Let’s use real keyword search data to illustrate.

The graph below shows keyword search data for “spring” fashion related keywords from June 2012 to June 2013. Google Trends graph A shows that “spring” fashion keyword searches trend up in January, and peak in April, then drastically decline.

A) spring-fashion-goole-trends-2012-2013

When looking at internal data of a high profile fashion site, this trend is clearly matched. Searchers use the topic “spring” to find fashion and accessories. Much like Fashion Week, there is a lead up to the search peak, starting in January and ending by the time spring arrives in April.

This means there is a 3-month period between January and March where fashion bloggers and e-commerce sites need to develop strong topical “spring” content to help capture this audience in search engines before the traffic starts to decline in April. And, the smaller your blog or website, the sooner you need to start.

B) spring-trends-google-analytics-2012-2013 (click for a bigger image)

From this next graph (C) showing “summer” keyword phrases, it is evident that now is the time to start gaining traffic and ranking for this topic, because the peak hits in early June and ranking will need to be established for target keywords.

C) summer-google-analytics-2012-2013 (click for a bigger image)

The Google Trends graph (D) below corroborates the internal data, showing “summer” keyword searches start around March and peak in July. For small sites, its best to start “spring” and “summer” content together in order to build stronger momentum in ranking.

D) summer-fashion-google-trends-2012-2013

Ranking for seasonal fashion keywords is competitive, much like showing a new collection on the runway. To grab consumers’ attention, your site must rank on the first page in Google. To do this, content on your site must be contextually and topically relevant, using the right keywords in the right places. More importantly, however, content must be produced at the right time in order to capture the audience, or your content just becomes a forgotten collection.

When do you think consumers start looking for fall fashion content and products? Connect with me on Twitter @elmconsulting to get the facts about fall fashion. Stay tuned to learn more about using social media to benefit your keyword ranking, and how to find the best keywords for your SEO editorial calendar!

Original image created by MoneyBlogNews.

While camouflaging certain facts may be a bad industry habit, not all Suppliers who do so have bad intentions. The most likely scenario is that a Supplier believes full-disclosure would make them a less attractive candidate, so they are simply ‘discreet’ about what they share. Still, the burden of establishing transparency in a supply chain falls on the Buyer; it’s up to you to do your homework.

Thankfully, doing your homework is less about spending money or leveraging expertise, and more about taking simple, focused steps towards establishing transparency. Knowing the right questions to ask, using your common sense, and performing an inexpensive factory audit are easy tools anyone can utilize to paint a clear, reliable picture.

Before we discuss tactics however, it’s important to note that situations like the ones mentioned above don’t have to be deal-breakers when looking for a partner. For example, few Suppliers can do everything under one roof, so subcontracting is often a necessity. And while crooked middlemen are certainly no good, working with Trading Companies is an excellent way for a smaller Buyers to establish a relationship with a larger factory. What Buyers should concern themselves with is knowing about it.

Knowledge means that you can make informed choices. If you don’t know about subcontractors, how can you perform social audits or pursue any other kind of due diligence in your supply chain? Similarly, in the case of the US Supplier using imported materials… if you’re unsure of where the components in your product are coming from, how can you properly evaluate what is a fair price? While there isn’t one manufacturing set-up that is best, transparency is necessary in order to produce the best product.

Ask Questions

Knowing which questions to ask is your most powerful tool in establishing transparency. In your communications with Suppliers you should be able to identify the location of your production facility, the origin of all materials, the type of business you are working with (i.e. factory, trading company, wholesaler, etc.) and what they plan to subcontract when making your product. Issuing a Supplier Questionnaire at the beginning of your communications will help filter out problematic companies, however you can use any format. Questionnaires simply help to keep you organized and provide an easy format for Suppliers to send information.

Be careful not to overload people with unnecessary questions, especially if your first language is their second language.  They are busy people just like you, and it takes time to translate and craft answers! You also don’t want to offend potential partners by inferring that they are dishonest. Keep it simple and be polite about your requests, and then dive deeper with further questioning if any answers are not sufficient.

Use Your Common Sense

We all get those feelings about ‘something just not being right’ about someone. If a supply partner seems evasive, or makes you feel uneasy, trust your gut! If they reply with excuses or vague answers rather than directly answering your questions, let it be an alarm bell to proceed cautiously.

