A PR friend sent this WWD article to me for my interest, and while I don't know her position, I do know that this will be viewed as something that is not viable, or as a way for a designer to make money. In my opinion, this is a great way to stop the bleeding from sending samples everywhere without ever getting them back. Not to mention the shipping costs that are not recouped. Here is the article from WWD:
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: Lots of designers have trimmed their budgets for press samples lately, but James Perse is going to an extreme, making editors purchase products in order to shoot it. Under the brand’s new policy, euphemistically named the “Studio Sales Discount,” editors must prepay by credit card for product, minus a 10 percent discount. They have 10 days, not a day more, to return the product for a refund, minus a 20 percent restocking fee. James Perse will not accept returns of T-shirts, (which are its bread and butter,) undergarments, footwear or bathing suits. Apparently, the company has decided an editorial credit isn’t worth more than 30 percent of the cost of a T-shirt. Returns will only be processed by the brand’s Melrose Avenue store in Los Angeles — not a showroom or press office. Still interested, editors? The first step is to fill out a credit application. Later on, if you need to transfer the account to a colleague or a successor, you will be required to notify James Perse by certified mail.
This really shows the skeptical view of PR, the effort involved, and the unguaranteed sales from it. Yet, PR by certain outlets opens doors to other outlets and even stores. Not to mention the people swayed by what they see in the glossies. It also might give a nod to the power of the internet and word of mouth sales, banking on the presence that designers can build for themselves with a lot of effort.
Mista Readers: What do you think?
Showing posts with label Designing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Designing. Show all posts
Friday, April 03, 2009
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Cheap Decorating Tip: Flower Petals in a Bubble Bath Jar
Here's a little house decoration I made yesterday because some tiny purple flowers had finally dried out and were ready for the trash. But I didn't want to put them in the trash, and a few had fallen into the clear glass vase they had been in, and I thought: "Now doesn't that look pretty."
I had some other dried rose petals lying around (I know, don't we all?). Another case of me not wanting to throw away flowers. I had carefully stripped the dried roses of their dry petals one by one and placed them into a pretty pottery bowel in the living room.
In this case, I took a pretty jar of Fresh's Milk bubble bath, that I just love, and gently brushed the dried purple flowers into it. I'm not sure what these purple flowers were called, but they wre only $1.50 at the flower store, for a stem that had about 5 bunches off of it. I quickly realized I didn't have enough, so added some of the dried flower petals, covered the top, and gently shook the flower petals so that the little purple ones would get mixed up with the rose petals.
And voila!
I had some other dried rose petals lying around (I know, don't we all?). Another case of me not wanting to throw away flowers. I had carefully stripped the dried roses of their dry petals one by one and placed them into a pretty pottery bowel in the living room.
In this case, I took a pretty jar of Fresh's Milk bubble bath, that I just love, and gently brushed the dried purple flowers into it. I'm not sure what these purple flowers were called, but they wre only $1.50 at the flower store, for a stem that had about 5 bunches off of it. I quickly realized I didn't have enough, so added some of the dried flower petals, covered the top, and gently shook the flower petals so that the little purple ones would get mixed up with the rose petals.
And voila!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
An Office/Studio of One's Own - Minus A Corner
The final installation of the shelving happened today. I pretty much stayed inside all day trying to contain the madness that was about to happen with me laying fabric all over the living room so that I could see what was going to make it into the new units. Of course I forgot to factor in what new shelving space I would have from a smaller bookcase when I removed pieces of embroidered silks and dupionis from its shelves, and when I realized the possibilities of finally storing printer paper in a respectable place vs under the couch, I had to approach the situation carefully.
I'm sitting in the office/studio right now. Can I call it a studio? Office is so office-carpet-ish. And we have none of that here. I have two bundles of tulle on top of the shelving units, but no office carpet. The new Epson Stylus Photo R800 is ready and waiting to print pretty shipping labels that will soon design. I covered my little Ikea chair seat with a small strip of chalky chocolate brown silk velvet that I got from the scrap bin at The Silk Trading Company below ABC Home and Carpet. I'm trying to get into a cozy groove, so I've got the Trinity Session on and am drinking some chamomile tea as I type, but to be honest, my to-do list is so exciting, I can't quite come down. And I need to put fresh sheets on the bed, and that always a bit of drag, but soo refreshing to get into.
