Last Fall Wakana Koike grabbed the right number of votes to win the inaugural ‘It’ Designer contest, a contest in search of undiscovered talent in the fashion design world hosted by My’It’Things.com. Hundreds of designers from all corners of the country submitted designs and nearly one hundred thousand votes were cast by the My’It’Things community. The winner of the ‘It’ Designer contest was chosen 50% by popular vote and 50% by the celebrity judges’ votes and was awarded $5,000 toward the production of the Spring 2009 line. Now you can enjoy the runway video below, and then go directly to the It Designer store on Smashing Darling and buy yourself a gorgeous original piece to kickoff Spring and Summer the Wakana way.
March feels like seasonal limbo: snow, rain, sun, wool?, raincoat? – help! Spring brings more light into our world…but not necessarily more cash into the economy. We of course want people to support independent designers all the time, not just when things are bad. But, reading that people are spending more on handmade clothing because it has meaning, well, that is just music to our ears. Read more here.
It is pretty amazing to have a conversation with a designer about a piece designed just for you, or to learn the inspiration behind a design. Have you had this experience? If you have: comment, email, tell us the story, share with us a favorite local designer. If you haven’t: well then, dig in around Smashing Darling, email a designer and get a conversation started.
Spring is: hand dyed silk charmeuse
Spring is: light, dreamy pastels
What’s New
In only ten days Spring will have officially sprung! Time to shed some layers and lighten and brighten those colors you choose to adorn yourself in. Take a look around this page for ideas or head to the site for more. Be sure to check out the sample sales while you are there. Click here and go now! Those sales won’t last too long.
While other cities prepare for the Fashion Week craze, NYC recovers. If you missed some of our fun head on over to the Darling blog for some recaps. Don’t forget we have our own runway fashion for sale exclusively on Smashing Darling thanks to our friends over at MyItThings.com. It screams Spring – go see!
Coming Soon
Maybe, just maybe, we have something hiding up our sleeve for you all. But darlings, you are just all going to have to wait. But, hey, we have a great distraction for you…
We are happy to once again support Social Media for Social Change (sm4sc), take two, New York City style. We love that sm4sc: was born of the idea that the social media community, these “agents of change” can get together for one night, to support one cause. This year all the proceeds go to City Harvestto help the hungry of New York City.
Come join us, won’t you? Buy: Tickets, they are $45, buy more and they are less. Receive: some good karma, enjoy live music and an open bar, maybe win some Darling (or other) goodies. Skip on out of the house and come meet some great people! Full details here.
Maybe Fall fashion is hitting NYC this week, but the rest of us are ready to shop for, and welcome, Spring! The hopeful colors of spring are popping up all around Smashing Darling as designers load up their boutiques with new inspiration.Mainstream fashion may be planning for 2010, but around these darling pages you can find one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories hot off the pattern table last week. We think that rocks. We hope you do too.Online or off, we think this Wall Street Journal article states it best:
…The clothes are exclusive, and the designers often offer alterations and special orders — as well as the pleasure of personal interaction with them.
Erika Hendrix, check out Spring
It Designer Limited Edition
What’s New
You heard it first here! First ever crowd-sourced fashion collection to be sold exclusively through Smashing Darling. We have Smashed Up with My It Things, a leading publisher of user-generated fashion content, to bring you the exclusive Pre-Sale of the ‘It Designer’ contest winner Wakana Koike’s Spring/Summer 2009 collection.
Go check it out and be among the first to order these playful, yet sophisticated limited edition pieces for Spring/Summer 09. All fabrics were custom made by the Japanese ink-jet factory, Seiren, and were inspired by themes of ocean and sailing.
Coming Soon
Coming as soon as, oh -tomorrow!- New York Fashion week craziness! The darlings will be contributing from the outskirts making sure that the indie fashion scene is well, um…seen, and the voice heard. Fashion week now extends well beyond the tents especially for indie/emerging designers, and we will be there blogging, tweeting, and facebooking as much as we possibly can. Stay tuned to the Smashing Blog as well as Inside the Tents.
The Darlings end that run with a little ‘ole birthday, that’s right – ours! In our honor pop open a little pink bubbly, if you like, on the 20th of February when we officially become toddlers – we are TWO!
UPDATE: My IT Things is excited to announce the top three finalists of the Holiday “It” dress contest, chosen by the judge – Ilus NYC boutique owner Linda Pratka. The lucky designers are Lauren Bander, Dayna Johnson and Adrianna Kinal.
The three designers will be working on the dresses in the upcoming week. My IT Things will be revealing the finalists at the Holiday party event on Tuesday December 16th, 2008, 6pm. Details about the party will be coming soon! Stay tuned in to get all of the details!
Hey there Darlings new, and tried and true. We thought you might want to know some details about those coming to investigate our unique fashion destination. Here are some factoids for you:
- 70% of our shoppers are women between the age of 20-40.
- The average price of an item sold is $130.00, and typically it takes only 7 page views for a shopper to find what they are looking for.
- Most shoppers purchase on their first visit….Nice!
