The Souls of My Shoes - Events, fashion, shoes and shopping

From print to digital: Social Media Week Toronto talks about the @Style evolution of fashion

             

When examining or reflecting on the impact social media has on the fashion and retail industries within the last several years, there is a limited offering of a candid and public forum of discussion in Toronto. Most of the talks I’ve had about this topic are in casual passing with other bloggers or colleagues engaged in the online and fashion worlds. There are many websites that offer analysis of the technological and financial changes in these industries but rarely have I had the chance to see public debate on this topic.

Therefore, it didn’t shock me when the organizers at Social Media Week Toronto offered a panel discussion titled, Having @Style, Social Media and Seismic Shifts in Fashion, I and many others jumped at the opportunity to snatch up the limited free tickets for the Friday morning event which was said to be the hottest ticket in town.

The speakers:

The moderator: Jyotika Malhotra, Editor-in-Chic of Exshoesme.com

Speaker #1: Susan Langdon, Executive Director of the Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI)

Langdon touched upon the mandate of TFI as a support and mentorship organization for budding Canadian fashion entrepreneurs. Her main focus was talking about the guidebook developed by TFI which gives step-by-step instructions on how entrepreneurs can build their brand online. Langdon also highlighted a section of the guidebook that identifies types of people who use social media. They are categorized as the:

  • Creators (fashion bloggers, content originators)
  • Critics (comments on other’s postings)
  • Collectors (gathers shares info, retweets)
  • Joiners (wants to connect with others)
  • Spectators (seekers and readers of content)

Speaker #2: Cherie Federau, Owner of Shrimpton Couture

Cherie’s presentation took a practical and modern approach looking at how social media helped to build a business that reflects her personality and passion for vintage clothing and accessories. She has such a personable, lively and honest manner  which had everyone in the audience smiling and laughing at her frank omission of learning the social media ropes (learning-as-you-go) and her recollection of the many interesting client/customer relationships.

I was so engaged with Federau’s presentation that I ended up jotting down three pages of notes. She provided several useful tips on how people should approach using the Internet when building a business and brand, such as:

  1. The world is your market
  2. Find your voice, be who you are and be true to yourself
  3. Mind your manners
  4. Don’t be elitist
  5. Be consistent
  6. Don’t be afraid of competition
  7. Share the love
  8. Don’t be a baby
  9. Set your boundaries
  10. Expect things to go wrong
  11. Create an experience

These tips are all common sense and self-explanatory driving home the message that interacting with people online is just as important as meeting them face-to-face.

Speaker #3: Alexandra Palmer, Senior Curator of Textiles & Costume at the Royal Ontario Museum

As Alexandra Palmer took to the stage she opened her presentation with the statement, “I work in the past.” Her historical approach to the seismic shifts in fashion was a throw back to my university days.

There was a lot of information to absorb during this portion of the event, but I’ve always been fascinated with history of all time periods and topics, and hearing Palmer describe the progression of fashion throughout the ages was extremely intellectual and educational. I only captured a fraction of what she discussed in this paragraph but she traced the origins of tailoring clothing from moulded plate armour, to the symbolism of the buttons as a status of wealth and the advent of the zipper at the end of the 19th century used as a design element rather than for practicality.

Speaker #4: Lisa Tant, Editor-in-Chief of FLARE magazine

Social Media Week Toronto saved the big guns for last. Lisa Tant, Editor-in-Chief of FLARE magazine, was the final presenter and from the moment she sat down to speak you felt her confidence and insightful nature take over the room. She immediately stated to the audience that “FLARE is a brand and not just a print magazine.”

Tant’s talk revolved around Twitter and its uses for FLARE to communicate with its readers. Initially, she was against using Twitter and like most first-time users (myself included) questioned the benefits of sharing thoughts in 140 characters. Now, Twitter is the most frequently used tool for her and FLARE, and acts as portal for readers to provide instant feedback and to share information. To date, Tant has over 2,691 tweets logged online and has a following of 2,500 followers.

