their First Annual New Year's Eve Ball at Phat Cat's Jazz Club!
Second Life, Tuesday, December 30, 2008: Focus Fashion Agency is thrilled to celebrate the ending of 2008 with a New Year's Eve Ball at Phat Cat's Jazz Club! The event will take place on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 2pm SLT. Join us as we celebrate with some of the most amazing designers in Second Life. We'll be featuring designs by Nicky Ree, Bliss Couture, Milady's Fancy, SF Designs, and Clio -prêt a porter-. Come dance the night away and see some of the most amazing formal wear in Second Life™.
Join us as we usher in the New Year in style! Phat Cat's is located at SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/
About Focus Fashion Agency
Focus Fashion Agency is an up and coming fashion agency created by veterans of the Second Life™ fashion industry that wanted to begin making it easier for designers to promote their work. We are a fashion promotions firm made specifically to bring the work of Second Life™ designers to broader audiences. You'll find more about Focus Fashion Agency at www.focusfashionagency.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Focus Fashion Agency presents
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Shoes at Styles of Edo!
Edo Tone has released a new set of ladies shoes and I admit to being surprised at just how good they are!
Designed for Styles of Edo by Hays Uriza they are stylish and elegant PLUS the added bonus of decent colour choices!
How many places do red but then do not make a dark red? or browns - so hard to match! with these there are 3 different brown tones to choose from! Perfect!
The EIRIS series can be bought in classic (shown here in brown) Straight (shown in blue) or Cross straps (shown in black) all eminently wearable and stylish to match any outfit most come in 2 widths for a perfect fit.
My Favourite has to be the classic slingback style of ERI shown here in dark red perfect for any occasion.
New are the CYNDI triple strap platforms which look great with pants or business suits! Also going on sale is the MIKI shown above in lake, these are wedge sandals in earth tones from the blue 'lake' shown to earth and seasonal tones.
Check them all out at Styles of Edo, Tyche today!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A Milliner in SL?
Sometime ago Breezes introduced me to Chigadee London and her hats. Now there are many hats in SL but i don't know of any other milliners.
For our Birthday celebrations Chigadee made us the newsboy hat you see on the right here which you can pick up free in our outlets.
Chigadee kindly answered some questions for us:
Q: How did you decide to become a milliner in SL?
A: (Grins). My hat building journey has the humblest of beginnings . I used to camp a lot , sorting my inventory and chatting with fellow campers. I started building to pass the time and since I do love hats in RL, it was an easy choice for me. I discovered Hosoi Ichiba where at the time had camping bar chairs which helped cover the texture upload charges. The owner was very kind allowing me to discreetly build behind the bar. After I made the hats, I gave them to all my camping buddies to wear and it was hilarious to see us all sitting there wearing my hats!
Q: Building hats and having a business are two different things entirely. How did you progress from being camper to business woman?
A: (Grins even more). My first friend in SL popped in one day after a long absence and I showed her what I had done with the hats and a little store I had set up called the Union Jack Store. It was just a little tent in the middle of nowhere with re-textured freebie items. We then had this hair-brained idea to open up a shop together and my first attempts were two hat stands with hats perched on them. The store was called Mad About Hats and my first purchase was from a Neko . I was in shock that someone would actually buy one of my products!
Q: You presently market under two store names, could you explain why?
A: Mad About Hats is a boutique which offers everyday elegance and casual styled hats based on RL hats. I have classic Fedoras, top hats, baseball and newsboys caps, sunhats, cowboy hats, cavalier hats etc. Couture Chapeau offers a higher end limited edition collection which I present every season. Here I am allowed to fully use my creativity and imagination. It is a line where you get a glimpse of what I am about since I throw my heart and soul into it. And of course, it is a hat which I enjoy wearing tremendously since I would never sell a hat I didn't absolutely adore. I have even had RL businesses approach me about designing for them but I'm not sure if I am ready for that.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your hats?
A: I get it from my RL experience and also SL experience. The Narnia Collection I presented in December last year was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia which is still one of my all time favourite fantasy books.
