New York Fashion Week
Over the years, I explored a variety of ways to bring exposure to my brand. I created new products all the time, including clothing, accessories, and even home décor. To this day, I still send out a newsletter that I started at least twenty years ago. Thankfully, many of my subscribers have stuck with me over the years while my offerings fluctuated from one thing to the next. My newsletter subscriber list grew the most when I was a regular participant in craft shows years ago. I always had a sign-up book at my booth, and most people who stopped by graciously provided their name and email address even if they hadn’t made a purchase from me. I also started a company Facebook page and eventually created an Instagram profile, and posted new products regularly. I wasn’t sure if anyone was paying much attention, but I continued to do it because it made me happy. That’s most important, right?
Even with all the different creative projects I’ve done throughout my life, my first love has always been fashion and I really hoped to one day share my designs with an audience that was larger than my local community and friends from my school days. Don’t get me wrong. I live in the great metropolis known as the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia metropolitan area), and my customers kept my creative business flowing pretty well, but I wanted more. Enter a new goal on my digital vision board, a New York Fashion Week Show.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was a very difficult time for the country and the world. Many lives were lost to COVID-19, and many people suffered mentally and emotionally from the necessary isolation. Rather than wallow in the woe of it all, I saw it as an opportunity to shift my marketing efforts into high gear. Social media was everyone’s go-to. Entrepreneurs were setting up online stores at a rapid pace, and online groups were popping up everywhere you looked. Everyone was marketing their business and coming up with lots of creative ways to do so, and I was on board. I posted daily and engaged with others’ content often. I joined a couple of business groups. Soon, I had customers and followers from all over the country, and even outside of the U.S. People tagged my brand and I returned the favor. We were all in this together.
What happened next caught me by surprise. A New York City retail and PR company contacted me with an opportunity to carry my brand in their store in Soho. I did some due diligence, and ultimately said yes. After having my new Bomber Jackets in their store for a couple of months, the company invited me to participate in their upcoming New York Fashion Week show. Mind blown! Again, I said yes. I hadn’t done a show before but I was eager to experience it all. My digital vision board was mirroring this goal back to me.
After the excitement of my first New York Fashion Week Show, I knew that I wanted to participate in each of the Big Four (New York, London, Paris, and Milan), so I added that goal to my digital vision board. I have now shown at three of the four, and the fourth show is in my sights.