She provided numerous examples of how FLARE and herself use Twitter, and here are some she cites:

  • For FLARE’s 30th anniversary issue, she tweeted about supermodel Daria Werbowy gracing the cover. Coincidentally, the 30th anniversary issue became the highest grossing cover for the brand.
  • Advertising the Assistant Fashion News Editor position with FLARE on Twitter resulted in a flood of applicants from all over the country.

Overall, it was an interesting and thoughtful event. I would have really enjoyed longer, more in depth panel discussion with more audience interaction because there’s a lot to say about how social media is changing the fashion world.

Images taken by Kimberly

Adventures at LG Fashion Week: day five roundup

I didn’t make it to the tents for day five of LG Fashion Week. After four days of back-to-back travelling, writing and analyzing designers' S2010 collections my brain was full and my body was calling for rest.

Therefore, for your reading pleasure, here is a roundup of articles by fashion editors and journalists reviewing LG Fashion Week:

Photo by Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil.

Adventures at LG Fashion Week: day two at the Jason Meyers & Barbie by David Dixon shows

                               

Day two at LG Fashion Week was much lighter in terms of covering actual shows for my blog. I was mainly onsite to review Jason Meyers’s S/S 2010 collection and afterward take the opportunity to sit and enjoy the evening’s shows by David Dixon.

Overly hot (in terms of temperature) and overly crowded is how I would characterize the night. Crudely constructed paper fans were made from the shows’ program handouts as people tried to cool themselves off. Crowd control was non-existent as attendees squeezed and pressed into the seats, aisles and everywhere else in between.

5:00 p.m.       Jason Meyers

I heard 680News interview Meyers over the radio who said the inspiration from his latest collection came from the 1955 film Summertime; a love story that takes places in Italy and stars Katherine Hepburn, a unhappily married woman on vacation who engages in a love affair with a handsome Italian shopkeeper.

Upon hearing this what came to mind is chic Italian style, tailored garments, clean cuts, accessories and soft colours. Meyers said “I wanted to make this very accessible, very wearable, very versatile and very affordable” (Lauren La Rose, CP).

He stayed true to his statement by presenting a variety of colours, cuts and shapes across the board. The collection bounced back and forth between the styles of the 1950s, 1980s and today’s form fitting trends. Models were outfitted in shorts, high waist pants, exaggerated ruffled dresses and abstract prints. At one point the show got a little R-rated when a model’s nipple peaked out of her dress – remember folks this is fashion and nipples popping out do tend to happen (see picture eight).

One garment that stood out for me was a knee length, silver and cobalt blue over the shoulder dress made out of muccia taffeta. I like its geometric shape and how it encircled the model’s left shoulder and back (see image nine).

Tweets from Canada’s fashion editors and journalists provided constructive feedback for Meyers’s collection. Lisa Tant, editor-in-chief of FLARE magazine tweeted the following during the show:

“Prints are always tricky. Pick them carefully and use as an accent not an afterthought.”

“Lesson 2: hire a stylist. An experienced eye acts as a designer's compass. New talents always benefit from training wheels.”

What I appreciate about Meyers’s presentation is he has a bevy of creative ideas and he distributed pamphlets to the audience outlining the price tag and fabrics used for each piece of clothing – rarely seen at any of the shows I’ve attended thus far. This helped me to get a better understanding of his product, the fabrics used to construct each garment and the customers targeted.

Here is a short video clip from the film Summertime, the source of Meyers’s inspiration.

5:30 p.m.       Barbie Reception

I made a brief stop to check out the Barbie reception where models wore David Dixon creations to celebrate the iconic doll’s 50th anniversary. Iced cupcakes were stacked for media to munch on and models coyly smiled and posed for pictures.

6:00 p.m.       Barbie by David Dixon

My friend Renee and I managed to squeeze into the stands to see the Barbie by David Dixon S/S 2010 collection. Transitioning from Dixon’s own line to the Barbie show the song “Think Pink” played from the American musical Funny Face (1957) to set the mood for the crowd, a precursor to the collection that followed. Everything was very pink, very girlie and thus extremely well focused and true to the Barbie line.

Now onto day three of LG Fashion Week.

N.B.: Read Renee’s blog, The Lifestylists for her review of day two of LG Fashion Week.

Pictures taken by Kimberly Lyn. Video from blogTO.