Fashion 2.0 founder Yuli Ziv, designer Norma Kamali, and the evening's host Robert Verdi
Fashion designer Norma Kamali gave the keynote address at Style Coalition’s third annual Fashion 2.0 Awards in New York this evening, focusing on how technology is propelling the industry into the future.
She referred to today as the most exciting time to be in fashion since the 1960s. “What’s now the most innovative and new, and what matters, is not the clothes, which repeat themselves, but how we tell the story about fashion,” she explained.
It’s about how we personalise it, and how we humanise it, she added. “You can know my story, know about me, and if you know me as a woman, you can connect with me.”
But she also said what she loves about it is the feedback you can get from your consumers. Where once the magazines owned the power and the information, now real people, who love fashion, and love to communicate and share it, are the ones who have that. They can tell a story to all of the people who follow them, in the same way that brands can, and really make an impact on them, she said – this is modern fashion today.
She referenced her background working for an airline straight after graduation when she couldn’t get a job in the 1960s, as the reason behind her desire and love for technology. At that time, airlines were like Apple today, she explained: “Technology was really driving the industry, it was an incredible leap into the future.”
She expressed that same sense of “tomorrow, today”; a place that is far ahead, but we are on our way there now.
The Fashion 2.0 awards themselves aim to recognise and honour brands striving to reach these very goals; those with outstanding achievements and communication strategies in the online community, and those considered best in class across a variety of digital media channels.
Kate Spade took the Top Innovator title beating out other nominees including Oscar de la Renta and Coach, and previous winners, Burberry and DKNY.
Meanwhile DKNY PR Girl, otherwise now known as Aliza Licht, international senior vice president of global communications, scooped Best Twitter and Best Blog by a Fashion Brand, for her more recently launched Tumblr page. Click here to see a full list of all the rest of the winners.
Kamali, who was nominated in the best online video category, will be showcasing her second 3-D film at New York Fashion Week next week.
(Image via @giafrese)
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Tags: digital, DKNY, DKNY PR Girl, fashion, fashion 2.0 awards, Kate Spade, New York, Norma Kamali
#SXSW Interactive in prep: a fashionable playing ground for 2013
4 MarIf there was one thing I learnt from SXSW last year, it was that I absolutely had to go again in 2013. On top of the fact it’s the place to hear industry leaders give expert insights, the place to learn about new innovations and source fresh inspirations, and the place where trends and directions for the tech world break… it’s also a breeding ground for incredible networking.
For anyone working within the fashion-meets-digital space, this seems especially the case this year, with more attendees headed to Austin from our industry than ever, as well as a host of relevant events to go with it.
Fashion’s Collective is hosting one of them, known as the Fashion Brain Bar on Monday, March 11 (as pictured above). It’s aim is to provide a bit of respite from the insanity of the festival, but also a space for everyone to meet the people they need to meet and have “the conversations that will play a key role in the advancements we’ll see over the next few years”.
Industry experts on hand will include Raman Kia, executive director of integrated strategy at Condé Nast through to Dave Gilboa, founder of Warby Parker. The full list can be seen here, as well as a space to submit questions to them in advance.
Another fringe event planned is called The Neighborhood. Created by AvecMode and 2nd Street District, it’s a move on from the Style X event of previous years, which brought a fashion focus (complete with runway shows) to Austin nearer the end of the festival. This time plans are in place from March 11 – 14 with a bit more of an industry edge. There are pop-up stores still, but also Q&A sessions with pros from the likes of Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Lyst, Refinery29 and more, as well as highlight interviews with menswear designers John Varvatos and Billy Reid.
The main SXSW schedule does of course feature a number of fashion-specific events too, including this one with Nina Garcia focused on the democratisation of high fashion. And this one featuring New York’s “digital it-crowd” in Aliza Licht, Cannon Hodge, Erika Bearman and John Jannuzzi (that’d be DKNY, Bergdorf Goodman, Oscar de la Renta and Lucky Magazine).
Fashion’s Collective has also published a survival guide to the whole five days, including must-attend events (lots of them non-fashion which I would highly recommend, there’s nothing like being inspired from outside your normal remit), as well as a handful of food and drink recommendations (indispensable).
I also love this guide from Andrew Hyde, called Ditch the Marketers, Find the Makers, it sums up the rest of the experience beautifully (be friendly to everyone, sit down when you can, put down your tech and look at people – yes really).
On that note mind you, if you’re going, drop me a line over Twitter. Assuming I can connect, I’d love to meet you.
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Tags: austin, Bergdorf Goodman, Bergdorfs, conde nast, designer, digital, DKNY, education, event, fashion, fashion's collective, festival, insights, inspiration, inspire, learning, Lucky magazine, new technology, Nina Garcia, Oscar de la Renta, social, social media, SXSW, sxsw interactive, sxswi, technology, warby parker