Better than me gabbing, here is the photo diary of the day!
David holding and testing the massive shelf. He later pulled it out of the wall with ease, so that wasn't going to work.
Derek the Super did some testing of the wall to see what was behind the layers of plaster, and declared it a type of brick, and drilled into it. I don't think this shelf is going to fall. If it did, I would be very sad.
Oliver. Any surprise he was batting around screws on the floor? This is him (and me pre-noon, so normally you would not be seeing me in this state) before he got grounded to the bedroom.
This is a Mountain of Terror. It does reside in the studio, and is the partnership between my file cabinet and David's file cabinet. With everything else that doesn't fit anywhere piled on top of it. This is a project for another month.
The shelf....
And this needs to go into it. So interesting unpacking it from piles of stuffed bags stuffed into corners. There were pieces from the shop that was assembling the checkbook covers, so it was great to see their efficient footprints as I pulled out rows cut for the lining of the checkbook cover, or a curious way of cutting the interfacing also for the checkbook cover that may have revealed how they did such a great job of making the closing seam invisible when they turned the checkbook cover right side out. And please note Dinah in Gerdy's bed. Entitled.
This corner I give to David. It's the equivalent to a man giving a woman a drawer. I hope he uses it well.
The shelf is stuffed and organized by type of fabric - muslin and interfacing, embroidered silks or cottons, velvets, dupioni, pleather and leather.
Complete.
It has made a huge difference, let me tell you. It fits perfectly into the space. It doesn't stick out, and it gives the room so much more purpose. Let's give David a huge round of applause for picking out such a fine set of shelving from Ikea for Christmas! He remembered my glass-top desk, and matched it with the type of glass doors that will keep the fabric safe from dust.
I think the tea is kicking in, as I'm getting a little dreamy. And Dinah has taken to sitting on my lap, but that's where my laptop is, so it makes typing hard. But I'll leave you with this: throw things away! Today was a great day of throwing/giving away things that just have not been used. More later!
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I'm sitting in the office/studio right now. Can I call it a studio? Office is so office-carpet-ish. And we have none of that here. I have two bundles of tulle on top of the shelving units, but no office carpet. The new Epson Stylus Photo R800 is ready and waiting to print pretty shipping labels that will soon design. I covered my little Ikea chair seat with a small strip of chalky chocolate brown silk velvet that I got from the scrap bin at The Silk Trading Company below ABC Home and Carpet. I'm trying to get into a cozy groove, so I've got the Trinity Session on and am drinking some chamomile tea as I type, but to be honest, my to-do list is so exciting, I can't quite come down. And I need to put fresh sheets on the bed, and that always a bit of drag, but soo refreshing to get into.
Better than me gabbing, here is the photo diary of the day!
David holding and testing the massive shelf. He later pulled it out of the wall with ease, so that wasn't going to work.
Derek the Super did some testing of the wall to see what was behind the layers of plaster, and declared it a type of brick, and drilled into it. I don't think this shelf is going to fall. If it did, I would be very sad.
Oliver. Any surprise he was batting around screws on the floor? This is him (and me pre-noon, so normally you would not be seeing me in this state) before he got grounded to the bedroom.
This is a Mountain of Terror. It does reside in the studio, and is the partnership between my file cabinet and David's file cabinet. With everything else that doesn't fit anywhere piled on top of it. This is a project for another month.
The shelf....
And this needs to go into it. So interesting unpacking it from piles of stuffed bags stuffed into corners. There were pieces from the shop that was assembling the checkbook covers, so it was great to see their efficient footprints as I pulled out rows cut for the lining of the checkbook cover, or a curious way of cutting the interfacing also for the checkbook cover that may have revealed how they did such a great job of making the closing seam invisible when they turned the checkbook cover right side out. And please note Dinah in Gerdy's bed. Entitled.
This corner I give to David. It's the equivalent to a man giving a woman a drawer. I hope he uses it well.
The shelf is stuffed and organized by type of fabric - muslin and interfacing, embroidered silks or cottons, velvets, dupioni, pleather and leather.
