Joseph Velosa
FBC is excited to welcome one of the greatest minds behind British fashion, Joseph Velosa, CEO and co-founder of Matthew Williamson as its next guest speaker. Joseph will be interviewed by FBC member and the editor of TheBusiness of Fashion , Imran Amed on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at the Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ Concept Store & Café. Read the rest of this entry »
FBC member and founder of Style News, Charlene Campbell is a contributer to Life and Style, and is a contributing Editor to MSN and ASKMEN.com.
Charlene will be leading a panel of experts including Fashion Journalists for print and online magazines and global PR and digital marketing specialists at the Fashion and Textile Museum on June 19th.
Previous FBC guest speaker, Marigay McKee takes to the sky on Saturday 22 May 2010. Kicking off her heels and Roland Mouret dresses, the perfectly groomed Harrods Fashion and Beauty Director dons helmet, overalls and sturdy boots for a worthy cause. Cleverly named ‘Breakthrough Booby Birds’ the aim is to raise £20k for the Breast Cancer charity. Support Marigay now by clicking through to Just Giving.
FBC member Katie Canvin, co-founder of Austique is holding a fashion show on Wednesday the 19th for customers and press to see what’s in store for high summer and to preview what’s to come for autumn winter.
Located at 330 King’s Road in London, Austique specialises in hard to find labels and carries many exclusives, so it is important for the shop to build awareness of the brands they stock including Alice + Olivia, Shoshanna, TLA, Markus Lupfer, Libelula and their own Austique fashion label.
Katie Canvin
On Wednesday evening, Katie and her team are also taking the opportunity to raise funds with a goal of 10K for the breast cancer charity Too Many Women, and five of their best suppliers have donated raffle prizes to help raise money. Katie says, “We’re so proud that Austique continues to go from strength to strength as we celebrate 6 years in business. The event will be a chance to showcase our labels but also say thank you to everyone for their support.”
It is sure to be a great night out for Austique customers! For details contact: enquiries@austique.co.uk
Imran Amed – photo by Daniel Cianfarra
When we held our very first FBC meeting in January of 2006, 75 people turned out and one of those people was Imran Amed; and as much as FBC has grown over the past 4 years, Imran’s career has skyrocketed.
Imran is a fashion business adviser, writer and entrepreneur, is the founder and editor of The Business of Fashion, and co-founder and editor-in-chief of Luxury Society.
He is also an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and leads a bespoke mentoring program for young designers at Fashion East.
…so, we’re very lucky that he has found the time to serve as our interviewer on the 27th of May. Imran interviewed New York’s Mary Gehlhar, author of the The Fashion Designer Survival Guide a few Novembers ago at the Rodnik studios for FBC and he was absolutely brilliant.
This time around, Joseph Velosa, CEO and co-founder of Matthew Williamson will be in the hot seat and Imran comments, “FBC has emerged as a fertile meeting place for people and ideas in London’s fashion business while Joseph Velosa has been the ’secret weapon’ behind Matthew Williamson’s success in fashion for the past ten years. What better place than FBC to learn from one of the industry’s finest operators?”
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Swarovski CRYSTALLIZEDTM Concept Store & Café
3:00pm – 4:30pm
membership@fashionbusinessclub.net
In association with media partner: VOGUE.COM
For those of you who use Fashion Monitor, surely you’ve noticed it has had a fantastic makeover – a new logo, a new look and feel, and new functionality. FBC member and Fashion Monitor editor, Victoria Todd says, “Our brand new site is a hub for anyone working in the fashion or beauty industry. With an intuitive quick search, finding the contact you require takes seconds and our dedicated events page lets you see what’s happening at a glance.”
Victoria Todd
Celebrating 21 years as the fashion industry bible for contacts, news and events, Fashion Monitor is pleased to have unveiled its new website. The new-look Fashion Monitor has been designed so that content is better displayed and navigating is made easier.
The revamped site continues to provide the latest industry updates from media moves and PR wins to launches and creative signings. The launch marks the first of a number of digital projects to be rolled out over the coming year.
Find out more about Fashion Monitor from Victoria on the 27th of May at Swarovski CRYSTALLIZEDTM, where Matthew Williamson’s Joseph Velosa will be interviewed by FBC member and the Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed. Details: membership@fashionbusinessclub.net
Congratulations, Victoria and everyone at Fashion Monitor!
Joel Plaskett
FBC member Alison Lowe, MD of Felicities, represents IML Concerts who is working with Canadian musician Joel Plaskett and Jools Holland throughout the summer.
Tonight (10 May), Joel will be playing at Borderline and lots of FBC members will be there to support: Courtney Blackman, Rebekah Roy, Gabriella Piccinni, Regine Mowill and of course, Alison.
All FBC members are invited to attend. If you would like to, please RSVP to Alison: alison@felicities.co.uk
7pm
Borderline
16 Manette Street – off Tottenham Court Road
W1D 6JB
Thursday the 27th of May where Joseph Velosa, co-founder and CEO of Matthew Williamson will be interviewed by FBC member and the founder/editor of the Business of Fashion, Imran Amed.
Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED Concept Store and Cafe
3:00pm – 4:30pm
We would love for members to join us, meet Joseph and ask questions to one of the UK’s brightest fashion minds.
Any queries about membership? Please contact membership@fashionbusinessclub.net
FBC members are invited to attend Indian Premier London Fashion Week from Monday the 10th to Wednesday the 12th of May.
FBC members Ian Warren and Neely Reyes, owners of Sapphires Model Management are providing 40 models for the event exclusively, and referred fellow FBC members Martyn Roberts and John Walford, directors of Vauxhall Fashion Scout for the production.
