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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Walk Walk Fashion Baby

Poptart Lilliehook, CEO Modavia Fashion Marketing, Photo provided by Poptart

The Wilder Side of Business was honored to have Poptart Lilliehook, CEO of Modavia, as our amazing guest on this weeks broadcast (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wilderprinc/2010/09/26/ep-4-walk-walk-fashion-baby-the-wilder-team-sits-d). She discussed everything from Modavia Fashion Marketing and what it takes to be part of the team to the highly successful Modavia Fashion Week 2010 which all fashionistas are still talking about long after the event is over. There were some wonderful questions sent in but 45 minutes went by so quickly that we were not able to get the questions asked live on air. Once again we appreciate all of our listeners and we apologize for time not permitting the questions live on air.

Poptart agreed to answer the questions and allow us to post them here on our blog for all of you eager listeners. We understand how busy she is and definitely thank her for her time!

Question/Answer Segment:

Jilly: I know alot of us lately have been saving our Lindens did the sluggish SL economy affect Fashion Week in anyway? Or do you feel the economy affects Modavia and projects you are currently involved in?

Poptart: Well yes and no. I think designers are being more careful with their marketing spend at the moment. But it seems large industry events like Modavia Fashion Week are still being prioritised. I believe the opportunity to showcase the best of SL couture design to the grid (and beyond..) is seen as a worthwhile investment by most designers. But you are right ... sales of high end couture have been hit by the current economic climate with some talented smaller designers being forced to re-evaluate their strategy or face closure. This is one of the reasons that Modavia makes an effort to support and to help to promote emerging designers through these kinds of events and subsidized advertising in the Modavia Fashion Directory. We will also be awarding rent free stores on MODAVIA II to selected designers in a new initiative which will be unveiled soon.

Monica: SL and RL aren't so far removed as they once were. Do you see Modavia working with RL designers in the future and if yes what capacity? Would you bring them into SL?

Poptart: Well the most obvious difference between the two worlds is that a totally different economic model is in place in the industry. In real life couture costs an arm and a leg... consumers buy carefully and place a much higher value on their purchases. In SL fashion is very affordable for almost everyone and this makes it disposable and leads to an insatiable appetite for the latest novelty. I feel rather sorry for designers here really – they put so much work into their creations and they’re “old” very quickly. Not true of all of course – there are those classic pieces that people will wear forever... those must have staples that we all have in our wardrobes.
The other main difference is of course the seasons... in RL fashion is always 6 months ahead to cater for the lead time that buyers require to get the right season’s clothing into the stores at the right time. But here we work on a different calendar.... So when we run our Fall Fashion Week in SL.. in reality the RL events are all showing Spring/Summer 2011. I think if I asked SL designers to design 6 months ahead they would not be too enthused..
Having said that, we already have several RL fashion designers in SL - a good example is Nyla Cheeky of House of Nyla - she releases her RL and SL collections together. Another example is Exclusiva (formerly VictoriaV). So RL/SL crossover does happen and I do expect to see more of it. Modavia has been approached by RL designers from time to time to guide their entry strategy into SL but nothing has, as yet, progressed beyond an exploratory stage.

Edwin: Modavia seems to focus alot on women will there ever be an all male event?

Poptart: Uh you are perfectly correct. I wish you weren't but you are. We are very focussed on female fashion and one of our priorities now is to grow the coverage of men's design more. It's harder work attracting the designers who cater for men it seems and we haven't quite cracked it yet. Fair comment.
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So many fans of Modavia both new and old want to keep up with everything Modavia is doing. We asked Poptart to provide us with links that will keep all of you fashion lovers up to date on all things Modavia. Be sure to check them out!

http://modaviacouture.wordpress.com/ (the new Modavia blog with Kyrie Source)

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