GET A CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ( or get a very popular fashion/style blogger to wear your item.)
You are in the business of making money however to make money you have to invest a bit , or give a bit. Do you ever wonder how the big fashion houses like Chanel , D&G, or even H&M get people to buy their stuff ? Good marketing and celebs endorsements. Let's be real as a starter you probably have 99%chance of not being endorsed by a celeb in your first years but never say never. Start by your local celebrities and or popular fashion/style bloggers and work your way up from there .
USE POLYVORE , AND TUMBRL
I still can't believe that young African designers are not taking advantage of these free tools. Polyvore is a site where you can upload you designs for millions of bloggers to use as a source of inspiration. By using Polyvore you are exposing your work to millions of creative minds. Check out these posts I made using polyvore and I did must of them by uploading the pictures myself. It will be so much easier if the designs were there already . You can also create a tumbrl page and by doing so people will reblog your designs for everyone to see.
SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK , TWITTER ETC...)
I cannot stretch this enough use the social media outlets , after all its free. Open a
Facebook and twitter account and interact with your followers. find out what they are liking this season, do surveys and more . Make sure you separate you personal account from your fashion account. We don't want to follow you thinking you will talking about fashion and come to find out you only talking about your personal business. Trust me I have seen this over and over again.
SPONSOR A GIVEAWAY
Doing
giveaways is another great way to promote your work. The item you are
giving away does not have to be super expensive however it should be good
enough for people to enter. The more people enter the more buzz you will
get for your fashion line. An easier way to sponsor a giveaway is to do
it through your favorite magazines and blogs. There are multitude of
them out there so make sure you choose wisely. An example of this is
when Africa fashion week New york gave away 2 tickets to ciaafrique
readers to go to one of their shows, For a week Ciaafrique readers were
tweeting like crazy. Another great example is when Delabique sponsored this giveaway 2 months ago. Create the buzz is the key.
If you are a young African fashion designer , or even one that is already established I hope these few tips will you get to the next level. So any thoughts ? Are you using any of these tips yet ? if you think I forgot anything make sure you comment below.You can read the part one here.
wow Thank you so much Assa, this is a great article. I also love your look on this pics. I am an emerging designer and I think that will start using polyvore today.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ijoma
ReplyDeletegreat post !
ReplyDeleteI have been a regular visitor on polyvore for a while now...I cant believe it never occured to me to upload my bag pictures *hides face in shame*
ReplyDeleteGood job Ciaa.
You are craking me up girl !!! polyvore is such a great way to put your name out there .Make sure you tag them properly so that people ca find it
ReplyDeleteXOXO
ReplyDeleteHEY GAL
ReplyDeletei love this post.As much as i am a blogger i am also an upcoming fashion designer and i have just had more insight into the fashion industry..plus African print is the trend now. and i have learnt which category i fall into..
xoxo
Gwada
www.ligwascurvyworld.wordpress.com
Thanx for the article,will definitely be putting that into practice
ReplyDeleteWhoaa! Thank you so much Assa for those tips! I put my hand up: did not know Polyvore!!! Now, I DO! Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteJust made created my first Polyvore set! What an amazing tool: i think it will really help me showcase my creations next to high fashion products to demonstrate that what I do is of high standards.
ReplyDeleteI guess, as a fashion designer, if one is serious about entering the "grown-ups" playground, you got to understand their rules and play by their rules: you need to demonstrate your product is strong, current, and meet the standards of the industry. Polyvore helped me towards that! Onwords and upwards! Thx Sis! xxx
@kankou Yes polyvore can make wonders
ReplyDelete