From the Inside for Designers. Marcellous L. Jones

            This time in Newton all the interested had an opportunity to meet Marcellous L. Jones, editor-in-chief of Fashion Insider magazine, and his adorable dog Faidra.

          He didn't tell about his edition, he came to share his experience and to teach how to behave in fashion business. I should mention that in comparison with Ana Varava, he was talking about completely different things. His perception of relations inside this tough industry is much more people oriented.He understands perfectly how tough fashion business is, because he went through all the ups and downs: he made coffee, went to a grossery, even cleaned the toilets. And now he's got his online magazine, TV-show and he is world-wide known.

          "I'll tell you about the things that I consider extremely important and that every designer should know. These things can help to become a very well-know and established designer in future at the international level".

                           

                      "The WORK does always come first"

                    There are 3 collection rules:

• the 1st collection is to show who you are, what your ideas are;
• the 2d collection is to prove that you still have good ideas, that you evolve;
• the 3d - is for buyers who can pay attention to you and to buy about 20 pieces if they are interested in the collection.

        A designer should define in what direction he is going to work: ready-to-wear (YSL, Donna Karan), luxury (Balenciaga, Gucci, Armani, John Galliano) or couture, where everything is made by hands. There is also haute couture, but is an official trademark that is presented by the French Government.

Haute Couture is a very special direction, because an every dress made is the only dress in the world. But the price is from €250.000 to €350.000.

First of all it is important to think very clearly and carefully what the collection is about. A designer always needs a story for his collection: start, development and conclusion.

A designer must consider several things:

• how much time to invest in collection;
• how much money to invest.

If you are a new independent designer and you start your first collection, I would recommend to create smaller collection of 12-15 looks. You can save money and you can totally dedicate yourself to the collection and be careful with the details. You can do each piece perfectly.

It is better to do smaller collections, do not bore people. But do it properly. It is like food. When you eat a delicious dish, you want more. 

Should you do a fashion show or should you do a show-room presentation of your collection?

There are + and - aspects in doing both, but you should decide what is better for you. Fashion show are mostly for the desiners who are ready to do a development of their brand. It gives an opportunity to show strong aspects of a designer's work to buyers and to press. Fashion shows give an image of a powerful fashion house or a powerful designer. But they are extremely expensive: place for a fashion show, construction of a runway, models, hair and make-up people, security, invitations, stuff, organizators, PR, press etc. There is also a stress factor.

Presentation of the collection is a more intimate process. It is the way of relaxation: you come, take a glass of wine and a cake, look through the collection, talk to a designer. And the presentation is obviously much more cheaper and can extand up to 3 or more hours, unlike a fashion show where you have to do everything in 1 hour. 

You should also pay attention on the creation of a press-kit:

Written statement about what the collection is. From 10 to 20 sentences in specific and detailed language. You have to put 6 months of the work in these 20 sentences.

In a press-kit a designer has to show that your collection is your collection.

Then, a designer has to tell the audience about himself, who he is.

Then, if you've got time or extra money to do it, you have to take pics of your looks and items from the collections and put them on a CD. It shows that a designer is  very organised, he takes everything seriously and he knows what he is doing. And it lets the audience learn about you as a designer.

You also have to make a collection of all your interviews from a fashion week or other events, all your photos, TV-shows, videos etc, because it is your history, it is establishing who you are.

"You must be prepared to suffer and to feel alone in achieving your dreams. It is inevitable"

           Positive reaction on you work is excellent, but you should be prepared that not everyone will like what you do. Negative reviews can push you, you should learn and approve. What should a designer do when he receives bad reviews? The same as when he receives good. You have to write back and say "Thank you for your time. I really appreciate that". You also can meet with a journalist to talk about the collection, about his understanding and perception of the concept.

Fashion business is really hard. You have to be prepared to suffer. Sometimes you will want to stop all these, because it is tremendously difficult. You will lose your friends, you surrounding, because people bacome jelous and mean. But if you love it, you have to dedicate yourself to your job and to believe in what you do.