Couture | Fashion & Philanthropy

It’s important to give back to the community and Ecole Holt Couture is fortunate to do this while sharing the art of couture and the work of our students in support of InspireProjectYYC.

This is the first year the event will benefit new-kid-on-the-block INSPIRE Project YYC. Started in 2012, by a group of Calgarian creatives, passionate about social justice, the Project funds organizations seeking to affect change in difficult areas. Their first recipient? Dare to Care, whose mission is to address the pervasive and crippling issue of bullying.

Step by Step  will focus on explaining what couture really is, how it is achieved, and why it matters and more importantly how it can change your outlook towards your fashion style!

Join us on November 13th, 2016 at Festival Hall in Calgary’s Inglewood community, hub of live music venues and is known as the one-stop shop for art fans, culture buffs, foodies, fashionistas, scrappy hippies, and hipsters.

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“My Studio is open for business!”

photo credit: thechicadvisor.com

A couturier, tailoring, or any artisan studio requires you to personalize it at the same time make it feel comfortable for your clients, in addition to room for working and storage. An important part of your branding or marketing is how your client sees you in your workspace, and is a reflection upon you personally.

The minute a client comes through the door they should feel connected, easily get their bearings, view your displays, and get an overall impression of who you are. The space shouldn’t be confusing in its design or message.

A bit of background info: Retailers calculate every centimeter of floor space as potential [profit = sales dollars / costs / sq. foot]. Include moving-around-space between the displays (tables, racks, and shelving), and just the right amount of attention given to the design of the entrance, flooring, wall area, ceiling/lighting, smell and sound, they all act as the canvass and give context to the product for sale.

Basically, boutiques with wide aisles and ample space between products on display, and less product out on the floor equates to higher-end product for sale. The profit margin on these products is usually much higher per unit. A lot of attention is given to staging – lighting effects, sounds (music) and smell (fragrances) even if the customer is consciously unaware of the effort behind it.

Shops with narrow aisles, jamb packed shelves and racks, only general lighting and small behind the scenes storage space for inventory indicates a less expensive product on offer. Profit margins per unit are much smaller and therefore rely on a higher volume of sales with quicker turn over.

This is only a general guide and not definitive, but illustrates the importance of conscious design in the space. And neither scenario indicates or guarantees the actually quality of the product itself.

Studios are frequently open by appointment only or open limited hours to the general public. They may be one single open plan area. Clients love to see artisans at work dissolving the mystery of how things are created, but clearly appreciate defined parameters so they know where they, as the client, fit in.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Making your client feel comfortable during a visit to your studio is extremely important. Whether it simply means offering them a place to hang their coat, a clean sturdy wooden stool off to the side of your workbench and a place to set down their freshly brewed organic coffee served up in a perfectly clean mug, or a lush upholstered sofa with your quality printed portfolio splayed out neatly in front, freshly cut flowers and cold Perrier served in Waterford crystal on a unique coffee table. It means you have considered your client’s experience.

Every studio needs some storage space for stock and deliveries. In my opinion, it is best left behind screens or in closed off rooms. No matter how on top of things you may be, clients make judgements about you based on your timeliness and tidiness or lack of it. Sample fabrics on display is not considered inventory – you get the idea.

Make sure the entry to your studio is inviting whether it’s wide open or intimately private and make sure it speaks of the entire space. And the mind loves to make order out of confusion – so the less confusion the better. Your client’s attention will ready and not hung up about confused messages in your studio.

If one element is unseen, this one is no less important than all of them put together. That is to keep the air in your studio fresh. There are few things worse than being assaulted by the smell of stale food or other unpleasant odors. Masking malodour with fragrances or room deodorizers doesn’t work; it only makes matters worse, a definite turn-off.

Natural light and lighting is essential to a studio for more than just working in. It creates desired mood very effectively – just be aware of the fact that people have different reactions to lighting just as they do to colour. However, this topic will be better explored separately in another blog. Have a look at the following for some ideas of the better and the could-be-better – you be the judge. Cheers! J.

Levis Tailor Shop

 

At Ecole Holt Couture School

Anderson & Sheppard

Spiro Creations

Tonbogirl Verbua Leather Craft

Make

 

ECO GLAM – Save the Date! November 17th, 2013

Ecole Holt Couture – School of Couture Sewing Tailoring and Design’s 4th annual Fashion Event Fundraiser for Making Changes Association Calgary – ECO GLAM – is on Sunday November 17^th, at the Calgary Winter Club from 1pm to 5pm.

If you wonder how ecology and glamour could possibly synchronize, then you might want to see this year’s fashion event.  Ecole Holt Couture’s shares its view on how using high quality materials, extreme craftsmanship, and on how focusing on individual style can sustain the well-being of the planet, take care of people, and produce a profitable bottom line.

It may still be a secret to most, but it is no surprise that true Couture and Tailoring have honoured these concepts for a very long time. Wouldn’t you like to do something that you really love doing, know that you are doing your best to do the right thing, and earn a living doing it?

Let’s look at ‘Glamour’. Something that most of us can only aspire to, is really expense, and is totally impractical. Right?

The idea of supporting Fair trade practices, paying living wages, working and living conditions, global well being, “blah, blah, blah”- well is so – totally not about fashion. Right?

Wrong! We only don’t care about what we don’t know about, doesn’t affect us, or can’t change, but once we become aware of something it affects our consciousness and we can see and look at things from a different perspective, and affect change – even at our own seemingly insignificant level.

For most of us wearing clothes that actually last longer than a few months seems a bit weird because we  can’t imagine anything that is really worth hanging on to – other than for sentimental reasons….

We haven’t always needed to be so conscious of saving our planet using Green materials and who makes things and how things are made. If you’ve grown up in the last 15 years ‘repurposing materials’ is a new idea, but it is an ancient idea.  But, why would anyone spend so much money on clothing when you can pick up the latest and newest at the big box stores or at places like Top Shop really cheap? Why would anyone care to pay more?

What seems even more strange is that some people really love spending long hours creating something that totally engages their minds and hands, working on something that is not only beautiful, but also something that has more  purpose and meaning behind it than what appears on the surface, and that has taken years to learn and master!

Come and see what we experience:  a satisfying world, one of full of opportunity, beauty, fulfilment and sufficiency. Stay tuned for more…..

Eco Glam Fashion Event