TEXWORLD USA 2014

Day 3 – TexWorld –

The seminar “The Future is Now:  New Games & New Rules-Gaining Market Share, the Drivers Impacting Tomorrow’s Apparel Industry,” was a fascinating panel discussion, moderated by Manuela Fassbender, the founder and director of New York-based MBF Trend Consulting Inc.  Ms. Fassbender opened with compelling overview of the panel discussion’s three main topics: conscious consumerism, high-technology in the fashion industry and the future of growth for start-ups in the industry.

CONSCIOUS CONSUMERISM

Maxime Bedat led the discussion about the growing trend toward ‘conscious consumerism’, starting with her own story as a pioneer in sustainable, responsibly sourced commerce as the co-founder of Zady, among the first online retailers build on the principle that retail and social consciousness can go hand-in-hand.  After graduating from Columbia Law School, Maxine took the path of international law and advocacy, working at the United Nations General Assembly as an advisor and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Zady – and for those of you reading this who are from Big Law and may not have heard of this website, it’s worth a visit – features products that, as she puts it “reimagine the world of retail as one that is responsive to the coming generation’s desire to connect, its demand for authenticity and as a driver of sustainability across the industry.”  The idea has been successful enough to be named start-up of the month by Entrepreneur Magazine, to be listed among Fast Company’s World’s Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Retail and to become Mashable’s No. 1 Business that Rocks Content Marketing.

Bedat’s experience in Africa, and the exposure that she got there to artisanal production, inspired her to create the non-profit The Bootstrap Project, which helps to finance and develop local arts and crafts businesses.  Sales from Zady help to finance the Bootstrap Project.

To watch a video of this panel discussion, click here.

HIGH-TECH AND FASHION

The second topic on the agenda at this seminar dealt with another area of great innovation in the fashion industry:  technology and its applications.  Liz Bacelar, founder and CEO of Decoded Fashion,  a leading events series that connects decision-makers in fashion, beauty and retail with emerging and established technology companies.  Ms. Bacelar offered very relevant insights into the increasing overlap between high technology and the fashion industry, whether through such cutting-edge technologies as body scanning –  for the perfect fit – or analyzing data to find the right balance between a retailer’s virtual presence and physical, storefront,  presence.  The phenomenon known as ‘pop-up retail’, when a store appears for a very short time in a venue and then disappears, is designed to heighten customers’ interest in a brand, and get the public talking.  Judging by the trend’s development as Ms. Bacelar described it, this is a very effective marketing approach.

Julia Straus offered her views on growing start-ups, from her perspective as VP for Partnerships and Business Development at BaubleBar, the online jewelery jewelry venture that features “guest bartenders,”  designers who have made it who endorse new designs, ‘inspired’ by the guests’ originals.  Ms. Straus, a Harvard Business School graduate who oversees BaubleBar’s global digital and offline partnerships, also talked about the importance of keeping a bricks-and-mortar presence.

GOOD ADVICE

The final seminar, “How Not to Start a Fashion Brand” delivered great advice and was truly entertaining.  New Yorker Mercedes Gonzalez, who began her career in the field at a family-owned manufacturing company and now directs the firm Global Purchasing Companies, offered what she considers the five most common, and lethal, mistakes that new designers can make.  Her entertaining and very helpful presentation will soon be available online, and we will update the post to bring it to you here.

To watch a video of Ms. Gonzalez’s presentation, click here.