#7 Shhhh-!!!! Have you been invited to the trunk show, yet?!

Are you familiar with this kind of fancy invitation inside of a thick creamy envelope stamped with your favorite store logo or even through your email?
Have you ever been invited to a special show event held at your favorite stores?


It's a trunk show invitation.

It makes you feel like you're a valuable, favorite customer of the store and also gives you the excitement that you can see the same line as some famous front line buyer in New York's fashion week!

In fashion marketing terms, a trunk show is a special event within the fashion world in which a vendor/brand presents merchandise directly to the store's personal or select customers at a retail location, commonly in boutiques and boutique divisions of department stores.

Why is it called a "trunk show"?

They are referred to as "trunk shows" because a designer or sales rep will literally show up with a trunk of merchandise to show off.


It's held to promote or introduce a new line, generate sales volume or promote a brand image to their best customers. A trunk show would provide the opportunity to show off an entire line to loyal customers. It gives a boutique the opportunity to test a new line of merchandise with clients before placing a wholesale order with the designer. Often, the designers of the show appear and introduce themselves to his/her customers through the event, to make their best customers amused and communicate with them.


Traditionally, it's been very popular in the bridal industry.
A lot of bridal stores hold trunk shows every season, the collection designers appear with their special advice services, to sell the line to the bridezillas for their dream dresses.
They create a very special atmosphere in the store at the day of the event, such as; nice mood music, popular for receptions, champagne, crystal glasses, little finger foods, and of course browsing of the actual dresses while trying them on....
It gives customers a very special experience that exceeds their expectations.

Below are some popular trunk show invitations from bridal brands.
(Actually, these were my favorites, when I was looking for my dress....:D)





Even the new jumper to the bridal industry, J.Crew having a trunk show!

#6 New way to see the fashion show, Guerrilla!

We've all heard the term "Guerrilla" quite a lot.

Guerrilla concert, Guerrilla performance, Guerrilla store, etc...

Well, according to our friend, Wikipedia,

"The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional; potentially interactive; and consumers are targeted in unexpected places."

The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral.

A lot of companies and people use this style of marketing nowadays, even in fashion.
We've seen on & off Pop-Up stores to attract customers and promote brands.

We used to seeing fashion shows on TV and in newspapers traditionally,
nowadays we can see them on our cell phones and laptops, where ever we are, with WI-FI.
And, obviously, there are people who use this for marketing their fashion shows.

Guerilla Fashion show



Sep 21. 2009,
A designer, Philip Colbert had a Guerilla fashion show during London Fashion Week in the National Gallery, where in a reference to The Thomas Crown Affair, 100 bowler hats were handed out to members of the public, whilst models walked up and down the gallery, exhibiting the clothing. According to Colbert, “The (museum) security could not stop all the tourists filming the show; hundreds of people started to follow us.” 




Jan. 27. 2010, There were 4 guerrilla fashion show held on the street, during the Amsterdam Fashion week.

Studio Sober, Oda Pausma and Bart van Dulmen (BVD) used the pedestrian crossings were used as a catwalk.

And, some designers even use the subway as their fashion show catwalks!

Well, actually, way back to long ago, there were the fashion show in the subway unusual fashion show at the Saint Michel metro in Paris. George CAUNES ad models worn by charming girls with Dany Saval in 1959.

And, the below video is recorded of fashion show in Subway of Rotterdam, Nethaland, designed by Ellen Rooijakkers in 2008.



Also, in Berlin, they have underground fashion show every year, since 2006.

In Australia, Perths centre of style for fashion shopping, Forrest Chase, held a unique series of dramatic interactive visual performances to support the launch of their new season fashion campaign.The performances blended puppetry and music to show Forrest Chase fashion coming alive. Promotional staff distributed postcards throughout the performance that promoted Forrest Chases e-catalogue and e-competition. This resulted in a direct response with a high number of e-competition entries received immediately after the performance times.



There were street guerrilla fashion shows held in New York City in 2004.
But, I haven't heard of any fun fashion shows in the NYC subway, yet
(We do have a great subway line!)
I'm hoping to see some kind of fun fashion experience in the NYC subway soon!

#4/5 Be RIO-RED for FALL 2011

It got cold in New York City way too fast.
The color of the leaves in Central Park have been changing, we're officially going through Fall 2010.
And, 2010 Fall colors are a variation of military green.

But, we're not just wear the colors that are now on the street.
We love to see what's going to be next year's big color and start thinking about what we're going to see.

Let's turn around and look for the colors for next Fall 2011.

The color direction from The Direction by Indigo International Exhibition of Creative Textile Design Show, was held on August 3 & 4 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.



The color trends for Fall and Winter 2011/2012 were not the typical gloomy colors.
Grey is out and the gloom is gone!
The color ranges for women were filled with neutrals like maroon camel and caramels;
mid-tone colors likes purple, orange and red; and vivid hues like gold, teal and turquoise.
Color blocking is essential and thinking outside the normal color combinations will be your best bet.
Try mixing purple and gray, maroon and copper, orange and gold instead of your normal gloomy fall colors. Have fun with the array of colors that fashion has to offer.

What's the Key Color of Fall 2011?

According to the fashion forecasting service, WGSN:

After a time of introspection and reflection, a new optimism is emerging.
Color is the optimistic approach to enhance apparel and renew the classics.
Color is substantial, real and natural, with a move away from the tinted stories of previous seasons.

Red is one of the key shades for the season, ranging from dramatic, historical cardinal and oxblood through to fiery orange-based shades.

I picked RIO-RED as the key color for FALL 2011.

 
        Sombre historical oxblood reds and darkest browns accented by porcelain skin tones.

 

A surreal color mood is created through transposed darks and cold lilac-cast pinks.

As a bonus,
I want to share this video from PANTONE for Fall 2010/11.
PANTONEVIEW Colour Planner Fall 2011/2012