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Lesson Info
Find Your Following
All right, so finding your following. We talked a little bit about this, in terms of the outreach, but here are some definite tools for reaching out to them. The first one is the platforms, so the social platforms, that you can connect with people on, but then, remember that the work that you're doing, this is more, we talked about, we're talking about display, these are ways that you can show your work, and connect with people by showing them work. So we have the print editorial, layouts in a magazine, fashion shows, event-driven, films. More and more, there are online, people are using that as a way to show their work. And then installations, like museum or gallery installations. If you're thinking about your fashion in those terms, you can share with people very unique things. So for instance, the fashion show is a spectacle. It's about theater. I just actually heard, I can't remember where, but there was a fashion show for cosplay. I can't remember the name of the company, but she ...
did this great show, and she's doing clothing based on cosplay. So just for every day. And I just thought that was amazing, because the theatrical experience was great, but you connected with the clothes on a different level. And then with films, this could be great for that very simple garment that's all about the special hidden things. We talked a little bit about picking these little details, and maybe doing things inside the garment that only the customer knows about. I saw this great video where it was all this woman getting dressed, and it was beautiful. There was sun streaming through the window, and she had, it was like she was getting ready for work, and she put things on, and the camera work was amazing. It was all about the softness of the fabric, and the beauty of the buttons, and how it was made. And you wouldn't see that coming down the runway, and even in the final one, the installation, you might not see that if it was displayed on a mannequin. So that's a useful tool that's becoming easier and easier to avail yourself of, that you can use, because we can all do it now. And then installations. This is, I call it the study mode, because you can actually study a garment. On display, you can walk around it. You can look at the details and really spend some quality time with it. All right. And when we talk about platforms, we talked about social media platforms, and I just have a couple of examples here. Isaac Mizrahi is probably one of the most fun designers around, and one of the things that I really like about his approach is that it's not just about selling the clothes. It's about everything associated with this lifestyle that he's created. And so some of you might be familiar with the DVD of one of his fashion shows, and it captures that whole process. So he's sharing with you that process of what he goes through, not to just put out a collection, but to do a show. And it ends with him sort of going to the newsstand to see the reviews. This is a real, real process. So it's that insider, behind the curtain kind of feeling. So he realized the important of that. Books, How to Have Style. So formulas. You're empowering your customer with information that you have. And then, just for fun, this, I just thought was brilliant. It's actually a collector's set of three comic books, with his star muse. And you get to see the fashion, but you get to, again, approach a whole different audience. And it's fun, and it's playful. He's also has a cabaret act. He had a TV show, where he would interview people, again, all about lifestyle, and then incorporate fashion. Jay, I have a question about that, because obviously, he has sort of a bigger brand, a big audience, and so he's able to kind of do some of those things, which could be intimidating for people starting. What are some of those elements, behind the scenes, is something that people love? That reality. What are some things that all of us could be doing to start showing that behind the scenes? We all have one of these, our phones. I have, with my students, for social media, one of the things I'm trying to help them do, some of them do it automatically, 'cause some people are really savvy, but thinking about being your own documentarian. You're saying, I'm taking on this project, and I'm going to snap pictures of my process, so that they see the muslin, they see the flat patterned, and then they see the garment. Then they see the customer in the garment. Maybe the customer sends you a picture of them at an event in the garment, and you have a story. You can do that with videos, too, like tools like Periscope, and things like that, where you can do little snippets that allow people insight into your experience. And it could be very simple, very personal. It doesn't have to be super polished, often, because it's in real-time, for many of these tools. So I would encourage you to think about, we take it for granted that we do all these steps, but the minute you see them, and can share with them, they feel like they're on the journey with you. And it's great, 'cause you get feedback, and then when people see finished work, or you an announce an event, they've built a, even if it's just virtual, online, you've built this relationship with them. So yeah. I was just gonna say, one of the places that I love to look for inspiration, it's not necessarily, even, for costuming, this is for inspiration, is I love to look at places like Indiegogo, and Kickstarter, Pinterest, of course. But the two, Indiegogo and Kickstarter, where people are actually trying to build a business, and a lot of times, you can see the process that they go through. Exactly, that's part of the perks, where they share with you. Right, right, and I have found that really informative, to find out how they struggle, or what their successes are, and then monetarily, you can look to see, are they on the right course? Are people backing them? It's a great example, because, especially about that aspect of, are people connecting with it? Because you wanna ask yourself, would I back that project? And the same thing comes from what you're sharing online, even in your process, not necessarily backing you, but saying, would I go to that person's fashion show, or would I go to that person to order a dress? Again, just examples of the different processes. So the runway experience. We talked about films, on a flip side, not just making your own films, but you should kinda study what's out there. There is this huge influx of fashion documentaries, which are amazing, and a lot them are available on Netflix, and things like that. And then the exhibits. This is Viktor&Rolf at the MFA, in Boston. And all these mannequins were positioned so that you can walk around them, 360. And there's so much incredible detail. I have some close-ups, and the long shots. But you can really spend time with them. All right. Just very quickly, we'll run through these. What social media platforms is your customer on? Do they do Pinterest? Do they just Tweet, 'cause not everybody, they may be on everything, but which ones are they really active on? What's one of her favorite websites? And this could be a question that you pose online to actually find out, what's the question that everybody, the website that everybody goes to? And you can make it more specific for this, for evening wear. What print magazines does she purchase? They say print is dead, but magazines are a very important part of fashion, and they're becoming more and more about the imagery, and collecting magazines. They're not as disposable. They're becoming less disposable. Does she go to fashion shows? Is this something that she would actually do, go, and sit, and watch a fashion show? 'Cause not everybody, that's not everybody's cup of tea. How do you think she'd respond to a fashion film? Because from your experiences, what kind of fashion films do you respond to? And how do you think she'd respond to a fashion installation? So again, putting yourself out there, and in their head, about how they would respond to it, because we could have the best of intentions, and be very creative, and thinking, wow, I did something great, but how would your customer respond? And also, McKenzie, you brought up that you were kind of your own customer, your target audience. Not everybody has that same, for some people, it's somebody very, very different from themselves, so getting into that place is very, very key. For you, you can say, what do I like? And then I'm gonna have a following based on that. But for someone else, you wanna say, who am I serving, and how am I improving whatever it is that they're doing?
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It's great to see a course with down-to-earth ideas relating specifically to fashion industry.
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