The Business of Fashion

In honour of Vancouver Fashion Week, we've decided to talk a little bit about the local industry and give everyone a glimpse into the inner workings of a fashion city that's a little off the beaten path. When you think fashion week, most fashionistas or design fanatics are thinking New York, London, Paris, Milan. The thing is, most large cities have a fashion industry, and therefor a fashion week to go along with it. Both brains behind Fair JAKE did their share of backstage shifts at Toronto Fashion Week while attending Ryerson University, and while TFW is no New York Fashion Week, it was a quick glimpse into the most glamorous 20 minutes a designer will experience every six months. Its kind of like a play, with eight months of rehearsal, no sleep, financing stress, problem solving and recasting... and than a 20 minute show that is somehow supposed to capture all the beauty in what you've pulled and picked and put together so the audience is nothing but amazed at how easy you've made it all look. I love a good fashion show, just as I love a good play. The set, the lighting, the music; its all such a unique and eclectic way to get a glimpse of the creative mind behind it all. And lucky us, here in Vancouver, we have four fashion weeks a year; the VFW Fall and Spring shows as well as the Fall and Spring shows for Vancouver Eco Fashion Week. Both are awesome, and we'll talk a bit more about Eco Fashion Week as it nears.

You may take a look at the lineup for this year's Vancouver Fashion Week and wonder, damn where did they find all these awesome designers from the far reaches of the globe to come to our little ocean city? That thought might take you to my second question: where the heck are the local designers? Where is Dace, and Cherry Velvet, and Plum and Chloe Angus? What about Aritzia, Lululemon, Arc'teryx? We have so many wicked designers in this city, and none of them are showing at Vancouver Fashion Week. I'm so proud of our local talent and put a strong emphasis on buying local, so where are the designers hiding out?

Here is the thing; fashion shows are a great way, as a designer, to get your label into the public eye. However, they can be ridiculously expensive with no gaurantee the people seeing your show are interested in buying your product. You're also showing them what they can buy next Fall while they're anxious to get out of their winter duds and into some shorts and spring colours right now. The fashion industry is pretty archaic in the way it does things, and with a poor economy, the outdated ways can prove to be inefficient to the point of collapse. Those names you recognize that aren't part of Fashion Week? You know those names because they have sustained the test of time. They've used their business savvy and non-traditional thinking to keep their business growing in a time where a lot of companies are going under. Look at any of the companies I listed and you will notice they all have a unique approach to marketing that keeps their label accessible to customers but financially palatable.

You may be thinking, well that's fantastic but how do I learn about these designers if they aren't showing at Vancouver Fashion Week? It really just comes down to being interested in what you are buying. There are tons of local shops around Vancouver, BC and Canada that focus on local labels. Labels that aren't big enough to have a fashion show, or labels that exclusively do wholesale and stay somewhat under the radar. Next time you're shopping at your favourite boutique and try on a super cute dress that fits like a glove, take a look at the tag, go home and take a look at their website. They'll have their collection's lookbook online as well as a list of the boutiques that carry their label - this part of the fashion industry is a little more with the times. And of course, you can keep checking back here because you know when we find another wicked label designed and made in Canada we won't be able to stop talking about it.

I hope that gives you a little insight into the business side of fashion. As a designer, its all about balancing your business strategy with your creative desire to throw all the numbers out the window. It can be a close call sometimes, but the companies that are succeeding are the ones using new technology  and business practices to be more efficient and sustainable. If they're doing it right, it won't be hard for you to find them. And check out Eco Fashion Week - it tends to have more media attention and attendance and their lineup is mostly locally based designers who have a socially and environmentally conscious outlook to their work. And in a city that was just awarded the global Earth Hour capital by the WWF - what could be more fitting?