Guest Speakers: Jill Cohen & Mark Tungate

Tuesday morning a friend of my fashion marketing professor came into town from New Jersey. Her name is Jill Cohen.

I enjoy listening to guest speakers, especially if the topic is relevant to something I am working towards & in this case - I really needed to hear all that she had to say. Cohen explained to us how things work in the home furnishings/interior field (which is very similar to the fashion industry).

Jill Cohen is an alumni from Rhode Island School of Design - her degree is in Textiles. Previously, Cohen worked as the VP of Design for a major textile company. She has worked in Hong Kong, India, and China, to name a few. Currently, she is at Artistic Tile as the Design Director -- with 20+ years of sourcing experience under her belt, Cohen finds herself all over the world to source and develop products for Artistic Tile.

www.artistictile.com

Throughout her speech, I jotted down a few pointers and other notes... Wanna hear them? Well hear they go...

☝ When getting an entry-level position (or any position) - obviously - the more knowledge and skills you have, the better
      ☛ These skills should definitely include CAD & Adobe Suite
☝ When working with factories or companies overseas, your product is only as good as the product information you send to them
      ☛ Meaning: articulate exactly what it is that you want - do not make the person on the other end guess
☝ If you are ever given the opportunity to work at the inexpensive end of the industry (i.e. Wal-Mart), take it.
      ☛ By doing this - it will give you a challenge that'll force you to be very creative & innovative due to the lack of funds & other limitations
☝The more you understand the technicalities of things - the better
      ☛ For example, if you understand how to construct a collar, you will have an idea of what is a feasible alteration to make to the product in order to cut its price of production

♥ There were many other notes I took down but I will leave it with these 2 essentials:
      ☝ ALWAYS take notes  &
       ✌ ALWAYS know the parameters
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Through the same fashion marketing & merchandising course, Mark Tungate also came to speak to my class (book below).

Mark Tungate is a British journalist with more than 20 years of experience. Because he is based out of Paris, his publishers, Kogan Page, wanted him to explore fashion then to write a book about his findings -- which is how Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara came to life.

His wife is actually Géraldine Dormoy, an established fashion journalist who covers big fashion shows and other fashionable socialite events. She also has a huge blog that is well known in Paris, called Café Mode
(SideNote-- it is so fabulous! Although I cannot read it in its entirety since it is in French, I manage to cling on to a few familiar French words and the pictures definitely help =))

But anyway...
Mark Tungate interestingly stated that:

❝ sources estimate that the amount spent on clothes annually tops $1 trillion [in U.S. dollars]... ❞

Which goes to say, Fashion is NOT a trivial industry...
    ...it's actually something like a BIG DEAL.

*a google image*

He spoke about how unlike mass commodities (like Nike), small fashion houses require personal attention. They do not want agencies conducting their business, they prefer individuals who are able to bring their vision to life, like famous photographers, stylists, and make-up artists. But the problem with this is that the pictures/ads start to look very similar, if not exactly the same. This is because not only is Calvin Klein using Mert & Marcus (for instance) for their Spring '0x ad, but Louis Vuitton and Guess may also be using the same team of experts... Then not only are the same experts used, also  the same trends are being translated across brands and its collections.

So why don't fashion companies just go to advertising agencies??

Because the fashion agencies are all about the idea -- they are obsessed with having a storyline. On the other hand, fashion brands are obsessed with their product(s) -- they're aim is to sell the product so why go into extras with the big idea/fantasy??

Have you ever wondered why you do not see commercials for Louis Vuitton handbags and luggage?

*a google image*

      ☛ Television will over expose the luxury brand.  Many clients are loyal to certain luxury brands because they give the client a feeling of exclusivity, since the luxury brand is not advertised to the average citizen who watches television. Besides, printed ads reach many more people in many places in the world who are actually buying the expensive goods.

Fashion blogs now play critical, objective roles that the magazines will never play. Magazines do not dare t criticize a brand because essentially the magazine needs that company to run their ad in the magazine in order to keep the magazine running. Thus, fashion bloggers, like Perez Hilton, have become the real critics of fashion -- up until the blogger starts getting free merchandise and entrances into upscale, socialite events :/

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 Christian Dior

If you know me, then you knew that I had once (not too long ago) wanted to go into the haute couture and/or luxury business. However, after researching and learning different things about the expensive division in fashion, I have changed my mind. In fact, people like Christian Lacroix and Halston aided in my change of desired professions. Lacroix has gone bankrupt and Halston (due to bad marketing and licensing choices) also went under.

Only about 300 women in the world regularly buy haute couture...

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✰ Interesting Fact ✰
Zara, a large flagship store created by Spanish tycoon Amancio Artega, has NEVER done advertising in a magazine or on billboards like H&M and other retailers. Instead, they use that money - that would have been used to buy ads and space- to put new stores in highly populated areas around the world and advertise on its store own buildings...

Louis Vuitton's fashion director, Daniel Piette, described Zara as

❝ possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world ❞

                                                                -- Wikipedia
 & CNN called Zara a

❝ Spanish success story ❞

                                                               -- Wikipedia
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So many retail stores are becoming more innovative in how they advertise or appeal more to its tageted customer. For example, H&M is known for bringing on-board known, high-end designers like Karl Lagerfeld to attract more consumers.

 

Karl Lagerfeld

UNIQULO followed suit...

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& of course - the easiest way for a brand to get exposure is to get a celebrity or a high-profile person to wear it. >>➠ Below the Line Marketing -- when you get a garment or other product placed in a movie, on a red carpet or other watched event.

Michele Obama in designer, Maria Pinto's, dress

Jennifer Lopez in a Versace gown