dreams are fragile

i have been enjoying the fabric sourcing phase.

that sounds so industrial, and not at all inspiring.

what i mean to say is that many of my samples have come in and now i get to see, smell, and feel them. only a few of them made the cut and my sourcing is far from over.

i mapped out a bunch of other stuff i really need to get done such as: creating color boards and designing, choosing fabrics, starting fundraising for the initial seed funds, brainstorming possible investors, naming the line, and of course, thinking about marketing.

whew! that is a lot of planning & execution to take care of. in one item metioned above, there is a huge process that needs to take place.

it will be important to keep things as simple as possible.

a transition of a different sort is taking precedence right now so the business is on the back burner, simmering quite nicely.

once this other effort is done, i can pick the business up full force (you know, that gargantuan list afore mentioned). and i do promise to let everyone know what the heck i am talking about as soon as i can. it is something i am very excited about and also something that needs my undivided attention.

undivided attention is a challenge for me; there are so many things I want to do! i can definitely fall into the trap of dividing my attention so much that nothing is really ever complete. i think this is something most creative people experience.

i was thinking about Jen Louden's basket theory. she proposes that we can only have about 4 baskets at any given time. each basket represents a project or goal.

i have been working with about 8 baskets and i got burned out this weekend! so i reduced my baskets and now i feel a lot better.

granted, one must accept some loss in this negotation. for example, i probably won't be able to busk this year. drats! i was just dreaming about my busking adventures, taking pictures of my fellow buskers (real pictures -- you know, as in coffee-table book pictures), and simply having some good stories to tell at parties.

however, there is always next year.

however, the energy i'm concentrating towards a couple of great, big goals are more likely to be realized.

first: my big mystery goal. then, my business.

it's really important when you have dreams you are working towards to know when to give yourself a break and to realistically assess other demands on your time and your current sources of support.

dreams are fragile; we need to be gentle with them as we also advocate fiercely on their behalf.

there's nothing like a deadline

so, today i ran into Danielle Miller, of Royal Peasantry. our conversations included an opportunity for some nude art modelling, my prospective career as a muse, and attending TribeO.

we decided to go in together as vendors at TribeO. seeing as how i had already decided i wanted to vend, this was an amazing opportunity.

Danielle has a strong, local following and her designs are very belly-dancer friendly. she designs much (if not all) of the fabulous costuming for Onca O'Leary, the colorful mistress of so many perfomance art and production projects, they are too various to name here.

though i had already decided to go to TribeO as both an attendee and vendor, this decision was still a bit soft until i realized what a great idea it would be to partner with Danielle for the purpose of debuting my designs.

shall we say i rushed home and got started on the hand beading of my first head piece?

considering the fact that i have not sewn in oh, 6 months, it went quite well.

the beads are from craft stores, and reclaimed/antique jewlery. the flower is a little something i put together last year in Fashionado's Vincent Martinez's class at Penland School of Crafts.

i burnt the edges to achieve some of the texture and hand sculpted the flowers. ahh, that sounds so skillful but honestly, it's quite easy. i wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't. at any rate, i do like the effect of the burnt edging and plan to make more for this piece.

last year, when i took Vincent's class, i gathered bits and pieces of metals finery, mostly out of the garbage or loot bins. i had all kinds of designs in mind, particularly masks and manga-inspired head pieces. however, i could not bring myself to actually make one as i could not place it in a real context.

after all, where the heck would i have worn that post-modern geisha piece made out of pink millenery flowers, bone-white shell falls, and found twigs???

seriously folks, gone are the days of all night and day raves for this lady.

dance, however, gives me a perfect stage for my obsession for glamour, drama, and head adornment.

in other words, i think i am a drag queen, tragically misplaced in a woman's body.

and if you ever scare the shit out of yourself because you suddenly have to create a bunch of handmade stock to sell beside an amazing designer and artist at a well-known event . . . well, i highly recommend this musical score to keep your sweet, anxious fingers moving and your soul soothed.

more insight into the textile industry

why was i so afraid of calling reps and mills? you can read about my phone fright in an earlier post.

so far, I've talked to 3 reps and they have been helpful, informative, and all-around wonderful.

i have many, many samples on the way. they should be here next week.

they are coming from envirotextiles, kendor, pickering, and sextet.

i also still need to put a phone call into a rep i met at a local soiree. he and his wife own four lines, as well as a brick and mortar here in Asheville. they do all their design, product development, manufacturing, and selling (both wholesale and retail).

basically, they are living my dream life.

his wife covers most of the design work while he covers the sourcing and manufacturing aspects. he offered me a 15-minute free consultation at the party -- probably the serendipitous result of too much champagne and a very naughty burlesque performance from the lovely Queen April.

i came away with a solid figure to get through the product development phase, a strong local contact with over 30 years in the industry, and a potential partnership. he asked me to wait until july to call, and here we are -- july.

i am learning all kinds of fascinating things, among them some basic vocabulary:

PFD (prepare for dye)
PFP (prepare for print)
lab dip
asking dye facilities to reframe into a roll after applications
asking facilties for whole package quotes and CMT quotes

i am also wrapping up the preliminary market research with a final push for respondants going out next week. provided my dance teacher samiTe' agrees to helping out via her facebook page, i could expect between 15 and 20 more of those. another of my teachers, the fabulous Lisa Zahiya asked her followers to take my survey and many of them did so i know this is a successful approach.

i would be interested to know from any readers who are into marketing what a good ballpark number is in terms of marketing survey responces.

it will be a pleasure to wrap the survey research up, finally choose my line ambassadors, and give an IPOD gift certificate away.

it will also be a real joy to get into the actual design and sampling work once i have chosen my fabrics. i learned about this practice at Kathleen Fasanella's Fashion Incubator site.

this is a great resource for people who want to design and profit from their designs. this is all the stuff fashion schools probably don't teach you.

you may exit with a strong foundation in design, an introduction to retail and marketing, and intermediate sewing and construction skills after leaving a fashion design program. but Kathleen's site is a wealth of information as to how to translate that to the entrepreneurial and manufacturing worlds.

well, it's time for me to practice my choreography and work on the head piece, which i am also exploring as a one-of-a-kind couture product for dancers. in that vein, i need to purchase some display heads and vintage saris in the very near future.