I also have a RL fashion background and association with a world renowned designer, and my designs are often inspired from working with her on her collections. My forthcoming Christmas/winter collection will be totally glamorous with touches of rich colour and textures.
Q: Do you mind sharing some of your hat building secrets?
A: Oh believe me there is no great secret. At the beginning, I used all the simpler standard programmes, such as Wings 3D and Rokuro. I am rather slow, to tell you the truth or as someone kindly put, " exacting", so it took me a few months to get the shapes I was looking for. I made some dreadful mistakes but the funny part is that some of those mistakes turned out to be 'happy' ones and ended up being part of my best selling hats! So I one tip I will give to new sculptors is to never delete any of your scupltie textures…you never know when they could be useful one day! Right now I collaborate with a RL graphics designer and sculptie master who has tweaked my shapes and now provides new ones which I put together, embellish and get ready for sale.I also use the Photoshop to make my own textures and I am always open to learning more and upgrading my skills. I am a 'Jill-of-all-trades' and a painter among other things in RL. Second Life provides another blank canvas for me to create upon.
Q: What is your biggest challenge as a milliner and business woman in SL?
A: Oh that's easy to answer… prim hair and filling vendors! ( LOL) I spend a lot of time trying to help people to fit hats on their heads and now I have offered hair trimming classes at my store. I post notices in the SL community events under education when I offer them and also in my group I Love Hats! As for filling vendors, that is bane of my existence here in SL and I am forever making mistakes! Fortunately I have sweet understanding customers and I really do try to rectify any errors as soon as possible.
Q: As a relatively long time SL resident what words of advice would you give to up and coming designers?
A: First of all I have to explain that my products are not like a must have animation or hair so I operate a little differently. Friendships have been very important here in SL and my friends helped me much of the way. Many of my customers have also become friends and I am amazed at how much word of mouth business I get. The best advice is to treat everyone with respect and dignity, especially new residents… today's newbie could be SL next big magnate ! We can all learn the business part eventually but in the end it is a loyal following of customers and friends who will provide your bread and butter through referrals. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their encouragement and help because without them, I would have closed up shop a long time ago.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: In SL, my wish for residents is to have fun, enjoy the creativity and laugh a lot. In RL, my hope is for everyone to have MORE fun and to laugh harder!
Chigadee has a huge range of hats which you can see in the above pictures and also the top hat is on sale at on only 50Ls until the end of the year so if you are looking for that perfect accessory for your new years outfit click here and have a look!
Dana Vanmoer
Thursday, December 18, 2008
New! Dana's Delights
This week see the redesign of my main store with a complete remake and all new releases!
There is a huge new range of business wear for ladies plus a few casuals and evening gowns.
This week only buy HOLLY for only 100Ls, a lovely gown for the C
hristmas party in glittery green with holly detail around the base.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ian%20Bernard/89/168/37
You can find my store just below our main office on Ian Bernard.
Dana
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Simone releases Holiday Line
When I talked with Simone last week she was wearing the cutest outfit, and later she dropped me one also for christmas!
Today she tells me the Holiday Line has about 45 outfits and until December 26th they will be on sale for between 200Ls and 400Ls at her main store:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/
From the cutest elf, to sexy santa, to that christmas ballgown - you can find them at Simone.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Focus Fashion Agency Presents the Fab.Pony on the Runway!
Second Life, Saturday, December 13, 2008: Focus Fashion Agency is excited to present the designs on Fab.Pony in awesome runway style! The show will take place on Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 1pm SLT.
Join us as we celebrate these amazing designs at http://slurl.com/secondlife/
The Fab After Party will be hosted at Truehouse club! Join us there at 4pm SLT on the 13th.
You'll find that party at http://slurl.com/secondlife/
About Focus Fashion Agency
Focus Fashion Agency is an up and coming fashion agency created by veterans of the SecondLife™ fashion industry that wanted to begin making it easier for designers to promote their work. We are a fashion promotions firm made specifically to bring the work of SecondLife™ designers to broader audiences. You'll find more about Focus Fashion Agency at www.focusfashionagency.
