Bringing Design Leadership And Business Together Edition – Two
Fashion Talks
Fashion Talks London
Centre for Fashion Enterprise 2
The Centre for Fashion Enterprise is the pioneering business development platform in London for emerging micro and small (SME) fashion designer businesses. It offers a pipeline of support from early stage through to business incubation, growth programmes and investment readiness, as well as providing research and consultancy to the industry.
Welcome to the second edition of Fashion Talks. Inspired by a day of discussion, networking and idea-sharing held in London late last year, the following publication looks at the various challenges and opportunities experienced by emerging fashion businesses right now – and how best to support and engage new fashion talent.
Fashion Talks
From designers and journalists to experts in the business, technology, legal and production sectors, we have brought together a range of key voices from the London fashion scene to offer insight and analysis of the critical issues currently facing the industry. As WWD’s London Bureau Chief Samantha Conti argues, this is a crucial moment for European fashion – one of both exciting possibilities afforded by collaboration and new technological advances but also of intense challenge. It’s time to seize the day. Wendy Malem, Director of Centre for Fashion Enterprise
London College of Fashion has an unrivalled commitment to fashion and enterprise and has supported Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE) since its conception in 2003. LCF provides designer studios and office space to the CFE at its Mare street campus in Hackney, East London, offering consistency and infrastructure to the designers and the CFE team. www.fashion-enterprise.com
Front cover Holly Fulton AW 15/16 Photographer: Benjamin Mallek
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Contents Opinion: Wendy Malem – 6 London’s menswear is booming – 8
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
The WORTH Project – 12 Euro Gains – 16 Digital technology is the new fashion opportunity – 18 In discussion: Thomas Tait – 22 The Grit Behind the Glamour – 26 In discussion: Dian Pelangi – 30 Key facts and what we know now – 32
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Contributors
Agi and Sam
Amalia Agathou
Andrew Tucker
Craig Green
Menswear Designers
Head of Communications, Dawn Capital
MA Fashion Journalism Course Leader, LCF
Menswear Designer
Jonathan Heaf
Judith Tolley
Lynne Murray
Features Director British GQ
Manager Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Fashion Digital Studio Research Director
Martyn Roberts
Matthew Drinkwater
Nancy Tilbury
Samantha Conti
Founder, Fashion Scout and Director of Graduate Fashion Week
Head of Fashion Innovation Agency
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Studio XO
London Bureau Chief WWD
Stefan Siegel
Thomas Tait
Wendy Malem
Founder & CEO of NOT JUST A LABEL
Womenswear Designer
Director Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Fashion Talks
Demelza Galica Global Sourcing Manager, DISC
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Opinion
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
London is a unique entrepreneurial platform, argues Wendy Malem, Director of Centre for Fashion Enterprise. With an extraordinary mix of collective histories and identities, the city is a bold manifestation of both economic and social values.
“At the Fashion Talks London event, we were thinking about the fashion industry narrative; observing how some notable designers in London influence not only the UK and EU but fashion culture and economies around the world.
We explored how they are benefiting from this extraordinary platform of creative enterprise in London – an entrepreneurial environment that is visibly making a difference to these designers and giving them their voice. After a lifetime in the fashion industry, I can see that fashion is not only about aesthetics. It is also about local cultures and how we can bring greater diversity to fashion through exploring new territories in better ways, to arrive at something that is different and more relevant. As a multicultural city we must not forget that every one of us brings our own specific histories, identities and achievements to formulate a collective fashion heritage. ‘Fashion’ is surely all about diversity and London thrives on that. It is this diversity that continues to drive fashion trends, aesthetics and new business models. By working differently, with different sensitivities and with different communities, we are forever unlocking new territories and finding new ways of arriving at a conclusion - something that can bring a new diversity to
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fashion on an ongoing basis. So the aim is for us to remain invigorated by these connections and really think about what a future development could be, if we worked more collaboratively, realising there is no economic value without social value. The Fashion Industry is all about connecting talented people. The idea of a heightened cross-border European collaboration is really interesting, one which has the potential to shape a powerful pan-European fashion aesthetic for future global competitiveness. It’s something that could demonstrate a much more collaborative view and a true understanding of the resources available to scale. In turn, this would actually help to release the next level of innovation on a less competitive but more collective European scale.” •
Fashion Talks
The Fashion Industry is all about connecting talented people.
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Centre for Fashion Enterprise
London’s menswear is booming
Menswear Panel Discussion Fashion designers in conversation Chair: Jonathan Heaf Panel: Agi & Sam, Craig Green and Greg Hewitt 8
The launch of London Collections: Men (LC:M) three years ago has created a fresh opportunity for menswear designers. Menswear in London is booming. It’s getting bigger, there is more interest in it and we want the reader to hear from those right in the thick of it, about whether they think this uptake in interest has been really happening or is it all hype that is making the rest of the world look to London now to understand where the menswear trends are coming from? Jonathan Heaf, is the features director at GQ.
Sam Cotton and Agi Mdullah are the two partners in Agi and Sam menswear label based in London who have been going for about 4 years. Craig Green has a menswear label which has been going for about two years and is now currently working on his fifth season.
Agi: I think in comparison to when we first began the company. We started out actually through Fashion Scout and then we went on to “Fashion-East” and back then menswear was just one day at the end of womenswear (fashion week). So back then although there was this buzz it wasn’t really anything tangible and it didn’t really turn into anything. I think that was because we couldn’t make any sales for menswear in womenswear week in September when everyone else sells a menswear collection in June............and you know it was the same with February and January . So I think since LC:M has been introduced its been such a big thing. It’s massively helped in terms of sales and actually turning it into a real business. Greg: Yes I completely agree. It went from half a day to three and a half in four seasons, which was great and then we were in Paris together too. I kind of think we are running this wave now, I don’t think it is hype or its hidden, I think LC:M is kind of as big as Fashion week now, so on the whole, its really exciting. Jonathan:. Is it important in terms of an international stage that is now being looked at more - so now your work is being looked at? Is it important for buyers? Is it important just in terms of why it’s such a good thing?
Image James Long AW 15/16 Photographer: Yuvali Theis
Craig: It kind of gives the mentoring industry in London a bigger platform and a big-
ger opportunity which means mentor advisers are actually there to see the shows which was never the case really. Yeah it’s just kind of made London’s menswear an exciting thing to look at and I think a lot of the world is looking to it now and that’s to do a lot with the different support networks that are in London and there is a lot of young labels to get this good. Jonathan: Is this about the industry or is this about men being more interested in fashion, being more open minded about fashion, experimenting more or is it just the industry has got bigger? Agi: I think it’s a mixture of things, I think the two kind of go hand in hand...I think when I first became interested in fashion I was a freak for wearing anything that wasn’t like “brown cord with a belt”......it was a weird thing because of the media, I think that has been such a big impact on everything .......... and you look at for example what rappers are wearing in the music industry and they are almost the ones who are dictating what fashion is..............And I think with men you need someone to say this is cool and the rest will follow. Sam: I think as well this society of fashion is a lot different to before where everyone has got really interested in fashion, like they do in Japan, and I think the high-street has influenced that as well. Jonathan: Where do you get your influence from for your designs? I’m sure it’s huge but just a taste of where that kind of thing comes from and also whether that changes as starting off as emerging designers to now, the success that you have had, and how that process has changed for you. Sam: I think what is particu-
lar is everyone who is doing well in London has their own personality so that really affects how your brand is seen and how you approach a collection yourself. From our point of view it always used to come from a joke or just hanging around, usually about our friendship. So we used to find a lot of the time when we were together we’d have all these ideas and be able to come up with all this stuff but the more and more the business became a business the less time we had trying to get the personality back. Agi: Also I think as a young designer it’s quite difficult because, as Sam said, it is so new. It’s amazing because there is so much help from different bodies, and we have also spoken to a lot of people, whether it is buyers, or editors, or whoever . As a young designer you are eager to please people for whatever reason, especially because you have to sell to be able to buy. So it’s quite difficult sometimes as you can get advice from one person and then you can speak to another person and they give you completely different advice and sometimes it all becomes a bit conflicting which can really be compromising.
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Greg Hewitt has a relatively new showroom in London called DMSR, looking after Matthew Miller from London designers sector, a Jewellery brand called All Blues from Sweden and one from New York called Fan Mail.
Jonathan: Menswear in London is booming, it is getting bigger , there is more interest in it and I wanted to hear from the guys right in the thick of it about whether you think this uptake in interest and boom with menswear is really happening in the last two years or so. Is it all hype or is it really happening?
