Fashion Business Club

FBC is very pleased to have been an official partner of the inaugural WGSN Global Fashion Awards. The awards were conceptualised by FBC member Lauretta Roberts, WGSN’s digital development director, and executed to perfection by a WGSN team from around the globe.

The awards ceremony took place on the 18th floor at the Waldorf Astoria in New York on the 10th of November. Hosted by Nigel Barker, one of our proudest moments was when FBC member Harold Tillman CBE was recognised for his 40 plus years in the industry with the John Rocha designed, Waterford crystal trophy marked with Outstanding Contribution to Fashion. The award was much deserved as Harold is chairman of the British Fashion Council and owns two of Britain’s most iconic heritage labels: Jaeger and Aquascutum.

Nigel Barker, Harold Tillman and Barney’s Simon Doonan

FBC blog editor and celebrity fashion stylist, Rebekah Roy was responsible for nominating her longtime client, London-based fashion designer, William Tempest in the category of best Emerging Brand or Retailer. With a shortlist that included strong brands from around the world, William came out on top and won the award. William also was charged with dressing FBC co-founder Courtney Blackman, who wore a one-of-a-kind William Tempest dress to the awards ceremony, then changed into a piece from his SS11 collection for the after party. Courtney was representing the Global Fashion Awards through her PR agency, Forward PR and was there in the capacity of official FBC envoy.

Sarah Curran (2nd from right) with her team: Luisa de Paula, Fiona McIntosh, Jean-Marc Bouhelier and Lauren Stevenson

The winners of the Global Fashion Awards were selected by an expert panel of judges, made up the most influential people in fashion and style, including FBC board member and editor of VOGUE.COM, Dolly Jones, who was present at the ceremony in New York along with FBC members Sarah Curran, founder & CEO of my-wardrobe.com and executive headhunter, Orlando Martins of Oresa Limted.

Congratulations to Lauretta Roberts for creating a truly amazing event. We’ll look forward to the 2011 Global Fashion Awards!

Visit the GFA website for full details and results from the evening: WGSN Global Fashion Awards.

See Lauretta on the 25th of November at Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ for the next FBC meeting, where she will interview the legendary Yasmin Sewell. For details contact: membership@fashionbusinessclub.net or press@fashionbusinessclub.net

FBC’s media partner VOGUE.COM is hosting Fashion’s Night In, where shoppers will be the first to shop exclusive collections created especially for the event.

FBC board member and VOGUE.COM editor Dolly Jones says that VOGUE.COM is, “delighted to be in a position to undertake this enterprise and to bring the world of online fashion into the hands of dedicated shoppers for this unique and exciting occasion. It’s a first for the online community and we’re incredibly proud to be its host.”

Among the participating leading e-tailers will be my-wardrobe.com. On the night, shoppers will be able to see inside the wardrobes of some of the industry’s most stylish women and they will be able to click-to-buy looks straight from a live catwak show streaming on the site. Shoppers can also look forward to gifts with purchase and fabulous competition prizes.

FBC member and my-wardrobe.com founder and CEO, Sarah Curran comments, “We are thrilled to be working with VOGUE.COM to pioneer the launch of the first ever Fashion’s Night In. Following the success of the global Fashion’s Night Out, Fashion’s Night In is going to be a unique event in the fashion calendar, which brings together leading e-tailers on a global platform for one night only, celebrating the phenomenal growth of fashion e-tail.

Our focus has always been centred around the customer experience and for Fashion’s Night In, we are creating an exceptionally unique and unforgettable online shopping experience for the my-wardrobe.com shopper.”

Also participating, FBC blog editor and fashion & celebrity stylist Rebekah Roy will be a special guest in my-wardrobe’s Style Surgery, giving advice to my-wardrobe customers and FBC board member Daisy de Villeneuve will be filmed for MY-TV, showing her favourite wardrobe itmes, her must-haves for the season and choosing an item from my-wardrobe for the AW10 season that shoppers can win during Fashion’s Night In.

Matches, where FBC member Frances Card is the merchandise director, will launch Lulu Kennedy’s debut Lulu & Co collection exclusively online during the event and ten per cent of the night’s sales will go to KidsCo.

FBC members can look forward to the big night on November 1^st and for more information on Fashion’s Night In visit www.vogue.co.uk

I was happy to read last week that former Young Guns runner-up, my-wardrobe.com, a UK online retailer of designer fashion, was able to secure funding of $9m from Balderton Capital to enable overseas expansion. (As an aside, we are sponsoring Young Guns for the fourth time this year and I am very excited to be judging and selecting the finalists in a couple of weeks, with the winner being announced in September. Would be good to get another great achiever in the fashion sector…)

Another exciting piece of news from last week was hearing that a client of mine, who has recently launched her own label, has been asked to show at London Fashion Week in September. Needless to say I will be wearing the couple of pieces I ordered from her last collection with pride.

