So you want to be in the fashion industry?  You’ve gone to school, you’re on top of the latest trends, or, at the very least you’ve seen every episode of “Project Runway” and you’re ready for the big time.  Not so fast…While most designers fresh out of school would like to have their very own couture line it’s not going to happen day one.  Nor should it.  You may have the design, draping and pattern making skills to create a fantastic line, but you also need the practical skills and business knowledge you can only gain by working for a variety of companies and a variety of people. 

How do you get your foot in the door?  Where should you start looking for the kind of work that might lead you to your dream job?  Yes, it’s cliche, but start at the beginning.  You may be a talented artist or designer, but you might need to start out as a design assistant.  Cutting swatches and creating color boards may be a tedious job, but it’s how most people get started.  Look for openings at some of the bigger companies in your area.  They’re usually a great place to start and a talented design assistant can move up quickly.  Are your skills more technical or merchandising related?  Look for assistant positions in pattern making, technical design or merchandising.  Again, focus on larger companies. Smaller companies are looking for someone with an existing skill set, they don’t have time to train you.  The larger companies usually do. 

Can’t get a job with a brand name label?  Look for private label manufacturers.  It may have less “Brand recognition” but the job functions and opportunities are the same.  Or, think about companies that are apparel and footwear companies, but maybe not what you’d traditionally think of as “Fashion.”  Uniforms are a big business, and much more stable than fashion brands.  Lifestyle brands focus on one or more types of activities such as golf, swimming, skiing, surfing or more.  Orange County, CA has a much larger base of lifestyle brands that Los Angeles, the fashion capital of California. 

Maybe this is taking you away from your ultimate goal of having your own couture line?  Probably not.  Where do you think Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and more got their start?  All of them benefited from a hands-on fashion industry education by working for other companies before starting their own. 

The biggest mistake you can make…Don’t go into an interview expecting them to offer you a head designer or merchandiser position.  Be prepared to show samples of your work, if relevant to the job.  Talk about what you can bring to the job.  If you don’t have work experience, talk about your enthusiasm, your desire to learn, your desire to work for this particular company.  Most interviewers know that someone interviewing for an assistant position won’t have much experience so they want to know who you are and why you will benefit the company, not the other way around. 

Finally, What do when you get the job?  Make yourself invaluable.  Don’t be the person who shows up late, or worse - hung over, to the office.  Be on time, be presentable. Do things you swore you’d never do like get your boss coffee.  Most important, be a sponge, soak up everything you can.  Ask questions, take notes, be prepared and get your work done.  Establish yourself as an asset to your company and to your boss and, when the time is right, ask for an opportunity to do more. 

Looking to learn more, come by our FBI networking event Wednesday, July 28 at the California Market Center - 110 East 9th Street, Suite C786, Los Angeles, CA  90079, meet professionals in the Fashion Industry and start networking your way into a new job. 

Jill Mazur is an apparel industry consultant with Fashion Business, Inc.  email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Jacquelyn, our intrepid Director of Membership, has more activities on her plate than any three people I know. Yet, she and our FBI Board Member, Ernesto Mantilla, along with a group of talented videographers put together some great videos highlighting a number of fashion related activities as well as a tour of the California Market Center.

Click here for a video highlighting last month’s MAGIC show.  Click here for a video from the FBI’s Designer Launchpad fashion show, and click here for a tour of the California Market Center.

More and more people are turning to social media and youtube to spread the word about new products, trends, services and other types of promotion.  If you or your company are looking for a low cost way to create brand or identity awareness, you really need to look into Linkedin, Facebook, MySpace, Youtube and more for ways to inform and update new and existing customers.  Look for upcoming FBI seminars to help jumpstart your online and social media marketing campaigns.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Cal Poly Pomona Students Receive Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Scholarships

Students from the Apparel Merchandising and Management (AMM) department at Cal Poly Pomona won six of the eight Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Entrepreneurial Scholarships awarded annually through the Fashion Business Inc (FBI).

Sophomores Nicole Palumbo, Lynette Salgado, Samantha Gagne and Renee Roberts split an award of $1,000, awarded to students from a four year college who can present the best written business plan, and/ or the best thought through design concept for a line of apparel or accessories.  The Cal Poly team had developed a case analysis of Target’s women’s wear business, proposing a new business plan that would enhance bottom line profitability through improved merchandising and visual display strategies, centered on the concept of ‘My Brand’.