Jonathan: I guess that’s an interesting point about compromise and whether you have learned. Craig: I think it’s more about being aware than compromising and as you go along you realise there are other important things to focus on. But it’s important not to compromise what you do as a whole and not take other peoples advice too much because at the end of the day it’s your brand and it’s what you are presenting. I guess with new things as well, people really don’t know the right answers. If someone is 9
doing something really slightly weird, they won’t have the right answers , so really you just have to see how it goes.
this and I wasn’t really sure if I could. I picked up textiles at college and developed from there.
Jonathan: I want to know why you all got into fashion, maybe Greg can answer that first.
Craig: I just always liked making things so that was always the reason. I wanted to do sculpture or make stuff with my hands basically and then was kind of attracted by the fast paced competitive style of fashion and it kind of made me intrigued by it so I accidentally fell into it but I don’t regret it. But yeah it was the right decision.
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Greg: I’ve always had a bit of an interest. I’ve come from a fabric background and had done that for years. So I had that in the back of my mind but didn’t really know what I wanted to do at college - then got a job in the local clothes shop where I worked selling labels and it just opened up this massive world and almost backed up what I thought I was into. Sam: I came from a different route, I studied illustration and I always knew I wanted to do something around art even though I didn’t know what it was and I still think it’s a ridiculous young age to make that decision with your life to go to university and choose a course. Then in the third year some people from Topman came in and explained about prints and talked about that and I thought this is amazing - its exactly what I want to do. Agi:. I became interested in clothes and my subcultures because I never really was part of one subculture so at 15 I remember blending in, one day I would be a skater, the next day I would be like an Indie kid or whatever. It wasn’t until I went to 6th form college and I was surrounded by people from different towns (because it was like an hour’s drive from where I’m from), I guess I was just exposed to quite a lot and going to places like Leeds and at the time music and fashion was such a big thing. I was just quite enamoured by it and this interest led into customising my own clothes and stuff like that. I just thought I want to do something with 10
oh I’m going to do this for a bit and see how it goes and then suddenly you are doing cash flows and stuff but yeah you kind of just learn it there I think. Jonathan:. How important is it about maintaining an infrastructure so it’s not just you guys out there by yourself battling away but you have got this kind of support team or network of creative all channelling into one thing? Craig: I feel like the only thing that really keeps you sane
It’s important not to compromise what you do as a whole and not take other peoples advice too much because at the end of the day it’s your brand and it’s what you are presenting. - Craig Green
Jonathan: I wanted to ask any of you, designers especially if you had any kind of idea how to run a business when you started? Craig: Definitely not no, it’s not something that they teach you at college or university and I think even if they did start teaching I don’t think anyone would listen because everyone is just so concentrated on making their thing that they wouldn’t go to the class about business it’s something that you kind of learn on the job. Yeah I know it’s like you kind of learn on the job which is good I think. In the beginning you never really think that it’s going to be a business, you just think
through all this is that you get to work with your friends and we get to laugh everyday even though we are normally crying most of the time at least we are collaborating with friends and are friends in the studio and I don’t think any other job is like that. Greg: I think if you can get the right collaboration it is a really good marketing tool. Some of the designers I work with have collaborated with some really amazing brands that are already in the stores that we are trying to reach. The brands I work with are finding their feet and their identity. Sam: In terms of identity it is
an incredibly important thing especially for new designers wanting to show new collections because there are so many products out there. I think if you try to stay true to what you believe in, like what Craig was saying, and you don’t listen to what too many people are saying and you just have this clear vision, then people will respect you for it and you will manage to produce something new. If you start looking at people too much or start obsessing over different designers and wanting to be them or following paths people suggest you take you can just start going on the same path and get in the middle of everything else. Jonathan:. Do you look at the competition or look at other people’s shows or are you pretty much on a single path? Sam: I’m quite competitive, and in a certain way that its quite inspiring to look at other people and what they are doing and what they are getting at and the opportunities the are getting. It makes me want to push the most I could possibly do. Agi: No I don’t really agree. I think that in the London menswear showrooms it’s quite nice and everyone gets on and we are all in the showrooms together for a good 5 days. We will go over to each other and talk and ask questions and look at each other’s collections and I think it’s quite good and I think there was a time when you could see some collections almost blending into each other a bit - but this new generation of designers coming in has made designers actually realise that they do need to step it up a little bit. Jonathan: There is long told tragic examples of Galliano, McQueen and the pressures of churning out collection
Craig: I think we are nowhere near the level of them. I barely get out 2 collections a year let alone like 15 or whatever they would do. It’s tough, definitely. Also there seems to be like a weird kind of celebrity designer type think going on the last couple of years which I don’t think is healthy so I kind of shy away. Agi: Yeah I think that it is really difficult especially if there’s an event, for example if one of the stores that you sell to are doing something, I think as a young designer they feel if they are being asked to go they probably should at least show their face. Sam: It’s kind of like what Craig said like as long as the press and the kind of information that comes out about you is relevant and it’s fair, I feel that it’s obviously a
really good thing otherwise nobody would know who we are to buy us, to support our business without it. Jonathan: Greg I was going to ask you we just touched on social media and in the magazine we are going through immense pressure now to do things differently with Instagram, twitter and all that stuff. Do you put pressure on designers to get involved with social media more? Greg: Not really, one of my designers doesn’t even like speaking to the press, he’s taken his name off the branding, it kind of backs up what Craig said, it should be about the clothes and I kind of agree with that, but back to the digital I do think it’s important and press is great but I didn’t sit there saying, “guys you really need to put an update on Facebook or get a picture up”, because they do it anyway. My job should be about the shows and from my side of the table, the collection is out, get it in front of buyers, that’s much more important for me.
Jonathan: As a final kind of point I’d like to just touch on if you could go back 10 years and tell yourself one gem of advice, one tip that you could give yourself 10 years ago what would it be?
Fashion Talks
after collection and being the creative force behind a huge business but as you become more successful is the pressure to be a celebrity, does that bother you, do you notice it?
Sam: I don’t know I’d probably just say like prepare for the worst. Agi: I love what I do and as cheesy as it sounds everything happens for a reason and if we started the company with a big investment or someone told me about production, finance and all this stuff I think that all these things that went on have added to what has happened, be cool. Craig: I think I’m the same as Agi, I kind of wish I knew what I know now, but if I knew that I might not be doing this now so yeah you can’t regret. • Image Menswear, Agi & Sam AW15/16 Photographer: Yuvali Theis
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The WORTH Project
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Collaboration for innovation in fashion and lifestyle
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The WORTH project is led by Centre for Fashion Enterprise at London College of Fashion in partnership with the Paris based Institute Francais de la Mode.
Funded by the European Commission to develop competitiveness in small fashion businesses, it specialises in cross border creative and manufacturer collaborations, aiming to innovate new fashion and lifestyle products in order to maximise assets derived from the resource and skill base of Europe.
The result is 30 unique European enterprising partnerships managed jointly by LCF and IFM: fusions of tradition and invention; craft and technology; hand and machine; history and modernisation across fashion, textiles, jewellery, eyewear, footwear, furniture, fur and leather lifestyle product categories. Some of these countries are often small and pan European languages can create a
Following are a sample of summaries of some of the 30 WORTH projects approved for prototype funding that will be showcased in Vicenza in May, Paris in October and in London on 9th and 10th November 2015. This project elevates design opportunity, and adds value to existing businesses. WORTH is a pilot project that has founded many valuable new fruitful relationships that are maximising new product innovations from European resources to engender key understandings on which to build for the future. Fashion Holly Fulton & Sophie Hallette Lace BRITISH & FRENCH PARTNERSHIP
Womenswear and accessories designer Holly Fulton has developed new processes through working with Sophie Hallette, an artisanal lace
manufacturer with artistic craftsmanship spanning 150 years, and with fabric bonders Lauranne Guyomard, who took the lace, laser cut it and bonded with latex to create an innovative fabric. Holly presented the pieces in her AW15 collection at London Fashion Week in February. Jewellery Samuel Gassman & Sisma FRENCH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
French jewellery designer Samuel Gassmann has come together with Italian 3D printers Sisma to produce a 3D printed ring using precious metals. Samuel, whose career began in art curation, entered the world of jewellery-making when he was researching the history of the button, leading him to design and produce cufflinks. The outcome is a 3D printed signature twin entwined ring wedding band. Textiles Jessie Lecomte, TextielLab & Acquachiara FRENCH ,DUTCH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
French fashion designer Jessie Lecomte has collaborated with Netherlands-based yarn archivists TextielLab and Italian clothing manufacturers Acquachiara to produce a fashion knitwear line. Lecomte is renowned for her high-quality fabrics and TextielLab’s expertise lies in the development of inventive knitted yarns. Acquachiara,
experts in knitwear forms and patterns, manufactured the garments. Eyewear Oliver Ruuger & Essequadro BRITISH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
Luxury crafted-accessory design Studio Ruuger has come together with Italian glasses manufacturer Essequardo – a family-run business established in 1940 – to produce a luxury eyewear range. Studio Ruuger create products that are unusual and highly developed. With expertise lying in leather, metal, wood and contemporary materials, they combine traditional craft with innovations in modern technology.