- Google organic is our #1 traffic source, with direct search for “Smashing Darling” coming in a close second. This means people are searching for emerging/independent fashion. That is truly great.
Last, but certainly not least, we have a major change in the works here at Smashing Darling.
We will no longer be requiring users to create an account to buy – shop – purchase. This will make it so much easier for shoppers, and likely mean more sales for you.
how to – Be Featured
Some products are definitely spotted quickly by shoppers visiting the site as they are featured prominently on the home page and item category landing pages. Want to get your products there? Make your boutique cutting edge in all respects: hot fashions, stunning images, strong identity, and lots of products to choose from.
Also it’s not too late to design an “It” holiday dress and win over at MyItThings.com. The winners dress will be carried at, Ilus, a dress rental boutique in NYC.
Back to school. Nose to the grindstone. Fall is here and in New England, the home of the Darlings, it is starting to cool off. Finally time to spend some time organizing inside, kiss your flip-flops goodbye for the winter, and pay some attention to your favorite layers and boots that have been hidden away…or hop online and buy anew! Consider Smashing Darling as your connection to boutiques across the country. Maybe a shopping trip to NYC, San Fran, and Chicago just isn’t in the cards for this Fall, but you can find designers from there right here with us. Go explore, and if you don’t have time to, don’t miss the Interviews and Editor’s Picks in the Smashing blog!
Unique belted cape, Erika Hendrix
Playful vintage from Atelier
What’s New
We want to send a big thank you to the crew over at SheFinds. Thanks to them one lucky gal just won a $500 shopping spree to spend here at Smashing Darling. I know we told you all about it, but did you get to check out all the great comments? Go check it out, and here are some of our favorites:
- Catalina K: “Thanks for letting us know that such a special website and store exist.”
- Tammy: “It took me an hour to decide! I love this site and will be back often!”
- Yulonda: “I would like to start by saying that I absolutely love your site and its versatility.”
Coming Soon
Maybe the Fashion Week buzz has died down, but we know the shows go on. Call up your best gals and come enjoy some runway fun this month:
- Next week My It Things narrows down the search for their It Designer, go vote here. The winning designer will be awarded $5,000 toward the production of their Spring 2009 line. If you are near NYC, grab some tickets and come watch the show with us!
- The following week we are happy to head to Jersey City in support of Seam Collective
and their next show, Fenomenon. Just $20 in advance for an extraordinary evening of fashion and music to benefit Women Rising, a non-profit organization that helps Hudson County women in need.
Beautiful bias cut cowl, Kate Boggiano
Hoody Love by Kahri
Smashing Kudosand tidbits
We want to give kudos to a few darling designers who helped spread the good word about our She Finds fun, a quick – rock on!- to…Birdland Creations…Thistle Downs…and, not a Darling, but word also landed over at Fling it Girl…be sure to check out the October Cause a Scene mag and read the Darling column…I love seeing Darling items recommended over at This Next, check it out…and we would love to hear from you, who are your favorites around the Darling world? Send those comments, and any others, our way!
Darlings, darlings everywhere! Do you know that we are 400 designers strong here in our Smashing Darling brave-new-world? New boutiques are popping up daily in our community; take a moment to surf around the site, hang out, and meet some of the new darlings in our community. If you happen to be a designer in the New York area we would love to see you at next month’s Fashion 2.0 Meet Up. Join us there and help elevate the indie voice, as well as learn more about how the social web can help you as a designer. Darlings, the fashion industry is transforming right before our eyes, and you are on the edge of it all! Be proud, and be smashing!
Love Anjia
Katie Burley, Couture Millinery
how to – SHOUT IT OUT
In order to SHOUT out the good word to the masses about indie fashion, we are curious what the word “indie” means to all of you. TrishDarling started a great dialogue in the blog – please comment and let us know your thoughts.
Seeking Designers
MyItThings.com:We would love to see a Darling designer win this amazing contest!(Let us know if you have submitted designs so we can help you rock the vote!) Submit your designs and get a chance to win your own NYC runway show, $1,500 to create your Spring 2009 fashion collection, $5,000 Grand prize and exclusive sale on MyItThings.com. Click here for more.
Seam Collective: An Evening of Fashion and Music, October ‘08. Seam Collective was created to promote female designers by providing opportunities for exposure, and resources to help women advance within the fashion industry. Click here to apply.
Milwaukee Fashion Week:Launches October 3rd. Don’t miss out Midwest designers! This show has some serious muscle behind it, and you could also win $1000 from Zappos.com to fancy up the feet of your models heading down the runway. Click here to apply.
Aelisheva
Jewelry Creations by Marie Marie
Photo Critiques, etc.
Great convos have started in the blog when it comes to photo tips. Praise and new perspectives for how to make your product shots the best they can be; every Monday that is what you can find. BUT, only if you email JulieDarling and volunteer your store. Don’t be scared, she promises to only play nice – that is the only Darling rule! Head over to the archive and read the comments so far.
Don’t forget: Version 2 is right around the corner, and it is going to knock your socks off!
