Fashion For Profit

Thought for the week

He who doesn't understand the history of fashion, is doomed to try to repeat it!!

Beside the importance of travel to any designer/manufacturer, it is also critical to study the history of fashion.

Boxing Day- Put those Xmas sweaters back into the moth balls!

So, no more Christmas sweaters and red jackets for another eleven months. They will be lovingly packed away in moth proof wraps to be opened again next year for the festive season.

With the rush of Christmas and gift giving over, we can now reflect on this past year and look forward with a mixture of excitement and anticipation to what 2007 will bring, both to our personal and professional lives.

For me, 2006 has been a good year in both areas of my life, with much travel. I have always enjoyed traveling and have been fortunate enough to travel to many parts of the world.

I think in order to be a good designer it is important to experience other traditions and observe how other cultures dress. That also applies to the differences within our own country. LA, Dallas, NY, Miami and Seattle all have their own life styles, which is reflected in the type of clothes they wear.  In order to be successful in the apparel business it is important to have a good understanding these trend differences.

This past January I was invited to Hong Kong to present a seminar on branding, and I took along seven local LA designers to show their lines at the World Boutique. Hong Kong is an exciting city, which is the bridge between the old world of commerce and the new world of China.

In February I was invited to consult to a company in Istanbul who were thinking of developing their product to entering the US market. I managed to arrange my flight via  Manchester, England to visit my mother and father, and family.

In May I flew with my husband to the Caribbean to be a guest of my old college friend on her sail boat for a week. This really was a highlight vacation, as it was so relaxing with no expectations or demands.

After our return I was invited to join the LA Mayor's office of economic development on a trip to China with a mixed group of small businesses for a match making trip. China was exciting, interesting and depressing all at the same time.

In between I was in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas (twice for the Magic trade show), presenting a variety of seminars.

For pleasure I managed to get two other trips in, one to Spain, where we visited my brother and his wife at their new holiday apartment on the island of Majorca. Then last November I flew to beautiful Hawaii to visit my son in Maui, and then onto Kauai to stay at a friends wonderful home on the front of the ocean. This trip was a girl's retreat with 9 other women!

Both my husband and I are very fortunate to have friends in many wonderful parts of the world and could spend our time flying around to visit them all.

As for 2007 travel plans. On the 10th January I fly again to Manchester, UK to visit my aging parents. I am taking my daughter as she has not seen her grandparents for some time, plus she has just graduated from nursing school and so this will be her graduating gift before she begins work.

At the end of January I will drive to San Diego to present a seminar at the ASR trade show and then fly to Sacramento to present a grant application to the State. February we will be presenting five more seminars at Magic in Vegas.

Later in February I have been invited by the French Embassy to fly to Paris to be part of a panel discussion on protection of intellectual property.

There are other plans on the books but I will elaborate on them through the year.

To be continued....

Holiday Fashion Trends

Unfortunately, it's that time of year again when all those red jackets with wide shoulders from the mid 80's are dragged out of the closet, along with those thick synthetic knit sweaters with reindeer's, Christmas trees or poinsettias, or in the most outrageous instances of fashion no no's, all of the above laced together Christmas lights.

Oh! How I hate to be in the same room with them. It really is the worst of American fashion and should be outlawed by an act of congress. Let George do something really useful!

My thoughts on Saturday afternoon contemplating this evenings outing to an annual gathering.