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Very interesting company I found through the Fashion Business Network while browsing and is just another reason for you to sign up because you never know if your website might tickle my fancy .

Cynthia O’Connor founded COO & Company in 1992 and has brought in sales volumes topping $45 million annually. Some designers that her multi-category women’s fashion showroom have worked with include the likes of Kate Spade, Me and Ro, Lela Rose, and Isabella Fiore. Her company played a big part in the success of major brand Kate Spade from its initial inception until becoming a household name.

Product lines you may find at Cynthia O’Connor and Company include ready to wear, accessories, shoes, lingerie and handbags. The showroom is wholesale and only available to the trade. The showroom is located in the center of the Garment District right between 36th between 7th and Broadway they like to be a buyers answer to a one stop shop with a great mix of women’s fashion, footwear and accessories.

The Ceo Audio’s since becoming FREE have received over 700 downloads in this month alone.

If you do the math at the rate they were for sell $4.99 x 700 I had a possibility to make over $3,500 in the month of September, but of course if they were being paid for you could probably cut that figure of 700 in half to around 300 downloads…if that.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not just leaving money on the table so to speak (I’m a business man), but I definitely know the power of Free and what word of mouth can do for your business. I knew by offering the Ceo Audio’s for free and giving our readers even MORE value they would do nothing but talk about us more and share the audio’s with friends who are also interested in the Fashion industry therefore sending us more readers in the process. Plus I announce that the Ceo Audio is being brought to you by Fredrickus Williford of Dobizo.com on most of my Ceo Audio’s if not all of them.

I found a definitely rather interesting definition of CIM- Computer Integrated Manufacturing today while surfing the web. I am very familiar with CAD and CAM, but this was actually my first time reading about Computer Integrated Manufacturing. So before bringing it to you guys as a daily definition I decided to do a little research. Most of the points I will express below come from sources on the web and my own books.

CIM plays the middle role between CAD and CAM making sure that the data between each process translates smoothly during the design to the manufacturing process onto the next step. With CIM the entire production process is controlled by computer automation and is also called flexible design and manufacturing…sounds like a definition.

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This is just a quick note to anybody who has bookmarked the fashion network or is a user we have changed the url to http://www.fashionbusinessnetwork.net you can still access it at the old address, but this is more memorable and easier to type in and that is (.net) not .com

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I know many of you designer-entrepreneurs are in the business of selling clothing. The key to selling is target marketing and creating brand awareness. I for one like to kill two birds with one stone whenever I can.

Nobody can buy your product if they don’t know it exist and nowhere does that stick more than on the internet.

Today I will give all Dobizo readers a chance to access all our readers and search traffic by doing us a favor.

The little thing we started and launched to the public four weeks ago has over 1,000 members… Global Fashion Network. By the way if you haven’t joined you will need to in order to participate in the competition by the way it’s free.

We recently added many features to the Network including the Youtube video feature, which makes it easier for users to stream videos from our website. Well as of now we have about 15-20 videos. With the new Youtube script it takes less than 10 seconds to upload a video by placing a simple url of the video and clicking upload…exposure doesn’t get any easier.

Sounds like an internship I wouldn’t mind taking myself if I had more time. I think many will jump at this offer, because it actually says you will learn about entrepreneurship in the apparel industry from a 20 year garment industry veteran and it’s paid.

The internship will require you to work with the owner of Milano Merchandising a sales professional who has processed over $3 million dollars in sales and you will also get to work with top 7th avenue designers. Your responsibilities include….they didn’t really list any but that you will need to have the mindset of an entrepreneur, which sounds fine until they have you fetching the morning coffee, but we hope that is not the case.

If this internship sounds of some interest to you then click here to apply for the Milano Merchandising Inc. intern position.

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According to a review Kid Show is one of the most prestigious apparel trade shows for the children’s wear market in the USA .

Kid Show hits all angles with a trade show displaying products from layette and toddler to tween. You can expect to see kids fashion represented by all elements of the apparel industry manufacturers, Importers & Exporters of Textile machinery & technology, textile materials, embroidery, trimmings, laundries, accessories, fabrics & the General Public.

