Vancouver Fashion Week is a semi-annual week-long celebration of fashion, creativity, and multiculturalism. This fall/winter 2014 season,VFW is expecting 50 designers from 21 countries including Argentinian designer Gabriel Lage, Peruvian designer Noe Bernacelli, South Korean Designer Soojin Lee. Designers will display their collections to more than 20,000 industry insiders, socialites, celebrities, media, and buyers. State side, Marquet Communications (soon to be Creative Development Agency, LLC) was tapped to help bring awareness to the event among US influencers and media. We caught up with President Kristin Marquet to learn a bit more about how her team promoting this exciting event.
Back in December, I had received an email from the fashion director at VFW. She was looking to hire a PR agency in the US to raise awareness for the event. We had one phone call discussing her objectives and expected results. Based on that conversation, I developed and submitted a proposal.
A few weeks later, I had another call with the fashion director to discuss the proposal. Then a few weeks after that, they had made their decision to hire my agency as the official representation for the U.S. I was thrilled to hear that they hired Marquet Media as the agency of record.
The most appealing thing about this opportunity was to work with a series of designers from around the world coming together to celebrate fashion, multiculturalism, and art. VFW has some very amazing designers showing their fall/winter 2015 collections.
Our main responsibilities are pitching relevant digital media in the U.S. We are pitching for features and other forms of coverage. So far, we have generated coverage in a variety of media including TheFashionSpot.com and Lucky Magazine.
With VFW, there is no shortage of pitching angles. Whether it is pitching the event as a whole or just pitching individual designers, we always have something that is new and fresh to pitch.
The biggest benefit to show at VFW is that it is an affordable way for emerging designers to showcase their pieces to the media, buyers, fashion insiders, and celebrities from around the world. With more than 20,000 attendees and media outlets reporting from around the world, designers can reach a wide variety of markets and consumers.
Although each designer has something unique to offer, the designers I will be watching very closely this fall/winter 2015 season are:
I see all fashion weeks as a way for designers from around the world to meet with media and buyers they would not have the opportunity to meet with ordinarily.
Fashion shows create opportunities for designers to tell their brand stories to editors, bloggers, fashion insiders, celebrities, and retailers.
I also see it as a platform for consumers to connect with different brands. With online media, consumers can learn about the hottest trends and designers with the click of a button. Ultimately, fashion weeks have made it possible for designers to showcase their collections to the world. It is much more effective than it was 20 years ago.
Before 1993, editors and buyers would visit a designer’s showroom or studio, look at the pieces, decide whether they would cover or buy the collection, and then that would be the end of it. Now, the fashion industry is much more social and connected to the media, buyers, and consumers.
For more information, please visit VanFashionWeek.com and blog. Like the event on Facebook.com and join the conversation on Twitter.
Photo Credit: ▫Tamta▫