Basic common sense can also detect ambiguous situations. Does the person you are speaking with have a company e-mail address and listed phone number? If not, it’s unlikely that they are an employee of a factory. Is a Supplier’s business license out of date? Are you unable to find a website or directory listing for the company name being provided? If something is not right about a Supplier, you may take that as a sign for you to steer clear.

Inexperienced new Buyers will often defer to Suppliers whom they regard as industry ‘authorities.’ This may be true on the technical side of things, but when dealing with the nuts and bolts of your supply chain, the Buyer must retain authority. Be confident in your instincts.

Perform a Factory Audit

Factory Audits are used for a variety of purposes such as ensuring social standards, evaluating production capabilities, or just confirming that a factory does indeed exist. During an audit an Inspection Agency will visit your factory (or potential factory) as well as conduct any supplemental research required, and then present you with a detailed report of their findings.

Performing an audit on a Supplier prior to entering into a relationship with them is strongly advised. Many companies also carry out routine inspections after they get started, allowing them to check on a Supplier’s on-going activities and maintain the integrity of the relationship. Further, you don’t have to be a big Buyer with a big budget to pay for audits; many can be performed for under $300. Consider this a small price to pay when transparency is at stake!

Since dealing with domestic Suppliers in your home country means that you have the ability to visit or research yourself, audits are primarily performed on behalf of foreign buyers. Still, some version of having ‘eyes on the ground’ when working with a Supplier is good practice, even if it is just mean you informally visiting your production location.

To learn more about Supplier relationships, check out Liz’s Skillshare class ‘Design, Source, and Manufacture Your Product Idea’ or visit her blog at lizlong.co.

Original image created by the Images of Money flickr photostream.

Original article published by OSF contributor Sindhya on Business Insider.—

I finally found panties on True&Co., an ecommerce lingerie company. It took them nearly one year to start selling panties. They allegedly sold them when I mentioned them in a viral article titled VCs Think My Boobs Need An Algorithm in January, but the panties were impossible to find. Nobody could find them. Now you can find them after about 6 minutes of multiple choice questioning and some scrolling around online. But you still won’t get a “true” fit from their algorithm.

Another startup that I discussed in that article is Dollar Shave Club (DSC) which is now raising yet another round of funding even though they raised a total of $10.8M in venture funding last June. Earlier this month, DSC finally launched their 2nd product – Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter. Who on earth is Dr. Carver and what does he have to with DSC, you ask?? Is Dr. Carver a new brand? Well, I bet your guess is as good as Dollar Shave Club’s. I’m not joking.

Consumer marketing is an art AND a science. It’s something that the founders of many consumer-facing ecommerce companies and their investors don’t understand. The Science Lab in LA, which launched DSC, and the DSC management team and their investors clearly don’t comprehend it. That’s why consumer-facing ecommerce is broken.

To date, all that DSC has done is create one funny video that went viral. DSC’s second video was a complete failure so they pulled it from YouTube. Interestingly, Grumpy Cat is a damn funny video that went even more viral, and it has more brand potential than DSC. Grumpy Cat could be branded similar to Angry Birds with games, lunchboxes, candy, etc. Naming a brand Dollar Shave Club is problematic since DSC’s intent was to build a global lifestyle brand. The name limits them to “dollar” and budget pricing and also to the shave category. Will they call their shower gel “Dollar Shave Club Shower Gel”? That doesn’t exactly make sense. On that note, Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter, its newest product, doesn’t make sense. The management team doesn’t understand branding, positioning and pricing. The cost of the Easy Shave Butter product is $8 while the average shave cream or shave gel from leading brands like Edge or Gillette is $4 or less (even $2) – everywhere, even at the corner CVS or Duane Reade in Manhattan and on Amazon.com. If DSC’s goal is to disrupt the industry by offering cheaper products, they are certainly NOT doing that with Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter.

