Project: M.I.S.S x Mama “Always A Lady” adidas Fina
Role: Co-designer
Notes: The “Always A Lady” adidas Fina was inspired by all the elements of dressing like a lady: Cuban heel fully fashioned stockings, handkerchief, crocodile shoes and bag and lace.

Issue 2 of Hell Yeah! Magazine was chock full of M.I.S.S. Not only did we do the “A Woman’s Work” fashion editorial but Hell Yeah! sat down with me to get the lowdown on M.I.S.S. See the full interview below…

The Sale Mentality

Last week, I began exploring the effect of the recession on the fashion industry and the theory of “wear it now” versus “wear it later” deliveries as a way the fashion industry is trying to combat economic stagnancy. Though “wear it now” might be a step in the right direction in changing the tide of consumer spending by stocking relevant items when demand is highest, changing delivery times alone will most likely not be enough to change the overall depressed stated of the fashion industry. The apparel business is also facing the reality that their previous early delivery schedules or “wear it later” mentality have created a very real unintended side effect: the sale mentality.

Yes, as we all have learned through this recession, having clothing on the racks before they are in season has trained consumers to wait to expend their precious discretionary spending money on goods that are on sale, clearance or marked down. The question then becomes, what does the fashion industry do to get consumers to buy at full price again?

Quality & Value
Quality is King (or Queen) when it comes to consumer products and keeping customers satisfied. You can only last so long with hiding shoddy product through strong branding and packaging. In this recession consumers are stretching their discretionary spending to maximum capacity. Quality and value will be the first thing shoppers look for in prospective products. Simply put, the consumer wants to get their money’s worth.

We can see this through the rise of “disposable fashion” – the H&M’s and Forever 21′s of the world. Customers are looking for something at a low price point, very trendy and of-the-moment but that will most likely not make it to the next season. Clearly, consumers are willing to skimp on quality so long as the value is there.

Lower Prices
The slow economy trickles down to the factories. Less demand for brands leads to fewer orders, which leads to lower demand on factory floors, everyone on the food chain is hurting. Fortunately, for healthier brands, that means they have been able to negotiate better manufacturing pricing and terms. That’s great for consumers because that translates to sustained lower prices without sacrificing quality and value.

Exceptional/Differentiated Design
At the peak of the recession, I went to several trade shows, including NY Fashion Week. I noticed one predominant trend – designers were playing it safe. It was one of the most boring seasons I had ever seen, designers weren’t taking risks and not progressing, everything had been seen before. As a former designer, the message was clear: designers were only making what they knew would sell. That may get your brand through the lowest point of the recession, but it’s not a long-term strategy.

If a brand/designer wants to get consumers to pay full price, they will need to concentrate on exceptional or differentiated design. They will need to provide the consumer with something they can’t get anywhere else – and with the sense of urgency that if they don’t get it from them – they won’t get it at all. At the end of the day, design is what is going to distinguish designers from their peers and have consumers opening their wallets.

Customer Service
Though consumers don’t have the spending power they used to, it’s still definitely a buyer’s market. Survival of the fittest has weeded out many brands. Despite the market slim down, there are still a number of options to differentiate one’s brand when it comes to consumer products. One way companies can distinguish themselves is with stellar customer service.

“The customer is always right” has never been more correct. With brands competing for shoppers’ dollars, brands need to show customer appreciation. After all, consumers could have shopped anywhere but they decided to spend with you. So, make sure that when the customer has questions, or issues with a product, the problems are resolved swiftly. In today’s market, the last thing a brand needs is a customer complaining. The Internet has forever changed the power of a complaint. Facebook and Twitter can make one bad experience last a lifetime, or, worst case, cause the end of a brand’s life. Brand owners, remember, no matter the situation, in most circumstances even the most disgruntled customer can be smoothed over with simple and plain good customer service.

Branding & Brand Loyalty
Perhaps the most mysterious of the factors, branding and brand loyalty is the crème de la crème method of keeping customers paying full price. One need only look at examples like Apple, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. These brands rarely (if ever) have sales but customers keep coming back. Granted, they don’t only have branding to rely on, they have quality, value, exceptional design and excellent customer service. They don’t by any means have low prices but that doesn’t stop customers from buying their products – repeatedly.

Branding is the marketing term de jour and brands/designers should definitely take heed. How do you distinguish your apparel from all of the other options? Many times it comes down to brand image. What does the brand represent? What’s the story behind the brand? Why is it compelling? Why does it attract certain kinds of customers? Sounds relatively simple, but these are all questions that brands and designers must answer when developing their brand strategy. But note, branding will not be enough, nor will it be easy to execute. Branding is just another brick that designers and brands need to think about when developing their rock solid foundation of quality, value, customer service and exceptional design – without that, branding will just create nothing more than a facade. And facades crumble easily.

Conclusion: Breaking the Sale Mentality
Consumers have become pros at navigating sales and clearance racks. More often than not, shoppers are waiting for something to be on sale – because we all know it will just be a matter of time before the price is slashed. So, if we’re ever going to crawl our way out of this recession how do we get customers to start paying full price again?

There is no magic formula, but brands and designers need to look within themselves and make sure that they are doing everything they can to give customers the best possible experience. The building blocks will vary by designer/brand, but with a healthy mix of keeping costs down, bringing quality and perceived value up, designing the best product possible, making the customer feel important and by developing a unique brand image, brands/designers will be able to keep their customers – and have them pay full price.

