Listening in on the webinar the speakers gave great advice. They went over tips from everything to attending your first textile show, where to look for textile manufacturers, how to go about spending your time wisely, and how exactly to go about being surrounded by so many choices when attending a show or expo. After listening in, I related on every level to what they were saying. From being overwhelmed with all of the choices - to making contacts - and highly suggesting to not get overwhelmed and to focus your time on what textile you need.
FABRIC
One thing I have discovered in my year of starting up my clothing line...is that fabric is very, very, very, very hard to find. More or less - the fabric you envision & the fabric you see for the design you've sketched out ...you probably won't find, ever. For me, when I see something I like - I just know. Whether I'm out shopping for a cross-body purse to carry for fall or if its searching through stacks and piles of fabric bolts in a freezing warehouse. When I see it - I know. And let me tell you I've looked through a lot of stacks and piles of fabric swatches, searched many websites, and felt more fabric bolts than you can imagine (the touch and feel of a textile is very important. Knowing whether it is a knit or a woven, stretch, non-stretch, soft, rough, cotton, polyester, the list goes on and on. These are all vital keys in finding the fabric that will be suitable for the construction of your garments.)
now lets rewind...on 2-11-13
I've had no luck this far finding the fabric manufacturers I need, let alone at wholesale prices. A very kind lady in OKC at a fabric store was so nice to me and recommended I go to fabric markets. Not only did she refer me to where would be best for my company, she completely brightened my spirits on where to find what I needed. There are fabric markets in Los Vegas, Atlanta, New York, to name a few. At this point, fabric markets never crossed my mind. The Los Vegas market was during my time working Dallas Market, so that option was out. New York market was February 4, which was perfect timing. Mom saw this opportunity to support me; as well as, go to her most favorite vacation spot EVER. :) So with that said, mom and I booked a flight and we had just a few days until we left - less than a week. We flew out early Sunday morning and would fly back home Wednesday.
Sunday we arrived! Took some sketchy train transportation that dad had recommended. However, it wouldn't of been so bad if:
- It wasn't freezing outside
- We didn't have 2 carry on luggage's
- Our train didn't keep getting delayed every 3 minutes
- We weren't stuck outside in this tiny box waiting area, in the cold
Registering in everyone got a badge mine was titled "Amanda Moore CEO & Founder / Buyer" and mom even got one titled "Assistant Buyer for Amanda Moore Designs." So we were set. Monday was filled with seminars until 11:30 preparing us buyers and designers for the upcoming day. We had a break for lunch then back again at 2:00. Finishing up by 4:00 mom and I decided to take a walk to times square. Since this was one of our only times off, since markets would fill up our next days, we decided to visit one of our favorite places - times square. Our walk was SO COLD! It was 27 degrees and felt like 22 degrees. We probably should have taken a cab, but we thought "oh, no..we'll just walk it's just a few blocks." Well a "few blocks" turned into mom having to stop in a souvenir store and buy $4 ear muffs because she could no longer feel her ears. On our walk we got a picture with a overly weight statue of liberty man - cost a good $5, worth it. We stumbled across the huge ice-skating rink that's on tv, and after we had finally made it to times square we decided it looked the exact same as it did the past 4 times we had been to NYC to see it :). So, we got an NY street pretzel (must have) and enjoyed our pretzel on our frigged cold walk back to the hotel....Ready for market the next day.
more to come..
xo