What I don’t understand is what exactly is DSC doing with $10.8M? What took them so long to launch the shave butter product? It is stock packaging (which means it’s off-the-shelf without distinct custom design). It’s also a stock formula that they sourced from lab in Dallas, Texas. Just like the non-proprietary blades that they source from Dorco, a Korean company, DSC’s Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter is not a proprietary formula. The packaging is a knockoff of Kiehl’s with its apothecary-esque branding which is a very inconsistent departure from DSC’s budget branding. Product lead time for their stock packaging and stock formulas is NOT 1 year. They also don’t need $10.8M in funding to sell non-proprietary products with stock packaging. Here are the facts: For a product with stock formula and packaging, it should cost: less than $25K for a small production run of 7,000 units with a lead time of 2 months. The cost of goods per unit should be no more than $3.57. With a COG of $3.57 and retail price of $8, their markup is 55%. That should yield about $56,000 in sales. Keep in mind that this inventory is seasonless, trendless and sizeless too. It’s a very lucrative business for those who truly understand it.

The fact that DSC waited one year to launch a shave butter/cream demonstrates that they: 1) don’t spend their cash wisely, and 2) they don’t understand consumer psychology. When products are used in tandem, marketers should pair these products together and so that the consumer can buy them together. When most people buy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, they will go somewhere where they can also get milk and sugar. The only exception to this pairing rule is when a product has superior performance and distinction. That’s not the case with DSC’s razors.

The biggest question I have is: why on earth is DSC raising yet another round of funding? Word on the street is that they are now hoping to close a Series B of $45M in June. I’m still unclear on what they did with $10.8M which they raised at a hilariously healthy $30M pre-money valuation – they’re hemorrhaging their investors’ money! In addition to STILL offering free razors for a month to new customers, they are now also doing radio ads and TV commercials during the NBA Playoffs! The going rate for a 30-second spot during the NBA Playoffs is $500,ooo. At this rate, I predict that DSC is going to follow in the footsteps of hyper-inflated, struggling companies like Groupon and BeachMint. It makes no sense to keep pouring money into a brand that isn’t really a brand, doesn’t have special products and doesn’t understand its industry. Without great branding and experience, you’re just another product.

Harry’s, a new grooming brand that launched online last month with upwards of $4M in VC funding, isn’t much better than DSC. Marketing and branding aren’t their forte either. The funniest comment I saw on their Facebook page was: “Is this razor only for white people who all look the same?”

They are definitely too niche if people are saying things like that. Their logo is quite possibly the ugliest logo that I’ve ever seen. You cannot just reapply the same formula that worked at Warby Parker and move it to Harry’s and expect success. You cannot just shift one executive/founder from a successful company to another company and category and expect success. We already learned this lesson with Ron Johnson and J.C. Penney. The minute more compelling grooming brands launch DSC and Harry’s will be in serious trouble.

Here’s another shocking startup story: A NY-based luxury goods and fashion curation startup which closed $2M in venture funding in October 2012 and was slated to launch in November/December 2012 delayed its launch by one whole year. The only reason for the delay is poor planning. Unlike many other startups, this startup isn’t stuck due to lack of funds. The founder of this startup, who does not have a background or understanding of fashion, luxury goods, buying, or ecommerce, did not understand the buying cycles for purchasing products from third party brands. Her prior work history included being a Co-Founder at a food-focused picture sharing app and doing digital partnerships for a leading media company. In my opinion, this founder should have never gotten funding. There is no excuse for a one-year delay when this startup has cash and resources. More importantly, this founder failed to establish an iota of traction since her company was pre-launch and even pre-business plan and branding. She clearly lacked domain expertise or even a basic understanding of the luxury goods and fashion industry. She should have established all of that before getting funding. Her investors from leading VC firms failed to do proper diligence and gave her $2M in VC funding at a $5M pre-money valuation.

Clearly, many VCs don’t really understand which founders to fund, and they don’t really understand consumer-facing ecommerce. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t look to these VCs for validation especially if these VCs are funding founders without plans. Some common threads with these flawed startups include having founders who do not understand:

1) basic business, understanding of retail, how to scale a company, pair and group products to drive more sales
2) branding and marketing
3) consumer psychology, purchasing habits

It seems that a lot of founders and VCs think that marketing and branding aren’t that important and can be outsourced. That’s clearly apparent in all the aforementioned startups. Without a great brand experience, you’re just another product. Marketing and branding are conceived in the heart and mind first, then applied to product and finally applied online. Marketing is an art, a science and also a spectator sport – online it’s become a shit show that’s providing me a lot of laughs.

Original header mage created by Steve Mueller.