In addition, two other AMM seniors, Trish leBarge and Allie Poon, were honored with Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer scholarships for their outstanding work.  Each received associate membership of the FBI for one year plus $600.00 credit for any of the 80 plus seminars and classes presented at the FBI.  The awards were presented by Ethan Eller, Building Manager of the New Mart.

Other Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer scholarships were awarded to Diana Cha and Sara Caterinicchia.

The Apparel Merchandising & Management department at Cal Poly Pomona is a leading provider of Bachelor of Science graduates for the apparel industry in California, with specializations in apparel production and fashion retailing.  Fashion Business Inc. provides the industry with a range of training, education, consulting and other business services to support its growth and profitability

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Kelli Nelson of FindFashionRep.com to discuss how she came up with the idea for this terrific website.  FindFashionRep.com provides designers and manufacturers with the information they need to make informed decisions when looking for sales representation.  Using the service is very simple.  Kelli has done all the work to make the process as painless as possible.  A designer or manufacturer logs into the site, answers a few questions about the type of product, the target market, price points, etc.  After selecting a territory a list of suitable reps is provided.  The designer or manufacturer can then view the other lines being offered by each rep to help determine if their products would be a good complement to the existing offering.  It may take several tries to find the right rep, but once the designer or manufacturer selects a rep they will receive contact information, price points and product descriptions of the other lines.

What Kelli has done is take the guess work and the leg work out of finding quality sales representation across the U. S.  It’s hard to imagine how much time and energy it must have taken her to develop this database, let alone the time it takes to keep it up to date.  Sales reps are encouraged to update their line lists, price points and other relevant information on a regular basis in order to make FindFashionRep.com the most comprehensive of its kind. 

New FBI member Kelli Nelson got her start in the fashion industry in 1988, while still in college.  Working as an assistant sales rep to the West Coast sales manager of Z. Cavaricci, Kelli learned the ins and outs of representing a major brand to retailers of all sizes.  She quickly moved up the ranks at Z. Cavaricci, acquiring more responsibility and more skills.  Kelli started her own company, In Harmony, in 1995.  Using the knowledge she acquired at Z. Cavaricci, she built In Harmony into a multi-million dollar business.  The one issue that always nagged at her was how to find the right sales representation for her brand.  “It’s not enough to know a few good sales reps,” Kelli said in our interview “it’s about finding the right rep for your product.”  The trick to finding a great rep is understanding the labels or products they carry and who they are able to sell to.  Unless she flew to a specific sales territory she would spend countless hours on the phone trying to locate good reps through recommendations and referrals that were already closely aligned with her target stores. 

 In 2006, Kelli decided to start compiling an extensive database of independent sales reps in the 12 major U. S. fashion markets.  Her goal was to cover all categories of mens, womens and childrens clothing and accessories across all major U. S. markets. Many hours of work went into developing what is now known as www.FindFashionRep.com

We’re excited to have Kelli on board as a new FBI member.  I encourage you to check out her site and services.  It’s a great idea and long overdue.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Cable channel HBO premiered their documentary entitled “Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags” on October 19, 2009. If you missed it the first time, I’m sure it will be replayed soon and is most likely available through some cable providers “On Demand” services. Whatever you do, don’t miss this program! It’s an 80 minute history lesson that everyone in the garment industry needs to watch.

First of all “Schmatta,” or the more literal transliteration “Shma-teh,” is a Yiddish term for a “Rag, or anything useless” and is usually used to describe a worn-out piece of clothing, but it’s generally used to describe any piece of clothing – high fashion to yesterday’s rags. It’s also a great way to introduce us to the history of the garment industry in New York. The documentary takes us from the late 1880’s to present day in New York’s garment center – seven square blocks of some of the most important history in our industry. Immigrants fresh off the boats from Europe trying to make a living cutting, sewing or designing clothes through the Triangle Shirtwaist factory tragedy in 1911 through unionization to modernization of equipment, a thriving and profitable industry and all the way to the outsourcing of most manufacturing related jobs.

Some parts made me laugh – I recognized many similar personalities in the people I’ve worked with in LA’s garment industry. Some parts made me cry – so many talented people out of work, with no prospects, as more and more jobs disappear from NYC. I’m quoting this directly from the Tenement.org website: “In 1950, the garment industry made up almost 1/3 of all manufacturing employment and 1/10 of total employment in NYC. Today, as a result of the shift from a production and distribution-based economy to a service-based economy, the garment industry is 8% of all manufacturing and 2% of total city employment. This is a drop of almost 75%.”

