Fashion Group International NY Conf 09

Regional Directors Conference 2009

“And the Good News Is…” Monir Zandghoreishi, Seattle RD with Susan Alveshere, Seattle Treasurer and RD Elect “We want to thank our membership! Enjoy the report.”

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Education and Fashion Group International: FGI is dedicated to educating its members on what is happening in today’s market

We Will Survive.

The message of the conference was support and knowledge, aspirations into the unknown, flexibility, and embracing what might be different so that we can move forward.

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Fashion Group International Annual Awards and Dinner: Fashion legend Stan Herman was the honored speaker of

This is a message of encouragement and happiness… looking forward to the future and embracing

the evening

New things FGI Seattle 2009 page 1

Fashion Group International at Gracie Mansion in New York City

Margaret Hayes stood visibly surprised as she was

“May seventh has been declared Fashion Group International Day in New York City.”

conserve, maintain, and enhance Gracie Mansion, one of the oldest surviving wood structures in Manhattan and a member of

awarded with the honor

the Historic House Trust.

of being presented with

After at tour of the home and estate, the

the certificate of

Fashion Group International Regional Directors were given

Proclamation.

a treat of listening to our speaker of the

It was an amazing event

evening the renowned

being invited to the Gracie Mansion on our first official evening with Fashion Group International’s yearly Regional

interior

Directors Convention held in New

decorator of Gracie Mansion and owner of

York City.

Drake Design Associates, Jamie Drake.

Originally owned by a prosperous New York merchant named Archibald Gracie, Gracie Mansion was built as a country house overlooking the bend in the

Fashion Group International Seattle 2009, by S. Alveshere

Mr. Drake engaged the audience with skill. You can find more on Mr. Drake and his vast portfolio in interior decorating at: http://www.drakedesignassociates.com/.

East River, five miles north of what was

The evening was topped off when the staff

then the city of New York. Now encircled

of Mayor Bloomberg came forward to

by Manhattan, Gracie Mansion still holds

award Margaret Hayes with the honor of

many beauties and has become the Gracie

New York City officially proclaiming that

Mansion Conservancy, which was

May seventh would be Fashion Group

established in 1981. The Gracie Mansion

International Day in New York City. It

Conservancy is a private not-for-profit

was wonderful to see Margaret truly

corporation, which is intended to

surprised by this award and honor.

FGI Seattle 2009 page 2

It starts with eduction

We kicked off the first day of conferences with a wonderful breakfast sponsored by Conde Nast at the Conde Nast building in Times Square in New York City.

We were prepared for speakers all day, but what we were not prepared for was the support that Fashion Group International showed to our industry as they recognized that many of us were out of work and looking for new things on our horizon.

Gwen Morrison is the CEO of The Americas and Australia, The Store. Gwen led retail strategies and initiatives for Target, The North Face, Ford and Coca-Cola to name a few.

Gwen wanted to give the audience an overall sense of where the consumer is going and what they are looking for. Her message was simply about how the consumer is going for the discounted prices, cutting costs, and looking for value in a different way than before. The consumer wants high quality, but at a very low price. She described ideas on how to incorporate recycling and re-using ideas in product and how to pull happiness into your line to give the consumer a feeling of joy in our economic times to increase sales. For more

Above left – a few of the speakers of the conference at Conde Nast Below – Left to Right: 1.

Rising Stars panel:

Cathy Gins- Fragrance/Beauty, Carlos Campos-Men’s Apparel, Ariane Zurcher-Fine Jewelry, Christian Cota-Womens’ Apparel 2. Monir with Ariane Zurcher 3. Givaudan fragrance expert

information please contact: Gmorrison@wpp.com Emily Koltnow is the Principal and Foudner of Koltnow and Company which was founded in 1991 and author of Congratulations! You’ve been Fired!. Emily has 23 years experience in the apparel industry, which includes design, merchandising, and management. Koltnow gave a very timely message on how to update and make your resume applicable to finding a new job in our current status in our industry. This was a very wonderful highlight about how you can make yourself stand out when there are so many applicants to very few jobs in our industry at the moment. Fashion Group International named Emily Koltnow 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year. For more information please go to: www.koltnow.com.

Along the same lines we were very blessed to have Financial Counselor, Ann B. Diamond come and speak to the group about how to start over during financial crisis. Ann B. Diamond is the author of several books, No More Fear of Finance, the Let’s Get Real Financial Journal, and Putting it Together.

Ms. Diamond has been published in the New York Times, New York Newsday, USA (continued)

FGI Seattle 2009 page 3

Today and many more. The audience was

We had a lovely time listening to their

gifted with the book, No More Fear of

stories of their education and background,

Finance, from the author. You can find

start up businesses, inspiration, and where

out more information at:

they feel that they are headed.

www.anndiamond.com Also speaking at Conde Nast was Adriana Shapira, Managing Director and Sr. Analyst, Retail Sector at Goldman Sachs.

