Building the Boutique

Well, here it is folks. This is something I’ve been waiting, hoping and working for since last summer when I first started — my first tears in a fashion magazine.  Our Love Story editorial (check it out here) is featured in the September fashion themed issue of Bunker Hill, a downtown LA based magazine. We actually shot the story at a historic hotel in DTLA earlier this year.  And while there are a million online fashion magazines (and great ones at that!) we’re all pretty proud that an actual print magazine was the first to pick us up — check out their distribution list and pick up a copy if you’re in town!

Be sure to browse through the issue, especially pages 43-51!

Okay, this editorial was totally not called Candyland; I don’t want to give too much away since we’re trying to get this spread picked up by a fashion magazine.  For now I can only give you a little taste (no pun intended) of the candy themed shoot I styled a few weeks ago.  We had two awesome models — Zara at Mi (from our Spring Frills shoot) and Nereo, who is unsigned but totally should be signed.

I pulled tons of tights, body suits, gloves and booty shorts from WeLoveColors.com and mixed it in with bandeaus and shapewear from Victorias Secret to keep the lines clean and the focus on the pops of color.  The creative team spent over an hour deciding what looks and colors should coordinate with what outfits — this was probably the most difficult part of the shoot!  I’m so indecisive; not the best trait for a stylist!  But planning things out in advance always makes a shoot go MUCH more quickly (although we were still there for 12 hours, yikes!).  Can’t wait to show you all the full spread!

Well I’m still exhausted.

Last Thursday afternoon I returned home from my (second) trip Las Vegas this year….and my first trip to MAGIC! Keep in mind, this was something I was waiting for since I first started planning my boutique back in 2007, and because of poor timing I was always unable to make the convention (we would always take a family trip to Vegas a week or two before the the show — it was like rubbing salt in a wound!).

I pulled in to town late Monday night and left bright and early on Thursday, so I only had two full days to experience the show. And even in two days, I didn’t get to experience everything, not even the half of it. On Tuesday I met with a client, a really fab girl from Wisconsin who has great taste in clothing and is opening a shop, both online and off, in her hometown. We spent about 6 hours at Project, and still didn’t get to see everything!

And WWDMAGIC was great for the juniors market and more affordable contemporary wear.   This is where my favorite booth from the entire show was located — the Desigual booth.  They not only gave away AMAZING huge tote bags to everyone at the show, and served wine and cheese to guests, but they also had rotating stage where they painted peoples clothing.  I promise it was cooler than it sounds.

MY QUICK TIPS FOR MAGIC

1. Try to stay the whole three days – it’s cheaper not to go down on Sunday, but boy do you miss out on a lot if you’re not in town the first day!  There’s just way too much to see.
2. Do your research ahead of time — log onto MagicOnline.com, find out EVERYTHING that’s going down, and map a plan of action.  Because MAGIC isn’t limited to exhibitors, there are also classes, speakers and parties.
3. Wear comfortable shoes! — it amazed me (but didn’t surprise me) how many women went to this show in huge wedges, trying to look cute.  Well no one looks cute when they’re limping!
4. Scope the place out the day before – especially Mandalay Bay; it’s not easy to find their conference rooms, we had to walk about a mile through the hotel just to do so.  It’s always a good idea to go a day before the show starts and get an idea of where everything is, that way you won’t be late for any appointments.
5. Never buy water inside the convention area — this should have been my number one tip!  Project was selling tiny bottles of water for $3; no thank you!  If you walk outside to the hotel gift shop you can get a large bottle for the same price.  Better yet, visit one of the CVS’s or Walgreens on the strip and stock up at an even cheaper price.
6. Get a tote bag early – and leave your purses at home.  On Tuesday they ran out by about noon.  But luckily we were able to find bags at some of the designer booths.  You’ll definitely need it for all the line sheets you’ll be carrying around.
7. Stock up on magazines on your way out – at MAGIC they give away tons of fashion magazines (Vogue, Nylon, etc) but if you can, don’t grab them until you’re leaving because they really weigh you down.
8. Take advantage of the free transportation — but grab a map first because it’s confusing!  MAGIC offers free car  and shuttle service between Mandalay Bay, the Convention Center, and the hotels on the strip, which saves a LOT of money in gas or cab service.  (Just don’t believe the “limo” hype; those are only for so called VIP’s)

Tip number nine: go to Jean Phillippe Patisseree in the Aria hotel (or Bellagio) and get one of these yummy raspberry macarons! Terrible service, but delicious desserts!

Q: When is a good time to start ordering your clothing? And I would like to have some brand names, but I really don’t have to; I would really like to just have some really nice trendy clothing. Where should I begin to look?

A: Well, as a (future) buyer, you hopefully have at least a few lines in mind already. And if you don’t, it’s a good idea to get out there and start shopping (in your city and outside of it), reading fashion blogs and fashion magazines because it’s just as important to know what the latest brands are, and what the celebs are wearing, as it is to know the latest trends.