I was also pleasantly surprised to secure a meeting with a banker for a prospective client looking for Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) funding. I have heard many controversial views on this scheme from contacts, including the extensive information required and the risk averseness of the banks. In fact I have recently read that lending to small and medium-sized businesses under the government backed EFG scheme fell by 23% in the six months from £472m (April to September 2010) to £365m (September 2009 to March 2010).

The Chancellor announced that the current EFG scheme will be extended by £200m until March 2011, in his emergency Budget last month. However many are calling for the coalition government to revisit the terms of the scheme to provide greater incentives to lenders. My past experience of the scheme is that organised, complete and realistic business plans and forecasts are crucial to be able to even secure a first meeting with a bank. Fingers crossed for the introduction I have recently made.

Get top denim tips from FBC members Sarah Curran, CEO of my-wardrobe.com and Rebekah Roy, fashion stylist and FBC blog editor at my-wardrobe.com’s pop up Denim Bar.

Bryce Aime by The Mofo

FBC member Bryce Aime has photographed previously unseen pieces from his SS2010 collection with cult photographer, The Mofo (yes, that’s what he calls himself), in his signature voyeuristic style.

Bryce mixes 50’s Parisian chic with classic and futuristic body con structure and it’s apparently a collection you’ll either love or hate.  I love.  What do you think?

Bryce Aime by The Mofo

Bryce will be showing his AW2010 collection during London Fashion Week at On|Off (directed by FBC member Lee Lapthorne) on Saturday the 20^th of February, and we’re hoping to see Bryce next Thursday for our first FBC meeting of 2010, a celebration of our 4^th birthday, and a revealing interview with my-wardrobe.com’s founder and CEO, Sarah Curran at London’s Swarovski CRYSTALLIZEDâ„¢ Concept Store and Café.

See you there!

Courtney Blackman Co-Founder & Co-Chairman

Suzy Menkes, Zandra Rhodes and the Fashion and Textile Museum hosted the launch of My Favourite Dress, a book dedicated to dresses and the very favourites of Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg, Amanda Wakeley, Matthew Williamson, Zac Posen, about 75 other people, and one of our board members!

The book, compiled by Gity Monsef, Samantha Erin Safer and Robert de Niet, echoes the exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum by the same name and our board member Daisy de Villeneuve tells the story of her favourite: a turquoise vintage dress from Rellik with a Chinese-inspired print.  “I took part in the book because Samantha and Gity asked me to be involved.  I’d worked with Gity before when I had my solo show at The Fashion and Textile Museum a few years ago.  I still have the dress. I bought it in 2000 and it has come in pretty handy,” says Daisy.

Daisy de Villeneuve & William Tempest

After the event, where we ran into Vogue.com’s fashion features editor, Jessica Bumpus and fashion designer, William Tempest, we snuck out for snacks and drinks with Samantha and Gity.  Not only did they create an amazing book, those gals know how to have fun.

See you on the 28^th, where my-wardrobe.com founder and CEO, Sarah Curran will be interviewed by FBC’s Frances Card at Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED^TM.  We’ll also be celebrating our 4^th birthday with cupcakes from Cakehole and chocolate from Godiva!

Will Daisy be wearing the turquoise dress?  You’ll have to attend to find out.

Courtney Blackman Co-Founder & Co-Chairman

Happy Birthday FBC!

An interview with Courtney Blackman and Alison Whelan, co-founders and chairmen.

What inspired you to start FBC?
CB – Alison was inspired to start FBC as the visionary and wrangled me in to make it happen. I thought it was a brilliant idea and LOVE making things happen!

AW – The inspiration behind FBC has always been about bringing people together. In essence it all began with Courtney and I coming together. Courtney invited me onto ASW and whilst checking out the site I noticed people working in the petroleum industry making plans to meet up. I thought it would be a great idea to start something similar for the fashion industry. Luckily, Courtney thought so too (otherwise not much would have happened).

How has it grown in the past 4 years?
CB – Four years ago there were 25 of us crammed in a little room on South Molton Street. Now there are over 120 of us schmoozing around the Swarovski CRYSTALLIZEDâ„¢ Concept Store and Café, listening to the biggest names in the fashion industry being interviewed by our board members: Dolly Jones and Daisy de Villeneuve. In addition to the board, we have an amazing team of nine strong that make FBC happen, and we have our our television production company: FBCtv

AW – Membership has grown and I’m really happy about that BUT what really thrills me is seeing members renew – I know we are doing something right when people keep coming back. Professional interest has grown too – Courtney has worked had to secure the fashion establishment logo’s you see on our invites and it really started to turn around when Alexandra Shulman agreed to be interviewed.

What does FBC do for its members?
CB – FBC was designed to bring established fashion business people together so they can learn from each other, work with one another, and be inspired by the speakers. We basically wanted to bring the industry closer together.
AW – Everything we build, we do for our members benefit – the meetings, the committee, the board, the blog, the venue, the speakers, the database and now FBCtv.