Business of Fashion || Retail Recon: Inside Warby Parker’s First Offline Flagship by BoF Team

Now, after experimenting with a series of successful “shop-in-shops” and showrooms in several US cities, Warby Parker is making its first major push into offline commerce, with the launch of a physical flagship at 121 Greene Street, smack in the heart of New York’s Soho district.

When BoF visited the new store, three days after it opened to the public, it was already buzzing with a fleet of uniformed sales-staff and people of all ages, both locals and visitors, trying on eyeglasses and exploring the airy space. The deep, high-ceilinged interior was flooded with light and, on each side of the store, the walls were lined with 18-foot-high shelves displaying the brand’s fashionable frames, interspersed with a curated selection of books from independent, artsy imprints.

Business of Fashion || Op-Ed: Racial Diversity on the Runway by Demi Sinclair

This isn’t about filling a quota. It’s about getting global brands to recognize that when they send an all-white cast down the runway, they are promoting an ideal of beauty that does not include the majority of the world’s population. This is problematic. It’s not only troubling from a business perspective. It’s also a social issue. And the bottom line is, a casting director is simply not doing their job right if they cannot see beauty or relevance in models of color.

Fashion’s Collective || Should Brands Get Tangled Up in Vine? by Elizabeth Canon

Vine is proving successful amongst sketch comedians, illustrators and filmmakers, (Tribeca Film Festival has even launched a film-making contest on Vine, using the #sixsecfilms hashtag), but for fashion and luxury brands the main challenge is how raw the final video appears.

The level of artistic control and polish are virtually non existent on Vine, which means that in order for your brand to be successful you either need a well defined personality and strong point of view that has proven successful on social media, and/or you need a campaign concept that is intended to strip away (or re-define) a prestige brand image.

StartUp Fashion || How to Grow Your Fashion Brand’s Pinterest Channel by Kathleen Ong

There have been many articles, tips and advice, and general how-to guides out there for why your brand should have a presence on Pinterest. As the third largest social media channel after Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is a great channel for brands within visual industries to use as a tool for creating an online community. As a designer you can create boards to showcase your collections, design inspiration, and other topics that fit your brand identity.

So now that you’ve set up a Pinterest account and have started to pin away, what are some things that you can do to grow your brand’s Pinterest channel?

StartUp Fashion || Self-Repairing Fabric in Fashion by Jane Hamill

Developers have created a new kind of smart fabric: a plastic textile that automatically repairs itself when ripped. Self-repairing material is not an entirely new concept, having been used in conjunction with substances such as metal. However, this is the first instance the idea has been applied to fabric. Originally purposed for use in rainwear for professional fisherman, this new self-repairing fabric technology could potentially benefit all kinds of outerwear.

Retail Minded || 3 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid by Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle

While email marketing may seem old school compared to Tweeting, texting and uploading pics to Instagram, it still tops customer preferences for gaining useful insight on retailer sales, promotions, events and more. Plus, it’s affordable to do – which any business owner can appreciate it.

Retail Minded || Keep Customers Loyal & Make More Money by Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle

So often, retailers are worried about getting new customers that they forget to care about their existing customers. This type of mentality can lead to a lack of customer retention – and possibly even worse, a bad reputation. The question of “why” this happens is still a mystery, though. If someone has shown you interest in your store, made a purchase or even multiple purchases and possibly even signed up for your email list / loyalty program, then why would a retailer NOT cater more to this crowd?

A study by Deloitte Consulting found that businesses that track their customer loyalty are 60% more profitable than other companies. 60%! What does that number mean to you? Even if you want your business to increase 5% this year (though more never hurts), consider leaning on your existing customers to help you grow your business.

Entrepreneur|| Startup Survival 101: It’s All About Relationships That Work by Martin Zwilling

Most entrepreneurs, and members of any small team for that matter, naively assume that the key to their success is hard work, dedication and long hours at the business. In reality, their effectiveness is usually more related to how well they develop their work relationships with peers and business leaders.

First, they need to decipher correctly every relationship as a workship, friendship or foe.

Inc. || 5 Things You Should Never Do on Facebook by Marla Tabaka

Facebook has become an indispensable tool for business. Why? Yes, because there are a billion people interacting there. Also because your friends, relatives, and most importantly, your competition, are interacting–creating great relationships and building trust–in this global community.

Did you know that Facebook is primarily a consumer-driven community? And most of them are savvy enough to smell (and block) a disingenuous marketer a mile away. We asked author and speaker Brian Basilico for his top five Facebook “don’ts” for your business.