When you’re ready to buy, you’ll be visiting fashion showrooms and trade shows to see the collections you’re interested and hopefully, find more you love. There are TONS and TONS of showrooms in LA and NY (and a few in other parts of the country) and generally, showrooms tend to be consistent with the types of lines they rep, so when you find one line you like, you just might fall in love with a few other lines with the same sales rep.

Trade shows are also a good option for people who are scouting out new brands, and it’s a lot less intimidating than walking into a showroom for the first time. I’ve mapped out some of the major ones, and how to navigate them, in my post Fashion Trade Shows & Showrooms .

As for buying lead time, generally the window for buying starts about 6 months ahead of season; next week they’ll be showing the Spring ‘12 collections at MAGIC in LV; it will also show in LA in October, and in NY somewhere in between. When the window closes differs per brand. It’s safe to place an order during that time, but it’s also good to consider immediates in this economy — and trust me, the designers have more immediates these days then they did when I first started.

Definitely check out the California Market Center calendar of events — this is a pretty good guide as to when certain seasons start showing.

For the month of July I’ve been very proud to be the ModelWireNetwork.com stylist of the month! The honor included a mention on the main page, a bio, and a Q&A on their blog. I was completely caught off guard when I found out I had been chosen in late July; it’s the first time I’ve been recognized for my styling, and it feels great! I love MW & MWN anyways; it’s basically a classier version of Model Mayhem (cleaner interface, less bugs, higher end models).

Another satisfying part of being a stylist is watching the careers of the models you worked with early on grow. Two models I tested last year have signed contracts recently, including Kira Overin (above) who is a new face at Wunder Management — they even put one of the photos I styled on their portfolio page, which is always cool to see! Another model I’ve worked with several times, Christina, has a contract with an agency as well. I recently worked with Bryan Toh and David Karnofsky on this hipster style shoot for her portfolio:

Over the past couple of years I’ve spent so much time explaining buying concepts that, I feel, are more complicated, that I’ve kinda forgotten to cover the very basics. Which is why I’m glad these readers asked these particular questions.

What exactly is a Showroom for fashion? and how does a designer do showroom and who do designers invited to these showrooms?

It’s similar to any other showroom, whether it be for cars or furniture, but for buyers and not retail customers. The sales reps operate the showrooms, not the designers themselves. The current line is housed in the showroom, and it’s where buyers go to review the collections and write orders (there are no invitations; you call the sales rep and make an appt. or walk in if it’s market week). Some showrooms are corporate and some are multi-line and rep several different collections.

I am looking to open my own boutique in Spring 2012. I have attended a few seminars, did LOTS of research online, etc. but, still cannot figure out if my store is not open yet and I haven’t applied for my tax ID, etc. how and where do I find places to purchase my inventory? I don’t necessarily want to carry “name” brands, just affordable, different clothing and accessories. I would love to attend some of the trade shows too but would I be able to without actually having my store open yet?
It looks as if you really know your stuff about this industry and would appreciate any help you can offer!

Well you can’t operate business with out your business license, tax ID and wholesalers license. You can definitely work without your store being officially open, but you’ll probably need to show some proof that you’re working on getting it open, like a letter of intent or a deed or something of the sort. Some trade shows are more strict than others; if you want to get into MAGIC, you will definitely need these things.

It sounds like the garment district in downtown LA is a good place for you to start, based on what you’re looking for. Definitely check out the trade shows and showrooms too; you can find some affordable gems there as well. Look into Coterie and Intermezzo in NY, D&A and Select in LA. Best of luck!

Here is the latest shoot I styled, and actually the last shoot I’ve done this year (so far).  We shot this back in February at Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles.  That hotel in particular is really interesting — I used to live a block away from it when I was attending FIDM, and I passed it every single day yet never knew much about it.  It’s very old, it was built in the 20s I believe, and the entire hotel has a Moroccan theme to it, so it was a great backdrop and an excellent muse.

This was my 3rd time working with an agency repped model, and doing so is always exciting because you really feel like you’re making a bit of traction in the industry.  This gorgeous red head in particular is Sarra from Otto Models.  Hair and make up was done by the fabulous Dari  A. So, who also worked on menswear shoot at the Getty museum just a few weeks before this.  My photographer Vanessa Cabrillas wanted to do something sexier this time around — everything we did beforehand was so very demure and we definitely needed some variety in or portfolios.  I always try to keep things tasteful though; no denim thongs or pasties.

I’ll admit, this one is a bit racy!!

Absolutely LOVE this Ghita dress we pulled from Chic Little Devil!

I’m MAJORLY looking forward to styling again later this summer – - since I started last summer, I think this is the longest I’ve gone without doing a shoot, but I’ve had enough on my plate with the boutique, starting the dessert tables business and working on the bridal magazine.  Now I’m bursting with millions of ideas for the magazine cover.  Can’t wait, so stay tuned!

So recently I’ve been getting a lot of questions about finding inexpensive merchandise and merchandise from indie designers, both of which are tough right now, especially the former, I feel.  Keep reading for a few of my tips and tricks!

I mean how do I reach out to the indie fashion designers? I want to start an online store somewhat like ModCloth.com; this is a huge dream of mine and I haven’t found anything helpful online until now.