Fashion Talks
The WORTH project has been inspired by Worth in generating collaborations between European designers and enterprises. Born in 1825, Charles Frederick Worth was an English artist and artisan who moved to France to become the very first couturier and urged his Parisian partners to expand their businesses through the initiation of partnerships. With an expressed aim of creating innovative and exciting products, project also seeks to expand the chosen companies market positioning.
barrier. Small makers are not very confident in approaching design or manufacturing companies with what they do. Some are larger and have full order books and do not traditionally work with the small fashion businesses. Essentially WORTH facilitates connections between these factories, designers and manufacturers across the regions to access and cross fertilise the broad range of skills and knowhow that define Europe as a high-level fashion industry resource base.
Fashion Laulhere & Jung Ho Geortay FRENCH AND BELGIAN PARTNERSHIP
French beret manufacturers Laulhère and Belgian-based fashion designer Jung Ho Geortay have come together to create a range of men’s fashion berets. Laulhère have been hand crafting military berets for over 175 years and with a little innovation from Geortay have transformed their signature design into a contemporary context, and developed a fashionable menswear range. Fashion Andrew Crews & Lunatika FRENCH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
French fun-fashion garment designer and creative agency Andrea Crews and 13
Italian leather manufacturers Lunatika have collaborated to innovate a product category for their business with a range of upcycled leather, urban-inspired items: rucksacks and bumbags with bold monochrome graphics and with an unexpected navy faux-fur covering. Fashion Studio Toogood & Tonak
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BRITISH & CZECH REPUBLIC PARTNERSHIP
Creative Directors and Interior Designers Studio Toogood have amalgamated their expertise with that of Czech hat makers, Tonak, to create a bespoke hat range. Turning their hand to headwear, an entirely new territory for the studio, they have developed a new process, involving the manipulation of felt and ribbon, around perpendicular shapes seen in their previous furniture designs. Textiles Cervin & Marcha Huskes FRENCH & DUTCH PARTNERSHIP
Parisian hosiery manufacturer Cervin and Netherlands-based fashion designer Marcha Huskes have created a capsule collection of very fine gauge high quality knitwear. One of the only hosiery makers that are still producing stockings in Paris, Cervin has an impressive legacy of tradition . Pioneers in fully fashioned stockings, they are able to use traditional machines & processes to create innovative product. Textiles Boulezar & A+Z design GERMAN & BELGIAN PARTNERSHIP
German fashion brand Boulezar has collaborated with Belgian textile manufacturer A+Z Design to create a range of innovative fabrics. Self-professed experts in ‘comfy couture’ and rarely following passing trends, Boulezar seek to create quality, comfortable pieces in luxury materials and have always occupied that difficult 14
space in the market, constantly searching for cutting edge fabrics. Jewellery Marion Vidal & GHEOS FRENCH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
French jewellery designer Marion Vidal has collaborated with Italian marble workers GHEOS to produce a line of marble jewellery. Marion traditionally works with ceramics, and found marble difficult to work with in small, precise pieces. GHEOS’s marble cutting strikes a balance between the traditional and the contemporary, and gives a refined style to modern craftsmanship. Fashion (prosthetic limbs) Ana Rajcevic & Erpro GERMAN & FRENCH PARTNERSHIP
Artist Ana Rajcevic and French 3D printers Erpro have collaborated to create a bespoke 3D printed prosthetic limb which aims to be a beautiful and elegant product and challenges the way disability is seen and experienced. A specialist in synthetic polymers, the artist worked alongside Erpro who are leaders in this technological field whose expertise lies in manufacturing real physical models from 3D CAD files. Interior leather accessories Abury & Romanian artisans GERMAN AND ROMANIAN PARTNERSHIP
German fashion accessories brand Abury, established in 2011 by Andrea Kolb, is based on leather and handcraft and produces premium handmade and embroidered leather bags, and hand knitted accessories forged from alpaca wool. Abury has teamed up with Romanian leather workers, and embroiderers, to produce a range of handcrafted interior chairs and cushions. Mens Leather Accessories James Long, New And Best & Conceria Vignola BRITISH & ITALIAN PARTNERSHIP
Menswear designer James Long has produced a line of bonded leather accessories together with Italian leather bonding specialists New & Best, and leather tannery Conceria Vignola. The WORTH collaboration has allowed Long to employ new technology when applied to traditional materials, using down filled fibres, cutting edge 3D printing, and an incredibly detailed high-frequency leather treatment. Fur Roberto Ardigo & Anne Sofie Madsen ITALIAN & DANISH PARTNERSHIP
Italian fur accessories manufacturer Roberto Ardigo , the leading provider of research and innovation in the assemblage of fur for the industry with over 40 years of experience, has collaborated with Danish fashion designer Anne Sofie Madsen, to produce a capsule fur collection. The collaboration’s key aim was to “combine the vision of a young designer’s fresh ideas with the craftsmanship of an established fur manufacturer.” Textiles Deltracon & Bonnie Kirkwood BELGIAN & BRITISH PARTNERSHIP
Belgian upholstery fabric weavers Deltracon and British textile designer Bonnie Kirkwood have come together to create a range of apparel trimmings. Deltracon, a leader in the linen weaving market, specialises in creative innovation, tailoring every high-end order to a specific requirement. Within this collaboration, new construction, weaves, finishes, yarns, and a new loom set-up have been explored. Furniture Overgaard + Dyrman & Dagmar Kestner DANISH AND GERMAN PARTNERSHIP
Copenhagen-based contemporary design studio Overgaard + Dyrman have collab-
orated with German fashion designer Dagmar Kestner to create a capsule collection of furniture primarily manufactured from material leftovers. Both have a strong passion for traditional craftsmanship and refined details with a refusal to compromise on sophistication in manufacturing. Footwear Reltex & Joanne Stoker FRENCH & BRITISH PARTNERSHIP
French shoe sole manufacturers Reltex and British shoe designer Joanne Stoker have collaborated to create a fashion shoe range produced with natural rubber soles. Hevea Lactae, a milk taken from the Cao Su tree in South America, is used to produce a supple, hardwearing and environmentally sound sole. Teamed with Joanne Stoker’s love for a daring aesthetic, daring colours and eclectic materials, the end product is a beautifully designed, yet eco-conscious shoe. Leather Accessories Jacquemus & Rub and Eli FRENCH & SPANISH PARTNERSHIP
French womenswear fashion designer Jacquemus and Spanish leather accessories manufacturer Rub & Eli have partnered to create a line of leather bags and accessories. Bringing together Jacquemus’ aesthetic of classic lines and structured shapes, with a childlike twist, with Rub & Eli’s leather working expertise, a collection of playful and fun products have been created through the partnership. •
Case study: Studio Toogood
It’s remarkable to work with artisans who have their own craft, their own traditions. - Faye Toogood
Faye notes, “Whether you are a fashion designer, a furniture designer, or an interior designer, the materials you can get your hands on are essential, because you are always looking for a new way to interpret your designs and to explain your story.”
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Faye Toogood has a multi-disciplinary design business , Studio Toogood, which has been featured this year in UK Vogue, Wallpaper and the Business of Fashion who noted that she has ‘created runway sets, installations and retail environments for the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Kenzo and Opening Ceremony, in addition to designing a signature line of furniture and objets d’art.’
In collaboration with the WORTH project team, Studio Toogood are turning their hand to headwear – entirely new territory for the studio. They have developed a new process, involving the manipulation of textile and ribbon, around perpendicular shapes seen in their previous furniture designs and have amalgamated their expertise with that of a hat factory in the Czech Republic and Norwegian ribbon makers to create a bespoke hat range inspired by the rural farmer. “We spend a lot of time collaborating with British manufacturers and British industries and individual makers. The WORTH project has given us the opportunity to work with people doing exactly the same thing across Europe. We wanted to move to a new product, and work with artisans that have their own craft, their own technologies. That’s exciting to us, in a very contemporary way, but also in an artisanal way.” •
IMAGES 1/2/5/6/7/9/10 Holly Fulton, Sophie Hallette & Lauranne Guyomard 3/4/8/12 Andrea Crews & Lunatika 11 Samuel Gassman & Sisma Photographer: Yuvali Theis
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Euro Gains
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
The Euro may currently be in a weak spot but this is a crucial moment of opportunity for Europe’s fashion industry, argues WWD’s London Bureau Chief Samantha Conti. So does panEuropean fashion have the aesthetic fuel for competitive global advantage?
