FASHION AND BEYOND

GOODBYE

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I am most proud of all of the research I was able to do on my topic. Research makes a big difference on how solid your presentation is and I would have been lost without all of the hard work, time, and effort, I put in to research checks. 

(2) Questions to Considera.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.
I would grade my presentation an AE for going in depth with each of my answers as well as having an engaging activity. Also, no one fell asleep during my presentation so I feel like that's a plus. My activity worked extremely well with my presentation and my hook activity correlated well with my answers.

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

I worked extremely hard on my senior project. I put in so much time and effort into it. It really became something I learned a lot from and am genuinely passionate about. Therefore, I feel like my project deserves an AE as I went into depths of research and hours of mentorship to really explore my topic and enhance my experience. 

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

Being passionate about my topic and actually wanting to research and go to mentorship. I didn't give up on my senior project I really tried to explore it fully.
(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?


I would have gone to mentorship more often than I did. I loved going, but I didn't always have the opportunity to.
(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.
My topic allowed me to find different skills that can lead me into many different career paths. I feel prepared and excited to start working on my college education. Talking to so many different educated people in the fashion industry strengthened my interpersonal skills and overall prepared me for real world networking and so on. I have many different options to choose from and I have never been more excited.

A Journey

I, Ashley Rodriguez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30+ hours of work.

I did an additional 30 hours for my second independent component. I attended mentor-ship as a social media intern. Since our company is small, I was able to work closely and have my own projects under social media marketing which was perfect for my project.
I also sat in on business meetings, did basic intern things, and did a lot of research. Overall, I feel like being in charge of analyzing social media posts benefited me the most. It was my own little project and I was able to apply my own research for an actual brand. Furthermore, I did some fun things like being on set for a photo shoot and assisting with client fittings. I understand the significance of my essential question more clearly as a result of my additional hours. Essentially, the component helped confirm the researched methods in my notes and helped me determine which strategies had more engaging responses. Therefore, that helped me narrow down my answers.


Sources:
Khan, Humayan. "4 Creative Ways to Promote Your Product Through an Influential Fashion Blogger – Shopify." Shopify's Ecommerce Blog. Shopify, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. 
Sabra, Ponn. "The 6 Marketing Principles Every Fashion Blogger Needs." IFB. N.p., 04 May 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

"Why Content Marketing Is Replacing Advertising in Fashion | Highsnobiety." Highsnobiety. Titel Media, 27 May 2015. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.

The Last One, Bless

Q: What is the most important thing I learned from this interview?

A: The most important thing I learned from this interview is how important social media is when it comes to fashion marketing. There are so many benefits and different ways to get your product out there an it's just an essential tool if you want to expand your brand and reach real people with real interests in your brand.

Q: How will what I learned affect my final lesson?

A: Throughout this interview I was reminded of key points I want to talk about in my lesson, as well as ideas on other things I found important as well. Overall, this interview really just helped shape what I want my presentation to include.

Interview Four Prep

Q: Who do you plan to interview?
A: I plan on interviewing Katie Rossef. 

Q: What is this person's area of expertise?
A:  Katie is a content director at Revolve Clothing in LA. She specializes in content creation and marketing. She has a degree from Berkeley and experience in multiple jobs. Furthermore, she is the photo shoot producer for Revolve. I feel like a new perspective on social media and fashion marketing from a content creator can really benefit my research + project; as well as help me narrow down my possible answers. 

