Ongoing Designer Program

The announcement of our Competition winners is fast approaching and I don’t know about you, but the suspense is killing me! We have so many amazing entries, it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

Did you know though that the Launch Inspirare Fashion Design Competition is just the beginning? We wanted to welcome everyone with a bang! We have much more up our sleeve and a lot in the works for our designers, voters and shoppers.

Our Ongoing Designer Program is commencing now. The program is really what Inspirare is all about. We are constantly keeping an keen eye on what our designers up uploading, and what our voters are loving. At the end of each month we will be carefully selecting which designs to manufacture, promote, produce and sell on Inspirare.com. So if you missed out on entering the Competition don’t despair, you can still get your name out there and your designs in shopper’s wardrobes.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

A Unique Image

Originality, of course! All of us in the Fashion Department love when we find a designer who has a really unique image that runs through every detail of their work. Designers like Crowned Bird, Audrey Szeto, Melissa Christianson have really nailed this. When you look at their designs and profiles you can see everything is carefully connected and the same themes running throughout every aspect. Yet all 3 have a unique approach and a distinct image. 

One of the biggest mistakes designers have been making is not filling out their Designer Profiles. We only feature designers on our homepage, or on our Facebook profile who have complete Designer Profiles. The profile is a place for you to create a succinct label image where visitors can find out more about you and click through to your website, Facebook, Twitter or Blog.

If you don’t fill out the ‘Label Name’ section, your name will not appear on the Discover homepage and people can’t easily search for you. For more information on how to fill out your profile, visit the Designer Guide.

A Balance of Creativity and Wearabilty

The designs are being assessed to determine if they will be manufactured and sold on our online store. Think about your customer when you are designing. It needs to be wearable and suit a purpose in someone’s wardrobe. If it’s pretty but completely impractical, it won’t be successful.

Designs That Cater To Our Target Market

Our target market is:

• Women
• 18 to 35 years old
• Fashion conscience/ fashion interested/ fashion consumers
• Professionals

Clear Presentation

The easier it is for us and your voters to understand your design, the more likely it is to be chosen. Make sure your presentation is clear, detailed and professional. You don’t want people looking at it and thinking ‘What’s going on there?’. This applies to both sketches and photos.

Details and Fabric

Do you know which fabrics you are using? Have you explained all of the details of your design (including finishes and trims) in your picture or written description? So often I look at a design, scroll down to the fabric field and say to myself ‘Oh, I get it now’. Utilize the Description and Fabric fields. If we don’t understand what a design is, chances are it will get put in the ‘too hard basket’.

Even better, design using a fabric that is available from a fabric supplier located in the US. If we are considering your design and you can tell us exactly where we can buy the fabric from from, that will really speed along the process. We have a list of Preferred Fabric Suppliers on our site who you can reach out to and find what you are looking for.

Designs That Can Be Manufactured In San Francisco, CA

We are manufacturing all of our selected designs in the San Francisco Bay Area, so consider this during your style development. Anything that is too labor intensive, hand made, or just cannot be put into a small run production line cannot be considered. Specialty techniques that are not available in SF may be outsourced to LA, however we are currently steering clear of offshore production. If you have an idea, but you’re unsure if it can me manufactured in California, just ask us and we can tell you if you’re on the right track.

ASK US

If you’re not sure what you should be designing, or unsure of why a particular design is not quite getting across the line, ask us. We love getting emails from designers who take initiative. Occasionally there will be a garment type that we don’t have enough of. At the moment, it’s shirts, blouses and tops. We can easily tell you what we looking for.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or email us at: design@inspirare.com

Written by: Inspirare on June 6, 2012.