What I've been up to....

Umm so yeah, not the most prolific blogger.  If I vow to keep them short and sweet, I think I'll post more.

Mostly, I have been sewing for dollars:)  Prototypes, custom gear and product for upcoming shows I'm selling at.  I picked up two indy films, so no money there, but name in the credits and creative control.  I think it's a good start, fair trade.  Both crews are very accomplished, passionate and have follow through.  Who doesn't like working with pros?!

One of the flicks is about a DJ chick turned diva star.  It will be feature length and feature lot's of Wound. Yay! It's a little campy, which has got to be one of my fave genres.  I'm looking forward to this as I look back with nostalgia to the raver days/daze.    The other film is a war story with some pathos and cgi.  It takes place in an alternate reality of the 20's so I took mesarurements up to the navel in case we pull those pants up.   Also, love military styling.  I will have fun amping up the stock surplus and may make a few custom pieces.

Not sure if the movies are my racket but I think I'll enjoy what I can, see where it takes me.  I look at it like sleep away camp, which was a great experience for me.  A bunch of different types thrown into a living situation of almost constant contact with a few weeks of serious bonding and then you scatter back to your previous existence. 

Here's a short featuring two of the principles, the writer/director/main babe of The Syriana Tate Interview, Mare Costello and sidekick, Ric Rosario....

Were the magic happens.

I've made it for 3 years at the Russell Industrial Center as of this January!  Quite an accomplishment.  I don't know where'd I'd put my equipment or my beloved table otherwise.  I've done a bit of everything here to keep the bills paid from site installations and small-run apparel production, to 3-D sculpture and costume design.

Noone said it would be easy.

Why is running a fashion line so hard???  Is every business this labrynthine?  I guess if was easy, everybody would do it.  Read The Dip, study the law of 80/20, make a vision map, sell your soul.  Then you will have a clothing line.

I learned a while back, through experience, and one amazing woman, Kathleen Fasanella, and her book The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing, that one should identify oneself as a manufacturer.  (I get no goodies from linking to her, just social sweetness.)  I own her book, dog-eared, high-lighted, yada yada.  Sure, I could sit and doodle pretty dresses all day and some fairy godmother will get them all sold, made and shipped for me, depositing my handsome profit in the IRA, but that is not a reality! 

I just rewatched "Seamless", the documentary following 3 of 10 finalists on the road to winning the CFDA's New Garde award of mentorship and $200,000.  Here is a great review.   In my mind, you win GenArt, then Ecco and then, shoot for CFDA.  I would personally prefer this over the instant fame of Project Runway.  The industry leaders note that it took Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren 20 years to turn a profit.   How can you not, then, love Plokhov's existential query, "When do I get to enjoy my f-ing brioche?!"

In Detroit, there are no jobs for me.   Nothing in fashion, unless you want to work at the mall.  It causes one to hustle.  I have sewn a little bit of everything, glad to put my assets to use.  Might hit up the strip joints on Michigan Ave. (a 5 minute walk!) and hand out biz cards.  Nice mark-up on those skimpy frillies!   I do believe you can run a clothing business out of any city if you have the ambition and brains.  The internet is your friend.

Ultimately, a business partner would be divine.  Someone to slap your hand when you're over-purchasing over-priced goods.  Someone to calculate your costs and mark-up.  Someone who can be your friend, someone who cares....

Contract Sewing gig: 12' x 200' curtain sewn for artists industrial studio space to keep out the cold!