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This is a new series on the blog where I will highlight some of the better articles from the archives of Dobizo.com

What Everyone Ought To Know About Sales & Marketing For Your Clothing Line

How to sell yourself?not just your product

Building beneficial relationships with your clothing manufacturer

Gaining Press Coverage For My Indie Brand In A Magazine-Dobizo Answers

My First Time Selling In A Clothing Store

Promoting Your Clothing Line The Easyyyyyyy Way

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Since you the reader make The Dobizo Network what it is. I was wanting to take suggestions from readers on what they would like to see from the new layout and design for Dobizo.com, forum, and business network?

Just make your suggestion very descriptive of what you would like to see or what functions you might like the website to have for example a widget with daily fashion industry news from around the world.

Please leave your suggestions

Serious about starting a clothing line? If so subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive articles/updates that you don't want to miss! or Our RSS Feed

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Nicole Miller is a designer, marketer and manufacturer of fine women’s evening wear, dresses and apparel based out of New York.

This is an full-time internship with no-pay. So I advise you to only commit to this position if you’re serious about learning about the fashion industry, but working for free is not a big issue.

This internship is only temporary spanning from February 14 - March 14, 2008, but you will be working on different aspects of the fashion industry during your time with Nicole Miller.

• Some of your responsibilities include:

• Setting up showroom displays
• Keeping track of accessory inventory
• Assisting Public Relations with sample send-outs
• Assisting the accessory designer with market research
• Assisting the licensing department with day to day activities

If this internship position sounds interesting to you please forward your availability and resume to kireland@nicolemiller.com or take a look at their website for more information on Nicole Miller.

The Natori Company has an open internship position for account management within their fashion lingerie and sleepwear company that has been around since 1977.

Your job description is straight forward you will handle questions, concerns, or any tasks dealing with The Natori Company retail accounts.

What does that include:

• Send samples and product information to customers as needed
  
• Distribute seasonal marketing material to retail stores
  
• Preparation for market week and trade shows, including setting up the showroom/booths and preparing linesheets
• Assistance in showroom appointments and at trade shows

In order to be eligible for this internship you must commit to these responsibilities:

• Ability to prioritize and multi-task
  

• Excellent computer skills, especially in Microsoft Excel and Outlook

• Strong communication skills

• High energy and personable

• Apparel industry and sales experience a plus

Mon-Fri 9-6 (or Mon-Thur)

• $30 per day for food and travel
  

I wrote an article earlier this year on the Bread & Butter Trade Show in Europe and the exclusivity of it all here.

Bread & Butter has plans to expand their already very successful trade show in 2008 to include a sourcing section and also allot more space to exhibiting brands and the on going activities.

For the January 2008 edition of Bread & Butter they will take over the top of the palace at the Fira de Barcelona for what they call the “King Size” version of the European trade show.

The new concept for “The Source” section will include fabric producers, top laundries, and other suppliers relevant to succeeding or getting started in the fashion industry, most likely reminiscent of the sourcing section at the Mens Apparel Guild In California (Magic).

One thing to keep in mind is the current exchange rate for the US dollar. Many European distributors will have a field day working with US clothing brands with the current value of the American dollar compared to their Euro. So the return for American brands should be greater than previous shows in my opinion as far as wholesale volume is concerned.

World Boutique Hong Kong is a platform for designers to showcase their collections by promoting to a worldwide audience, but mostly to gain exposure in Asia. It is an independent event organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Designers range from sunglass collections to fashion jewelery, belts, handbags, footwear, home fashions and lifestyle products.

Attending this show can be good exposure for a brand looking to gain an international audience, but beware that the price of presenting is costly with a standard booth starting at $3,853 to $5,966 for a boutique style presentation. For the designer on a budget World Boutique does have less costly options for just a small amount of floor space with raw carpet for only $364.

The next event will be held on January, 14-17 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong, China. For more information or to exhibit please visit their website by clicking here.

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Seoul Fashion Sourcing Fair is a trade show for apparel manufacturers to show their finished goods to buying houses and international clothing brands all under one roof.

The show is put on by Weekly Fashion Insight a events and trade show organizer. The next fashion sourcing fair will be in Seoul, Korea at the SETEC on January, 10-12. No website is available at this time.

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Rivets are metal fasteners accessories that manufacturers add to reinforce stress points on a garment, but mostly on denim and jeans. Also used for style and ornamentation for some designers to decorate garments.

As you can see from the illustration above they come in different sizes and when used for decorations some change the shape to make it more stylish.

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An industrial process where oil, grease, dirt or starch (Also desizing) is taken off fabrics by vigorously scrubbing until it is clean and ready to be finished usually with a detergent.

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I know you’re wondering what is going on with the usual constant updates, but there is a lot going on behind the scenes with Dobizo.

For one the new design will be delivered by the end of this month. This is not only going to be a new design, but the way this site works and functions will be considerably different and for the better.

It will look like one site that consist of a forum, business network, and articles??? . More of a meeting place for the fashion industry to network, learn, and pass on information for the newbies to the industry and professionals that want to chime in from time to time.

2008 will be a big year for Dobizo soon to be named Global Fashion Network: Where The Apparel Industry Connects.

Fred

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Thursday marked one of the largest counterfeit rings bust in US history with over $200 million in fake goods acquired from Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal from China by circumventing border security.

The funny thing about this bust is that the goods were not for street vendors and bootleggers, but for legit retail stores in Brooklyn and Queens in New York. Counterfeit has and will keep growing, but hopefully this is a wake up call and a step toward an effort to put a stop or at least slow down the growing illegal trade. With the demand for these products growing and consumers willing to buy a cheaper alternative with less value…why wouldn’t it grow?

What’s new to me or what I suspected, but hoped wasn’t true was that genuine retailers are turning to fake counterfeit products, which cheat consumers and most don’t know the difference, because they are not educated on how to detect a fake and maybe that is something that clothing manufacturers could make easier by implementing special check points on certain products sort of like how you can tell the difference between most sneaker variants.

I put an article aside so that I could write a post about how many startup brands buy into the hype instead of identifying their own niche (Which is what the proceeding article will be about or I might just tie the two into this one article) and building a brand based off of their design staples and seasonal best sellers. I think this is where many fail and even a mistake I made in the beginning by looking too much at other brands for style or design inspiration, because I had no niche or design guidance of my own.

Established Brands=Identified Audience

What most don’t understand is that many of the brands you look up to and draw inspiration from have an audience that expects the designs, fits, colors and styles that they produce every season and they have built their brand recognition upon that foundation so what works for their audience or company most likely will not work for your brand. Mainly because you don’t have a preset audience neither are you known for any set styles or designs and that is what every brand needs to capture and once you have that work even harder to keep them excited and coming back season after season.

April USA is an International Fabrics Agency working with better fabrics from Europe and many prominent fashion designers.

This is an unpaid internship that leaves much to the imagination nothing more than a few sentences were left basically saying you need to be interested in fashion and seriously willing to improve skills or develop new ones in the Company and legally already in the US.

You will learn information about fabric, fashion, and the related international trade.

If this sounds of some interest to you than forward your resume and availability to april@apriltextiles.com.

For more information on April Textiles visit their website.

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