design - Fashion Blogs - Fashion Industry Network

For the Toddler Divas of the World

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 19, 2009 at 7:44pm

I have two tiny divas of my own, so I knew the Accessorize Me! collection would have to be part of my toddler girls' line.

I knew it the day my 2-year-old sached into the kitchen where my husband had just arrived from work, struck a pose, and waited for him to compliment her new shoes.

I knew it when my 4-year-old became fascinated with filing her nails and having them painted.

I knew it when, a year before that when she was still perfecting the finer points of speech, she asked me for a cotton bal

What Happened to Wide Leg Jeans?

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 14, 2009 at 10:33am

The big news in jeans last year was the wide leg jean. (See justjared.com, thefashionablehousewife.com, and stylelist.com.)

What happened??

It seems to have virtually disappeared. The Gap is now highlighting three options for jeans: Long & Lean, Curvy, and Low Rise Boot Cut.

Their Long and Lean jean is flared. Curvy and Low Rise Boot Cut are boot cut. They have backed off completely from the wide leg jean.

It stands to reason, since boot cut and flared jeans are so figure-flattering, slimming the th

Wholesale for a "Continuous" Line

Posted by Melody Wilson on May 18, 2009 at 12:47pm

When Pixyworld hired our first sales rep at Lace and Denim, Terrie asked me whether our line was "seasonal" or "continuous." It was a surprise (and a comfort) to me that a showroom would have a name for what we do. Rather than making $20,000 worth of samples a season ahead, then taking orders, and then manufacturing the product, we just make each collection once. We sell what we have, both retail and wholesale, and when it's gone, it's gone. Meanwhile, we are always working on new collections, t

Giving Birth to a Brand

Posted by Melody Wilson on May 9, 2009 at 9:25am

Like many first-time parents, my husband and I had no idea what we were signing up for, when we decided to create our own children's clothing label. He had grown an online watch business, from startup to profitability, in less than a year. "Piece of cake," we thought.

But building a new brand from scratch is a whole different ballgame. Like giving birth to a child, it is a long process, during which there are times when it seems nothing is happening and nothing ever will!

There are the months of w

Full Belted Skirts are Only for the Few

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 12, 2009 at 8:00pm

Have you noticed the growing popularity of the belted full skirt?

I was on a discussion board (Body Type and Body Image) recently, where someone was asking whether this type of skirt would work for her body type. My question is, who does it work for??

OK, it looks great on these models. But it seems to me it is not for most women. It is so waist-conscious, and the fuller styles require slender hips as well!

One thing is for sure: It is not a style for my children's clothing line. Toddler girls' w

HOW TO BREAK INTO THE FASHION DESIGN INDUSTRY WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

Posted by Lance Gordon on May 7, 2009 at 1:02am

In This first Blog post, I would like to introduce myself to my future readers and tell you a little bit about myself and my background. I own a small, private label design firm. I work with a variety of new clients looking to break into the fashion industry. My team and I have created custom packages to help launch designers and other start up clothing companies. Our PROGRAM essentially combines all the steps needed to professionally launch an apparel line into the marketplace. If thier needs a

Date Change for Michigan Runway Shows

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 16, 2009 at 12:20pm

Designers and models can still sign up for Dressed on Washington Street, southeast Michigan's new annual fashion event!

The runway shows will now take place on Saturday, May 30. Pixyworld still has spots available for mini-models, sizes 18M to 7. You can contact me directly if you're interested.

In addition to the fashion shows, there will be an accessories show inside the What is That Gallery in Ypsilanti, MI. If you're nearby, don't miss this fabulous event!

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog

A Basic Sewing Studio for Knits

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 18, 2009 at 8:53am

I am indebted to the Leabu Sewing Center for not only repairing and maintaining my machines, but advising me on how to provide myself with the essential machines for my work, without breaking the bank.

Many designers do great work without sewing, but I design mainly by sewing. Since I began working mainly with knit fabrics, in developing the Pixyworld line, I realized that my sweet little Huskystar 219 (Husqvarna) wasn't going to be adequate for sewing my samples.

I first acquired a serger, used,

The Princess and the Pea

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 27, 2009 at 9:34am

How could I have understood, before giving birth to a Princess, the humor of The Princess and the Pea?

It can get to you, if you lose your sense of humor about it. Some little girls are simply born with an acute sensitivity to anything -- ANYTHING -- that rubs them the wrong way.

I suppose I was this way myself as a girl; perhaps that is why I find myself designing little girls' clothing.

My little princess had issues with jeans. She simply would not wear them. Denim was just not soft enough to be

"I Want to Do it Myself!!"

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 22, 2009 at 8:10pm

Have you ever heard this from your toddler or preschool-aged girl? Especially in the area of apparel, it seems they have an independent streak.

This has several interesting results. Firstly, in dressing themselves they reach new and interesting heights of clash. Secondly, it seems that more than 50% of their clothing is on backwards at any given time. Finally, they gravitate towards wearing certain items as often as possible, while leaving others (the ones we like best) lying forlornly in the dra

Profile of a Designer-Entrepreneur

Posted by Melody Wilson on May 4, 2009 at 1:22pm

I'm sure everyone has a different opinion about what it takes to be an independent designer-entrepreneur. We designer-entrepreneurs probably all think, "you have to be like me!"

I know I started out feeling extremely under-qualified. With no current connections in the industry and no fashion education, where was I to start?

