Phoenix Fashion Week

Every year, Phoenix Fashion Week prides itself in educating the fashion community and general public, whether it be hosting speaking engagements at local high schools, organizing a scholarship opportunity through a polo shirt design contest or working with fashion educators to improve their programs. PHXFW is excited to announce the continuation of our “Business of Fashion” seminar series at Talking Stick Resort from October 6-8th, with an amazing lineup of topics and industry experts! What’s more, Collins College has come on board this year as the official sponsor. Program Chair of Fashion and Merchandising at Collins College, Nicole Bissing, is supportive of PHXFW and believes it will benefit their students greatly.  “Phoenix Fashion Week is helping build the fashion Industry in Arizona, which gives my students career opportunities in Arizona. The fashion industry is small but growing thanks to events like Phoenix Fashion Week and their mentoring of young designers.”  Collins College will also have a booth setup during the seminars for any prospective students looking for more information about attending the school. From topics such as “how to start a fashion line on a shoestring budget” to social media and fashion styling, we have seminars to appeal to every level of learning, from students to professionals. Speakers will include Mercedes Gonzalez of Global Purchasing Group in NYC to local wardrobe stylist Jill Laine and Constant Contact’s own Ron Cates!  Read on for the complete schedule, including details and ticket information!

Thursday, October 6, 2011- “Launching Your Fashion Business”

9:00am-How to Start a Fashion Line on a Shoestring Budget

• Tips and tools for today’s economy to affordably launch your fashion line for success
• “Money should never be an excuse when planning a new line. Empty pockets never stopped anyone from accomplishing a dream, only empty hearts.” – Speaker Mercedes Gonzalez, Global Purchasing Group

10:30am-Retail 101: Boutiques and Retailers

• Everything you need to know about opening and running a retail store (that you didn’t know)
• “I recommend not only taking as many workshops as anyone can but to intern with different companies. Experience is the best education.” – Speaker Mercedes Gonzalez, Global Purchasing Group

12:00pm- Branding your Fashion Business

• Learn how to successfully establish your brand identity for introduction into the marketplace
• “Target markets are demanding the status of wearing a ‘BRAND,’ whether it is on the outside of the item or inside and unseen. We will discuss how to approach the concept of Branding, costs involved, protecting the Brand, overseas black markets and the creativity in creating a meaningful Brand Name for your product.” – Speaker: Laura Sherman, Fashion Business, Inc.

Friday, October 7, 2011- “Socially Fashionable”

9:00am- The Power of Fashionable Email Marketing

• Learn how to successfully market your fashion brand and products with Constant Contact.
• “Some of the most effective marketing tools, like email and social media, are either free or incredibly inexpensive. They also work well together – email is how you monetize social media. In just this one session, attendees will gain expertise that will equip them to “do” email and social media marketing better than some of the world’s most famous brands.” – Speaker: Ron Cates, Constant Contact

10:30am- The Facebook of Fashion

• Learn how to successfully market your fashion brand, business to business, on the Balluun.com network
• “After I first met Brian and he told me about his mission with Phoenix Fashion Week, I realized that we share one goal: Making it easier to connect local brands with leading retailers around the country and ultimately internationally. Engage, connect and trade is as important on the show floor as it is online in these days – this is why I created Balluun.com.” – Speaker: Peter Koch, Balluun.com

12:00pm- Social Media for Fashion

• How to super succeed in fashion through social media
• “My talk “Mastering Social Media For Fashion” will cover the important history of social media, a complete overview of today’s social media universe, best ways for fashion businesses to promote themselves online, and the secrets to succeeding through social media.  At a time when over half of all adults use social media – up from five percent just five years ago – there’s nothing more important to the survival of a business than gaining these skills now.” -Speaker: Jon Gluck, JonGluck.com

Saturday, October 8, 2011- “The Next Level of Fashion- Outside the Box”

9:00am- The Business of Fashion-Legal, Finance, Start-Up 1-2-3

• Get all the tools and information needed for the business side of your brand, including accounting, trademarks and SBA information
• “In The Business of Fashion workshop, participants will gain understanding of the cost of producing a new line, how to use cost to calculate retail pricing, wholesale liquidation pricing, as well as learn the basics of forecasting a budget for their business.” – Speaker: Rosiland Moore, Moore SystemWorks

10:30am- Fashion Styling 101 for Business

• Learn how to succeed as a fashion stylist, including tips and tools in real time
• “I decided to teach this class in an effort to inform burgeoning stylists what they need to know to make an informed decision on whether this is the career they want to pursue, and if so, what do they need to be prepared for to make it in this industry.” -Speaker: Jill Laine, JillLaineStyle.com

12:00pm-Fashion Roundtable: Moderated by Brian Hill

• Industry professionals share their “secrets to success”, (Q&A to follow)
• Alicia Estrada-Stop Staring Clothing, Chris Detert- American Rebel PR, Joanna De’shay-Black Russian Label, Rosiland Moore-Moore SystemWorks, Jon Gluck, Iconic Digital and more!

*To purchase your tickets to any of these seminars, visit: http://bit.ly/qf1w6l. For General Public, it is $15 per seminar and if you book two seminars for the same day, you can book the third seminar for free!  If you are a student, email liz@phoenixfashionweek.com proof of your current enrollment for a student discount code for $5 off!

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Article by Lauren Pfingstag for Phoenix Fashion Week

“The Resource For All Things Fashionable”

www.phoenixfashionweek.com