Tweak Your Biz || Don’t Let The Internet Take Over Your Business! by Lewis Evans

It’s so convenient, isn’t it? It’s the first thing you’re drawn to every morning. It pervades your life via your desktop and mobile devices. It sucks you in. After all, it’s your life-support system and it has all the answers. Or does it?

Undoubtedly, the Internet does hold a lot of answers, but how we use it and the expectations we have of it are key.

Increasingly, I see that we’re becoming expert at providing and consuming ‘light’ information on the web. As Internet marketing and interconnectivity become more sophisticated, we are bombarded with half-useful information that never quite gets translated into practical improvements in our business. It consumes a lot of time, while seducing us with fascinating infographics, pictures, videos and never-ending threads.

Also check out:

OSF Contributor Liza Kindred, of Third Wave Fashion, was featured and quoted in an article about consumer data collection from The High Low. José de Cabo of Olapic makes an appearance as well!

The High Low || Digital Data Collection and How to Do it Right by Susannah Edelbaum

We spoke to Liza Kindred, founder of Third Wave Fashion, a consulting company which works with entrepreneurs on top-to-bottom branding strategies and specializes in compelling fashion tech start-ups.  First and foremost, Kindred says, “One crucial thing to bear in mind when collecting data is privacy.”  To that end, “Incremental data collection,” done in a way “that’s respectful of consumers’ comfort levels, is an important way for companies to get the information they need.”  To do this right, the approach needs to be direct and social on one side and behind the scenes on the other.

Original Image created by Dave Bleasdale.

Some of the key presentations include:

- How to Gain Press (Without Hiring Someone To Do It For You)
- Ways to Maximize Your Store Profits
- Tips on Email Marketing Specific to Indie Businesses
- Technology and APP News for Indies
- Marketing on a Dime (Or For Free)
& much more

All registered attendees will receive a free issue of Retail Minded Magazine, free business cards from MOO.com and many other prizes to help retailers and wholesalers thrive. Additionally, one select attendee will win a trip to Las Vegas for the August ASD Trade Show. Finally – all attendees are invited to join us at Anchor Bar following the conference for networking, complimentary drinks and fun.
Seats are limited, so register today.

Thanks to their wonderful sponsors including Moo.com, Snap Retail, Kabbage, ShopKeep POS and the Retail Council of New York State, they can offer you a huge discount on the $79.95 ticket price, making your price only $29.95.

Independent Retailer Conference
Date: May 20, 2013
Location: Scholastic Auditorium
557 Broadway in Soho

Simply register with code OSFASHION HERE.

Hope to see you on May 20th!

Third Wave Fashion || Crowdsourcing Makes Its Way Into Fashion Tech by Kimberlee Van Der Wall

There’s a buzzword we’ve been reading about more and more in the fashion community: crowdsourcing. By this point we know that crowdsourcing is “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” (Wikipedia) It’s so popular in the startup community because it’s about the sharing of ideas and partaking in the collaborative process. Let us tell you, this is not a fad.

Third Wave Fashion || 3 Things You Should Consider Before Spending Any Capital by Leticia Domenech

Money. Every start-up needs it, and it’s usually at the most vulnerable, early-stage, high risk point when it needs the most.  Tech start-ups, for instance, are notorious for seeking out a number of different ways of receiving funding including: venture capital, angel investing, and other seed funding opportunities. This is because, typically, these types of start-ups are too small to raise capital in the public market, so they go to venture capital firms or independent venture capitalists and ask for funds in exchange for equity in their company.

But because venture capital has been less available in recent times, start-ups have to find the best ways to turn a profit and satisfy stakeholders, and even more more critical, they must be particularly creative and sharp before spending any money at all.

Business of Fashion || Is There a Fashion-Tech Bubble? by Vikram Alexei Kansara

“Yes, too many companies don’t have a business model and don’t understand this industry,” Lawrence Lenihan, managing director of FirstMark Capital, an investor in Pinterest, Ahalife and Sneakpeeq, told BoF. “We have to stop backing stupid, business school whiteboard businesses that are ignorant of the industry and lack heart, soul and beauty. Moreover, companies that have gotten some degree of success have been so overcapitalised and their ultimate returns so overestimated that those investments will never create a return and will detract from the returns that founders and early shareholders should have gotten,” added Lenihan.