Ms. Shapira gave statistics on where the market has gone and spoke on if the end is in sight. Contact me for more information: susan@beautyrevolutionmagazine.com

Allure Magazine presented information regarding their statistics and readership.

Givaudan’s sent a fragrance specialist to walk us through the process of trend analysis in the fragrance market. This year and into 2010 Guvaudan is going toward three different directions: 1.

Esperanza: Spirituality, a pause,

(Left: Carlos Campos with Susan Alveshere,

taking a breath, or deep comfort.

Below RD Arizona, and RD Sydney Australia)

(Woody scent) 2.

Post Human: Technology (powder/plastic cent – they called it the plastic doll scent)

3.

Outrageous: Inspiration, relevant to today, usually a more classis scent such as rose. (Deep woody Rose scent)

Pat Tunske, of Pat Tunske, Inc. was our Trend Report Analysis for spring of 2010.

On Saturday at Fashion Group

The educational experience that Fashion Group International puts forth is to ensure that our region succeeds by giving us tools to share with others upon our return

International headquarters in New York the Regional Directors were dazzled with New York Fashion Group International’s Rising Stars!

This panel discussion included each of (New York) FGI winners of the Rising Star competition that is a yearly event in New York City.

This years Rising Stars were: Christian Cota, Women’s Apparel Carlos Campos, Men’s Apparel Cathy Gins, Beauty/Fragrance Ariane Zurcher, Fine Jewelry

Pat’s report included color combinations and styles that her company predicts to be the trends for spring summer of 2010.

This included: Glass House: Pale colors La Vie en Rose: Bright fuchsias, pinks, and purples Key Largo: Bright watery blues, greens, and turquoises.

Must haves: Stripes in red, white, and navy. Naturals, yellow cast neutral tones with tangerine and coral with melon, Teals and Sea Blues, Very Berry, and the Pales.

FGI Seattle 2009 page 4

Upon entering the Cosmopolitan Club we were anticipating the man known to be a legend in the fashion industry…

Stan Herman Stan Herman has been designing for over four decades.

His career has spanned the complete design spectrum from ready to wear and intimate apparel, to uniforms for America's most prestigious corporations. A political activist in a community of designers, he has dedicated the last ten years to the emergence of American designers in the new global game of fashion.

Stan Herman oversaw the emergence of the tents in Bryant Park as well as playing a major role in fashion's most successful fund raiser for AIDS; 7th on Sale.

In those four decades he has won 3 Coty awards as the designer of Mr. Mort, a phenomenon of ready to wear in the 60's and early 70's. As the first major breakthrough for animal humanity concerns in fashion, the mayor of New York gave him the Central Park Zoo as a showcase for his faux fur collection. He has revived the use of chenille in his

loungewear collection for Kellwood, and at this moment is celebrating his 10th year as one of QVC's major designers by expanding the brand into accessories and a home collection and furthering his reach with a line of books with Random House. His uniform accounts run from FedEx to McDonalds as well as New York's own JetBlue Airways.

Stan Herman’s humility and kindness was evident in all of his actions. It was a pleasure to hear the man speak who is so legendary for his innovation and spirit. *Biography information on Stan Herman is from the CFDA web site at www.cfda.com

Our own District Director, Pam Iannotta received the Presidents Award for her work ethics and excellence for all her service to FGI (Upper Left – The Cosmopolitan Club foyer, S. Alveshere with S. Burns, and the RD from WA DC Middle- Margaret Hayes presenting award to Pam Iannotta Lower Right- Stan Herman and S. Alveshere)

FGI Seattle 2009 page 5

Shopping and Networking - It is a great combination

crafted details found in both the industrial and organic are cornerstones of all Ports 1961 collections.

Address 601 W. 26 Street #875

An evening at the Ports 1961 in the chic Meat Packing District in NYC… This is a great opportunity for everyone to Get to know one another and have fun

Ports 1961 launched from New York City in 2004 under the vision of Creative Director, Tia Cibani. It was Tia's dream to build a luxury brand within a global village.

Today Tia leads the brand in its embrace of the modern woman, the individualist who dares to try something new.

Each collection is inspired by a specific person, culture, place or time.

Tia's truly beyond-borders lifestyle is seen in all her designs. European fabrics, fine tailoring along with hand

New York, NY 10001 Phone: 1.866.433.PORTS For advertising, publicity & general Inquiries: 212.414.1050 or E-mail a corporate representative from Ports 1961 email : info@ports1961.com Information provided by: www.ports1961.com