Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
On the "Cat" walk
Getting my feet wet in this pet product business has been quite a trip . Exposure is great in the right places and so far, my two practice runs--the barking beauty pageant and the FIT fashion show--have been eye openers as to what to expect and what not to expect. The show was actually a graded project for the Event Planning coarse at FIT. The kids did a good job for a herculean task and earned the high marks I'm sure they'll get.
I submitted three pieces by the submission deadline of April 1st and then the deadline was pushed back to the 15th because there weren't enough garments to show, so I submitted one more. I was surprised and somewhat disappointed that of the four pieces I submitted the only one used on the runway was the Sorbet Valentine, which looked beautiful on Zoe, Margaret's adorable miniature poodle and drew oohs and ahs from the crowd. Another disappointment was that we were told garments not used on the runway would be displayed on tables and there would be dog bowls for the designers to put their business cards in. There were no bowls and the displays were so haphazardly arranged that it was difficult to determine what cards went with what display.
All in all, the reaction to my designs was overwhelming and people (though not the "press" that was supposed to be present) praised them and genuinely wanted to know more about their availability.
So now it's back to work adding new styles and upgrading the business plan so I can take advantage of my minority status (woman entrepreneur) and those mighty Obama bucks, and acquire funding to get this real show on the road. Proof is in the pudding and judging by the reaction I've been getting, this is a very saleable product. Sorry we didn't bring the professional camera for Jeff to video the runway, but here's the gist of it using our little digital.
I submitted three pieces by the submission deadline of April 1st and then the deadline was pushed back to the 15th because there weren't enough garments to show, so I submitted one more. I was surprised and somewhat disappointed that of the four pieces I submitted the only one used on the runway was the Sorbet Valentine, which looked beautiful on Zoe, Margaret's adorable miniature poodle and drew oohs and ahs from the crowd. Another disappointment was that we were told garments not used on the runway would be displayed on tables and there would be dog bowls for the designers to put their business cards in. There were no bowls and the displays were so haphazardly arranged that it was difficult to determine what cards went with what display.
All in all, the reaction to my designs was overwhelming and people (though not the "press" that was supposed to be present) praised them and genuinely wanted to know more about their availability.
So now it's back to work adding new styles and upgrading the business plan so I can take advantage of my minority status (woman entrepreneur) and those mighty Obama bucks, and acquire funding to get this real show on the road. Proof is in the pudding and judging by the reaction I've been getting, this is a very saleable product. Sorry we didn't bring the professional camera for Jeff to video the runway, but here's the gist of it using our little digital.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
FIT Fashion Show - April 22,2009
FIT’s Pet Fashion Show will be held on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 from 5:00pm to 6:30pm in the John E. Reeves Great Hall Conference Center.
The show will feature petwear by FIT students and will include 4 Lollypups Petwear tm styles;
Lucky, Misty Heart, Tigger and Sorbet. They will be shown on the "cat" walk (ha, this is too cute) and are to be worn by pro dog models. Press and buyers will be present so it's a good venue to introduce the brand.
I attended the Print Source show on the 14th which is a good resource for knit swatches and inspiration. I did end up purchasing a knitdown of a terrific stripe (something I vowed I wouldn't do--but it possessed the stretchability I have been trying to develop) The rep is Catherine B. Designs and the studio is in London. I was hoping to see more but the show was for the Spring/Summer 2010 season so people are less likely to need knits then. I felt it was worthwhile to establish a relationship with a knit studio though, since I know I won't be able to make all the samples myself much longer, as the business progresses. Next up, we'll see what kind of a response we get at the FIT show and I'll use that with my small business loan application. Time to move up the pace a bit. More to come................
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