Everyone knows there is a healthy rivalry between the Europeans in relation to fashion and luxury. The fashion weeks continue to jockey for the best timing and position, while investors large and small think nothing of crossing borders to poach the best brands and the best talent.
Mulberry, for example, has just announced that it has appointed Jonny Coca - born in Spain and previously of LVMH – as its new creative director. It’s a great example of the very real multiculturalism of European fashion. Looking back, the rise of the Italian fashion industry after the Second World War was in no small part thanks to dressmakers and some manufacturers who flourished as an alternative to French fashion. And not only were the Italian designs fabulous, they were also a third of the price of the French ones. The French, meanwhile, were the dominant force in couture. Later, Belgium and the Netherlands saw the vertiginous rise of the Antwerp designers, Germany ascended with mega brands such as Escada, Hugo Boss and JOOP, and Spain came to the fore with its expert understanding of fast fashion. Over the past 15 years or so, however, the industry has changed considerably through two major phases. Firstly, with the consolidation and growth of major luxury houses; of LVMH and
Kering (and, to some degree, Richemont). The other major moment was the financial meltdown of 2008, a moment when the money dried up and people lost confidence. Also the rise of the internet and of social media has represented a very significant shift. But while real rivalries are still taking place, there’s no reason why Europe can’t flourish; why Europe can’t pull together, leverage its strength and think more about promoting all that’s really closer to home. To think about a ‘Made in Europe’ label. Indeed there is so much opportunity for leveraging, for growth and for promoting Europe on a worldwide scale. Europe is also the region most dependent on tourist spending compared with the US and Asia. So that weaker euro will once again be terrific for exports and for tourists coming to shop here. Right now, the potential for Europe is huge. There’s has never been a better time for the creative community to strike. •
Excerpt taken from Samantha Conti’s keynote speech at Fashion Talks 16
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So many European designers who are playing in that very high end luxury space could potentially move into a different segment of the market, be potentially selling to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide with a different business model... another huge opportunity for Europe is design in this contemporary space which is currently dominated by the Americans. - Samantha Conti
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Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Digital technology is the new fashion opportunity Digital Fashion Panel Discussion Fashion experts in conversation Chair: Stefan Siegel Panel: Amalia Agathou, Lynne Murray, Matthew Drinkwater and Nancy Tilbury
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“Wearables” is an old term and perhaps the products that have come to market have not yet been able to emotively connect with consumers through real genuine need and deliver real genuine purpose. To see what is happening you need to tell right from the start if the technical team is leading or the design team is leading. All the time when you see the design team leading you see beautiful aesthetics but not really a lot of saleability behind it and not a lot of functionality. Whereas sometimes when you see the technical team leading we may see something that could be saleable, very good in terms of function but no one would wear it .
Stefan Siegel is Founder of Not Just a Label, anonline ecommerce site with over 14,000 young designers signed up. Matthew Drinkwater is Head of the Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) at London College of Fashion which leads designer collaborations with industry partners which are increasingly global technology companies in the world of wearables, technology and fashion. Lynne Murray is the Director of the Fashion Digital Studio at London College of Fashion and is looking at re-imagining digital and considering what we can do to innovate in that space.
Nancy Tilbury is the co-founder of Studio XO who are most known for what they do with music, artists and brands by integrating technology to create super effects.
As we advance with the technical, fashion and technology working together and talents from both worlds coming together - that is the point where we will start seeing meaningful change. Image Richard Nicoll/Disney/Studio XO SS15 Photographer: Yuvali Theis
Matthew: Our projects have included the world’s first digital skirt for Nokia, wireless charging clothing for Microsoft and a project with Nancy (Studio XO) which Forbes described as the first example as truly beautiful wearable technology. Amalia: I just started working with John Capital as Head of Communications there looking for amazing new start-ups, of course. And also looking at the community of the existing portfolio and new start-ups and hopefully a better start-up system in Europe. Nancy: Most notably we made Lady GaGa Hexacopter which was dressed up as a dress and she flew. Now we are working with the CFE and FIA to develop our products more in the commercial world, as Matthew mentioned a project we did in collaboration with Richard Nicoll using a body operating system we developed, so yeah exciting times ahead for this junction between physical and digital. Stefan: We have been speaking about 3D printing for years now. We’re speaking about technology and fashion everyday but all I can see is bracelets and google glasses. So how has technology influenced people on the street and how they buy fashion and how they wear fashion? Amalia: I think the role of technology in our lives and how we perceive it has become more inter-woven in all aspects of our lives. So for instance when the telephone was first invented it was something that you would have in your house,
you would use when necessary and that was it, much like a fridge or an oven. Now a telephone is more like a bag, it stores functionality but it says much more about who you are, like what’s your status, how you interact with the world, how you want people to see you, it plays a core part in your social interaction and relationships so in that sense the way we perceive technology and electronic appliances has changed and I think with the internet and things is where all this is going the way we perceive technology and what it does for us, it’s going to change that much more in the future and become more personal. Matthew: I would also say that we are just at the very beginning of what wearable technology is or can be and at the moment all you see are bracelets simply because that’s what technology companies are making and telling us to wear and they are all predominantly fitness or health related. I think there has been so little interest in an ability to translate that to a fashion audience in a fashion arena that the projects that we are starting to engage in are beginning to change that mentality. So consumers at the moment are buying what’s available to them.
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Amalia Agathou has been working with London College of Fashion on launching the Front Row accelerator working with start-ups and on the “Building brand equity” programme for Centre for Fashion Enterprise.
Stefan: Exciting times indeed (for digital). What I would like to do is perhaps provoke you all a little bit and put you on the spot and perhaps and ask you really how technology has influenced your work.
Lynne: I think there is a huge problem with what we call “wearables” which is part of how we think about this area where technology meets fashion. And the notions of wearables means it is so broad and has been around for a few years now. The combination of technologies in a fashion watch is not particularly exciting so I don’t think the products that have come to market have yet been able to emotively connect with consumers through real genuine need and deliver real genuine purpose. You might want to track how 19
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many steps you have taken for a month, or maybe two months, but I don’t genuinely believe that this is the true answer to where technology can interact with the body and garments. I think we have kind of tripped over this word “ wearables” at this point in time and it’s just at the start for where these things can go. Nancy: I think I’d like to add to that. I’ve been talking a lot about “digital haberdashery”. When we start a project we always think about effect, the technology is secondary. I think that that’s the thing in that hybrid space - its knowing what you can do with that digital haberdashery. You know this industry that is being sighted as worth £16 billion by 2016 won’t be made up of wristbands alone. Material science, like micro computing, is really advancing. What it does is it allows us to create these emotional effects (which) I believe are embedded into the fashion process. We need to see it as a “digital haberdashery”. I think this next phase is going to be a continuum of collaboration of a new school bringing together the coders, the fashion designers and a new vocabulary to transform fashion through effects and emotion. Stefan: A question back to Lynne and maybe Matthew, how are you preparing the students of today and maybe tomorrow for this big change? Will you start to teach coding at LCF? Lynne: It’s tricky to answer that. I’m just starting to look where we take these new technologies. I think it’s more complex than introducing coding. I think it’s about design thinking that is needing to fundamentally shift if we are to start think about it as Nancy said. I think that the hindrance to wearable 20
technologies is that it has not really been as ambitious as it could be. In one route it’s a design thinking methodology and on the other hand, its about creating networks and opportunities to allow people to collaborate in that space. A designer is not necessarily going to be able to do everything in the pipeline of developing your product so it’s a very difficult wanting to be a coder or wanting to work in 3D software but I think it’s quite easy to collaborate with people, that would be the focus. Matthew: I think it’s interesting listening to the designers talk earlier when they were asked about digital and the instant reaction was social media like Instagram and twitter when actually it’s so much wider and you can see that there is an enormous gap between their knowledge of what is available and what could be done and so that’s where I think we have a huge amount of work collaboratively. It’s the way designers have to work, with people like Nancy. Stefan: That’s my next question to Amalia and Nancy, are we in the fashion industry influencing technology or is technology telling us what to do? Amalia: I think it’s what we were saying before about collaboration - and much more so we are talking about wearables co-creation and about the challenge of being in the right team and setting some co-creation processes in place there. It is very important when you are talking about a piece of technology that you wear that you recognise there are a lot of design decisions - so there is battery life that you have to consider; then there is the aspect (of course) of aesthetics; then there is the question of function ability and all that it
means being a platform ; you have to think of saleability; it also has to be appealing to investors . So it is easy for a wearable start up to get lost. Nancy: I think it’s really about the grey space and that’s maybe what we are really missing here, there is a new vocabulary being shaped so that’s what needs to be shared in terms of education, it’s not about ‘I’m a coder’ or ‘I’m a fashion designer’. Most young designers have an appetite and there’s not a day that goes by without my inbox being full of questions from young designers and colleges like LCF saying ‘please can you visit, we want to see what the blueprint is so we can start to work in that way ourselves’. If we really think that the crowd is “generation digital” then we have to look at that younger generation because they are the adopter I believe in this version of these emotional effects and these digital, I don’t even really want to call it #fashiontechnology because it is just going to be fashion. Stefan: You were mentioning, disappointment that they mentioned social media and technology, are they the right ones? Matthew: I think it’s really interesting when we talk about the other industries as well because for sports it makes complete sense if you are thinking completely of functionality of looking at my coach and being able to measure. With fashion it is much more about aesthetic and emotion, like about when we were doing the Disney project together. I think the idea was we have seen everything that was device driven, functionality driven like if you make a dress, nobody needs another expensive dress, and so you have got to really want it. You have to have that pure desire to buy
it - so what we wanted to do was to use technology to create that emotion, that emotional connection. So rather than looking at functionality , it becomes how we produce technology to make something even more beautiful. Lynne: I think its consumers that are driving this interest in device led innovation, and working at the forefront of the vision of where we can potentially go with these technologies. In order to present that to a consumer, and by connecting these new ways of interacting to a thing that consumers can identify with, perhaps when we have augmented reality contact lenses, which are an integration of Google glass, and are talking about products and garments that are no longer physical. Everyone knows what a watch does, everyone knows what a phone does, and it’s a little thing that attaches to your body that they can take with them. But when you de-materialize that, which is 5 to 10 years in the future, consumers wouldn’t buy into it. So this is a kind of consumer cycle that we are moving onto as much as anything. Stefan: What would you recommend to growing businesses, how can they adapt or what can a start-up designer do to be ready for this wave of technology? Amalia: I think through events and collaborations and we are starting to see things happening and even with big fashion houses like Ralph Lauren, they bigger companies themselves having to change internally. It would take a while. With collaborations like the ones FIA are leading, it’s a little bit easier to test the waters and see what the right direction for you is after all. I think for young designers as well, if they are more willing to experiment and
they had the patience of not going down the traditional route. I think that’s an issue that young designers need to overcome. A lot of the time they are intimidated, especially in Europe, because we do have a lot of traditional in fashion. They are afraid to go out of the traditional route and to grow their business because they think people will say they compromised or maybe they went too commercial so they are a little bit afraid to go there. You need to look and find what is right for your vision and your company, not everyone has to go down the same route.
