San Diego Fashion Week – A Reality Check
The only thing that is more upsetting than the fiasco SDFW turned into was the way many people in the local fashion business got sucked into this obviously not happening event. While it’s true that it was not supported by any of the local “fashion insiders”, still the sheer numbers of people who should have known better is astounding.
Let’s start with some basics. What really is a “Fashion Week”? A good place to start can be found at: http://www.slate.com. Put in a nutshell a fashion week is where wholesale clothing buyers come to see the latest fashions to determine what they are going to buy for the upcoming seasons. There are actually only 4 fashion weeks that are counted as important by the world’s fashion community. They are the New York, London, Milan, and Paris shows. They are held one right after the other twice a year, in the Fall and Spring. Even a one day alteration in their schedule can cause an international uproar, see: http://www.independent.co.uk/ .
Now let’s be clear about one thing: All other events that are calling themselves fashion weeks are, to varying degrees, fashion week wannabes. Even the LA Fashion Week which is sponsored by Mercedes Benz is struggling, see: http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/ .
At the other end of the spectrum we now have fashion weeks sprouting up in the most unlikely places. How about the Ulaanbaatar Fashion Week in Outer Mongolia? – not a joke. Or maybe the Swahili Fashion week in Tanzania? Or, even closer to home the Escondido fashion week, (with it’s 75 unpaid volunteers)? The list is long and goes on. Just imagine what would happen to the fashion world if any of these fashion weeks were canceled. I seem to recall a saying from my childhood: calling something by a name does not make it so. Which brings us back to the SDFW.
Let me just say this clearly: San Diego will never have a real fashion week. It can have what many of the other fashion weeks have, a few days of fashion events and parties where the local populace comes to view the latest fashions, have fun, and be seen by other cool people. This is important mainly for those people in the local fashion business who may think that by participating in the local fashion week they will launch and/or expose their clothing line to potential wholesale buyers. For those people who are coming to the fashion week to party and have fun, they should, by all means, continue to maintain the fantasy that it’s a real fashion week. Thereby maximizing their enjoyment of the event.
Also, consider the following.
The latest SDFW was selling tickets for up to $400. However if a person desired to see a designer fashion show in San Diego all they would have to do would be go to a Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, or Nordstrom show for free. Now, let’s see, go to designer show at Neimans with professional models for free, or a boutique show at a downtown bar using street casted models for $400? Is it any wonder that SDFW kept getting smaller and smaller until it basically disappeared into a one night event at a sky bar downtown filled with complaints and threatened lawsuits? See http://www.signonsandiego.com
And finally, a memo to those aspiring clothing designers and/or boutiques who feel the need to show at a fashion week. First head to the many websites that feature how to get started in the fashion business, try googling “starting in the fashion business”. Then make some calls to the California Mart http://www.californiamarketcenter.com to set up some appointments for one of the reps to consider representing your line to their buyers. Third, be prepared for the long hours, hard work, and rewards that go along with being a successful clothing designer. (Note that showing at San Diego Fashion Week was not listed as part of a successful business plan for your clothing line).
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