One of the most worrisome statistics from this documentary is the fact that in 1965, 95% of all clothing worn in the USA was MADE in the USA. Today, it’s less than 5%. How do we bring those jobs back to the US? How do we create living wage jobs in New York or right here in Los Angeles for contractors, cutters, sewers, textile manufacturers, trim suppliers and more. Working conditions around the world are a reflection of the consumer’s desire for quality merchandise at the lowest prices, regardless of the cost. Watch this documentary and note the similarities between NYC in the late 1880’s and present day manufacturing plants. The documentary shows examples of abusive foreign manufacturing plants, underage workers and a scene eerily reminiscent of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in modern day India.

The entire documentary is not an expose on horrible labor conditions around the world. There is plenty of interesting historical and political information as well as a number of colorful “garmento” characters from past and present. There are plenty of recognizable faces and a number of familiar personalities. Interestingly, if you go to HBO’s website or even search directly on Facebook, there’s a page where you can post your stories about your personal experiences working in NYC’s garment center. How many of us out there had relatives working in NYC’s garment center 100 years ago? What will be left of it 100 years from now?

Some may place the blame on all of these outsourced jobs on unions, minimum wage, compliance or labor laws, but that’s not the real issue here. After watching the documentary, you’ll know – you already do – what the issues are and what we need to do about it.

Fashion Business, Inc. is asking for your input to help us conduct a study of the apparel, footwear, textile and accessory industries. Specifically, how the recession has affected job opportunities within these industries over the past 12 months.

We’d like to know a few things about your business. This study is anonymous – any information you include about your business will be kept confidential and only used for data gathering purposes. We will be happy to provide you with the results of the study, should you so desire. Please indicate this on your response, along with your email address.

1: What is your sales volume today (in dollars)?

2: Over the past 12 months what percentage of your sales volume has increased or decreased?

3: In the past 12 months, have you had any layoffs or reductions in staff? If so, how many people or percentage of your work force.

4: In the past 12 months, have you hired staff for any existing positions?

5: In the past 12 months, have you hired staff for any newly created positions?

Thank you very much for your time today. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Jill Mazur

Independent Apparel and Business Consultant

Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

I recently read a blog on the New York Times website by A. G. Sulzberger about the shrinking of NYC’s famed garment district. Between rising rents, the economic downturn and the lower cost of goods from foreign suppliers, many long time manufacturers, contractors and suppliers can no longer afford to operate in New York City. Even factories and suppliers to high end, couture labels are finding themselves forced out of their spaces by landlords looking for higher paying tenants.

Could that happen in L. A.? You bet. Take one look around the area near the California Mart, New Mart and Cooper Buildings. Remember the old showrooms and buying offices in the Eastern Building? It now consists of high priced, loft style condos. Other buildings have already headed the same way. Great for the revitalization of downtown L. A., not so good for the many long term tenants of these former, apparel industry related buildings.

And yet, lots of new creative spaces have begun popping up. Many of the new work/live lofts contain retail, design and showroom spaces. Contractors can still be found sewing moderate priced garments; textile and trim suppliers are still thankfully located nearby. Many landlords of the garment district buildings provide financial contributions to support the L. A. Fashion District and have a vested interest in keeping the area a vibrant, creative and economic hub. Back in 1996, the L. A. Fashion District became the first Business Improvement District (BID) in the city. Funded by property owners within the 94 block (yes, 94 blocks!) fashion district, the mission is to maintain a “clean, safe and friendly place to work, shop, do business and live through maintenance, security and marketing programs.” So far, so good. But more needs to be done by the city of Los Angeles and state of California to keep apparel related jobs in the area – even in these economic times.

Could the downturn in L. A.’s real estate market be the boon apparel manufacturers need to stay in Los Angeles? Hopefully. By keeping rents affordable and encouraging contractors, suppliers, manufacturers and showrooms to remain in, or move to the L. A. Fashion District it will go a long way to keep Los Angeles’ second largest industry from shrinking, taking with it the jobs and revenues it provides. Let us learn a lesson from New York’s garment district before it’s too late. Maybe they can learn a lesson from L. A. as well.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org