INDUSTRY INSIDER: Conversations at #FashionGarage

TWO OF FASHION MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS

Last Night, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the #FashionGarage conversation hosted by Simon Collins and Julie Gilhart at NeueHouse in NYC. This was an open-discussion format where interested parties could pick the brains of two heavy-weights of the fashion industry. Lightning struck twice last night.

Simon Collins, the most recent former Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons and prior to that served as Designer/Creative director for companies like Nike and Zenga for 20 years.  Julie Gilhart, former fashion director at Barneys for 18 years, is currently an advisor of large luxury brands and prestigious retailers; google her. Their insight is valuable and both were as uninhibited in their humor as they were in their advice to young designers.  

Julie’s advice geared toward authenticity and exciting pieces. She encouraged the designer to create an experience for the consumer. There’s so much competition that exists in the market place, no matter the price point or category. Design matters, presentation matters, look books matter. Julie wants designers to ask themselves, ‘what will create the emotional charge?’ One suggestion that Julie has for startup designers would be ‘Be bold, authentic and articulate about what you want to do.’ As a start-up you have so much freedom as you’re are still defining your image. Startups have a margin that the larger houses don’t have – use it to your advantage. It’s much easier to move small things than it is to move larger things.

Simon and Julie speaking at the first #FashionGarage

Another tidbit from Julie would be that designers develop a story around their brand. An intriguing story about how goods are made breathes life into what would be ‘just another piece’. Consumers want to know what makes your work special. Create and experience that the consumer can take from website to wear.

Simon aired on the side of practicality. “There are so many designers who are such hits on social media and yet, can’t make their rent.” Both Julie and Simon agreed that slow, organic growth is best for fashion companies, as a faithful following is more promising than a ‘flash in the pan’ designer.

Answering a question about where to invest energies as a start-up designer, Simon replied that it may be exciting to sign on PR and invest in a swanky showroom, the showroom and the PR ultimately isn’t what sells.  The best and strongest bet would be to put the effort into an amazing product.  As much as fashion can get lost in a world of fantasy, we are grounded in the fact that fashion is indeed a business.

Julie chimed in to note the value of private label work. While at Barney’s, she seen many designers build up their relationships with retailers, build their operations and build their much needed cash flow,  as private label designers. The learning curve in the beginning of any business is steep. Simon stated that there’s no way to know how to handle downtime in the fashion cycle four seasons into your business. There are some things only experience will teach you. But taking the time to do private label appears to me like a sound way for designers to get their foot in the door.  

Speaking of foot in the door, what about the people who aren’t in, but are interested in fashion? As with any industry, a little elbow grease and resilience goes a long way. Julie shared a personal story of her own humble foundation that determined the path of her career. Julie, sure that she wanted to be in fashion took a summer job selling cheese at Cuisinart. That’s where she discovered that she had a talent in sales. A higher up took notice of her skills and that landed her at Neiman Marcus. That position set her notable trajectory.  Simon advises “if you want to be in fashion, get a job in Fashion tomorrow.”  He went on to say, “There’s plenty of work in fashion, the key is to focus on your passion”.

Simon shared his own parable to emphasize the need for passion in a field where fierce competition is an understatement. “An entry-level investor asked Warren Buffet on whether he should be focused on day trading or position trading. The investor appeared impartial to the type of work he’d be getting into. Buffet replied to the man, ‘don’t bother. Your competition will be living and breathing by either day trading or position trading’. You won’t be any good at either one.” For the ones who want to get into fashion, do what gets your blood going because you can’t fake ‘it’. You’re up against people who have known what they want to do since they were 8 years old and could tell you about the business backwards and forwards. Do what you love.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night, ruminating on the thoughts that Simon and Julie shared with the crowd. It was incredibly motivating to see that such major players as supportive of the next rising stars in this industry. I look forward to attending the next event of an ongoing series. 

Thank you for taking your time to speak with us, Julie and Simon! 

Until next time! 

This story has been paraphrased and condensed.