Fashion’s Collective || The (Sudden) Impact of Wearable Technology by Elizabeth Canon

For many of us, wearable technology is a highly futuristic concept, most alive in our imaginations as we think of what could one day be possible. For the luxury sector, in particular, the notion of using technology in garments and accessories feels almost incongruent with the ideals of heritage and craftsmanship that conjure up images of dusty artisan workshops on historic cobblestone streets of the past. Yet, in reality, our society is not far off from adopting wearable technology in our daily lives. And however removed that may seem from the core identity of a luxury brand, the fact is that wearable technology will impact consumer behavior, and this demands attention and foresight.

StartUp Fashion || 5 Tips for Costing and Pricing Your Fashion by Jane Hamill

Costing and pricing your fashion line can feel overwhelming and, well, just plain hard. It’s not exactly at the top of our list of fun things to do. The problem is that costing your line too low means you won’t make money and pricing too high means you cannot compete in the market. I had a hard time costing and pricing my line when I first started out but as time went by I figured out a few things and learned some great tips along the way.

Retail Minded || Merchandising Your Point of Sale Area… To Make Moneyby Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle

Have you ever thought about those valuable minutes when a customer is standing in front of you ready to make a purchase? There are many ways to view this scenario. You can be grateful, happy and excited that you are making a sale. Who doesn’t like that? But you can also still be in “sales” mode without being so pushy that it’s a turnoff. Of course, you can also be both.

When a customer has decided they are going to buy something and are now in line or actually at the point of sale for checkout, this is a great opportunity to increase your chance of gaining even MORE sales. The key is in both your communication and in your products for display at your point of purchase area.

The Emerging Designer || The First Step to Building Your Online Social Network by Melissa Hall

Being a part of a network is an important part of brand building. When you’re just starting out and trying to develop your online presence, it may seem daunting. You may not have very many followers, not sure who to talk to or even what to say.

The first step is to identify which brands and people that you want in your network. Whether it’s for inspiration, business or to learn, these relationships will be both directly and indirectly related to your growing your company.

Tweak Your Biz || Answer Customers’ Questions To Create Content Marketing Gold by Niall Devitt

Writing for customers is the best way to get new customers, via your content marketing. While many business bloggers write for their market, they don’t always write for their customers. The difference, while subtle, can be enormous in terms of your content ROI. Find out how you can use customers’ questions to create content marketing gold.

Inc. || 6 Steps to Host a Successful LinkedIn Group by Hollis Thomases

LinkedIn has been the de facto social media platform for business for some time now, and its popularity continues to grow. If you’re like me, you probably log into LinkedIn regularly–maybe even daily–to view, research, communicate or connect. One conduit of all this activity is LinkedIn Groups.

LinkedIn Groups can be a mecca for connecting, learning and sharing with other people. Or they can be a waste of time, particularly if a group provides nothing of value to members or gets overrun by spammers. If you manage one of these kinds of groups or are thinking of creating a LinkedIn group of your own, follow these best practices.

 Original Image created by Matthew.

With fashion being an important part of the Open Hardware industry, we are excited for the jam and hope that many of you will participate!

The Event: Given the wide scope of the challenges, this 3 day event will be based on a mash-up of well known design and collaborative creation formats for group cooperation such as Service Design Jams (http://www.designjams.org/) and Hackathons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathon) and will borrow from unconferences and barcamps as well.  All the format will be developed and open-sourced right after.

Why people should attend:  It will be a great opportunity to learn, build relationships and start new projects. They are looking for several different profiles, as the challenge behind the mission of the event – improving the way OSHW is designed and documented to enhance reuse, replication, remix – is huge and implies a large set of skills.

In parallel with the Jam works, the event will feature several breakout session to pitch projects and get feedback from insiders and early adopters and spark new collaborations.  The agenda spans on three days and there’s no strict demand for full time commitment but consistent participation is welcome.

Register now: http://nyc_oshwdocjam.eventbrite.com/  (see: www.opensourcewarehouse.org for details).

The hosts team includes TED fellows Marcin Jakuboski (Open Source Ecology) and Catarina Mota (Open Materials, Open Hardware Summit Association) plus many more.

