Nickys Ragtales......

I missed London Fashion Week and had to forgo several invites to some great catwalk shows. The tickets are like Hens teeth and as I sat at home or in the showroom either asleep or slumped over my desk I tried hard not to think about what I was missing and tried not to sneeze over customers as I carried on selling. The great thing is that I was able to watch several of the shows live from my couch such is the miracle of the internet. Within minutes of watching I was able to post them on nickysragtales.com which means that everyone can watch and comment.

I’ve been blogging now for a year and a half and have built up a lovely group of followers, these are people that I sometimes meet and who tell me they enjoy my posts and my occasional off beat humour. Today I had a call from someone from the Christian Loubouton company who wants to meet with me as they have recently opened in Dublin’s Brown Thomas and I’m guessing they may want me to write a piece about the them. This has made me think. Do I write just because I’m flattered to be asked? Do I write for money or a gift? The answer to both of those questions is a very definite NO. I made certain rules for myself when I started the blog and they are very simple. I only write about things I like (or don’t like) and speak my mind. I don’t accept money or gifts before writing and I certainly don’t ask for anything. Sometimes I do get gifts but they are always a surprise and not necessary. A thank you is all that is required. I love the fact that it’s my blog and I can do what I want with it. I am though starting to think about how I can monetize the blog in a way that will not compromise my ethics in any way. I would like to cover my costs at least and will perhaps consider advertising but only of products or businesses that I endorse. I think it’s time I called my Internet tech friend Rob from Lady Umbrella or tech guru Krishna De for some advice on how to go forward.

Have a fashionable week ahead……

www.nickysragtales.com

The Fashion Industry Insider

Last week I was in Milan and this week it has all been on the phone. Making appointments by phone is my absolute pet hates and talking to other agents there seems to be common agreement among us that this is the worst job we have to do. I absolutely love meeting and talking to boutique owners but when I call them I never know what sort of day they are having and can’t make eye contact, which is an obvious disadvantage. Next week I will be on the high ways and byways of Ireland, calling to my customers and seeing what is happening on the ground. With the sales in full swing it’s a busy time for owners. All of us in the Fashion business have one foot in the present and the other firmly in the future. Plans are well advanced for the coming selling season with all the ranges due into the showroom during the month of August and September. Jaeger London, which has been one of the biggest UK success stories, arrives into the showroom on August 3 for 10 days only which means that all the appointments have to run like clockwork. We Irish are not known for our time keeping and each season I become a juggler moving appointments around to make sure all the buyers are accommodated as best I can. Following Jaeger the new Nicowa collection arrives and running alongside these is the large Falke and new ready to wear Yummie Tummie collection. Heidi Higgins Spring Summer 2011 will be in mid September so it feels like I’m in training for a marathon!

I’m taking time out this week end to go to the fantastic milliner Linda McKay who holds hat making work shops in her gorgeous home in Kilkenny. Chloe, my youngest daughter is coming along too and we will be staying in the gorgeous Ballduff House nearby. This is something that will be totally relaxing and creative and while we all run around like headless chickens it is very important to keep in as relaxed frame of mind as we can manage. I will certainly be trying to stay focused and cool and will let you know how I get on.

Have a fashionable week ahead……

The Fashion Industry Insider by Nick Harris

I know it seems blindingly obvious but the one thing about writing a weekly blog is the speed at which it comes around again. Each week when I have finished writing and looking it over I smile a satisfied smile that I have completed another post. However the speed at which it comes around again is nothing short of alarming! That the weeks fly by is no understatement.

Of course for a procrastinator like me the daily task of blogging is nothing short of miraculous, even if I do say so myself. Each day I wake up with no earthly idea of what I’m going to blog about. No I tell a lie sometimes I have a vague idea but only sometimes.

Today for example I’m thinking about Easter bonnets and perhaps a little research into hats, which I’m a bit addicted to the purchase of. I might even pull out all of mine of which several are vintage and take some photographs. Oh, that reminds me about my poor camera. It and I had a bit of an accident which involved both my laces in my boots wrapping themselves around so my legs were tied together resulting in me along with my camera flying lengthways along Aungier Street on my way to the boutique Maven. (An idea for a post, you understand) I was only bruised in body as well as pride but my poor and faithful camera has had to go to Camera Clinic where I am assured that for 300 euro it will be right as rain! I used my little Mini Video camera for an interview in Maven and posted it as I sat with my bruised body at my desk that evening.

Now it’s time to get back to the orders that are piled up on my desk since I was away all last week. I told you I was a procrastinator!! Have a fashionable week ahead…

www.nickysragtales.com

The Fashion Industry Insider by Nicky Harris

I got back from London Fashion Week yesterday several invitations later I am just catching up here at home. The Jaeger London show was fantastic as was John Rocha’s, both were true to their core values. Jaeger concentrating on cut, tailoring and city style with John Rocha showing his amazing use of texture and shape in an amazing neutral but never boring palette.

I was double jobbing (blogging and agent) and ended up following photographers. At one point I took some pictures of a woman and then turned to the person beside me and asked ‘Who’s that’? To which the reply in a very condescending tone came back ‘It’s Erin O’Connor, don’t you know who she is?’ To which I mumbled something about my eyesight not being too good. My theory is, shoot first and ask questions later.

