Being a full-time solo entrepreneur is hard. Especially when your business is in a field that you didn’t study. There’s a lot of gaps in information and you don’t know what you don’t know.
Being invited to the 8th annual Harlem Fashion Row (HFR) Fashion Designer Retreat was a dream come true. I had been following HFR for years and now that I’m a fashion designer, the time was right to connect with them and their vast community.
Here are the three main takeaways from that immersive three day experience.
1. Retail Readiness
I wanted to walk away from this experience with information on how to get e.Laniese® into retail stores.
Day 1 was full of fireside chats and panel discussions, so I was excited to learn for the industry experts. The panels on the first day were wildly insightful. We learned from Shaina Green, Retail Buyer at Bloomingdale’s Outlets, on how to pitch buyers. What are they looking for, how to make the job easy for them and what makes them lose interest in a potential brand. We also learned that buyer’s cycles are same as production cycles, so when designers are planning for fall, so are they. I learned the name of their buying system. I also learned a new term – a line sheet. Buyers need a line sheet included with the pitch. Buyers are looking for brands that can bring new customers in stores. Buyers get “cold-called” daily, so I must make e.Laniese ® stand out.
Day 2 was industry day. The week prior to the retreat, designers got to choose their industry track, so we all went our separate ways that day. Since my goal is to get e.Laniese® in retail stores, I selected the track where I got to meet with employees of ShopBop. ShopBop is an online retailer that sells clothing from emerging designers as well as their own private label clothing.
This session was a panel discussion with their Senior Designer, Senior Fashion Editor, Style Director, Tech Designer and Head of Editorial. In this discussion, I learned that they need 8 – 12 SKUs per brand before they onboard them. They also informed us about their Scout program, which is an entry way for designers to be part of their ecosystem. I also learned the names of 3-D designing software, which will be helpful as I scale e.Laniese ®. This panel discussion was intimate and informational. I learned that I’m not ready for retail yet, but I have all the information that I need so when I do venture into big box retail, I can get that first and second yes.
2. Community
I went into this experience, expecting to walk away with community. As I walked off the elevator on the 12th floor of the PVH Offices in midtown Manhattan, I walked into a room full of black men and women from across the nation, dressed in every color of the rainbow, representing their collections. From tailored denim suits to fitted hats with flower appliques to statement jewelry to denim shorts adorned with pearl beads, I saw the beauty of black fashion designers.
I met men and women that create statement jewelry; sustainable, upcycled clothing from jeans; shoe designers; elevated crochet purses; bespoke kimonos, and more. They taught me new metrics such as Average Retail Value; they gave me advice on how to improve my IG Lives; informed me about an email list with over 6k members. They poured into me and I poured into them. They expanded my knowledge and I did the same in return.
As I jumped onto the elevator on that first day, I saw a black woman with a short, blonde hair with this beautiful denim outfit adorned with pearl beads. As luck would have it, she lives in Upper Marlboro, MD. We connected on that first day and stayed connected throughout those three days. By happenstance, we were on the same Amtrak train returning home. We talked the entire ride back, and she pushed me to be better. She encouraged me in ways that no one else has been able to do. She challenged me on the things I didn’t want to do, but with her quiet grace, she changed my mind and encouraged me to get out of my way. She quickly became a friend and listening ear.
On the first day, I saw this woman with this beautiful paisley print blazer with the colors yellow and purple swirled together, paired with a white A-line midi length skirt and a Valentino belt. She reminded me of the upper-class women that walk the aisles of Neiman Marcus. She was fly! We were on the same track on day 2, so I introduced myself. We talked about our brands, upcoming projects, etc. During that discussion, I mentioned that I want to start producing jeans and she quickly told me about a Turkish company that she’s working with. Before we parted ways on Day 3, she shared the company’s contact information.
While I met many people, these are just two examples of conversations I had over those three days. e.Laniese ® is better because of this community.
3. Scalability
Businesses can only have long-term success if they’re scalable. The most advice for scalability came from the panel discussions on day 1. During the HFR & Icon 360 Panel, Brandice Daniel, the founder of HFR, shared the following nuggets:
· Hire an assistant early.
· Build relationships early and maintain it.
· Identify 3 people that we want to know our name by the end of the year, and make it happen.
· Find people that are aligned with our work and our Why.
· Keep the brand morals and standards high.
· Infrastructure. Make sure we’re ready to scale when the opportunities arise.
· Search for the rooms where we feel uncomfortable; those are the rooms that will get me where I want to go.
During the Designer 101 panel discussion with Brooklyn Circus founder, Ouigi Theodore and his wife, Lillie N. Nkenchor, they told us to “build a community! It’s hard to be successful without it.” They also shared that we have to care about the customers, your partners, etc. They also shared that in other countries, they build relationships first and then build business.
Lastly, during the final panel with Jacques Agbobly, he encouraged designers to put themselves in the spaces that we wanted to see ourselves in, for us to do it with what you have, and to build slowly and build with intent.
These three days were the immersive experience I needed. I gained new knowledge and I received the confirmation I needed.
