Evolve Intimates has made it to the final round of voting on Ideablob! Show your support for this smashing indie designer label and go vote. If she wins she will receive $10,000 she can put towards expanding her manufacturing and production, which she is proud to say is done right in Chicago.
Some more good news for another smashing designer. Zsega is one of 25 designers that is now in the running for one of 3 finalist positions in My It Things designer contest! If she is chosen she will be given $1500 and 2 months to come up with 5 looks to be entered in the final fashion show.
Congrats go out to one of smashing designers! Laura Dawson is featured today in Daily Candy’s The Weekend Guide.
1. For those of you that haven’t already seen the new DIY City Mag take a look here. This issue is based around New Orleans and all the fabulous indies down there. Also look for an interview with smashing designer Aelisheva.
2. Pop over to My It Things to see the 25 indie designer semi finalists hoping to be chosen to move on to the final round. The judges will decide the 3 lucky winners by August 1st . They will have 2 months and $1500 to create 5 looks for the final runway show to see who will be the ultimate winner.
3. Dres is in Vogue this month. The August issue of Vogue is featuring his large rubber totes. That is awesome! Congratulations Dres!
4. The casting call went really well, making it very difficult for Jack + Bill PR to choose the 3 lucky winners to recieve the agancies awesome services for free for the next couple of months. So stay tuned.
If you have an indie designer event you would like us to help you get the word out about email me trish(at)smashingdarling(dot)com I would be happy to post and give updates about. Also you can list them in the Events section on Smashing Darling.
Name: Martita
Location: Austin, TX
Occupation: Trademark Licensing Coordinator (University of Texas)
How do you describe your personal style? Comfy, casual….on the preppy side. I am all about the Indie world….especially here in Austin. I LOVE unique and one of a kind pieces of clothing….jewelry….etc.
Tell us something you love that you want everyone to know about? Clothing wise-uhhh (nothing is coming to mind except anything with a built in bra) accessories-jewelry by my friend, Cat Diederich called: Fitch & Ramos (website coming soon)….has unique necklaces, overall (this would only apply to Austin peeps): my hairdresser (Wes Turnbow at Island Salon & Spa-he’s a genius) I am currently sporting my sassy Wilson Phillips short do.
Who’s style do you most love? Audrey Hepburn….or Eva Longoria (hate to admit it) or new Katie Holmes (REALLY hate to admit it….she must have an amazing stylist!)
What’s your favorite piece of clothing? Sundresses with built in bras (support for “the girls” is key) (awesome for 100+ days in Texas especially if you HAVE to be outside) favorite type of shoe-anything Donald Pliner (love his sandals, really)
If you would like to share your indie style with the community contact me, trish(at)smashingdarling(dot)com
I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Erin Crumpacker, spokesperson for jack + bill. The new PR firm that just last week held a two day open casting call to see who would be the lucky recipients of their services for the next three months to help launch them to fashion stardom.The votes are still being tallied to see who the lucky winners will be. You will have to keep checking in to find out who will be the next IT in fashion. For now here is what Erin had to say about the company, the importance of social media in fashion, and how the internet is changing fashion. Check out the jack + bill blog to read snippets during the casting call and the after thoughts.
Trish: Can you give us a little background about how the company was formed?
Erin: The concept and plan for Jack + Bill all developed very organically. It started with a small brainstorm initiated by a few staff who wanted to find a way for Porter Novelli to help young up-and-comers in the fashion industry and find new ways of reaching potential clients. We all have hard working friends in the fashion industry who are so busy creating that they don’t have the time or know-how to self-promote their brand. New York is a competitive market and if you’re not out there showcasing what you got, it’s easy to be overlooked. So, we designed a pop-up agency concept, launching with a casting call to search for new designers, models, and stylists. So far people have jumped at the chance to have an experienced team from a top PR agency promote their brand— especially at no cost!
And, that’s how Jack + Bill was born. The agency is comprised of eight, twenty-something staffers who are extremely passionate about the project and very tapped into what’s happening culturally today in New York.
Trish: How does Jack + Bill’s PR approach differ from other fashion PR companies?