Ok, so that may not be the case currently, but the fashion landscape is definitely changing in our nation’s capital. And in a city where suits rule (most of the time), menswear companies are seizing the opportunity to dress the men at the top.

Take Hugh and Crye, a DC-based online retailer of better fitting dress shirts. With a charming little showroom/office in Georgetown, they focus on simplifying the choices for guys starting with just one question: what type of body do you have? Depending on whether the guy has skinny, athletic, or broader build, they make the shirt to fit. Ah, sweet relief. Over the past few decades, we somehow managed to get away from a quality product that actually fits us and instead settled for a mass produced product whose price tag wandered far away from the quality that it reflected. Thankfully, a select few are offering up that possibility again.

I’ve been really impressed to see the way some companies have embraced technology. Sure, fashion has taken to technology on the production side, with the development of fabrics that wick moisture from the skin and dyes that activate with sunlight. But the guys at Alton Lane have found a unique way to use technology on the consumer/retail side. You schedule an appointment at their showroom– D.C. was their first showroom outside of NYC– and a lovely staff will guide you over to a 3-D body scanner. It’s a painless process– think of the scanner at airport security except in a living room-type environment and with a full bar complete with rye whiskey on hand.

Your exact measurements are sent to their factory and you receive your custom-made garment in 4-6 weeks. Overall, a pretty optimal experience for a guy, I would think. These type of bespoke offerings popping up around the US seem novel at first until you realize that it’s the way our grandparents used to dress. A return to our roots.

And while menswear suits and dress shirts have gotten the most attention lately, we can’t forget about the basics. One company in particular, based in DC, has sought to redefine the staple accessories for men, starting with shoelaces. Yes, shoelaces.

Tim Neill of Red Hand got frustrated last year when his shoelaces were 6 inches too long and coming untied all the time. He had had enough. So, armed with a marketing background, and the reassurance that other men were facing the same problem, Tim redesigned the structure of this little element that’s in each of our lives. But he didn’t stop there. Committed to rethinking all of the current offerings on the market, Tim is taking on the undershirt, socks, and belts– with buckles made from old American muscle cars and, yes, they are as awesome as they sound. He strives to be a brand that recognizes what came before, and one that insists on being a driver in the future. And the best part? He’s doing it all in the US.

From Detroit, where Red Hand’s design team is based, and where they find the metal for their belts, to North Carolina for fabric and trim, up to NYC for inspiration, and back to DC for the business, they’ve found a way to maintain every aspect of their production stateside. Tim makes it sound easy, which, being the owner of a women’s apparel company that manufactures a line of luxury robes in the US, I can assure you that it requires a commitment to wading through the at-times antiquated ways this industry has of doing things. Red Hand is mostly able to do this by selling direct to the consumer. So while you’ll only be able to purchase Red Hand products on their website, you can rest assured that the markups are minimal to bring you the best of men’s basics for a reasonable price. My hope? They open a retail shop in DC. But we’ll have to wait on that for now. Tackling the high rent in this city can kill a business and we definitely want this one to thrive.

Red Hand recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to finance the manufacturing of their first products. With rewards like the belt buckle, you can be the first to get your red hands on their products when you donate.

OS Fashion hosted a Town Hall Discussion last month in DC on the local retail climate. To attend similar events and join the discussion, become a member of OS Fashion’s DC Chapter here or follow us on Twitter.

Manufacture New York is a new design and production incubator that will open in Brooklyn at the former Bush Terminals site, now renamed Industry City. Manufacture New York, the brainchild of Bob Bland and her hard work, along with the grassroots efforts of over a hundred of independent designers, will create a space for local fashion designers to create, develop, and manufacture their lines in New York.

The funds being raised through Manufacture New York’s Indiegogo campaign will go towards securing 20,000 square feet of space in Industry City, equipment for manufacturing, and jobs. Once built out, the space will have manufacturing facilities, a fully-equipped sampling room, private studios, a co-working space, and classroom and meeting spaces. Additional fundraising is currently in process to build out a full computer lab.

There are only forty hours remaining to donate to the Indiegogo campaign:”

Once the campaign is complete, tax deductible donations can be made through Fractured Atlas:

Fashioning Our Industry is throwing our support behind Bob Bland and Manufacture New York. We are giving them a pitch slot at our upcoming Investment Pitch Event and Financing Fashion conference on April 23rd. Join us in helping this amazing project come to life!