Front Row
Collect &
Discuss
FASHION
WEEK September 2012
The
Fashion Insider’s
Bible!
The Daily Style Sessions! September 9th—11th, 2012 11:00AM - 6:00PM
The Empire Hotel The Rooftop 44 West 63rd Street Interactive Brand Experiences | Catwalk Concierge by Modelinia #Influence101 blogger tutorials by Socialyte.Co | VIP Salon & Spa Services Signature Cocktails & Refreshments | Live DJ Sets!
RSVP Required Alexandra@lfbmediagroup.com Tweet Us @DailyFrontRow | #StyleSessions | Follow us at Facebook.com/DailyFrontRow
Meet a Mentor!
Hilldun co-CEO Gary Wassner is the CFDA’s goto guy for all things financing. No wonder he was tapped to share his scoop with the incubatees! How did you become involved with the CFDA Incubator program? I met Steven Kolb many years ago, since Hilldun has been financing and mentoring designers for more than 35 years. Eventually, we started discussing issues regarding the business side of fashion. I expressed an interest in offering to share what I’ve learned throughout my career to the CFDA membership and the CFDA itself with regard to small business management, financing, and factoring. He arranged a breakfast meeting with DVF, and during the next year or so, the Incubator was becoming a reality. I was asked if I would be interested in serving on the Advisory Board for the Incubator, as well as participating as a mentor. What, exactly, does mentoring entail? We meet regularly with the designers, either individually or as a group. The designers set the agenda for each session, and we advise and instruct them in business matters, as well as guide them in all the artistic and creative challenges they face. We use our own relationships to make introductions, provide and create appropriate opportunities, and serve as an unofficial board of advisors, all of course, at no expense to the designers. Who have you mentored? Public School, Alice Ritter, WHIT, Daniel Vosovic, Emanuela Duca, and Christian Cota. I also assist any of the designers in the program who reach out and request my input. What are the key factors in achieving success? Knowing who you are as a designer, and having a clear, consistent point of view. Create an infrastructure, no matter how small, of competent advisors and helpers who can assist you in executing your designs, so that you deliver your product on time and of the highest quality. And always work from a realistic cash-flow projection! What is the best way to secure financing? Initially, friends and family. Once you have a viable product, are generating sales from credit-worthy stores, and are selling to them according to acceptable industry terms—not on consignment—you can then leverage that ‘asset’ by financing or factoring with a firm like Hilldun.
21 & Over
FA S HION W E E K D AI L Y. C O M
PHOTOGRAPH BY GIORGIO NIRO