BOOHOO.COM

Every girl enjoys browsing the net for some online shopping but I’m not one of them as I despise having to send things back if they don’t fit or they end up looking cheap and not as amazing as it did on the website.  I’ve never got used to this trend as I more enjoy walking around shops, trying things on and if I’m in a market, haggling lol.  Whilst talking to my friend yesterday afternoon about getting some nude pumps, she recommended I go on http://www.boohoo.com…so I then question ‘have you bought shoes from there before?’…she replies ‘no’, which I then burst out laughing and say ‘so why you want me to go on there?’…I get a lot of  business through referrals as women have worn my dresses and told their girlfriend about jewel, so why refer me to a site you’ve never used?

Anyway all things happen for a reason…I’ve heard of BOOHOO before and seen their adverts around so I’m guessing their similar to ASOS and may have some nice things so I go on their site.  Browsed the shoe section and didn’t see anything I liked, the shoes looked cheap – no, not only because they were priced cheap lol – but they actually looked like you could wear them for a week and the straps would fall off.  So as I’m on the site already, I go onto the dresses section, and guess what I come across?????  Yup you guessed it a design that looks the same as one of mine!!!! SCREAM, KICK, PUNCH and fall into DEEP LAUGHTER!!!!!

I actually can’t believe it, this dress is a spitting image of the one I made in 2009, same COLOUR, same DESIGN, different MODEL, different WEBSITE!!!

I think this is the reason, small designers like me don’t get far in the fashion world…our ideas are taken by bigger companies and sold for a cheaper price to the mass market – so unfair…why not buy the design off me, why not give me a senior designer job at your company?? Ok, I guess it’s easier for you to just copy as you know  I don’t have the time, nor the money to take you to court…boohoo (crying as I type, lol)

On a serious note, this is a serious matter…I do advise people to copyright their designs and ideas.  As a designer I know how hard it can be to remember these little things and obviously the cost of copyrighting everything you do is NOT CHEAP!!  There should be small business rates for things like this to make it easier for small businesses to protect their ideas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being inspired from other designers or people but this is just straight up copying.  I have to give it to BOOHOO, they did try to innovate the design by putting a bow at the back of my design aka their dress but still I think the similarity is still TOO MUCH!!

For more info on how to copyright, trademark etc go to the following sites:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary

http://www.bl.uk/

http://www.briffa.com/design.php

NEW YEAR…NEW YOU?

The New Year always seems to be a starting point for a new beginning, a new you, a new style, a new makeover, a new attitude, a new house or a new partner…?  Unfortunately for most things (that money can’t buy) they can never be new again…you can’t buy a new husband but you can get a new dress!  However, you can renew your relationship with your husband as well as revamp your old dress, with little or no money by being intelligent and innovative.

Everything is wonderful when things are new…new is great, it gives us motivation, it gets us excited and makes us want to work, it makes it seem we have a new meaning to our lives.  What we must understand is that new can quickly get old…the new skirt you bought yesterday is old today.  I think my secret to keeping things new and fresh is not to get more new things but to revamp, reorganise, reuse, reinvent everything in your life – changes don’t have to be drastic, they can be small and effective.  You can’t just give up on something/someone because it’s no longer new; refresh your life, relight old flames…restructure your business, reorganise your team – change is the only thing constant in this world, those who adapt to change are the ones who survive.  You can make your life, love and business seem new everyday by trying different things, being innovative and inventive to give the old flame a new spark!!  Only because something is old, doesn’t mean you have to give up on it. 

Fashion isn’t new, it’s constantly changing, the clothes we have today have been made and worn many decades ago…E.G. harem trousers, my mum, who is in her 40s wore these as house trousers as a teenager in the 1970s.  Designs get recycled and redesigned or are made with different materials to make them look different and modern.

Clothes and Coffee under one roof

From The Forest Café, (Forest Hill) has been open for just over 3 months.  The café sells lovely hot drinks, cute looking cakes, biscuits, croissants and serves tasty toasties and full English breakfasts throughout the day.  Apart from being a cake lover, I also am a clothes horse!! So what I love most about this unique café is that the owner has diversified and began selling vintage clothing in the basement of the shop, known as ‘From the Forest’s Secret Market’, which is decorated with beautiful forest art on the walls. 

The ‘Secret Market’ is open to customers everyday and offers great vintage pieces for men and women.  So if you’re coffee and cake addict but also have a love of vintage clothes then this café has something for you!

Fashion Elevations Workshop

I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Fashion Elevations workshop hosted by ACS Kings & Queens.  I’ve never seen myself as a public speaker however I do know what I’m speaking about when it comes to fashion business start-ups.  I’ve been through the process and I know how difficult it can be, however it can be done!  With motivation, determination, commitment, perseverance, a good team and support you can do anything you put your mind to.  I started off not having a clue about the fashion industry…the only thing I knew was that I wanted to make my own dresses.  Through many ups and downs, trials, errors and change of business plan etc I have developed a running business.  

The workshop had a good turn out of young people who were at first glance made me quite nervous.  As I walked past a young girl that was less than 4ft tall she asked a staff member if I was a model…as flattering as this was I thought to myself, when she grows up she’ll find out that I’m not that tall!  

I made a 5 page slide presentation which showed what #jewelclothing was about, how we started, developed, who we work with and where we are now. I wanted to keep it short and sweet so I didn’t lose their attention.