At that time I failed to recognize the strengths I had inherited from my family. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs, who can never be happy in an ordinary job. They are alway

Flattering Lines for Little Girls

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 25, 2009 at 9:20am

My favorite fashion & style book has to be Does This Make Me Look Fat? by Leah Feldon. The title is perhaps somewhat misleading, in that it is not a strictly thinness-oriented book. It gives some very helpful tips on looking chic and having an artistically well-proportioned ensemble.

This, more than any other style handbook, has helped me in designing toddler girls' clothing. For a toddler, looking "fat" is not the issue. The shape and proportions of a toddler's body are so unlike an adult woman'

Yummy Yarn-Dyed Stripes

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 11, 2009 at 11:00am

Fabric quality is such an important element in producing a pleasing and long-lasting product. The average consumer does not necessarily know the technical terms for different types of fabric, but she knows good fabric when she sees and feels it.

My aspirations in this area, for my toddler girls' line, are high. One aspect of high-quality knit fabrics is that striped knits are yarn-dyed rather than printed.

Having a yarn-dyed fabric custom made for a small boutique line is virtually impossible, be

Why Wovens but Not Knits??

Posted by Melody Wilson on May 1, 2009 at 7:18pm

It's a little puzzling, given the immense popularity of knit fabrics in fashion today, why knit prints are relatively hard to find. Premier fabric designers like Robert Kauffman (pictured), Amy Butler, and Michael Miller all seem to design prints produced exclusively as woven fabrics.

Is this because their target market is primarily quilters? Today, with the emergence of so much patchwork in boutique apparel, there would seem to be a growing market for designer knit prints.

At this point, Pixyworl

Hiring a Sales Rep: A Big Decision

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 28, 2009 at 11:20am

So, Pixyworld is taking the plunge. In a certain way it feels like we're signing away our freedom. But, all things considered, I think signing on with Lace and Denim for the Southeast US region is the best next step for us in building our line.

When we first considered a different showroom in 2008, we were scared off big-time. In fact, it was that experience that inspired us to start selling to the retail customer through our own website! It was my husband Jon who spoke with the first showroom, a

ALWAYS Get Counter-Samples

Posted by Melody Wilson on May 11, 2009 at 11:01am

My overseas production manager has proved herself responsible. After sending her a physical sample, graded patterns, and finished product measurements for my new Pixyworld collection, and after being hit with high FedEx bills in the past, I figured it would be unnecessary to have her send me finished counter-samples. Photos would be fine.

But she was concerned enough to do it anyway, at her own expense. And, sure enough, we had narrowly averted disaster. She had made the dress bodice out of jerse

Toddler Hair Accessories: What's Out There?

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 21, 2009 at 8:30am

Gymboree (hairpiece pictured) is clearly a leader in mass-produced hair accessories for little girls. There are also many clever moms producing unique custom hair pieces, selling on etsy or eBay. So, is there room for more?

Gymboree seems to have two advantages, besides the obvious cost benefit of mass-production. One is one-stop shopping. Moms shopping online will choose a hairpiece from the same site as the clothing they are buying, if possible, to save on shipping.

Their other advantage is outf

Are We Tired of Pink?

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 24, 2009 at 11:14am

Not too long ago, we were hearing from the fashion world that Pink Is the New Black. But the faddish popularity of the color seems to be fading. The best-selling collection in my toddler girls' boutique line this season has been Flower Power, my only collection without even a hint of pink.

Maybe we are sick of pink because, in this economy, Pink Slips are the New Black! Maybe moms shopping little girls' boutiques are looking for something very unique, and they feel that pink for little girls is t

WAHMs in Fashion: an Age-Old Tradition

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 10, 2009 at 11:00am

If you are one, you know what it stands for: Work-At-Home Mom. (As if moms who stay home with their children without pursuing a career are not working??) At any rate, as Pixyworld's designer, I am one.

Now, it's interesting to me that we have a term for this now, as if being a mom pursuing a career from home were a brand new phenomenon. As far as I can see, most moms throughout the centuries have been WAHMs.

Take the biblical ideal woman, described in Proverbs 31: "She sees that her trading is pro

Beauty Products & Packaging (the depressing news)

Posted by Melody Wilson on April 6, 2009 at 9:34am

Great Idea: Pixyworld could start a little girls' beauty product line!

After all, I have a science background and two little girls to try out all my products on... and have already produced some cool products they love to use.

Bad News: Suppose I wanted to start with a test run of 100 units of product. I've investigated bare-bones packaging costs, and for this quantity they soar to $2.50 plus per unit. (See Labels Stickers and More and Midwest Bottles.) Multiply by 2 to get wholesale cost, 2 again

design (1144)

For the Toddler Divas of the World

What Happened to Wide Leg Jeans?

Wholesale for a "Continuous" Line

Giving Birth to a Brand

Full Belted Skirts are Only for the Few

HOW TO BREAK INTO THE FASHION DESIGN INDUSTRY WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

Date Change for Michigan Runway Shows

A Basic Sewing Studio for Knits

The Princess and the Pea

"I Want to Do it Myself!!"

Profile of a Designer-Entrepreneur

Flattering Lines for Little Girls

Yummy Yarn-Dyed Stripes

Why Wovens but Not Knits??

Hiring a Sales Rep: A Big Decision

ALWAYS Get Counter-Samples

Toddler Hair Accessories: What's Out There?

Are We Tired of Pink?

WAHMs in Fashion: an Age-Old Tradition

Beauty Products & Packaging (the depressing news)

Note: this page contains paid content.