I bumped into fashion journalists Annmarie O’Connor and Deirdre Mc Quillan and it’s great to catch up and share our (fashion) thoughts. It’s amazing that often the most interesting and important discussions and meetings take place in airport lounges and Fashion exhibitions!

One feature of the Show was a touching RIP wall to Alexander Mc Queen covered in very moving tribute notes. A sad reminder that life is precious and a great talent is lost to the world of fashion.

I’m back in the showroom now buzzing with enthusiasm and excited about business with a renewed vigour. The customers are coming in , I’m selling and loving catching up with all of them. The Business of Fashion is moving on and I’m having one of those unusually positive and enthusiastic days where I’m really happy to be part of it.

Have a really good week…….

www.nickysragtales.com

The Fashion Industry Insider by Nick Harris

It’s very easy to be weighed down by doom and gloom. We have only to pick up the newspapers or turn on the radio for the latest awful news to seep into our consciousness. Good news just doesn’t make it except as a ‘triumph over adversity’ story. The Fashion business is by it’s nature upbeat and is sometimes seen as trivial. That is something I would argue very heavily against. Ok we women do love clothes and the business is sometimes built around the striving for that idea of ‘want rather than need.’ The reality is that we need to feel good about ourselves. To get up and get ourselves dressed in a way that means we can hold our heads up high and face the day and whatever it brings. We want and need to feel good about special occasions and love when we find that perfect dress or pair of shoes. Constantly striving to be better is not something to be in any way ashamed of.

Our local boutiques and great Irish Independent Fashion Stores do a fantastic job of presenting to the customers the best of what the world has to offer. At the moment buyers are travelling to shows in Paris, London, Berlin, Denmark and further a field to Australia and America. They are picking the best from the ranges and deciding what will look good on their customers. Many of the buyers come into my show room; they go through the ranges and buy for individual customers often remarking that this or that garment would be perfect for Mrs So and So. Irish shoppers who support their local boutiques get tremendous personal service from the owners who go to enormous trouble to bring interesting and new as well as old faithful labels onto their rails.

So my message for this week is to enjoy looking at the new collections for Spring Summer, they are just hitting the shop floors. Happy shopping…..

The Fashion Industry Insider by Nicky Harris

I suspended the Fashion Police last week as I along with half the country was snowed in. Venturing out to forage for provisions amounted to donning my hill walking gear. Boots that have taken me hundreds of kilometres across three continents. Boots that clung to wet rocks, boots that sank into deep wet bogs in the Wicklow hills and the same boots that were washed away in a tidal river (along with me attached) in Brazil last year! Needless to say the top half was covered in several layers of thermal and hiking gear. Not a pretty sight I agree, but boy did I care? Not a jot.

Back in the showroom for the first time after a few days the less than glamerous side of the life of a Fashion Agent was the order of the day. Writing envelopes (lots of them) sorting samples and pricing them. Oh and cutting off labels from tights to bring to the Charity shop.

Last week in New York in a lane behind H&M on 34th st in Manhattan lots and lots of unwanted clothes were being sorted. Unfortunately the clothes had been slashed as to make them totally unwearable. Fingers were cut off gloves. Arms off dresses. Legs off trousers… You get the picture. These clothes weren’t for the Charity Shops nearby they were for the garbage collectors. Within minutes the story was on- line in the NY Times, minutes later Twitterville was all a-Tweet. I was one of those Tweeters (I’m addicted since I got my iPhone) and the story made the second top trending Twitter subject within hours. People were tweeting for boycotts and protests against H&M. Not good PR at all. What was needed was very swift damage control. It took H&M one whole day to respond and apologise stating that it was not company policy and that they were treating the matter very seriously indeed. Tweeters responded in kind and are a forgiving lot.

The moral of the story. If you are a retailer embrace Social Media and respond immediately to any negative publicity. Old Media may tell the story the outcome may very well depend on Facebook, Bloggers and Twitter.

Have a good week ahead.. Nicky

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Nickys Ragtales

Planning, planning and more planning sums up the week in hand in the life of a Fashion Agent. Showroom matters include a huge sample clearout and this entails several black sacks of socks and tights, which get de-labelled and dropped to the local charity shop.

I wonder if any of you have had the eerie experience of passing a charity shop and seeing your old clothes in the window? This happened to me last year and they looked even better there, than hanging in my wardrobe. I took a different route home for a couple of weeks, as it was such an odd feeling. It’s true that we have emotional connections with our clothes and shoes. Recent research has discovered that women remember buying their first pair of fashion shoes and this has confirmed that there is a very strong emotional connection with our clothing. We, of course have always known this and it’s what makes us so fascinated and in love with fashion.

Booking my (several) plane tickets I was reminded of my first excursion to London Fashion Week way back when I worked with Red or Dead. Fifteen years ago. A Fashion Week Virgin is the only way I can describe myself. I thoughtfully dressed in what I thought was a suitable ensemble, a cream suit and if memory serves me right a red! Coat. My fringe (as I remember) was blue or orange? I know, I know ! what was I thinking about.

Upon arrival at the queue as I looked around, every single person (bar me) was in top to toe black. The Prada nylon bags were in at the time and to a person there was a Prada fest going on.

I felt like a clown but head held high walked in. One good thing about standing out in the crowd for me that day was that even though I looked like Zandra Rhodes I ended up in a room with Vidal Sasoon where we had a lovely chat and back stage with the models including the one and only Kate Moss. There is life after the wrong clothes after all!. Have a good week ahead.

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