Feeling Blu?

Blu Thoughts:  bluebirds, robins eggs, spring.  The impossibly blue Colorado sky.  The crystal clear blu of the Caribbean sea, the deepest blu of the Cayman Trench.  I love blue!  (So does Pantone)

Who is LamanBlu?

LamanBlu is a feeling.  LamanBlu is a twirly tomboy.   LamanBlu is a little girl, who is a princess, because all little girls are princesses.  LamanBlu is a little boy who is a prince, because all little boys are princes.  LamanBlu values having fun.  LamanBlu kids look beautiful when they are climbing trees.  LamanBlu is a fairy tale.  LamanBlu gives back to improve kids lives.  LamanBlu loves the ocean, and marvels at the majesty under its surface.  LamanBlu loves the mountains and the adventures that can be had there.  LamanBlu values friends, and fun, and family, more than it values clothing.

So You Think You Want to be a Fashion Designer - What's Your Vision?

It's one of the first subjects we cover in my Business of Fashion class at Emily Griffith Technical College.  C'mon - even Ralph Lauren didn't start off making men's, women's and kid's clothing, linens, jewelry, sunglasses, dishes, shoes.........he started off making men's ties - ONLY!

Most people start out thinking about a product they want to make - great - but if you want to build a brand around it, you need to dig deeper.

A great place to start is to look inside yourself.  What's important to you?

1. What do you enjoy doing most?
2. What do you need to do on a regular basis to feel fullfilled in your work?
3. What are your most important values?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your weaknesses?

OK - you're off to a good start.  Now start thinking a little more externally.....

1. Create a vision statement for your business that incorporates your personal vision
2. Now create a mission statement.  (Wal-Mart's Mission Statement is: "To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.")  Your mission statement can be long or short to start - but it should encompass the overriding philosophy under which your company/brand will make decisions.

Obviously, there is a lot more detail that goes into creating the vision for your brand and communicating that to your customer so that they understand and can identify with your great product!

Here's how it might look once you have it all fleshed out:

Life is NOT an emergency!

Sometimes it feels like it is - too much to do, a list so long I can't even read through it all.  Trying to keep up with the busy things that scream, demanding attention.  Fire fighting.  The urgent over the important.  It keeps you in the weeds instead of above the clouds.

I've been guilty of acting like life is an emergency lately - not enough time, too much to do.  I teach the Business of Fashion at Emily Griffith Technical College (among my - how many other jobs?).  I was relating some of my production issues with one of my factories in China to my students recently.  Some of them were wondering why I was having to deal with those problems since it was clearly an error made by the factory.  I answered, "because it is my company so ultimately my responsibility".  It's true.  It is my responsibility, and I do have too much for any one person to do.  So how do I act, and not react?  How do I stay above the clouds and not down in the weeds?

I tell my students, "It's not about what happens to you, it's not about what you are dealt, it's about how you respond to it."  So how do I respond to this urgent list of too much?

It's a choice.  "Life is dessert - too brief to hurry" says Ann Voskamp.

I'll fail again soon, maybe even later today.  But this morning, I choose to relish the dessert.  I choose to stay above the clouds.  I choose my attention to be focused on the important, rather than just the urgent.

Have a blessed day.

So, You Think You want to be a Fashion Designer? - Fittings

Do you know how to do a proper fitting?  Sure, plunk the garment you made on someone to make sure it looks good, right?  WRONG!

A proper industry fitting entails much more than that.  In fact, it starts way back before you even start working on a design.  Want to know the steps?  Well, here you go.

1. Determine your ideal customer body type
2. Determine your size range
3. Select a "base size" or "sample size" at the center of your size range
4. Determine what that exact model's body measurements should be
5. Find a fit model to match those measurements
6. Make your base style(s) for that fit model
7. Fit those base style(s) on your fit model / make corrections/alterations
8. Remake your base styles as many times as necessary to achieve a perfect fit
9. NOW you're ready to make your first pattern/first sample for a style you want to offer
10. Using your base patterns/styles, make your first pattern/sample for your fashion style
11. Measure your first sample to make sure it matches your pattern/specifications given for your pattern (yes, things can go wrong at this point due to poor patternmaking, poor sewing or even just fabric characteristics
12. Fit your sample on THE SAME FIT MODEL
13. Make corrections based upon design changes, fit corrections, allowances for fabric characteristics, etc.
14. Do this as many times as necessary to achieve the fit and style you want.

A little more involved than you thought?

A couple of notes - 

1. a dress form is a great tool, but it does not substitute for a fit model. Dress forms do not move.  You will find out all kinds of important information when your model tries to walk, sit, bend over, etc. in your garment.
2. so now you want to make the same style in a totally different fabric?  start over at step 10.  Do not assume that a fabric with very different characteristics will fit the same way as your last fabric (ex - knit vs woven OR even cotton knit vs viscose knit)

If you want to be perceived as a professional, act like one!  Happy Fitting!

(Guess what changed on this style after the model fitting?  Moved the applique down an inch - can't tell it needed that from the dress form!)

Hang Ten Gold - In It's a KidsWorld Magazine!

Awesome article - check it out!
Kidsworld Magazine

And for our current Hang Ten Gold spring collection - you'll see that we are right on trend with the Tropicalia Color trend - fun in the sun!
Tropicalia

Spring 2014 Fashion Trend Review - Color!

The sun is shining, spring is just around the corner.  Ready for a wrap-up of the must have trends for spring?  Here we go!

Color:

1. Blue - takes prominence this season, reflecting our new enchantment with oceanic worlds, turquoise recalls the shallow warm seas of life.
2. Pink and Orange - warm colors including pink and orange represent life in the sea, including coral and sponges.
3. Yellow Greens - evoke sunny feelings of citrus, lime and all things divine.

Pantone, the global authority on color - suggest that a key color pairing is a bright floral pink to provide warmth and energy and help set the stage for orange, an optimistic, spontaneous hue.  Together, they create a captivating vision, much like the setting summer sun.

Happy spring - keep your disposition sunny!