row and what that means so technology fits within that and it fits your aesthetic and your story and then hopefully it will evolve in a super really authentic way. It has to come from the soul and certainly the real change in terms of how people are being taught and what they do is they graduate and move forward with new brands.
Lynne: This part has to be completely genuine or there is no point in doing it, it won’t be bought into in that sense. Wearables are right at the top of this curve at the moment of
Nancy: We had to build a lab that’s twice the size so you now have product design tools and 3D printers and laser cutting and new types of materiality outside the
Stefan: And what role will the traditional manufacturing or the artisanal part of fashion play? Is this an advantage, is it useful to actually know that world and how to implement it?
simple reason that they don’t really know how the industry works. What are the real problems and how they can really offer solutions to that? So I think with these worlds coming together we see a change on that level as well. Lynne: I think it’s also very important to reflect, we have learned a lot about the importance of business skills within design education so graduates aren’t just coming to learn how to cut and the craft of it, but they are now also tasked with - oh you have to set up a business and - oh, also you have to be a marketing and social media expert and - oh did we forget to tell you that you have to learn how to code as well? You can’t really be everything in that very short time frame but you can learn how to
you will be changing the colour of your skin, it will be digital skin! Clothes are so last year! Nancy: I suppose in the near future I absolutely agree I use that phrase digital skin myself you know, I think people like us that are geeking out all the time and getting into the labs and meeting these scientists who are building things like RGB yarns that are going to be used as indicators in medicine we can say ‘wow if you were able to take a programmable yarn and turn it into fashion’. For example you show that to someone, a designer at Celine they would just be really interested in the tone of colour and I think that there are just wonderful things that can emerge in the next 2 – 5 years if these materials come out of the
- Nancy Tilbury inflated expectation, everyone thinks they are going to be a great thing and do some amazing stuff. But people are very quickly going to become bored of them and at that point it will be time to innovate again on this next cycle. Matthew: I definitely agree with Amalia. Experimenting and collaborating is a fantastic way for early stage designers to test what’s right for them. I think it’s a really important way of making them become aware of what’s available and what we can do and what’s achievable so definitely collaborate and experiment. Be interested and see what’s out there. Nancy: I think you have to be super curious, lay down your brand values. Think about building a brand of tomor-
traditional sewing machine and pattern cutting table. They even have areas where engineers can work and tinker and create and code you know. These things are all happening simultaneously. Hardware is about “craft” and digital is “effect” so this is going to be a hard industry to break in terms of investment. It’s going to need a lot of investment from multiple places. And really to get the integration of technology into fashion it’s going to take the old guard and the new. Amalia: Yeah I think it’s important for that space to open up to technology because I think what we see way more better in a fashion textiles way is better solutions for that industry because most of the fashion textiles that we see are traditional. For the very
collaborate. Stefan: One last question .Give us something about what are we going to wear, what do you think? Something that is going to happen in the next 5 – 10 years. Is there something I’m going to wear in 20 years? Matthew: My response is always the same, I think if we are doing our job properly I don’t think we will look any different. Our clothes might be able to do some cool stuff but ultimately you just want to be able to keep wearing clothes. I’ll be able to change the colour yeah sure that’s cool, I’ll be able to deliver content but Nancy might have an interesting response.
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I don’t really want to call it #fashiontechnology because it will just be fashion. lab and we can create a sort of fashion lab between those spaces, science, technology, new materials, digital, physical, looking at avatars, everything but it’s just going to be spectacular and very psychedelic which excited me! •
Lynne: You won’t be changing the colour of your clothes 21
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In Conversation
Thomas Tait How we got to where we are
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It’s been a a momentous year for Thomas Tait. Whilst his eponymous womenswear label has established itself as a key show on the London Fashion Week calendar, the Montreal-born designer has also been the recipient of some of fashion’s most glittering prizes - the inaugural Dorchester award and, most recently, the prestigious LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. Here, Tait talks to journalist and lecturer Andrew Tucker about creative vision, sponsorship and making the transition to established brand.
Andrew: But if you had to… Thomas: Well, the initial kind of visual changes dramatically from season to season. Usually that’s more about the choice of the fabric and the colour and it’s only when you actually interact with the clothes that you see certain colours constantly work from season to season. I’ve heard a lot of people say “Thomas is a conceptual designer” but I don’t see myself at all as being a conceptual designer. I don’t feel like I have a plan of action or a message that I’m trying to say. I try to work more instinctively. There’s a certain amount of emotional intellect rather than it being a concept to my work which makes it very difficult to describe.
Andrew: Reading all the coverage from the season just gone, one of the big things that came out in the media is that a lot of young designers in your generation have become so obsessed with becoming commercial that they have become almost homogenous. How do you balance the need of serving your customers and being commercial without becoming so commercial that you just become another bland ‘good taste’ designer? Thomas: If you are going to take a place on the London Fashion Week schedule and you are going to present yourself as a young designer, I think it’s extremely important that you put across a personal and creative message. You have to take on commercial responsibilities around that. One thing that is special about London is that a lot of fashion brands begin here. It’s a designer base. You see these brands who start off really small and grow because they really have a creative vision that sets them apart. Andrew: And then what happens?
Thomas: I think that many factors [can] change that and you can see that a lot of people have gone quite dramatically into the commercial ventures with their work and the creative elements have sort of fallen off the runway a bit. So I do have commercial parts of my work that aren’t on the runway and there are things that are done in the fabrics and the colours specifically for the sales. I understand that not everyone can afford to buy the garments at this price, not every women is going to want to look like what I am presenting, which is cool with me, but I do have to have enough clothes to sell. Andrew: You’re obviously from outside Montreal, so what drew you here to London rather than going across the border to study at Parsons or FIT? Thomas: Well, in Canada I studied at a vocational school called LaSalle. Although the course was called fashion design, the focus was very much so on garment making, garment tech fibres, garment research and the history of
clothing but not the history of fashion - you don’t learn about the Punk movement, for example. But it was very technical so I wanted to do something that counteracted that. I wanted to do a master’s degree which was a bit ambitious as I was too young to do one and I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree. I’d been to London only once before. It wasn’t what I expected but in a way it was more than that, it just became something more shocking than I ever imagined.
