SMALL BUT PERFECT AND FASHION REVOLUTION OPEN STUDIO

For Small but Perfect, this was a pilot for a regional approach to Fashion Revolution Open Studio showcasing with a solely European focus. The brief was to work with SMEs to create partnership and showcasing opportunities to best amplify the SMEs work for press and to create opportunities for the projects to find markets and industry collaborations.

The line up of showcasing events was highlighted on the Fashion Revolution Open Studio website ‘Meet the Small but Perfect Cohort’ page here. The majority of events were hosted between Berlin Fashion Week January 23 and Fashion Revolution Week 2023. There is strength in numbers and a cohort or group of designers is easier to promote for press and PR purposes and there are opportunities for one brand’s community to support another and cross pollinate and create a wonder ecosystem.

The selection process for the SbP designers was done by the initial selection to become part of the project and the transnational partnerships meant that each project had two collaborators and two countries of origin. For the purpose of showcasing, the SMEs chose where they would showcase their work supported by the Fashion Revolution Open Studio team.

Process

At the beginning of the showcasing phase of the Small but Perfect Project, the SMEs were invited to a series of online meetings with Tamsin Blanchard, curator Fashion Revolution Open Studio and Carina Bischof, Studio MM04 team to discuss their projects and discuss ways of sharing the work with a wider audience, as well as assessing who that audience should be. It was important to ascertain if the brand was aiming to engage business to business trade or direct to consumer. For some SMEs the audience was local and specialist, for others, there was a need for wider dissemination.

Timeline

The core showcasing phase for Small but Perfect was set between January 2023-end May 2023.

During Fashion Revolution Week 23, this was an opportunity to present a decentralised cross-European “fashion week” which offers an alternative to the often wasteful fashion week system. Through the use of the hashtags and social media, the Small but Perfect SMEs were able to gain traction as a cohort, making each individual business part of a bigger, more impactful whole.

Key considerations

When deciding on a format to best communicate what you are doing, consider:

Who is your audience? Are you operating business to business or direct to consumer? Or a mix of both?

If you are proposing a service rather than a product, what is the best way to explain how it works?

If it’s wholesale, what is your market?

Is a video a better way to communicate with your customers?

Is a workshop or webinar or participation in a conference more impactful than simply showing your project at a show?

How do you explain the R&D and process behind a concept rather than simply showing the final product?