The finale – K2C
28-11-2005
Each fashion show went out at full capacity and the audience was appreciative. There was a buzz of anticipation along with excitement too. However, for me personally it was the Master Classes that surprised me most. I have given many many seminars on jobs within the industry including the major event Skill City at Excel in the summer. However, at K2C there was a real need to provide succinct information about the various multitude of jobs that exist within fashion and the LFF now have an extensive amount of additional follow-up work to do with many of the participants that attended. .
At the K2C master classes for the jobs the audience was relatively young. The two seminars I ran on the Sunday showed that there was a genuine need for information and signposting for the attendees. There was a lack of confidence and an uncertainty of what to do next if a participant wanted to go into the world of fashion. This is also true of all nationalities but there was a unity with the Black Caribbean sector.
It was difficult for me to get my social inclusion hat on with this event. I am from industry and having been a buyer for Littlewoods, M&S and Principles for Woman I don’t care what colour the designer is, black, white, pink with purple spots for all I care, it is the collection that counts! I just look at handwriting of the label and the individual garments.What is the quality level? What attention to detail is there? The colour of the cloth, the silhouette of the garment, the composition of the fabric – I review a collection and think “right….is that commercial; WILL IT SELL?”
K2C has many worthwhile attributes but such three day events are expensive and only caters for one sector of the community. Will there be future claims that East Europeans should have their own sector specific fashion event too? Should we differentiate fashion by any grouping including socio-economic, local demographics, race, creed or culture or should we integrate and make the buyer out there (be it trade or public) aware of fashion talent per se?
It’s a difficult one and I don’t know the answer. I still have many friends in buying that are confused over the mix of fashion shows run by public backed entities, trade and commercial organisations. At the end of the day a buyer has a set budget. They want and need results which is the purchase of a commercial collection that sells on a high stock turn with a low weeks cover in a range of stores. Margin is key, service is vital but buyers judge garments on their saleability not the designers background.
I do however believe that there is a specific K2C niche need for continuing the masterclasses from a cultural perspective. There are different needs and requirements from a learning viewpoint that need to be considered.
So to sum up YES the event was good; actually it was an amazing achievement to pull off K2C in just 15 weeks. Improvements can be made in sign posting and communication but this is no big deal and with greater lead-times easy to achieve. There was a strong captive market, footfall was high and there was an atmosphere of excitement and fun too. Of the future well that’s a difficult one – should it be integrated with other events? Should it be a public backed event for one strata of the community? The same also applies to Asian Dreams, another public sponsored event, that also has a niche market and a high attendance level. If such events are commercial, if there is a real need then should events then be backed by industry and commerce rather than with sponsorship raised from only public funded bodies? Should market forces dictate? It’s not an easy debate but one that should be aired rather than whispers behind closed doors.
At the starting discussions point, as an experienced Industry Advisor, I did have reservations of the K2C concept – after three days the reservations were still there, still valid but they had been dissipated somewhat especially with the involvement of the masterclasses and the receptive audience that attended.
I keep on thinking of the words of Afua Chebueze
Fashion is FREE!
If I give you African-Punk
Or Middle England-Funk
It’s up to ME!
…….
Uh, the point of this chapter
Is that Fashion is free
Not for individuals to set a monopoly
Let us then unite in an explosion of style
East meets West
Modern meets indigenous
Lets celebrate the best of us
Remember Fashion is Free!
The same as our individuality
Jenny Holloway
Industry Advisor