1. What do you feel is the most important aspect of social media marketing?
2. Is there one strategy that stands out to you?
3.  What is the goal of social media marketing?
4. Do you feel as though social media marketing is just another trend?
5. What is your opinion of fashion bloggers / influencers?
6. How has social media changed the way we consume fashion?
7. Do you feel like social media provides normal people at home with the chance of being apart of the fashion world?
8. Should the fashion world go back to being exclusive?
9. What is your opinion on fashion bloggers having more influence than publications like Vogue?
10. Do you see any influences that social media has had on marketing within your own brand or even as a consumer?
11. How would the world of fashion be different if social media was not invented?
12. What’s the worst part of your job? / What’s the best part of your job?  
13. How do you decide what kind of content is best for your brand?
14. How do you find your brand's identity?
15. What is the best marketing strategy for a small brand with a small budget?
16. Should a company rely on one key strategy or should their marketing plan be comprised of multiple strategies?
17. How do millennials influence social media and its influence on fashion marketing? 
18. Do you think print marketing will ever go extinct?
19. What is the best advice you can give to a new company on their marketing strategy? 
20. Are there any key steps a brand should take before creating a market plan?

• Fashion brands  create different forms of content in order to add more interest to their products. A buyer is a more likely to buy something featured by a blogger, an influencer, or on a post they like than going to a brick and motor store and buying the item traditionally. 

Fashion in Real Life - Source 24

• Fashion events are now used as additional content for fashion marketers. Many brands host events such as fashion shows, launch parties, or exclusive trips with influencers to promote their brand. They do this by including access to these events through social media platforms such as Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram, twitter, etc. Often, the content posted is usually created by the influencers themselves. 
• Furthermore, these social media apps give people at home access to fashion events that used to be exclusively for designers and editors, like fashion week. Bloggers and influencers are also being invited to these shows to produce content for their own sites and reach wider audiences. 

 How They're Giving It To Us - Source 31

• Product descriptions, story telling content, product videos, explanation videos, lifestyle content, and soft sell editorial are all marketing techniques that have come out of social media fashion marketing. In order to stay competitive and creative, you much sell your product in unique and helpful ways through content distribution across all social media platforms your brand is using.

Overall, I think social media has dramatically changed the way fashion marketers are marketing. It has forced content creators to come up with new marketing strategies, and as a result, more and more people have broken into the fashion world and there are more consumers buying based on what people on social media are saying.

1. In my interview, Chrissy Huang said that brands influencer marketing is a must for small brands looking to get more exposure.
2. Fashion vloggers / bloggers have become social media celebrities and are now invited to fashion shows and launch parties that used to be exclusive to designers only.
3. For every one dollar a company spends on an influencer, the company makes six dollars. 

A Conversation With Cissy Huang

Pls

How this explores my topic:
I plan on exploring my second answer through this component. My second answer revolves around fashion influencer's and how they changed the fashion industry through the use of social media. I want to explore this answer because in my recent research, I noticed that most of the actual change that is happening within the fashion industry has come from bloggers and influencers on social media. The fashion industry is no longer exclusive to designers and models, now we are getting multiple point of views into this world from people who started off with the same passion for fashion as I have.

What I plan to do:
I plan on going to fittings at my mentor ship to talk to these influencer. I want to interview the people we style and understand their role as an influencer for the brand.

How this makes up 30 hours:

Like aforementioned, I plan on attending these fittings with my mentor. Additionally, the interviews would add extra hours and depth to my blog.
To get a little more creative with this component, I want to reach out to social media influencers' who has branded themselves through these platforms and possibly have a conversation with them about how they broke into the industry, why it is important, how it has impacted the fashion industry, and so on.

OUR FIRST PRODUCTS  THEGRANDSOMETHING STORE INSTAGRAM TWITTER

I, Ashley Rodriguez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents thirty hours of work. (Click to view my hours logged)

For my first independent component, I teamed up with Victoria Nakai to create a small business. We put in a lot of time and effort into this collaboration. Our brand was created with the intention of empowering females and providing products that we stand by.
Apart from assisting in actual production, and basically all aspects of this project, I mainly focused on running and promoting our social media accounts. 

I think teaming up with Victoria really allowed me to explore my topic first hand. I realized how difficult it is to start a business from scratch and create a marketing plan that effectively represents your brand. I experienced essential components of creating a business and that really taught me that you must fully understand your brand in order to effectively create content without compromising your brand's personality.
From business meetings, supply trips, production days, and photo shoots, I can proudly say that this is only the beginning. We have so much more planned for this brand and I hope it continues to be a learning experience I can benefit greatly from.