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Andrew Tucker: When people ask you to describe yourself as a designer, that’s a bit of a nightmare question isn’t it? Thomas Tait: Oh, it’s awful! And not only do you get that question a lot but people always do this really sort of low end thing where they say “do it in 3 words”. Well, I can’t do it!
Andrew: Shocking in a positive way? Thomas: In a positive way, yeah! I had never worked in fashion before so I was quite young and I had never really had a job and hadn’t done any internships. I also felt that the experience of doing my first collection at Central Saint Martins was a real eyeopening experience. It was 2010 and there were just no jobs so it was really terrifying. I remember saying to myself that there’s no way I’m going to graduate and be a starving east London designer making clothes in a warehouse - and I’ve basically been doing that 23
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for the last 5 years! Andrew: That’s part of the traditional trajectory in London. So tell us about your first collection, given that you literally just came out of college with little industry experience. Did you do a show? Thomas: Yeah, I really naively jumped in and started to do the whole shebang right away. I wanted to do a full-blown show, not a presentation and I wanted to do it in the place which was, like, the most inconvenient place for any fashion editor to go to - Vyner Street in Hackney. I just kind of did it on my own. I was living in a warehouse in Hackney Wick with some friends, made an ironing board out of a piece of MDF, slept on a balcony and
Andrew: You won the Dorchester award and you also just won the LVMH award, which is incredible. But one of the things in London that I think could be a curse just as much as a blessing is that because there is so much of a structure of awards and bursaries, then certain designers can go through their whole career relying on some kind of sponsorship, rather than selling. Do you see that as a risk? Thomas: It’s one of those
comfortable with this. I might have a really rosy year where I can do a great show and pay for things and get my head above water but it is going to be gone at some point. If I’m not paying attention to the business underneath this prize, then I’m just going to be right back where I was before. But I think it’s really important at an early stage when people start receiving these sponsorships that support is put in place to make you understand the importance of the business – as CFE do. This is more important than just a status thing where you get a lot of press for getting an award or a lot of press from receiving a sponsorship. Andrew: What kind of
realize, ‘Oh, the teams aren’t that big and you guys are actually humans, it’s not like French robots!’. Andrew: But, in another sense, do you think at some point they might do a Jonathan Anderson and say we’d like you to go into this brand as creative director? Thomas: To be honest, I think that when you look at the designers they work with at the moment, - you look at someone like Marc Jacobs and J W Anderson – and they are all different. I think that their involvement in each one of those businesses and the houses that they have been appointed to is for different reasons and for different purposes. I would be extremely surprised if the
If you are going to take a place on the London Fashion Week schedule and you are going to present yourself as a young designer, I think it’s extremely important that you put across a personal and creative message. that was it. You can’t just sit in your room and sketch and design all these wonderful things [because] no one is going to come and bang the door down and try to help you. You are going to have to beg and bang on their doors and take them out for coffees and be nice and play the game. I right away started asking for support and managed to pull a collection together out of nothing. It was around this time I met CFE . Andrew: And people reacted well to the show? Thomas: Yeah, people made it to Vyner St which was really weird. I got good reviews and I won the Dorchester prize through it. Andrew: And that
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was £25,000? Thomas: Yes, which at the time I was just like ‘oh my God, I’m set for years!’. But, yeah, it allowed me to do a second collection and take it to Paris and start selling.
weird things that because the designers are so young in London and start at such a young age, then there is very little commercial experience and very little business structure. So technically we really need this kind of support or we would just be lost. It’s absolutely necessary. But yes, I do think there is a bit of a risk that designers can become a little too comfortable with financial support and that isn’t actually a reflection of their work being successful. For example the LVMH prize, I have a bit of working capital in the bank right now which is fab because I’ve never had that but it is a prize - it is in no way a reflection of my clothes selling and being profitable, so I can’t get
mentorship and support are you receiving from LVMH? Thomas: It’s been really humbling. Because LVMH is a huge corporation with so many heavyweights and they could have very well been like, “Okay you are going to do exactly what we say,” and it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, they were like, ‘Okay this is the first time we are doing a prize. Let’s figure it out. Tell us what you need, tell us what you have a hard time with and show us your collection”. It’s all a lot more social and more liquid than I thought it would be, which is really nice as it’s given me a lot more of a human perspective on a company like LVMH. I thought it would be like some kind of giant machine and then you
relationship between Marc Jacobs and LVMH is the same kind of relationship that LVMH has with Jonathan Anderson. So I think it’s all quite specific to each person. Obviously they have given me a prize so they have belief in what I’m doing and they have an interest in my business and an interest in me personally and in my vision. They understand that my business isn’t currently something that is successful on a commercial level so perhaps their interest is more in me and my vision and my design perspective. More so than thinking ‘obviously this boy is the next Alexander Wang’ anyway – which I’m not. Andrew: You could be!
Thomas: I might be, who knows! Andrew: What would you say the next challenge is in terms of the growth of your business, bearing in mind you have crates of backup, the CFE is here and LVMH are giving you advice? Are you thinking you are going to open a shop or launching a second line? Thomas: That’s a funny thing because a lot of people have asked, “Oh what are you going to do with the money and the sponsorship?”. And everybody has this sort of out-of-proportion idea that instead of helping my current business and trying to get that working properly I would just go and spend it all. But I just have to be able to make
sure I can make these clothes and get them into the store on time and to expand my wholesale business and work on what’s existing. You always get these questions like ‘what’s new, what’s this fun new project that you’re working on’? I’m sorry but my brand still really needs this kind of money, this kind of prize and this kind of mentorship. It’s right back to what I’ve been talking about for the last 5 years so it’s not that exciting from a press perspective. The focus is really to make sure I get my wholesale reach. Andrew: You seem remarkably relaxed and eloquent but in your line of work things don’t go according to plan very
often. When the preverbal shit hits the fan who do you ring? Do you ring the CFE or do you ring up LVMH and say ‘help me’! Thomas: I don’t ring anyone immediately because the last thing people want is a phone call saying “Help I’m just freaking out!” It depends on the problem, really. If it’s a press issue, I have a publicist. I think I’ve gone to see CFE the most because I’ve been housed at CFE for so long and they have invited me to work in their studios and that has been the thing that has been so charming and so helpful - having a team of people who are on site to go and speak to all the time, at any time you want. That has really been the base, that in your own studio you have
these people who are experts and have seen this happen a million times before. So it’s the team at CFE, really. Andrew: Now I am going to ask one quick final question which I want one quick answer for: are LVMH tempting you to show in Paris or are you going to stay in London? Thomas: I’m staying in London! •
Catwalk image Courtesy of Thomas Tait Image below Andrew Tucker in conversation with Thomas Tait Photographer: Yuvali Theis
Fashion Talks 25
The grit behind the glamour Fashion designers in business Panel Discussion
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Fashion experts in conversation Chair: Martyn Roberts Panel: Demelza Galica, Judith Tolley and Helen Newman
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For any emerging designer, it’s an incredibly tough path from debut collection to successful, sustainable business. So what are the vital skills and support needed to help the next generation of fashion talent go the distance? We bring together the people who are supporting London’s key players to discuss the potential pitfalls and promises facing young fashion brands today.
Helen Newman is a partner at Olswang specialising in Intellectual Property protection, whose clients include Stella McCartney, Chloe, and LVMH Martyn Roberts is the Founder of Fashion Scout, showcasing young fashion talent in London, and the director of the Graduate Fashion Week Demelza Galica runs the Designer Manufacturer Innovation Support Centre (DISC) in London and helps designers to source manufacturing from all over the world and in the UK to find suppliers - helping with production processes, production planning, quality and pricing
Judith: Understanding business and creativity is the corner stone of the designer businesses and the overarching philosophy of CFE. Demelza: Designers also need help to source manufacturing and to find suppliers from all over the world and in the UK. I help with the production processes and organising themselves internally to make sure they are maximizing their profitability; making sure they are hitting a level of quality within the right price and the right time frame. Helen: with both small and large designers and you’d be surprised to know that they all face very similar problems and one of those problems is not necessarily wanting always to engage with their lawyer at the right time. Martyn: Designers are coming through these art fashion universities and they are incredibly talented but often have no idea of how to run a business, how to move forward - even understanding the general fashion industry. My belief is that fashion is a creative business - it’s not art. Art is creativity. With fashion we work within a system and it operates like a business.
