photo shoot inspiration

I'm starting to pull inspiration for the upcoming lookbook photo shoot. A lookbook is basically a small catalog showing each piece of the collection working together. This is essential to have (for the show room) when presenting the line to buyers. It is something that the buyers can take away and reference back too. Also, it is helpful for PR by sending to boutiques or even industry publications for marketing. It should portray the overall theme of the collection while also showing how each piece works together.

One of my best friends Amanda came up with a brilliant idea of having a location inspired from scenes of "The Notebook"; think large willow tree, small body of water and overgrown grass. It definitely feels romantic and feminine, much like what my spring collection represents.

I have pulled a few images to give you more of an insight. What do you think?









...if you can think of anywhere like this in Southern California let me know. thanks!


~k

All photos above ( except for the one labeled "the notebook") came from http://lookbook.nu/

richard powers

While I'm on the subject...I want this living room :)



although I think I would add a crystal chandelier instead.

Check out all of his other genius photography @ Richard Powers

a great house

Here are a few photos of the ah inspiring house which belongs to top celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe and her husband Roger.







The house has a very calming effect, perhaps it is the indoor/outdoor feeling I get from the extra large windows or the clean lines and muted colors?! Everything has a place, there is no clutter (shown) and it seems very quiet tucked in beside the hill.
Great place to host your closest friends for a dinner party.


Thanks Everything Fabulous for providing these beautiful photos taken by Richard Powers.

business plan

This week I am starting on my business plan. Not really the most exciting thing but important nevertheless.
A business plan is essential for many reasons. One of which is that it is required to get a business loan. Another good reason is that it helps to keep you on track with goals,profit expectations and growth. It's a good thing to just keep referring back to while in business and always updating with new objectives.

It is important for me to have a plan in place for kendall k. since we will (hopefully) need to obtain a small biz loan for production. You see, once the orders have been placed, then the factory will start the production process. We will have to pay the factory for production before we see any money come in from the orders. Depending on the order size, production can be very costly. So needless to say, I'm hoping that we need to get a loan!! :)

Any tips?!

~k

gold ribbon

Yesterday I went and bought some gold lurex ribbon for the hang tags. The gold is playful, glamorous and eclectic... however it also counteracts the simplicity of the font and antique eyelet...BUT a little juxtaposition could be a good thing, right? ahh perhaps I'm reading too much into this?
The ribbon is still in the race but I still have some time...


Happy Friday everyone!!

research

I am starting to do some research on finding a showroom, which could be one of the most important decisions that I make. A showroom is where the collection will sit and be shown to prospective buyers. The sales reps who work in the showroom will really handle the buyer contact, show the line and write the orders. So you can see how important finding the right showroom is. Usually, you can get a lot of information by looking at the other lines that the showrooms host. I'm definitely going to start with taking your advice Haydee and doing some cold calls. Also, I will make my way down to LA and walk around the La/New mart buildings. stay tuned.


great quote found at Slumber Designs
~k

san fran and tech packs...

I hope that you all had a wonderful Memorial day weekend! Kyle and I spent the weekend in San Francisco with very dear friends of ours, Kirk and Alicia. It was a perfect long weekend.
(Click on her name and you will see her house recently featured in Apartment therapy, isn't it fantastical?!)

This is us go karting around the city... highly recommend it if you are in the city.


and relaxing after a long ride...

On another note, I was talking to Kyle this morning about the blog and he has suggested that I talk more about the technical side to starting a clothing line. Unfortunately, I started the blog once I had the majority of "technical" items checked off my list but in any case I will start by explaining a tech pack. Whenever I told people what I had done so far, saying "I just sent out my first five tech packs..." I would always get, "what the heck is a tech pack"?!
So here I will explain what a tech pack is:
A tech pack is a pack of information that contains a sketch, measurements, construction/sewing details, fabric and trim info and any photo inspirations for each style. When I was at bcbg, we didn't have to really create tech packs since all the sampling was done in house but when you are dealing with overseas manufacturers, it is important to have all necessary information on each style bundled together and easily accessible.
I create a tech pack for each style that I send out- always. Not only is it good for me to keep for records and such, it is good for the factory.

The construction/sewing page which I create on illustrator, is inserted in later. This page is what takes up the majority of my time. It is where I give very detailed instructions and measurements in order to make the sample. Then I save them into pdf format and email them off as I complete them. If there are any questions, then a simple email is sent.
Hopefully, that gives you guys a little insight :)

On another note, I received five 2nd samples and one first sample today. I had ordered fabric based on a tiny little swatch of color and now I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I was thinking it was going to be a rich vicuna or cogniac color but instead it is much brighter than I had imagined. Hopefully if I keep staring at it, I will fall in love. I don't know, what do you think??



Sorry for the extra long post tonight, I guess I was making up for yesterday...
~k