Most of the brands on Modcloth aren’t even indie designers.  They carry a lot of the same labels you see every where else (including Ooh La Luxe) , they just choose pieces that reflect the vintage pov. As far as I know, there isn’t one spot where they all congregate, besides etsy or sense of fashion, or a similar site.  I would recommend following indie fashion blogs and magazines like Lula and Dujour, and emailing the ones you like directly, or try to go through some sales reps/showrooms (like AltitudePromotion.com) and trade shows the traditional way.  There are tons and tons of great emerging brands, even if they aren’t necessarily “indie”.  Hope that helps!

I want my store to offer trendy quality clothes at affordable prices but most of the brands are super high.  Do you happen to know of any brands that carry nice trendy clothes with good quality material at affordable prices not only for us but for the customers?  How do I go about purchasing these garments or shopping online to view there lookbook?

Are you me?  I’ve been facing this issue recently, more so than ever — and I could write an entire blog post just ranting about how over priced such basic designs have become these days (I mean $120 for a plain jersey blouse, really??).  For an online source I would recommend Joor.com, but honestly, most of the brands there are expensive too.  I’ve found that the best way of researching inexpensive lines is to work backwards — go to boutiques that carry cute clothing that is within your price range, write down the label names, and research them when you get home.  This can work online too sometimes — usually you can find one inexpensive label and find out who’s carrying it, and often times that store will carry similar lines at the same price points.  If you find out who represents a line, it never hurts to ask them who else they represent as well.

How do you go about dealing with vendors when not having a physical store? How can I handle this?

I get asked this a lot, and it’s one of the best questions an aspiring buyer can ask. I just communicate with them as any other business professional would at first  — I tend to email them first and if they don’t get back to me I’ll give them a call.  It’s tougher in some ways when you’re online; there will be rejection from certain brands that are already saturated, and once in a while some just won’t sell online at all.  It also takes time to establish trust, especially if your website isn’t designed yet — a lot of labels want to make sure they’re associated with a certain level of “quality” and want to know what your site will look like, and will judge you on the design.  Generally, the less expensive the merchandise is, the easier the line is to work with.  Anything that comes prepackaged shouldn’t be a problem.  If it’s a very well known brand, like Alice & Olivia that you’re chasing after, I would just recommend finding an up and coming alternative!

NOTE: If you’ve sent me an email, or left me a comment, and I haven’t responded yet, it’s probably in my queu!  Which is pretty backed up right now, so I apologize for the delay.  I will get back to you soon!

Much belated post here!  As I mentioned in my last post, when my photographer friend Nes and I were in LA for market we also stopped by Chic Little Devil, which is a style house, a PR firm, and a stylists dream.  The style house houses thousands of amazing designer pieces available for rent — they’re stocked with an INSANE amount of McQueen, as well as a variety of high end and mid priced labels in between.

This place is amazing because, as anyone who’s ever been a start up stylist knows, it’s nearly impossible to get clothes for shoots — especially designer clothes.  CLD lets you rent anything you want at a percentage of the retail cost.

These “Monster” boots by McQueen were absolutely INSANE in person!

We also made a trip one floor down to the CLD pr firm — they represent amazing designers like Ines De Santo, Dolly Couture, Anne Barge, Spanx and so many more.  On top of that, all the girls are super friendly and accommodating — something you don’t always run into with LA PR firms.  Isn’t their lobby amazing?  Love the decor!  Check them out online.

Another fun trip to market under my belt. Last week I headed down to the LA Fall ‘11 show with my friend and photographer Nes (she took the amazing pics for this post!).

Our first stop was Focus in the CMC, where we hoped to do some networking with up and coming LA designers.  The response was…interesting to say the least.  Some were interested, didn’t seem to understand how press and photo shoots work, which is a pity for any new designer.   I hadn’t been to Focus in a while, so I was surprised to see larger lines like Frenzii and Lani up there.  Lani is a line I’ve had my eye on for a while; they have super cute pieces coming up this Fall, but I was majorly turned off by their sales rep, who seemed SHOCKED at where we were from (believe it or not, people do wear clothes in Bakersfield), and was pretty useless in general.

We ultimately ended up running out of time, since we had an appointment later that afternoon at Chic Little Devil Style & PR House (more about that later!); the hours seemed to fly by, and we only had a chance to walk through Select and Transit.  As for trends, we didn’t see anything ground breaking or daringly different from last fall.  Lots of edgy strappy shoes and clunky wedges.  But I am excited for the new Linea Pelle dylan bags, which are basically the same but with chevron stitching — absurdly cute!

Oh and I can’t not mention the food!  We spent a little bit of time in Little Tokyo — I can’t believe all of those cute shops and yummy restaurants existed during the 2 years I spent in LA, and I had no clue about them!  We dined at a sushi restaurant down there, and later headed over to Four Leaf Tea Room (check them out) for some Almond milk boba – delish.  Four Leaf specializes in crepes, but has a wide array smoothies and drinks too with unique flavors — I honestly wanted to try everything on the menu, and the shop is so cute I almost wanted to camp overnight there!

Photography credits: Nes Photographs