Erin: Jack + Bill is run by a young, energetic team who not only offer experience within the fashion industry, but also have worked on a variety of industries and accounts, including Fortune 500 companies and smaller non-profits. Our style credentials include representing fashion brands, working in fashion photography, running runway shows, casting calls and New York Fashion Week parties. What makes out approach different is that we are extremely tech-savvy individuals with experience running social media campaigns, which thus far has really helped drive interest in Jack + Bill.
Trish: How important is it in your opinion for emerging designers or models, photographers, event planners to be using digital and social media to help get the word out?
Erin: Today, it’s just as important to build a personal presence online as it is to breakthrough into traditional print and broadcast media. There are a lot of people online participating in the conversation and if you’re not than you’re missing out on a large, continually growing audience. Artists should automatically correlate social media with social networking – it’s an easy way to quickly communicate and build an audience for your brand. Additionally, there are so many ways to begin a conversation online, so if one way doesn’t work, it’s easy to try another, but it’s important to be smart and strategic with what you put out there.
Trish: Have you noticed an increase in of new faces trying to break into fashion?
Erin: Certainly, especially with all of the different resources online – nowadays, there are so many ways to express one’s own personal style. Even if someone isn’t plugged into the industry directly, they can build an audience by offering their authoritative opinions on style and trends. Personally, I have a few friends who are aspiring stylists who have created a unique online presence with their own personal blogs to build an audience. Their work online has opened doors for them into mainstream fashion and media industries. Also, online communities like the one you’ll find on Smashing Darling are great because they connect designers with other designers, which can lead to a potential business connection.
Trish: Do you see things changing for the fashion industry in the future because of the internet?
Erin: Yes, the industry has elevated itself in a way because now the conversation has gotten broader. Aspiring fashionistas around the world are contributing to the conversation and expressing their sense of style through online forums, personal blogs, social networking sites and are selling their designs via online boutiques. The Internet allows for more conversation, more personal networking and provides more flexibility for any small business to get their brand out there. In the future, I for see more niche fashion brands popping up because it’s so easy to hone in on a particular niche and target audience online. There’s also the cost factor to consider – the Web allows designers and stylists to introduce their work without renting a physical retail space– everything can be done digitally, personally and at little cost all at the same time.
Trish: If one of our designers wanted to become a client, what would they have to do?
Erin: If they’re based in New York and are interested in receiving free PR, we’d certainly like them to attend our casting call today and tomorrow and be part of the selection process. You can learn more and register for the casting at JackandBillpr.com. If they can’t make the casting, or they don’t make it through the selection process, we are interested in representing designers under a small retainer fee. Jack + Bill is structured like a boutique agency, meaning we’ll assemble a team to work on their business at a flat monthly rate.
Trish: If you could share with our community of indie/emerging designers one piece of advice what would you tell them?
Erin: Be sure to communicate the meaning and unique purpose behind your design. There are so many brands out there, so it’s important to explain why you as a designer care about your collection. There are many elements to consider when speaking to media and building your brand, but if your collection is well-designed and tells a meaningful, interesting story it can help really sell it to buyers, consumers and editors both online and off.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a photo critique, so let’s get back into the swing of things and take a closer look at this week’s volunteer, a very cool jewelry boutique called Rutigliano Design.
To start with, we absolutely love this boutique … the jewelry is simply outstanding. The first thing that we notice about the photography is that there’s a bit of a mixed bag for the main images … some are low key, some high key, some model shots. In general, the images are very nicely done, but we feel that a bit more of a consistent approach might be helpful here. One approach may be to keep the main image as either a low or high key product shot (to keep things looking clean and professional on the main boutique page) and include a secondary model shot for every piece as an alternate view.
The low key images look great, and really make the products pop, but some of the high-key images could use a little lighting help. The designer says this about her images:
I think the main thing I always have trouble with is keeping the true color of my stones while maintaining the clarity of a picture. For example, The Ruby Necklace, and then some of the beaded earrings. I can never seem to get the lighting right. It is either too grey and you can see the stone ok, but it’s a dark picture, or I get the picture to be light enough and it washes out the stones.
One approach to this problem that might be helpful is to light the background and product separately - this will allow you to tweak the lighting of each independently, getting the lighting just right on the jewelry as well as the backdrop.