Complete.
It has made a huge difference, let me tell you. It fits perfectly into the space. It doesn't stick out, and it gives the room so much more purpose. Let's give David a huge round of applause for picking out such a fine set of shelving from Ikea for Christmas! He remembered my glass-top desk, and matched it with the type of glass doors that will keep the fabric safe from dust.
I think the tea is kicking in, as I'm getting a little dreamy. And Dinah has taken to sitting on my lap, but that's where my laptop is, so it makes typing hard. But I'll leave you with this: throw things away! Today was a great day of throwing/giving away things that just have not been used. More later!
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Friday, January 12, 2007
Do You Have To Be A Good Drawer To Be A Fashion Designer?
No! It's fun to draw fashion figures with long legs, ruffles and pleats, but don't let that stop you from pursuing your dream of becoming a fashion designer.
As a designer I am sometimes a horrible drawer. To draw something out of my head looks very silly. I can draw whatever I'm looking at, which came from getting in tune with my hands and brain in a quiet place, and being taught by a sculptor to line up the angles of what I am looking at to see now it measures to points on other objects, and then drawing from there.
I cannot draw a traditional fashion figure, on which to draw clothes. I have not practiced enough, so I have to put a proportioned fashion figure on my glass-top desk, turn on a desk light on beneath my desk, and use it as a light board to trace over the form. It is from there that my fashion drawing begins. However, it is very important for me to base my drawing off of a non human object as inspiration, like a bottle of nail polish. See this nifty trick I learned from a fashion design class at FIT. If you're bored, you can cut up objects of a theme, glue them together, and voila, you have an outfit:
But to answer the question: I'm going to say that you do not need to be a good drawer to be a fashion designer, but you would need to have some money to pay someone else to draw. I cannot make a pattern for clothing (I can for accessories that I create). I have to pay someone else to do that, and to bring it to the professional level of pattern making. Peek inside my Dress Up Box to see what I have designed, but not stitched or patterned.
Before you dismiss yourself as a non-drawer, I'd say ask yourself what kind of drawing is it that you cannot do. I for example, am not very skilled with watercolor (yet), though I love the brushes and buying paint. However, I am more technically skilled with using the watercolor brush in the graphic program Adobe Illustrator on the computer. See my desktop wallpaper at Katie James for examples of different "mediums" used to make drawings.
My final answer is, if you want to be a fashion designer, you will find a way. You may not make traditional drawings, but you must have some way to communicate your vision.
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As a designer I am sometimes a horrible drawer. To draw something out of my head looks very silly. I can draw whatever I'm looking at, which came from getting in tune with my hands and brain in a quiet place, and being taught by a sculptor to line up the angles of what I am looking at to see now it measures to points on other objects, and then drawing from there.
I cannot draw a traditional fashion figure, on which to draw clothes. I have not practiced enough, so I have to put a proportioned fashion figure on my glass-top desk, turn on a desk light on beneath my desk, and use it as a light board to trace over the form. It is from there that my fashion drawing begins. However, it is very important for me to base my drawing off of a non human object as inspiration, like a bottle of nail polish. See this nifty trick I learned from a fashion design class at FIT. If you're bored, you can cut up objects of a theme, glue them together, and voila, you have an outfit:
But to answer the question: I'm going to say that you do not need to be a good drawer to be a fashion designer, but you would need to have some money to pay someone else to draw. I cannot make a pattern for clothing (I can for accessories that I create). I have to pay someone else to do that, and to bring it to the professional level of pattern making. Peek inside my Dress Up Box to see what I have designed, but not stitched or patterned.
Before you dismiss yourself as a non-drawer, I'd say ask yourself what kind of drawing is it that you cannot do. I for example, am not very skilled with watercolor (yet), though I love the brushes and buying paint. However, I am more technically skilled with using the watercolor brush in the graphic program Adobe Illustrator on the computer. See my desktop wallpaper at Katie James for examples of different "mediums" used to make drawings.
My final answer is, if you want to be a fashion designer, you will find a way. You may not make traditional drawings, but you must have some way to communicate your vision.
Home | Permalink
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