http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB112683463725242550-H9jf4NllaJ4npyoan6HaquHm4,00.html
please see above article.
IN ORDER FOR FASHION TO CHANGE AND INTEGRITY BE RESTORED TO IT THERE MUST BE A NUMBER OF THINGS BE ADDRESSED
(1) There needs to be some kind of regulation (like they have in paris for couture) as to who is qualified to be a designer/have a design business.
(2) stronger laws need to be created to protect designers against copyist/knockoff artists.
(3) everything cannot be so expensive for the desgners to stay in business
PR. $5000/month
showroom. $300-500/month+10-15% commission on all sales
patterns ,fabric, samples,venue, hair, makeup,models, shoes,backstage, imaging, casting and the list can go on and on. in a single season you can easily spend $50,000 on a small show and you have'nt yet made a single sale (so you have to sell enough clothes to have $50,000 in profit for you to break even
my question is.... how many independent designers can do this, when the stores who have money to spend would rather watch for three or four seasons before they decide to consider buying the collection. (by then you are already about $300,000 in loses and is already bankrupt or on the verge of bankrupsy with little or no money to produce a collection when the stores do buy..)
(4) there needs to be a new kind of fashion school,
especially in america. One of the things i come to realize is that the schools are tailoring thier curriculum according to the needs of the bigger companies in the industry (i.e. if there is a shortage of illustrators in the industry the schools shift thier focus to creating strong illustration graduates.) there needs to be a school that focuses on teaching ppl how to think like designers, how to succeed in business for themselves, and how to develop an original idea into really great clothing without copying someone else.
(5) designers who are going into business now must develop a new business model for the 21st century, the old ready-to-wear models of the 70's and 80's have become obsolete and anyone who enters the business now using that model is almost sure of failure.
(6) there must be a fair system of coverage and support for the most talented designers. i see a lot of unskilled untalented ppl getting huge amount of press and support while a lot of really creative designers that i know are constantly ignored and overlooked. when this happens ,,
indeed it does make fashion seem boring
there are a lot more things i would like to say but maybe i will post them another time.