In general, we think this designer is doing an excellent job representing her products … she obviously puts a lot of effort into her photography. We truly don’t have a lot of negative things to say here, which is always nice! We would certainly recommend using a few more alternate views whenever possible, as well as more model shots. Many of the item descriptions don’t give exact sizing, and the model shots are a great way to give shoppers an idea of scale. And, of course, it’s always fun to see how things look on!
Keep up the great work, and we look forward to hearing what others have to say about this designer’s photography.
Questions? Comments? Email us at julie[at]smashingdarling[dot]com or feel free to comment below. Thanks as always to our community for your insight and support! So, who’s next? Would you like your store critiqued? Email us at the above address and let us know what you need help on with your photos.
The first person to go on the hunt inside of smashing darling and tell who the designers are of these items will win a student smash up item! Happy Hunting!
With our current Sugar and Spice issue, over at Cause a Scene magazine we’ve gone decidedly girly, and with summer holidays just around the corner, we decided to pink up our packing! This delightfully stylish luggage tag brings a-list bling to drab terminals, whilst this versatile scarf is a beach must… so pout those sugar lips, think fluffy and feminine, and wave bon voyage to beachwear boredom! post by Sarah-Jane
Sarah-Jane is fabulous and so is Cause a Scene. Don’t forget to join them on Myspace (or Smashing Darling for that matter) When you check out the magazine you can see an intro video from Mandy Murphy. She is doing a video blog for Cause a Scene about her adventures of being a model so keep tuning in to check out new episodes on that. Other monthly shows will include Jamesson, Ethel Hallow, Luke Blake and Tarrie Noir. Also you can read tips for selling as an indie designer by yours truely every month, as well as PR tips, modeling tips and more in the columns section. You can check out their O-fficial blog and read about all the yummy reviews they have been getting….but most importantly read the magazine it is full of amazing fashion and a lot of it is indie. See you there!
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Community News and new darlings
Woweee - things sure have changed around here! Well Darling’s, don’t be shy, what do you think about our new look? If you are having a problems at all, please be sure to give us a heads up. Our heads have been spinning with new boutiques opening around the site. Here is an abbreviated, literally, list of where some of our new designers are from: NYC, MO, MN, PA, CA (SF and LA to be exact), and Chicago, IL. A Darling welcome to all!
Are you in NYC and want to learn more about the mystery world of Fashion bloggers? Meet all of us Darlings -imagine that- next week at the second Fashion 2.0 Meet Up, click here to see the who/what/where/why/when.
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Jump into new organic Laura Dawson
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It’s too hot to get dressed - new Sandmaiden
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how to - SHOUT IT OUT
Our new Event Calendar is live! Now we can all be in the know. Take advantage of spreading the word about events you are having or other indie fashion events in your area. Just click on events on the Darling homepage. It is super quick and easy, and you can load up a pretty little image to go with. Anyone in Miami? Don’t miss the KRELwear sunset garden party this Monday night to debut her new Resort Collection, go to the events page to get all the details!
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…more feature how to
Between gas prices, AC, and customers preferring to be lying on a beach this is quite possibly a brutal time for retail. Ugh. Unless, of course, you have a boutique right in the center of Beachtown, USA…or you have a Smashing boutique! Customers can still go to the beach, save on gas, and buy from you! We see Summer Sale signs popping up everywhere…you can create your own summer promotion right in your store, here’s how: Login>Click Your Boutique Name> Click Promote > Click Run A Promo. Go check it out and give your customers a special treat! |
Romantic and retro from Amanda Archer
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Green Peace from Spirited Hands
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Photo Finesse
It’s summertime, are you hanging at the beach, or working hard to take amazing pictures for your Darling store? Maybe you can do both…hey work with us, we’re idealists around here! Grab some friends/models and product, hit the beach for that wonderful light and snap away! Then be a peach and send your store to JulieDarling to critique. It will help you, and all the darling designers, to read a new perspective and get new ideas, then we all feel more comfortable to volunteer too…c’mon take one for the team!
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Have any questions? Just let us know:
trishandjulie@smashingdarling.com
cheers ~ the Darlings
Category: Community News