Image Claire Barrow AW 15/16 Photographer: Yuvali Theis
Judith: Working with designers on their cash flow is fascinating and you can see any problems that may be coming up in black and white. They will sometimes have their show coming up and no money coming in, but they need money to put on their show. So, we have
a look at designers’ cash flow and what’s coming in and advise that if they don’t have the money what decisions they may need to make. It’s really important to see how they can reduce costs otherwise it can be a particularly expensive lesson for them. Demelza: It’s often about giving designers the foresight to see beyond the show to sales. Sales are the critical point. I have noticed from a production point of view they do not think enough about how they can produce [their collection]. We will also focus on costings and pricing as this is critical to business. Martyn: Often we will get designers come to us to do catwalk shows and they don’t actually know how to price up their work because they have never made any sales. They haven’t done production so they are trying to guess . Helen: What I sometimes find is a combination of lack of money and experience. A lot of the young designers that I have worked with have thought that everything will be fine because they trust the other person they are dealing with and it comes to the stage where an investor is looking into putting some money in and they say ‘okay, so have you got your brand registered?’. And the designer says, ‘Oh no, I didn’t do that part because it costs too much money’. So then they come to the lawyer and it can be too late sometimes because we find that some nasty rogue has registered that trademark and you end up with a very expensive battle trying to sort it out.
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Judith Tolley is the manager of Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), working with young designers and providing business support.
Martyn: From our experiences of talking to people from different organisations around the world, we actually have a lot of common threads that we encounter with young or emerging designers...
Demelza: But that can come down to professionalism and not understanding how be professional or how to be a business. There are a lot of things that you would learn 27
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Designers are coming through these art fashion universities and they are incredibly talented but often have no idea of how to run a business, how to move forward - even understanding the general fashion industry. My belief is that fashion is a creative business - it’s not art. Art is creativity. With fashion we work within a system and it operates like a business. - Martyn Roberts
whilst working for a business. But of you are starting out fresh from universit, you can only learn on the job - unless you have the sort of support that we give.
Helen: You’re right and that’s what we found in relation to legal issues. When we started our cooperation with CFE, we put on a very worthy collection of presentations on what you need to know as a designer about corporate law, registering your company, intellectual property and so on, but it was all too much. Some of the designers were glazing over. Now we’ve changed the approach to something which is much more casual. They can come in, sit round a table and we just try to put down a few little pointers. Demelza: A season is a finite length of time you’ve got to get a lot of processes done, all within the set restrictions of price, quality and time. It’s about managing complex relationships and [designers] realising that they are the ones responsible for it. You don’t place an order in a factory and two weeks later it turns up perfectly, because factories aren’t mind
readers. It’s knowing that there’s an enormous life cycle that happens from when you have actually sold a garment to delivering it. At DISC, we try to help them with planning and understanding the cycle and giving them a few tips from experience of the industry and guide them through the minefield that is production problems. A designer starts out as one person in a business and they suddenly have to expand and they don’t have the immediate resources to get people in house to help them. They are doing it all themselves and they are relying on companies to come into their supply chain and that’s a very difficult point. Martyn: Yes, I think it’s also about helping them to understand how to work with people. Designers as we all know sometimes can be challenging people to work with and often do end up with a business partner and people who are working around them. You’re a great designer but do you actually have someone around you who can handle your press enquiries or work with the retailers? Helen: Absolutely. Another
big issue - with my lawyer’s hat on - is the trust issue. For example, there can be all sorts of difficulties that arise from working relationships that are never formalised. So it can be about putting some very basic building blocks of relationships in document form at an early stage so that some of those nasty surprises don’t happen later on.
Fashion Talks
Judith: When designers apply to us we have a very in-depth application form and we’ve found that it is a checklist for us and also sets out expectations to the designers. The support has to be slow and it has to be at the right times to help the business when they need it. One can waste resources giving a generic support as fashion is actually very individual and it needs to be a ‘just at the right time’ approach. CFE has to be able to advise from a business perspective. With designers who aren’t experienced, helping them make decisions is really important. If you just give them a pack and say, ‘here you go, here is everything you need to run a fashion business’, there’s a good chance they won’t read it. There are certain times when they are going to be looking for sponsorship, there are certain times they are going to be worrying about costs and pricing. There are certain times they are going
to be dealing with the buyers or manufacturers and then there’s other times when you need to talk to them about legal and financial issues and such. I think you’ve really got to work alongside them.
Martyn: But I think it’s also important to let designers make these mistakes. They need to actually do it themselves. Designers should be focusing on the sales and really paying attention. Keeping them on their toes is really important. In summary, you can see from the 4 of us who all specialise in different areas, that working together really does help. There are very few people who can coach designers in every single area of business, so working with a group of specialists or organisations works really well. •
Image Claire Barrow AW 15/16 Photographer: Yuvali Theis
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In Conversation
Dian Pelangi
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Indonesian fashion designer Dian Pelangi, is clearly a name to watch. With a strong social media presence and a bold, contemporary take on Indonesian print traditions, the 24-year-old creative is one of a number of fast-rising designers supported by Centre for Fashion Enterprise’s Indonesian Fashion Forward initiative. “Bringing Dian Pelangi to London Fashion Week has highlighted a new talent and a strong point of difference,” explains CFE Director Wendy Malem. Fresh from her ‘Hijab styling workshop’ at the British Council’s International Fashion Showcase in London, Dian shares insight on textile inspiration, social media strategy and how to grow a global brand. CFE: Dian, would you like to introduce yourself? Dian: My name is Dian Pelangi, I am 24 years old and I am a fashion designer from Indonesia. I feel very proud to be part of the ever growing fashion industry in Indonesia. Presently Indonesia is the sixteenth largest economy in the world with a population of 250 million people in the republic. 87% of them are Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world. I feel that we are starting a discussion about the fashion that surrounds the Muslim community in Indonesia but also Muslims around the globe.
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CFE: Could you tell us something about what is happening in terms of the fashion industry in Indonesia? Dian: The fashion industry in Indonesia is really growing right now. Most of the big fashion education institutes have been present in Indonesia for almost 7 years and the industry has also been really strengthened with the establishment of Jakarta Fashion Week. Did you know, for instance, that the wedding dress in The Hunger Games was designed by Indonesian designer Tex Saverio? CFE: You come from a family with a strong textile heritage. Could you tell us a little about that? Dian: Part of Indonesia’s pride and joy has been in introducing batik to the world but it has also been influenced by numerous cultures due to its geographic location and reputation for global trade. Indonesia is also known for its detailing in beading, embroidery and hand woven techniques. Ikat [a tradition dyeing technique] is also a part of Indonesia’s heritage. The collection is inspired by ‘Sunket’, tradition-
al Indonesian fabrics woven by hand. It takes one or two months to finish just five metres of fabric and then all the details are sewn by hand. CFE: You have a fantastic profile as a young designer in Indonesia. How do you promote your collections? Dian: Launched in 2008, Jakarta Fashion Week is Indonesia’s premier fashion event. It’s a strong platform for innovative brands who wish to associate themselves with design, style and luxury. Jakarta Fashion Week’s rising prominence is also enabling Indonesia’s fashion industry to enter the global fashion market. CFE: And how have you been involved? Dian: I’ve been honoured to be a part of the Indonesia Fashion Forward programme, an initiative between the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, Jakarta Fashion Week and the British Council Indonesia. Initiated in 2012, it’s a collaborative, intensive programme that grooms a selected group of innovative fashion brands to become regional and even international players
by providing them with the right business coaching and branding strategy. This business capacity support programme is aligned with the Ministry of Tourism and the Creative Economy of Indonesia, British Council and Centre for Fashion Enterprise. This was how I received the opportunity to meet the director of CFE, Ms Wendy Malem and her team. CFE: You are only 24 and have a fashion brand and several stores already. How have you achieved so much already? Dian: Dian Pelangi was founded by my parents 24 years ago, when I was born. From the beginning my parents envisioned that I would grow the business and chose to name it after me, as Dian is my first name and Pelangi means rainbow in Indonesian. Since I was very young I was curious about fashion, the boutique was part of my home and I grew up with textile makers, tailors and artisans. I often watched my mum design clothes and serve customers. After I graduated from Esmod Jakarta, majoring in fashion design and pattern
lots of Muslim clothing was mainly dress with neutral or monochromatic colour. So I strategically began wearing my designs so people could get an idea of my designs. I also use some casual materials such as cotton, viscose and jersey. At first, even my parents did not agree with
CFE: How have you grown your social media following? Dian: By travelling I can capture and get inspired by new things, which translates in my social media and hopefully becomes interesting for other
People look at what I am wearing (on social media) and they ask at the Dian Pelangi stores to get the same dress that I wore. So it is like online promotion for offline sales. ily’s label, I started blogging about clothing, because I like styling as much as I like mixing and matching outfits. My motivation was that I felt that the Indonesian Muslim clothing was too conservative. CFE: You are recognised across the world as a style icon. Is that how you see yourself? Dian: In the past, I found that
my designs because they were afraid that people would not accept them, but after a couple of months it gained popularity more than the previous design and then Dian Pelangi became well-known in Indonesia. CFE: I can see that you work hard as an ambassador for Indonesia and have a great relationship with the press.
people to see. I always keep updating Dian Pelangi social media such as Facebook, blogs, and Twitter and for the past two years I have also been focusing on Instagram. I have also become the main model of the brand on social media as it is easier and quicker to post my own pictures. Uninitentionally, I have become the ambassador of Dian Pelangi .