To read Part I of this 2 part article, please see: The Rag Trade: “Wear It Now” or “Wear It Later”

I did this a few months back – M.I.S.S. teamed up with Pool Tradeshow to highlight some of the product shown at Pool that are great examples of spring trends that are on the streets.  The spread was in the Pool Magazine that was distributed at the show in Las Vegas but I just got my copy and wanted to share!  You can see the full M.I.S.S. x Pool Magazine Spring 2010 Trends on MissOmniMedia.com.

Moi!  Yep, I was asked to do a short interview for the Karmaloop Ladies’ Blog as part of their Chick of the Month series.  You can read the full interview on the Karmaloop Ladies’ Blog.

Girls Got Kicks is a book project put together by Lori Lobenstine, founder of Female Sneaker Fiend, to showcase all the lady sneaker fiends of the world and show the boys that they’re not the only ones who like to keep their kicks fly. She enlisted M.I.S.S.’s very own Amanda Lopez to shoot all the women and their sneaks as the duo travels across the country to different cities.  I’m very honored to be included among the women featured in Girls Got Kicks.

In Issue 16 of Sneaker Freaker, Lori and Amanda were interviewed about the project. If you didn’t catch the interview in print, check out the Girls Got Kicks feature now available on SneakerFreaker.com.

All photos by Amanda Lopez
Photos of GDK taken at The Darkside Initiative

M.I.S.S. has teamed up with Moxsie.com to kick off their new guest blogger series. For the next three weeks, each Monday Moxsie.com will publish an article that I wrote for their blog. The first post relates to spring trends – and how to update your closet with a few key pieces. You can read “Shop the Spring Trends on Moxsie” on Moxsie.com.

Vans and Hellz collaborated on two sick styles coming out soon. When Lanie and the Hellz crew came by the M.I.S.S. Paper Dolls opening in LA, Brittany filmed me for a video testimonial wall that was going to be playing in the background at the Vans x Hellz launch party. Here is my testimonial in all of its silly glory…

Paper Dolls Opening Reception: Mitsy Avila Ovalles, "Untitled" SOLD

Last Thursday, the M.I.S.S ladies got on planes and hopped into cars to make our way down to Los Angeles for our first ever art show, “Paper Dolls” at FIFTY24LA Gallery. It was a great excuse to see the ladies since we mostly work over the phone and via email – when we’re all together watch out – we form like Voltron and tear shit up!

Paper Dolls Opening Reception: Post Reception M.I.S.S. Dinner at Roscoes!

The show was a success with tons of people out and about for Downtown LA Art Walk, we had a steady stream of visitors and a few no-shows (damn LA parking!). It was great to connect with people we haven’t seen in a while like Laura Knapp, Lanie from Hellz and the DMPC ladies; It was also nice to finally meet ladies that we’ve worked with but hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting in person like Jaq from Nola Darling, Sarah Morrison of internet fame and Melinda of Her Nails. One of the highlights for me was finally meeting Estevan Oriol, whose store The Last Laugh is next door, who came by to check out the show.

Paper Dolls Opening Reception: Lanie Alabanza-Barcena & the Hellz Crew

The show would never have come together without the participation of so many talented artists whose work is so diverse. I am proud to have such an eclectic showing of pieces all with varying interpretations of the paper doll (and many of them sans clothing!) – with many pieces coming in from around the country (and some other countries too!). Many many thanks go out to all the participating artists: Adriana Yugovitch, Alice Mizrachi, Amanda Lopez, Branden Collins, Claw Money, Esther Kim, Farah Siozon, Fawn Gehweiler, Ilisha Helfman, Indie184, Insa, J. David Mckenney, Kelly Tunstall, Kerin.Rose, Kime Buzzelli, Leola Bermanzohn, Lisa Perrin, Liz Sullivan, Magda Sayeg (Knitta Please), Martina Fugazzotto, Melly Elliott, Miss Kika, Mitsy Avila Ovalles, Molly Crabapple, Narcissister, Nicole Markoff, Nubby Twiglet, Paulina Quintana, Queen Andrea, Sahara Marina Borja, Shin Tanaka, Sofia Maldonado, Solarspace (Austin Pinon), Tone Tank, and Toofly.

Paper Dolls Opening Reception: Fawn Gehweiler "Forest Girl" $150

A very big special thank you to the ladies who made this happen – Kimberly Jefferson and Lexx Valdez – as well as the L.A.-based M.I.S.S. interns Leilanie, Felicia and Ashley! Big hugs! And last but not least, many thanks to the Upper Playground family, FIFTY24LA, Krista & Melinda.

Please check out the Paper Dolls gallery to see photos of some of our visitors and all of the art pieces (a few pieces are missing – we’re getting those photos and will update the post shortly!). All of the items are for sale unless they are marked as SOLD. If you are interested in purchasing a piece, please email us at miss@missomnimedia.com with the name of the piece and the artist who created it.

The show runs until March 3, 2010 so if you missed the opening you have some time to check it out and there’s also the February Downtown LA Art Walk on February 11, 2010.

Thanks for all of your support and we look forward to putting together more events that push the culture forward and bring ladies together.

xoxo
GDK