Even with all the good press about Kid Show their website doesn’t reflect prestigious or best of market…at all. I understand it is the Kid show, but how many kids do you think actually are looking to buy and/or attend the kid show? That is what they seem to have catered their website to. I’m sorry but they have one of the worst websites in my opinion…it just says cheap, not creative, and DO NOT ATTEND THIS SHOW.

The kind words reflected by some of the reviews definitely doesn’t take the website into question. Your online presence plays a big part in how other businesses see your company.

Basically this term was formed after seeing the evolution of fashion from one universal style to dressing like a particular group of people mainly amongst the younger generation of fashion consumers due to cultural differences, and the feeling of belonging to a certain group…or in this case tribe.

I actually heard this definition before while in college, but it really brought me back in because to me it is basically speaking on a person dressing according to their lifestyle and surroundings. I know I talk a lot about how clothing companies that build around a lifestyle seem to have longevity and a core razor sharp targeted market, because those consumers can relate to the brand.

I mean even stores are catering to these particular “fashion tribes”. You have stores like DEMO and Up Against The Wall that cater to the street wear and urban clothing tribes and then Hot Topic and Pacific Sunwear (PacSun) where you would most likely see the gothic/punk rock or surfer/skater “fashion tribes” purchasing their goods from.

As I’m sure all of you have heard about the decreasing value of the American dollar currency. In the last year the US dollar has lost 10% of its then current value when compared to the Euro.

Many apparel businesses, retailers and buyers that trade and buy from other countries are feeling the woes of the weak American dollar mainly when compared to the much stronger Euro dollar WWD reports.

The purchasing power of many US apparel businesses are decreasing due to the scale at which the currency exchanges. Many are concerned at how this will affect global apparel business if the US currency continues its downward motion.

What does this mean for US retailers lost opportunities to expand and develop in other country’s markets, because of the differences in currency between the US and other countries currency. Many are having to adjust their percentage points for 2008 to partially cover the exchange rate.

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Can you please help me answer that question? If so join the forum, because this is the forum post weekly wrap up. If you don’t know by now the forum is now integrated within the Global Fashion Network: Where The Apparel Industry Connects so if you join the Global Fashion Network you will get access through the portal.

Here are some random post I have picked out from the Industry forum:

Fees On Pre-Production One Off Samples

List of Companies To Help With Your Fashion Company

Looking For Quality Screen Printers In Ny, ATL, Ga Area

Sourcing USA Denim Manufacturer

Being approached by a big time fashion Chain to do product design/private label

In order to view any board post you must be a member of the Fashion Network so join for free today.

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I remember talking about one company that installed lean manufacturing modules on our website, but can’t seem to remember their name or the process I was speaking about during the process of writing the article…I’m getting old and I’m only 22 years old.

Lean Manufacturing is something that I’m definitely not a professional on, but I do know a little about it that I have learned from college and also from visiting factories. Not all factories have converted to lean manufacturing, but it is something that is becoming an increasing practice amongst younger companies who produce their goods in house and want the customer order to shipping process to be more efficient.

The basis of lean manufacturing is that with a module installed a company can shorten the time and eliminate wasted efforts and resources in the time line between a customer order and shipping. A basic module consist of an assembly line where one piece or action is constructed/made per person/station and then moved on to the next person. One might attach a sleeve, the next a button, and the last might fold, tag it, and bag it…ready to be shipped to the customer in a timely manner with the least amount of resources.

A new California state law caused quite a bit of disturbance amongst the apparel industry community in Los Angeles causing many to think about packing up and shipping to overseas factories.

With many already cutting into their sales and profits due to paying workers compensation, taxes and now a state mandated law proposal to enforce all state employers to pay at least 7.5% of their payroll to cover the cost of health-care insurance for full-time and part-time employees and their dependents or pay into a state pool that would provide coverage.

Many apparel producers are saying this is just giving them more reason to move to overseas factories and start production there, because domestic production is becoming more and more costly. Even though some apparel makers already provide full health care coverage they still wonder about the rules, cost and regulations of a state mandated plan.

source-ApparelNews

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