Neely says, “Sapphires are very excited to be providing models exclusively for this event and even more thrilled that Fashion Scout were secured to produce the event. India is a rapidly emerging fashion market and we are very glad to be part of such an important event to the country, and what will soon be the rest of the world. Fashion Scout is London’s biggest producer and we absolutely love working with John and Martyn.”
India’s top fashion designers will partake in 18 catwalk shows and 25 designer exhibitions over the 3 days. This is the first of what is planned to be a twice yearly event going forward.
FBC’s Martyn Roberts comments, “Fashion Scout is pleased to be producing Indian Premier London Fashion Week’s event. We are looking forward to seeing a selection of top Indian designers as modelled on fellow FBC members’ Sapphires Model Management.”
Elle India and Asian Woman magazine are media partners, MAC is supplying the kits and the makeup is being done by the London School of Media Makeup.
Monday 10 – Wednesday 12 May
Bloomsbury Ballroom
37 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1B 4DA
If you would like to attend, RSVP to Raksha:  raksha@iplfashionweek.com
An Interview with FBC member Amisha Ghadiali.
Amisha only recently joined FBC and she’s already worked with a number of FBC members. She not only is the designer and founder of Amisha Jewellery, she is an associate director for the Ethical Fashion Forum and is also the founder of Think Act Vote.
What is your fashion background?
AG – I started working in fashion in 2006 when I set up my jewellery label amisha.elegance.rebellion I quickly had to learn all sides of the business from design, marketing, sales, styling, to the accounts as you do when you work on your own. I set up my label with an ethical focus to create something beautiful and natural but also to spark awareness on the work of important charities that focus both in the UK and in the world. I launched the label in the summer of 2007, debuting at the British Design Pavilion of International Jewellery London, the UK’s only dedicated trade jewellery event where the most talented, cutting-edge British designers are hand-selected to appear alongside innovative international collections.
The collections are made up entirely of limited edition pieces, each one a unique arrangement of handcrafted silver and semi-precious stones. Each design carefully combines the colours and properties of the stones and crystals used to produce jewellery that complements and enhances the natural beauty of the wearer. The pieces embody romance and timeless elegance whilst hinting at the spirit of passion and rebellion that come with just seeing where life takes you…
You’re the Founder & Director of Think Act Vote. Can you tell us a bit about this?
AG – I started the campaign in mid February because of a frustration about the negative view of politics held by so many people in the UK today, and an ambition to do something about it – to create a community around our relationship with the political system and the choices we make for our future. An election was looming and unlike in previous years, I just wasn’t interested. I realised that if I felt that way, there would be loads of people out there with the same feeling.
I wanted to turn the election on its head, and when you boil it down, an election is all about our future. So the point of this campaign is to focus on that – a positive view of the future.
It’s all about using creative energy. The aim of this part of the campaign is to create a book called ‘The Future I Choose‘ which will be available to buy, but we will also present to the Prime Minister in June – whoever that may be. It gives people to opportunity to either be photographed for the book (it is a lifestyle photography book) or to take part by sharing their vision of the future by answering the question, “What Future Do You Choose?” By doing this you get to think about the world that you want to live in and how you can change the way you can help to get us there. Plus it’s an opportunity to get your picture in a book – doesn’t that appeal a little bit to everyone?
I think fashion is really important as a way of communicating who you are and communicating messages. So felt that it should play a central role in the campaign, and could be used to engage people in politics.
At the beginning of the campaign, we ran a competition to design the perfect campaign t-shirt, which was a great opportunity for up and coming illustrators to showcase their work. The winning design by Jesson Yip was selected by a judging panel that included Katharine Hamnett and FBC board member Daisy de Villeneuve. The symbols represent each word, with different fonts to represent different people’s voices. The design was then printed onto earth positive eco T-shirts and is now on sale. From working with ethical designers, I have seen an enormous amount of resourcefulness and creativity, so wanted to use this talent in the campaign. I asked eight leading eco designers; Ada Zanditon, Junky Styling, Tara Starlet, Beautiful Soul, Ciel, Nancy Dee and Miksani to turn the t-shirts into show pieces using only scraps from their current collections. The results were stunning.
You’re also the Associate Director Ethical Fashion Forum. Can you tell us more about how you’re involved?
AG – I have always been interested in the bigger picture and feel that sustainability within fashion is a necessity, and something that will be incorporated into all design in the future. In 2008 I was production manager for The RE:Fashion Awards, the world’s first awards ceremony to celebrate improving social and environmental standards in the fashion industry. The RE:Fashion Awards were founded by Anti-Apathy, Futera and the Ethical Fashion Forum. Straight after this, I took a role with the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) first as a project manager. My work at EFF has included launching the Ethical Fashion Online Network, and co-coordinating 2009’s Spotlight on Sourcing event series. This included seminars, master-classes and networking events all focused on different areas of sustainable sourcing for fashion businesses. Now as associate director, my role is based around strategy for the organisation. I also project manage RE:Fashion, which is building on the success of the RE:Fashion Awards by bringing leading retailers and designers interested in sustainability together to create a vision for the fashion industry and work towards it.
What is your favourite ethical brand?
AG – I only wear ethical labels and mix them up with the clothes I have had for years. I have favourites for different occasions, but my top three are Mark Liu, Ada Zanditon and Junky Styling.
How important is FBC and networking to your business?
AG – Networking is vital. It’s really important to meet other people in the industry and have an idea of what everyone is doing. I am new to FBC, as I only joined in March, but have already worked with several members; Courtney Blackman & Dolly Jones through EFF, Daisy de Villenueve through Think Act Vote, Helen Puxley through the RE:Fashion Awards and Helen Clinch through my jewellery. I look forward to working with some more members in the future. I really enjoyed listening to the interview with Marigay Mckee, it is great to be part of FBC and learn from the best!