What changes can we expect over the next year?
AW – Well I’m depending on countless dress changes courtesy of Ms. Blackman! We are working on a revised business plan for FBC, renewing media partnerships and sponsors. Expanding FBCtv through new distribution channels and developing an online networking prototype. We’re also looking at franchising FBC and first term investment. The changes are all external developments, the heart of FBC will always remain the same – we’re bringing people together.

CB – We’re in talks to make FBCtv bigger and better and to increase the distribution, and we’re designing the prototype for FBC’s dedicated advanced social networking online portal.

The next meeting will be held Thursday, January 28 at FBC’s new venue partner for 2010: the Swaravski CRYSTALLIZED™ Concept Store and Café on Great Marlborough Street. Come and celebrate with us and enjoy some organic and fairtrade cupcakes from Cakehole!

Photos by Dave Wise for FBC

FBC is celebrating its fourth successful year in business and gearing up for the first meeting of 2010 by welcoming guest speaker and FBC member, Sarah Curran, founder & CEO of my-wardrobe.com, interviewed by FBC member and fashion business expert, Frances Card of the Frances Card Consultancy.

The meeting will be held Thursday, January 28 at FBC’s new venue partner for 2010: the Swaravski CRYSTALLIZEDâ„¢ Concept Store and Café on Great Marlborough Street.

The 28^th of January is a busy day for FBC members. It’s the first official meeting of 2010 – marking the club’s 4^th birthday – and we’re excited to have FBC member and founder & CEO of my-wardrobe.com, Sarah Curran as our guest speaker to kick it all off.

Well, to add excitement to the mix, a few FBC members are dashing over to the BT Centre hours before the meeting to take part in the Drapers/Retail Week E-commerce Summit.

According to the Summit’s site, Britain is thought to have spent £50 Billion online in 2009, which is expected to increase by over 10% this year! The E-commerce Summit is designed to help delegates navigate and grow their businesses in the ever expanding and already crowded online market.

Frances Card, Courtney Blackman, Miriam Lahage

FBC member Frances Card of the Frances Card Consultancy (who will also be interviewing Sarah Curran later in the day) will be chairing the fashion-focused blogger and tweeter panel, where FBC co-chairman Courtney Blackman will sit as a panelist. They’ll be chatting about everything from bloggers’ influence on consumers to reputation management.

FBC member Miriam Lahage will be on another panel talking about discounting online and not compromising brand values as the former CEO of Koodos.

If any other FBCers are interested in attending two events in one day, find out more about the E-commerce Summit by visiting their website: E-commerce Summit

FBC member Lauretta Roberts has a busy couple of months ahead.  She is chairing the Drapers/WGSN Fashion Summit, which takes place over two days on the 17th & 18th of November. The two-day business conference is designed to be the “live” and interactive version of Drapers magazine and the WGSN fashion and style forecasting service.

The Summit is the largest industry forum with senior representatives from brands and retailers converging to discuss prominent business issues. Supported and endorsed by the British Fashion Council, the Summit will be attended by 200 choice delegates from multiple and independent retailers, an array of fashion brands, consultants and key industry professionals.

Lauretta Roberts

Other FBC members involved include Harold Tillman, who sits on the Advisory Board and will be interviewed with Diane von Furstenberg by Hilary Alexander; FBC member and managing director of FCC, Frances Card also has a seat on the Advisory Board; FBC member and founder & chief executive of my-wardrobe.com, Sarah Curran is on the online panel; FBC’s co-founder & co-chairman, Courtney Blackman is a panelist for “The power of the style press” and sits on the Advisory Board; and FBC blog editor, Rebekah Roy joins Courtney on the press panel.

Harold Tillman, Sarah Curran, Frances Card, Courtney Blackman & Rebekah Roy

A host of star designers join the FBC crew and are taking stage with the best in the business from multiple sectors. Barbara Hulanicki, Diane von Furstenberg, Lulu Guinness, Giles Deacon, Betty Jackson, Amy Molyneaux & Percy Parker of PPQ, Nick Robertson, Marigay McKee, Sir Stuart Rose, Tom Chapman, Mary Homer, and Colin McDowell are amongst the speakers, panelists and Advisory Board members.

Interviews, open discussions and debates will touch on nurturing emerging talent, fashion marketing and branding, online fashion retail, consumer insight, ethics and sustainability, and trends for SS10 and AW10/11.

“We have completely revamped the Fashion Summit this year, shaking up the content, the format and the speaker list to include a stronger voice from the design industry while retaining the industry leaders in multiple and independent retail. It’s going to be one of the most exciting events in fashion this year.” - Lauretta Roberts, Chairman of the Drapers/WGSN Fashion Summit

FBC members are offered a substantial discount to attend the event.  Woohoo!  Details to follow shortly.

Myka Volney Press Director