CFE: Has your social media reach had any commercial impact on your sales? Dian: Yes, it has been very useful. People look at what I am wearing and they ask at the Dian Pelangi stores to get the same dress that I wore. So it is like online promotion for offline sales. For the sales system we are not selling online at the moment because I always update my collection in social media and people come into our store. The followers of Dian Pelangi are not only from Indonesia but also from abroad. CFE: What are your future plans after you have returned from this trip to London? Dian: The future plan is that we really want to expand the brand to the international market. Right now we have tried to internationalise the image of our brands so that they appeal to the global market. And for right now we really want to expand – maybe open a new branch in the Middle East or Europe, maybe in the US.
Fashion Talks
making, I finally joined the family business in 2008. However, back then, most of the product of Dian Pelangi was focused on batik shirts in silk materials with quite conservative designs. So I decided to change it! In the early years of my career as a fashion designer for my fam-
Dian: The most-wanted products from Dian Pelangi have been the hand woven jackets, skirts and pants. From these, I received a lot of recognition from the media, was interviewed by many magazines and received many orders from many organisations. My first fashion show was in Melbourne during the Islamic fashion festival 2008. I was featured in the New York Times and then participated in New York couture fashion week in the US where the show was a success and since then many other invitations keep coming. Interestingly when we promote Dian Pelangi overseas, Indonesian people see it as a sign of success. So this was also boosting our sales in Indonesia. Nowadays Dian Pelangi has 14 branches in Indonesia and 1 in Malaysia.
CFE: Has the Centre for Fashion Enterprise added value to your business? Dian: I’m so fortunate to be part of the one year Indonesian Fashion Forward programme that CFE runs! I have received the right advice from consultants and have learned strategies to expand my business. I believe we really need fashion and business education to be able to grow and sustain a successful label. •
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Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Key facts and what we know now
Fashion designers managing creativity and business Drawing on her experience working with emerging fashion designers in London as Director of Centre for Fashion Enterprise, Wendy Malem sums up Fashion Talks London’s findings and identifies the crucial issues that designers across Europe are now facing.
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1 Manufacturing
It is vital not to under-estimate how little some designers know about manufacturing and factories. DISC in London works with designers to understand making, quality and manufacturing and help those who need to source manufacturing and to find suppliers from all over the world, including Europe and in the UK. Although it is widely acknowledged that creativity and sales drive these businesses, many designers need help with understanding how they can produce the garments they have sold, not only the production processes but also organising themselves internally to make sure they are maximizing their profitability.
2 Internationalisation
3 Legal
A combination of lack of experience and a lack of money means that some designers are ‘putting their heads in the sand’ and not facing up to the need to register their trademarks, domain names and putting a legal partnership in place in order to protect their IP and business assets in home and international markets. Olwsang are the leading legal firm for global
4 Business Planning
Understanding business and creativity, as well as an ability to manage cashflow, is key to enable the designer to be able to make the necessary judgements and decisions. This is a key role that CFE plays in the fashion designer sector as well as supporting their digital needs – a growing area for the development of expertise. Understanding how to be professional and how to be a business is a vital early step for a fashion designer. Business planning allows the designer to understand how to plan ahead, develop access to new markets and appreciate how their creativity can add value to their business.
5 Sales
Small fashion businesses must focus on sales. Early internationalisation of a small business is essential in fashion and accessing and developing markets is costly and problematic, needing guidance to navigate. However much press coverage a designer gets or awards they gather, it is the sales that drive business. Young designers often do catwalk shows yet they don’t actually know how to price up their work because they have never had any sales. This is not good for businesses! Driving international sales is expensive for small fashion businesses and a deeper
market penetration across the EU member states could be more cost effective through cross border cooperation – a key objective for Centre for Fashion Enterprise and the fashion association attendees at Fashion Talks London in November 2014.
6 Style and timing of
business support When designers apply to CFE, DISC & Fashion Scout they have an extensive application form which serves as a checklist of status of the business and intentions for the future. All support has to be at these right times to help the business when they need it and the style and format of delivery needs to be targeted, credible and at the right time if it is going to resonate and be impactful.
7 Digital
There is no doubt that digital is vital to business and that it means different things to different designer businesses. Some have engaged with it for business planning tools and others for e-commerce or interaction with peers and customers. Instagram and Facebook are seen as tools to some designers to sell the clothes, and Twitter to connect and share comment. Some designers have an immense focus on social networking, with millions of followers worldwide, and often use this as leverage to drive sales to physical stores or to drive online e-commerce sales. There were some designers who are wary of the internet and see it as replacing subculture, by making everything so accessible that there is no secret way now for people to build a community of followers anymore. When designers were asked about social media, many of them just thought about Instagram and Twitter – there is an enormous gap
between their knowledge of what is available and what could be done to add value to business. We still have a huge amount of work to be done collaboratively.
8 Connectivity
There are many organisations doing amazing things for small fashion businesses on a small scale in their own domains across Europe. Imagine how the small fashion businesses would gain so much more if these organisations were connected in some meaningful way.
9 Access to finance
Most small businesses are under-capitalised. It can take five years for a small fashion designer business to establish itself and it will need funding to scale up. Access to finance is an issue that the European Commission has recognised and is now trying to tackle. The EC has completed many studies and they see now that there is a real need for a guarantee fund that will help this industry: this will be launching in 2016. With private sector partners, EC are actually planning a guarantee fund which, for the first time, will be targeting specific sectors. It will only be targeting the creative industry including fashion and design. The EC know the banks often don’t understand the needs of the creative industries including fashion, as they speak a different language to that of the fashion industries. So what is needed is some kind of learning programme for the banks involved to help them understand the specific needs of each subsector.
Fashion Talks
To develop sufficient sales to sustain a business, European designers are needing to internationalise fast to establish a global brand recognition and secure sales in international markets – often before they have sufficient brand equity to be able to secure stockists in home markets. As well as developing and delivering differentiated products, designers require international market knowledge and an ability to access global sourcing intelligence and routes to markets. Internationalisation is a key challenge to a European fashion SME.
fashion sector. They are currently working with Centre for Fashion Enterprise in helping designers to register their trademarks in global markets and to understand the key legal aspects of business. A classic issue is a designer with a good friend in the business but no contract in place to protect any aspect of the businesses or entering new markets without having secured their trademark.
•
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Centre for Fashion Enterprise
London College of Fashion (LCF) has an international reputation as a leading provider of fashion education, research and consultancy. The unique portfolio of specialist courses range from short high level skill courses and degrees through to Postgraduate courses like the newly launched Executive MBA Fashion and Masters Fashion Enterprise Creation. Prestigious fashion design courses in menswear, womenswear, footwear and artefact can count J. W. Anderson, Lucas Nasciamento, Ryan Lo, Nicholas Kirkwood and Jimmy Choo amongst their alumni. Combining creativity, innovation and its forwardthinking business and management portfolio, and its relationship with the global fashion and lifestyle industries, is the underpinning of its mission to “Fashion the Future.� www.fashion.arts.ac.uk
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The Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) based at LCF helps London-based designers seek out opportunities with large companies to engage on collaborative projects. We partner the most exciting designer talent with the very latest fashion tech start-ups, to create groundbreaking collaborations across fashion, retail, lifestyle, cultural and digital industries. We help designers and brands innovate their intellectual property assets and meet new global business opportunities. The services we offer include: initiating creative ideas; negotiating project key heads of terms; project planning and management; monitoring project success; and fashion retail/ technology consultancy. www.fialondon.com
The idea of a heightened crossborder European collaboration is really interesting, one which has the potential to shape a powerful pan-European fashion aesthetic for future global competitiveness. It’s something that could demonstrate a much more collaborative view and a true understanding of the resources available to scale. In turn, this would actually help to release the next level of innovation on a less competitive but more collective European scale. - Wendy Malem, Director of CFE
Credits Editor – Wendy Malem Project Manager – Louise Mullane Copy unless otherwise credited – Louise Mullane / Glenn Waldron Design – Lauren Chalmers / www.laurenchalmers.co.uk
Centre for Fashion Enterprise
Join the Conversation #CFEFashionTalks @cfe-london www.fashion-enterprise.com
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