Im late at discovering this programme but I love it. Last night it was about a wedding events styler whose business was going downhill.
I heard Alex say that all creatives should look to fashion to see whats in trend.
It seems obvious but I never thought about crafting going hand in hand with fashion and I have to admit I havnt bought a fashion magazine for years.
Seeing as we are creative types should we be looking at fashion to help us with what we make?
I tend to make things taht I like and that are totally out of fashion, but I see lots of people make fashionable items.
Are magazines a place you look to for inspiration?
Where else do you look?
It does depend on the customer though. I deliberately avoid anything I notice to be fashionable, but since I donât read those kinds of magazine I seldom know what is in fashion and what isnât! I do my own thing and frequently keep clothes for well over a decade if I like them
I loved that programme-and the ladyâs table settings at Castle Howard were incredible! Personally I always have half an eye on whatâs in fashion. Itâs a good idea to have a look on the Pantone website to see what the colours are for next season, because people do pay attention to things like that and it helps them when matching with something else theyâve bought. Using a fashion colour is not too restrictive of my creative freedom so I donât feel like Iâm being a slave to fashion or copying âcelebrity piecesâ which is my absolute pet hate! Itâs as well to keep an eye out in case there is something you can have your own âtakeâ on like last seasonsâ trend for forest animals, but thereâs no harm in being wildly different either. It makes you look distinctive. Thatâs the thing about fashion-to try to be a leader and not a follower.
Oh sheâs great! I think you need to be in the know! Young people are trend focused. Iâm not sure if this effects Folksy or us in general? Handmade will general out last the fashion trend if you follow it and donât manage to sell it, then you are stuck with it too. But its a tricky one.
Again, I think it depends on who youâre marketing to - if itâs the young, trendy demographic, then you have to know whatâs current and whatâs not. If youâre aiming for a more mature market, then classic styles and colours will always be popular. If you want to be anti-fashion and appeal to the more individual buyer, then just do your own thing and Iâm sure someone out there will love it too!
Having said that, if you want to sell shedloads of stuff, just stick the latest craze on it and it will sell like hotcakes (or hot foxes, birds, Frozen characters, owls, quotes, âkeep calmâ, campervans, beach hutsâŚetcâŚetc)
I donât follow the âlatestâ fashion and never have done. If something is pleasing then its pleasing I donât buy or make just because everyone else is doing the same thing.
Stand out from the crowd set your own trends.
Donât we design and make our own designs rather than rely on other designers to tell us what to make?
@EileensCraftStudio Well Said. I keep drifting into the âI apologise for being a crafter, I shall follow what everybody else doesâ state of mind that I hate having. Your right, we should do our own thing. Fashion comes and goes.
You can use fashion and trends to enhance what you do e.g. a jeweller might see that purple is the hot colour so then make a set of purple jewellery, which would make sense because people are likely to buy that to match clothes they have / are about to buy. Certain types of art seem to be very popular with a certain demographic profile, but on the whole, being individual helps someone in decorative art and does not detract.
I must admit, my nicest pictures and the ones I am most proud of are the ones that I have created using my own imagination and putting my own sense of colours etc into things. Iâve only consciously decided to follow one craze - the owl craze (I do beach huts and camper vans too but I genuinely love those!) - and thatâs been quite good but I found doing that doesnât differentiate me enough and so I now choose subjects solely based on my personal preferences.
btw I love watching Alex Politizzi - every programme gives me loads of ideas of things I could be doing better myself!!!
Alex has great talent, skills, and experience, and has made some interesting programmes. One I saw recently on revamping a childrenâs play-centre was particularly good.
As others have said, fashion will play a part in attracting some customers, but classic designs, properly done, should always sell.
Having watched several of Alexâs programmes on hotels, and businesses, it is clear she is very driven, but does not take criticism well, which seems to be fairly typical of dynamic individuals. She always wants to get her way, and while most of the time she is probably correct in her advice commercially, she can be rather abrasive at times. I couldnât work with her.
Of course, the programme is heavily edited, and some of her âclientsâ were in the wrong business, so I can see her frustration at times.
Classic designs are timeless, whereas fashion changes almost from week to week or at least seasonally , in some areas.
Can you afford to keep changing your designs and stock constantly based on fashion trends, unless you make solely to order , or are you confident to sell what you make relatively quickly ?
I do like Alex but I find she can do my head in after a while with everything and everyone being wrong and needing sortinG.
Basically I usually watch the first 10mins and the last 5 .
I know that it terrible but I get angry otherwise either with her or the client she is helping. Itâs silly really.
It just mare things I like and what my friends like then do the same sort of thing in different colours that way there is something for everyone.
I find it hard keeping up with trends so I tend not to.bother.
Unless iv done it by accident
