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Have a Fabulous 4th!
By admins | July 3, 2009
Happy 4th of July from 39th & Broadway.com! Hope all of our American readers are enjoying a lovely and long holiday weekend. Here in NYC there is beautiful weather, perfect for a trip to the Hamptons or the Jones Beach fireworks. For you, “I never leave Manhattan” fashionistas, enjoy celebrating in the city and watch the amazing Macy’s Fireworks display just don’t forget this year they are on the West-side. Enjoy!
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What is your “I Quit” fantasy?
By admins | July 2, 2009
(Fashion Flashback - This was originally posted on 9/16/08)
Come on you know what we mean, everybody has one. That dream monologue that runs through your head every-time your boss does something that makes you want to jump out the window. That daydream of walking into your boss’s office and telling her what an untalented *#@# she really is and then storming out the door while “accidentally” knocking her low-fat half/caf frappucino onto her new Balenciaga bag. Oops! Or what about telling the VP how incompetent your boss is and that you’ve been covering for her for the last year! Oh what fun, to dream of a techpack free, pattern free life, to never worry about price-points or crazy fabric suppliers again. Maybe you’re more vengeful or passive aggressive and dream about waiting until the deadline for market week sampling and then letting your employer know that they can no longer take advantage of you by making you work long hour for low pay. And as you exit the office with no 2 weeks notice you smile with the knowledge that they will have no line to show for market. Ouch!! Yes, completely unprofessional but hey its a fantasy and we say whatever gets you through the day! So share your “I Quit” fantasy…
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Brooklyn’s Own Kcoline
By admins | June 30, 2009
If you haven’t yet fallen for designer Kcoline then you must, must visit her Etsy Shop. And if you don’t know what Etsy is well you may have a shopping emergency on your hands. Etsy is like the Amazon/Ebay for fashionistas everywhere who covet handmade one-of-a-kind items. While the site has loads of talented up and coming designers, our current obsession is with Kcoline. Born in France she moved to NYC and is now living and working in Brooklyn. The city is not only her home, but she uses the streets of NYC as her design inspiration. Her pieces are beautifully constructed and clearly convey her unique sensibilities, we particularly like her excellent use of form and her sophisticated color palette. All the items are handmade by her and custom orders are available or as she puts it, “My stuff is mostly one of a kind, like people.” To shop Kcoline on Esty click here.
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Jimmy Choo’s For You
By admins | June 29, 2009
So what’s a shoeaholic to do when an economic recession has left her pocketbook dry? Well, the shoe gods have been listening and miracle of miracles, Jimmy Choo will now be affordable for you. All you need to do is hold out until November which is when H & M will début their exclusive line designed by Jimmy Choo himself. Not only will there be shoes galore but the collection will also include handbags, accessories, and even clothing. Now what to pray for next, Manolos for Target, or Louboutin at Topshop?
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Links à la Mode
By admins | June 28, 2009
Hope you all are enjoying a beautiful summer weekend today. We have a fantastic list of the best fashion posts of the week, from our favorite fashion bloggers better known as Links à la Mode!
- 39th and Broadway: Ever wonder who really determines how your clothes fit? An interview with a technical designer
- alixrose: You have the perfect outfit, but whats the one thing that can keep it from becoming fabulous?
- A Typical Atypical: A deep dive into the reasoning behind shoe obsessions
- Awakened Aesthetic: Affordable ways to bring urban fashion into your decor without getting tacky
- Bobbins and Bombshells: Fashionable History – A look into 1920’s swimwear and bathing suits.
- Bonne Vie: When Bloggers Unite – The Hotel Max Edition
- Decline Designs: Defining Your Personal Style – Having “Go-To” Outfits
- Fasshonaburu: Digging through a high end sales to find purchase-worhty pieces, and tips on how to not go over budget
- Fashion Consciou$: Fashion Flashback – Return of the culottes
- Fashion Pulse Daily: The evolution of the gladiator to the “mandiator”
- Foxie: A little gown guide for your summer wedding
- Hong Kong Fashion Geek: Harnesses – A collection of favorites for every style and price range
- Idiosyncratic Style: A guide for casual wedding attire
- Independent Fashion Bloggers: You just don’t compare…
- Retro Chick : Mary Queen of Charity Shops – Now it’s all over, some final thoughts
- Shoe Daydreams: Are you on board with the latest trend – Over The Knee boots?
- Tatiana Supports the Arts: Indie Designer Spotlight – ALEX&RA, designed by Alexandra Cipparone
- The Bare Skinny: Not everything has to be black and white – inspiration for adding color to your wardrobe
- The Coveted: Shu Uemura’s inspired lashes
- Unfunded: Respect your elders – Rock the vintage!