The kids were firing questions left, right and centre but I kept my composure and answered clearly and thoroughly.  At the end they gave me a big applaud which made me feel great as they seemed to like what I was about or maybe because I didn’t stutter! Lol

As I was leaving I had a whole heap of girls asking for my advice, email address and picture with them…I really hope I inspired them to follow their dream, if not I hope I motivated them to do well in life as a young lady.

London Fashion Week #LFW

Saturday 18/09/10 Betty Jackson and Osman

There is a huge buzz around fashion week, especially as it showcases the new trends and collections for the forthcoming season.  Fashion in London is extremely divers and this was apparent at Somerset House (which I must add is an amazing building), where there were people wearing the most sophisticated to outrageous garments; each making their own fashion statement.  Fashion week is a platform for designers to showcase to international buyers, give sell their garments at majorly discounted prices to the public, oh and for designers to get inspiration.

I attending the London fashion weekend, a few years back when it was held at the V&A and I must say I do prefer Somerset House more as each designer is allocated a room to display their designs which makes it more personal and professional than having a huge room filled with stalls.  

I suppose the only downside to having #LFW at Somerset House is that there is less of a buzz, the venue did not look busy and the exciting atmosphere of looking around wasn’t there due to the huge building and the closed rooms.  Only when we were lining up to go and see a catwalk show, masses of people came out of the woodwork.

Will you marry me? Yes… No… Maybe…

This year has been so many weddings amongst people my age…early 20s lol which has opened jewel to a whole new market!! So far we have made bridesmaid dresses for 4 weddings and to be honest I think I love the wedding market.  Weddings have two benefits for jewel…1) we charge more for dresses as we use more expensive materials and it takes longer to make a dress and 2) we make more than one dress!!  However the downside is brides are much more precise in what they want and so the dresses have to be perfect as they have a vision of what their bridal train should look like which puts pressure on us to make sure we design and make brilliant dresses and also although it has nothing to do with business…I feel like I should be getting married!! I had my wedding dresses designed from when I was 8, and now I’m 25 (almost 26) but no prospect of getting married anytime soon! As much as you want the perfect dresses for your day you need to have the perfect partner for life…so until then I’ll wait.

Last night I met a bride-to-be and her partner and she was absolutely beaming from ear to ear. She loved the bridesmaid dress so much she tried it on herself!!

 

On another note I know some fantastic guys who are also in this business of weddings and they make made to fit suits. MyTailoredSuit do great suits for both men and women, I can vouch as I got one made for myself a few months ago.

Traffic Blocking

Request 1) wearing blue and white striped fitted dress with low back going to a friends gig (Nadine Charles)

Walked out my door and just before I’m about to cross the road a man drives his car past me, goes around the round about and stops traffic (although there was hardly any lol)… he winds his window down, stares and smiles then said ‘Hi, do you need a ride?’ oh did I mention I’ve seen this guy around a few times driving past my road with his girlfriend and child in his car? – I respond ‘No thanks’, he then said ‘I like your dress, can I take it off’ I then chuckle with laughter and reply ‘On the street?’ (I know why did I bother entertain it)…he laughed and said ‘No in my house’ then I put on my serious face and said ‘No thanks and walked off’.  

You wouldn’t believe on my way back at about 11pm the guy is miraculously parking his car on my road!!! This time I didn’t talk to him, I walked around the block a couple of times entertaining myself by talking to a friend on my phone just in case he tried to make convo again! What a stalker…let’s hope he didn’t see which door I walked into heheee

Fashion-based Social Enterprise (socent)

On the search for a social enterprise fashion designer, and it’s difficult as most fashion orientated social enterprises are companies providing workshops etc. but I’ve not come across a fashion brand/label that is a social enterprise so please do let me know if you know of one.  

13th Theatre Co is looking for a social enterprise fashion designer for their social enterprise musical to open in 2012. The designer will be creating costumes for the production and well as raising their profile. They are looking for a bright, creative designer who is flexible and not afraid of the challenge ahead.  Please contact the Artistic Director on 13theatrecompany@fsmail.net if you would be interested in being a part of this unique project.

If you would like to get involved in running your own fashion based social enterprise I recommend getting in contact with the following organisations

www.sse.org.uk

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) exists to provide training and opportunities to enable people to use their creative and entrepreneurial abilities more fully for social benefit. SSE supports individuals to set up new charities, social enterprises and social businesses across the UK.

The SSE runs practical learning programmes aimed at helping develop the individual entrepreneur and their organisation simultaneously:

 

www.wecreate.org.uk

 

We Create* is a fashion-based Social Enterprise that supports young up-and-coming fashion designers in the UK.  The user-lead organisation runs a BLOG about young British fashion designers as well as projects and events to help and support its participants to develop and run creative enterprises.

FREE ADVERTISING!!

Calling all fashion and beauty businesses!!! Get your product/service advertising for FREE on sHE London’s website.   sHE London  is an online catalogue of fashion products and services in the UK.

Quick and very easy to fill in the online directory form! 

More tips on advertising on the fashionpreneur Business page : )

Diva Cosmetics

Self made millionaire, Emma Wimhurst, became a success through her enterprise ‘Diva Cosmetics’, which she founded through noticing a gap in the market for colour cosmetics.  Emma talks to Inside Success about her life as an fashionpreneur.