 19, 2005
by Arden Ash
Clothing, jewelry, shoes at the
California Market Center
When are the trends
decided?
The trends are all determined
months ahead of time by one company.
They choose the colors of the
season, pantones, and send out their swatch books
to the mills. The mills base their textile
production on the color selections determined by
the pantones. Swatch books created by the mills are
sent to subscribed designers for fabric selections
to be made and designs created. Therefore even if a
designer chooses not to follow trends and to simpy
design as a reflection of their own feelings and
environment, the market supply of textiles will
keep their personal collections within a
predetermined trend. Personal quality control in
the production and distribution of the line are
consuming in both time and money.
How do the Designers spend their
time?
In extreme cases, a designer may
spend a day or two designing and literally months
carrying the concepts thru to the storefront. On
average, it takes clothing 6 months to carry a line
from crawn concept to storefront. Often times
jewelry designers wait to see some of the concepts
being developed by the fashion houses and these
ideas influence their new concepts.
Photography by Arden Ash
Some
featured Exhibitors and Designers
Jaimilee
Collection
FollowYour
Bliss
Yellowman
Olivar
Shoes and X-it Shoes
Modaspia
LaraKazan
Clara
Kasavina
A design from the Jaimi Lee
Collection
What inspires the
designers?
Many stated that they simply design
what they thought their friends and would like to
wear. It's about how it looks, how it feels, how it
lays, how it hangs, the overall, the details and
the personal satisfaction that an artist has at the
completion of their art.
In the end - the final product
still has to be sold. Celebrity endorsements can
make make or break a new line. It's not just word
of mouth - but the right word of mouth that count.
This is where marketing companies are hired to play
matching games of product to the appropriate
celebrity.
Fashion Week 2005
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What inspires the designers? Many stated that they simply design what they thought their friends and would like to wear. It's about how it looks, how it feels, how it lays, how it hangs, the overall, the details and the personal satisfaction that an artist has at the completion of their art. In the end - the final product still has to be sold. Celebrity endorsements can make make or break a new line. It's not just word of mouth - but the right word of mouth that count. This is where marketing companies are hired to play matching games of product to the appropriate celebrity. |
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Related Links www.californiamarketcenter.com
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Jewelry designers
Jewelry designers often have only 3 months to turn their designs from concept to storefront. However the time interval for jeweled purses can be as little as two weeks when a company like Clara Kasavina is able to mold, sculpt, cast, plate, stone, polish and sew their product inhouse.
How designers work togther
Designers vary in how they work. There are numerous husband and wife teams as well as mother-daughter combinations. Designers of younger and smaller lines tend to stay with their collection from concept to storefront. Within the parameters of textile supply and consumer market demands, the numerous designers with whom I spoke created their collections as reflections of their environments, music, architecture,global politics, culture, personal experiences and personal desires.
A design by Follow Your Bliss