Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Fashion Week in NYC and the rest of America

This from Forbes online..

NYC is still a center of fashion, while of course China is the country that produces most of the world's clothing now ( and countries like Bangla Desh and places in Africa coming up fast as Chinese producers look for places where labor is cheaper than in China, where wages have risen a lot in the past few years).

Gay Gaddis, Contributor
A fiercely independent woman’s perspective on entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs
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9/04/2013 @ 10:31AM |1,394 views

Innovation Brings Fashion Week To More Of America



Photo credit: Priscilla Dickson

As Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week kicks off this week in New York, women in Austin, New Orleans, Houston, Denver, Minneapolis and many other smaller markets will be seated virtually on the front row of the catwalks thanks to Tidbits.

Tidbits is providing both localized and unique access to high-end fashion events as they happen, reaching highly-engaged audiences in markets that may be “second tier” in size, but offer surprising purchasing power.

The Tidbits concept started out as a hobby for founder Pepper Ammann who developed it into a business in 2006.

Today, Tidbits is creating partnerships between leading fashion brands, such as BCBGMAXAZRIA and Gilt Groupe, to give consumers live video streams of major events, along with the ability to comment and explore further.

“There was a palpable energy from these women about seeing the fashion show live, rather than waiting for news reports and photos afterwards,” Tidbits CEO Allison Bagley told me. “They pointed out the celebrities as they were seated on the front row and gave their opinions on each look as it came down the runway.”

This week, Tidbits is giving its audience more engaging ways to be in the moment and behind the scenes during Fashion Week.

Tidbits is providing editorial coverage with street-style photos from correspondents in New York and profiles of local designers are being written for publication in their cities. Gilt Groupe is offering tickets to a Gilt fall warehouse sale in Dallas. An innovative revenue-sharing program allows consumers to work with an artist on personalized fashion illustrations in the pencil sketch style used by fashion designers. An ad campaign is offering exclusive seats to a local event with the high-end production design of the major runway shows.

The Tidbits experience is alluring for both brands and entrepreneurial, social media-savvy designers because it is about access, exclusives and deep engagement.

“What we’ve found is that our advertisers and other partners find the consumers in these markets and their purchasing power just as enticing as one attending Fashion Week,” Bagley said.

A Tidbits poll reported that 90% of readers had never attended Fashion Week in NYC, but 76% had participated in a live stream of a major Fashion Week show.

For me, what the Tidbits concept delivers is the ability to use digital content and context to amplify brands and events, extending reach to passionate audiences outside of major markets. But Tidbits is not just about being there virtually, it is about creating incredibly deep engagement.

Internationally visible designers can now engage with consumers on a local level to increase brand loyalty. Locally organized Fashion Weeks in “middle America” can showcase current items that can be purchased in-store.

Designers and brands can make consumer connections more personal and remove the veil of high fashion by providing social media access to the backstage of the runway and a glimpse inside the designer’s messy office.

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