- Work Chic: Chic hosiery options if you still have to wear them in the summer heat!
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Intro to Overseas Sampling
By admins | June 26, 2009
image via tsuacctnt
Despite our love of all things domestic, especially production, we recognize that often in the apparel business, manufacturing is done overseas. Partially thanks to the Walmartification of America, the price-tag that the average consumer believes reasonable can only be achieved by overseas factories. Add this to the lack of incentives and support for domestic manufacturing, plus zoning and costing issues as we’ve seen here in our own Garment Center, and it’s a wonder anything gets made in the US. Many of us in the Garment Center work for companies - from the small family owned businesses to the giant conglomerates - which use overseas factories for their production. Before any garment gets produced a sample, of course, needs to be made. Now some are lucky enough to have in-house sample rooms, but we’d venture to guess that most do not. One of the most difficult aspects in fashion is getting that very first sample made, which is done by creating a techpack. The techpack in and of itself can be a mind melding task, but once sending it to the factory, ensuring that the sample comes in correctly is a whole other burden. For those of you not familiar with the concept of sampling, the basic challenge here is explaining to a factory worker on the other side of the world who speaks an entirely different language, how to precisely execute your vision via email, often in two weeks or less. Now, the bulk of apparel production and sampling is done in mainland China, although Pakistan, India, Mexico, Cambodia and others are common as well. Regardless of where your factory is located, many of the same issues arise. So we thought we’d list a few random “things to know” about overseas sampling for any of you newbies or fahion students. Feel free to add your own observations regarding overseas sampling in the comments section.
- 1. There’s a reason why their called 1st sample, 2nd sample, salesmen sample, fit sample, pre-production sample, production samples. You will never get a correct first sample. It is a trial and error process that will take several attempts.
- 2. Never forget the time change. One mistake or piece of missing information results in a 24 plus hour delay as the factory will have to email you their questions and then wait to receive your answer the next business day. Otherwise, get used to irate 3:00 am phone calls from China at home.
- 3. Support your overseas counterparts, who do not go by their Chinese names, but rather their “American” names, which are often not names at all, but rather random english nouns and adjectives they chose. It’s good for a giggle and as you will see, many of these ladies are sweethearts caught in the same crazy industry as you, even if their names are Lady, Simmer, Salad, and Birdie!
- 4. If you are at a company that insists on manually sending techpacks/artworks/patterns overseas via FedEx, you need to stand up and demand your sample room has limited server access. Even the most basic IT guy should be able to set this up and it saves the company countless dollars in man hours and shipping in doing so. If not, forget the 24 hour delay mentioned above and consider it more likely 72 hours.
- 5. If your company does not own the overseas factory/ sample room, be prepared for your samples to get bumped. When your factory gets a larger order from a more profitable manufacturer, your requests will take the back burner. Often times you will hear excuses like, “your tech-pack had too many mistakes we couldn’t understand it, or we shipped it but customs held it up, or the fabric mill shipped the wrong fabric, etc” You get the idea. It’s all code for “we had a more important order than yours”.
- 6. Keep a record of everything! Yes, everything. Do not delete old emails, just archive them. And insist when any issues or changes arise that your sample room or factory confirms everything on paper. This is a standard industry “cover your ass” technique which is absolutely necessary.
- 7. Visit, try to get actual face time with the people making your creations. A trip to China can help immensely in creating a smooth work flow and building relationships. However, while regular trips are effective if your communication is good and your corporate system is functioning properly there should be no need for overseas travel during every sample cycle.
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Fashion Queens Dethroned?
By admins | June 25, 2009
This week has brought about speculation surrounding two of the fashion industry’s grand dames. Rumor has it that Vogue’s Anna Wintour and designer Patricia Field may be facing some big losses. It seems the current mantra is out with the old and in with the new. Amid persistent rumors that Vogue is ready for a new editor in chief to freshen up the magazine, comes disappointing numbers this week. For the first time ever, Elle magazine had beaten out Vogue in ad sales! Not good news for Wintour, but excellent news for Elle’s Robbie Meyers.
At the same time, Anna’s not so BFF designer Patricia Fields is facing her own problems. Besides being an innovative designer Fields won acclaim for costume design in, The Devil Wear Prada (based on Anna Wintour as the devil) and the Sex and the City television show and movie. News has just leaked that Sarah Jessica Parker wants her character to have a new look for the Sex and the City sequel and Pat Field is not having it! SJP believes Carrie should be more recession conscience in the sequel and Patricia isn’t budging from her designer look. Whether or not you want Carrie to be more economical or you love fashion film as escapism, perhaps the real problem is Field seemed to have lost some of her design magic in the move from TV to big screen. So what do you think, is change coming to either of these ladies?
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