Our Front Page (Link At The Top of This Post)

The Process: Planning, Supplies, Production.

Promotional Content

"The Importance of Analyzing and Understanding Social Media Efforts for Your Fashion Brand." StartUp FASHION. StartUp FASHION, 12 Sep. 2013. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. 

It wasn't that bad.

Q: What am I most proud of?

A: I think my content was solid and I received a lot of positive feedback on my presentation. That's always a nice feeling. I put a lot of effort into the presentation and I'm glad people learned from it.

Q: What assessment would I give myself and why?

A: I think I would give myself a solid P. I followed the contract and put in a lot of effort. I think it was overall a solid presentation.

Q: What would I change?

A: The only thing I would change is my voice. Although I felt like I had a strong and clear tone throughout my presentation, I was a little nervous and therefore, my voice shook a little. Other than that, I'm content.

Q: What worked?

A: I think my power point reflected my style and conveyed what I was trying to say nicely. It was understandable and aesthetically pleasing. I also think explaining the key takeaways from my hook and activity helped others understand my answer.

Q: What didn't work?

A: I think the entire presentation was solid. I planned my presentation so that it would seamlessly flow together. From the into, to the hook, to the actual presentation, activity, and wrap-up.

Q: What do I think my answer two is going to be?

A: I think my next answer will deal with the relationship created when marketing your brand through social media. Social Media marketing is relatively new, and has opened up new ways for brands to communicate and actually form a relationship with the consumer. I might go in a different direction and explore the idea that any other form of fashion marketing can be done through social media, since we live in a digital age.

Anotha One

I ran out of cool pictures to include in my blog updates.

Q: Where am I doing my mentorship?

A: Formally, I was doing my mentorship at Co Collections, I am transitioning into a mentorship at Current Elliot.

Q: Who is my contact & what makes them an expert?

A: Jonathan is a graduate of UC Berkeley. He majored in Media Communications and Sociology. Previously, Jonathan worked at Band of Outsiders, where he gained new knowledge and experience of the fashion marketing world. At Band, he handled social media accounts as well worked on different marketing projects for the brand. Currently, Jonathan is the Press and Marketing Assistant and Studio Manager at Current Elliot.

Q: How many hours have a done throughout the school year?

A: Twenty-seven.

Q: What did I do?

A: I assisted on a two day shoot for a campaign look book. I helped with prep, set-up, styling, etc.  I got along with everyone since my main focus was to be as resourceful as I could be to everyone.

Q: How do I plan to spend the rest of my hours?

A: I don't like going to mentor ship all the time since its mainly just basic intern things. I did that all throughout the summer for some base knowledge of the job. My main focus is coming along on shoots and styling sessions to really network and learn the most from my experience.

Q: What did I do over the break regarding my project?

A: For the most part of my break, I was on vacation. I did however, network a lot throughout the break. I reached out to the head of public relations at Revolve, a trendy luxury brand, for a possible interview. As for my time on vacation, I used my plane ride to read up on upcoming trends that are predicted for 2016, as well as studied articles posted by the Business of Fashion.

Q: The most important things I learned and why?

A: I've always known how important networking in this industry is. You constantly have to reach out to others to further your own knowledge. It's pretty cool to see myself getting interviews with important people from brands I personally love that can further be a mentor to me. I also learned how fast this industry moves. Being on vacation can set you back, but consistently checking out blogs and articles made me feel like I was still keeping on track. This is a subject I am very close to and it doesn't feel like I will ever stop learning about fashion and the influences of social media.

Q: Who do I plan to interview next?

A: For the next assigned interview, like aforementioned, I plan to interview Revolve's head of public relations. Allison is a good friend of my mentor and will hopefully give me insight on what it's like working for a big company, as well as give me a different perspective on the industry. I am looking forward to hearing her opinions on social media and how it plays a role in fashion / her job.