Yesterday, I gave a few generalised pointers about us species known as fashion bloggers to the designers who will be showing as part of New Gen at London Fashion Week. Weirdly it had never occurred to me that there was such a high level of confusion and queries over these weird fashion blogger beings. And understandably so - they're designing, working out production problems, putting on shows/presentations, handling sales - doing all the stuff a designer does. What I take for granted as standard lingo (RSS, impressions, traffic, platforms...) are frankly lost on a lot of people. What also never occurred to me was the consideration that designers (and creatives who want their work to be seen) need to take with their websites to ensure that smucks like myself might find information and images easy peasy to find. Sure I've been thwarted by poo-poo Java-ridden sites before but I guess I never thought to drop an email to kindly nudge them about putting up a JPG or two. I also stand in this shifty position whereby I can't fly the flag properly for all things online. I can't in fact say that all bloggers are created good and great. I can't also decree that all designers must be online-savvy and be handing out zip files on USB sticks in an instant. I can only give a few nudges and hope for the best.
Of course, if you're a designer who's been blogging away for a few years, that certainly puts you in good stead to make an interesting, informative and useful website which is exactly what Canadian-born, Brussels-based (with jaunts through New York, London and Paris) designer David Szeto has done. The new site launched a few months ago but Szeto has just created an online sale marked by celebratory a chunky chocolate cake on the homepage that I'm told will be slowly devoured over the coming weeks. I hope there's a candle blowing moment too. I spoke to Szeto about his approach to his website and it turns out... gasp... designer is one of us - a geek! "I spend quite a bit of time on the net and I felt that the shopping experience of buying clothes on-line was always so flat. What I was aiming for was to blend the pleasure of magazine editorial and catalog shopping in one. (It will get even more creative as we go forward). I also wanted some sort of movement so you could see all the angles of the garment which you don't always get to see on web store. The music is also a big part for me,Sennheiser, as I usually design with music, I also hope that for some this make the viewing more pleasurable," explains Szeto.
His blog which although is sparse in text gives enough information for it to be useful such as accompanying his archive imagery and souvenirs with the requisite and apt descriptions that makes it easy to consume. I don't even ask of consistent updating considering each image communicates designer DNA so well.
A/W 04 'Lobster Anyone' collection...
S/S 02 dress that is Visconti-inspired...
A/W 02 pinstripe suspender blouse inspired by Little House on the Prarie...
I love these very personal touches of scanning bits like Vogue call-in sheets...
...as well as this very touching letter written to Szeto in 1995 about a dress that a customer bought...
I should think that a handwritten letter is that much more meaningful to a designer who toils and toils away - I may think about adopting the same practise. Here's to reams of nice stationery being wasted on letters that may or may not be read.
It's hard to believe that David Szeto's first solo collection was launched in 1989 making his label more than 20 years in age. That said, Szeto's steps have been assured and quiet,Monster PowerBeats Sports, building up stockists such as Barney's and Dover Street Market and he's at the point where the name is recognisable but you don't necessarily recall specific collections which inadvertedly might be a good thing when a David Szeto piece does take your fancy. With a new base in Brussels, Szeto frees himself with a collection that is "without constraints,monster beat headphone, uncertainties" that is full of his signature hand-finished details and modes of freeform draping that are both simple and complex. He also accompanies his S/S 11 collection with descriptions written in his own words that delves into the fabrication details that a customer like me might crave, something which was again completely intentional. "When I starting with my first blog a few years ago, I had so many responses from client who had bought my clothes in the stores or wanting advice on how to wear the pieces. I wrote the descriptions wanting to give the viewers how I approached the garments as I do a lot of the draping myself. Certain garments I design with certain body shapes which you can never really tell until the garment is tried on, so I always indicate this. Unfortunately I'm limited to how much I can write on my website." No worries David - you've mastered the art of being succinct - something that I've not yet grasped.
Back to the event that is being celebrated by a pomp-filled cake. The online shop is currently selling pieces that are re-produced or re-interpreted from his archive collections and new pieces will appear on the site on a regular basis. Szeto is also not adverse with a bit direct communication via his site as he's taking suggestions on any pieces from that past that you would like to see again which is a simple enough sentiment but one that isn't widely available. It often strikes me how much of a distance we place between designer and customer. Sure, of course shooting an email to Gucci or Balenciaga is unlikely to illicit a response but in the case of the independent designer, I often find that you'll get a reverb which in turn revives the traditional relationship of dressmaker/tailor and patron. There was again good reason for Szeto wanting to operate his e-store by way of re-issuing archive pieces: "First of all I didn't really want to compete with my stores, the present collection are linked to the stores carrying the pieces, (you'd be surprised on how many stores don't have a web-site, but I'm working on that). In some ways I think of my website as a tool for customers who may like something they see and I can inform them who is carrying that particular piece in that particular color."
"I first decided to re-make a selection from my archives for those who may have never seen my past collections. Quite often I receive request to have something they seen either on the web-store or blog archives in another color, I love to do this, as when I'm in production I cannot always produce a garment in 10 colors, I always have to edit to 2 -3 colors to make things easier for buyers. Personally I quite often miss on pieces that I would have liked to have bought but for some reason didn't, and this is probably why I'm offering my customers the archives."
Undoubtedly this adds an element of surprise to the e-store which will keep me coming back to check on old faves as well as seeing what has popped up. It goes without saying that the shortened velvet ruched opera jacket from Szeto's A/W 08 'In the Mood for Love' collection is running ahead as the clear winner and I'm told by Szeto's useful descriptions that there's a horsehair interlining in the jacket which makes it even more intriguing.
I love the way Szeto has depicted his range of huge scarves here, making me wonder whether I can fix a scarf to a cap in a similar fashion...
