On Monday, May 22nd, Designow welcomed over a dozen editors and influencers to its Garment District headquarters in New York to help spread the word of its revolutionary business model and its role shaping the future of fashion.
After a lively lunch that included a briefing by Designow’s Chief Marketing Officer Brian Benner, who outlined the platform’s expansion to include a premium service that will offer established designers access to Designow’s invaluable resources such as product development, sourcing and manufacturing, Designow founder Bo Guo spoke on the state of the industry, the challenges facing both designers and retailers, and how Designow has remained flexible in its approach to meeting those challenges head on.
“You mean anyone can submit a design to the site?!” asked a flabbergasted Julee Wilson, Fashion and Beauty Director at Essence Magazine. Indeed many of the editors, accustomed to an increasingly outmoded way of covering fashion, particularly emerging talent, found the openness of the Designow approach refreshing, chatting amongst themselves about how best to cover in their respective publications.
Also on hand was artist Isabella Huffington, whose worked with the Designow team to translate one of her signature collaged canvases into a stunning floral printed silk sheath dress. “I work in collage because there’s a certain accessibility to it,” said Huffington. “Even a child can work in that medium. And I sensed that same accessibility in Designow. I’m not a formally trained designer and they made the entire process seamless.”
The attendees wrapped up the afternoon with a tour of the Designow showroom where they could get up close and personal the work of Designow collaborators such as Ruthie Davis, Michael Costello and the winning student designs from the inaugural Designow x Collective show. The group consensus: incredible quality, innovative design and renewed enthusiasm for the future of the industry we all love.
