May 16, 2025 • 35 mins
Welcome back to the Harajuku Realm!
In this episode, I was able to sit down with Elizabeth Solomeina of www.flyingsolo.nyc to discuss how indie designers can not only find inspiration but also learn practical steps on how to get your brand up and running.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi, cuties.
Welcome back to the HarajukuRealm, the podcast about fashion
and fashion entrepreneurship.
I have a guest today by the nameof Elizabeth Solomina, who is
the marketing, I'm sorry, themanaging director at Flying
Solo, Inc.
And...
Flying Solo Inc.
(00:20):
is a company that gives aplatform to independent
designers to show theircollections on a large scale
with international fashionshows.
They have so many fashion showsin so many different countries
for so many different fashionweeks, which is amazing.
And they also give anopportunity for small brands to
have their collections in theiractual flagship retail stores.
(00:44):
So I am very excited to learnmore about Flying Solo and how
they help independent designers.
As you know, I am an independentdesigner myself, and I always
want to give advice toindependent designers because
we, I mean, we're shapingfashion.
Let's be real.
I agree.
SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
I agree.
Definitely the next generationof fashion.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Yes.
Elizabeth, if you can, I know Igave you a little background
about your company, but you knowit best.
If you can give me just a littlebit more about what Flying Solo
does and how they helpindependent designers.
SPEAKER_01 (01:23):
Of course.
Well, let me start with, well,first of all, thank you so much
for having me on this podcast.
And the story of Flying Solostarted with a 10 designers we
actually it was 10 of us at thebeginning of this journey me
being one of the designers I'm ajewelry designer and nine others
and we actually wanted somethingfor ourselves so a place like
(01:47):
Flying Solo but it didn't existso nine years ago we opened our
very first store on MulberryStreet.
And it was rather small.
And what quickly startedhappening is a lot of other
independent designers reachedout to us to join.
So 10 quickly became 30, became50, became 100.
(02:09):
So now we have over 200 brandsin Flying Solo between our New
York and Paris store.
And the idea behind Flying Solowas always collaboration instead
of competition.
Because we realized early on inthe journey of being independent
designers that it's so hard tostand out on your own and real
(02:31):
competition it's not aboutanother independent brand next
to you but you're competingagainst big marketing budgets of
larger companies and for you tostand out it takes a lot of
resources so by joining forcesyou not only can afford a place
like to be in city like New Yorkand more than being in soho or
(02:56):
paris but you also get much moreattention so each of us
individual could not possiblyget the same attention as 10 and
then 30 and then 50 so that wasalways an idea behind flying
solo and funny enough i meanright now like nine years later
it's almost sounds ridiculousbut nine years ago a lot of
(03:16):
people thought that uh fashioncould never be collaborative
it's only after it's only withinthose nine years we start seeing
a lot of brand doingcollaboration and start being
super popular and differentbrands like start collaborating
collection but actually thatwasn't the case back then back
in 2016 when we started and alot of people back then came to
(03:37):
us saying like well that willnever work you guys all end up
just like arguing between eachother and parting your own ways
and for me it sounds beyondridiculous because my background
I always been in creativeindustries but I was in film
production before that beforethat I was in graphic design and
it's always a team it's never aproduct like especially when you
(04:00):
work on video film shoots it'snever been done by one person
it's always a collaborationbetween different creatives and
you put ideas together andfashion for me was a little
strange because everybody waskind of on their own however we
as creatives always crave to bein the crowd so when 10 of us
get together something magicalstart happening we all of a
(04:22):
sudden um start like showingeach other's designs.
It's like, I'm working on this,you work on that, giving each
other ideas, collaborating ondifferent projects.
And all of a sudden thatcreativity starts flowing.
I was like, okay, clearlysomething magical is happening.
And yeah, that's how Flying Sologrew.
Now it's an internationalcompany.
So we have a store in New York.
(04:44):
I mean, it's much larger storethan the original one.
We move quite a bit.
We opened one in Paris a yearand a half ago and we have a
large press showroom separatelyfrom our store.
where we do press for our brandsand we do New York Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week and MilanFashion Week with our designers
also showcasing them oninternational major stages also
(05:08):
in collaborating instead ofcompeting so it's a big show
showcasing different brands oneafter another so this way we can
create so much attention to ourshow that each of us
individually just couldn't evendream of so that's That's a
quick story of Flying
SPEAKER_00 (05:26):
Solo.
Yeah, and that's amazing.
I love that it started withcollaborating, just creatives
collaborating, because you'reright, there's so much of this,
like, just like feeling whereyou need to compete.
But like, I think, like yousaid, the competition is the
bigger brands with the biggerbudgets and the bigger marketing
budgets and all of that.
(05:49):
And that's what makes it hardfor independent designer to
stand out and just feel like,oh, I can reach out to that
person.
And maybe that person would liketo collab.
Like you said, you do jewelry, Ido clothing.
It would be a great collab tohave a jewelry designer and a
clothing designer or a bagdesigner and a jewelry designer,
(06:10):
you know, like those types ofthings.
Exactly.
Really does help the communityof fashion because we're all
creative and everyone has adifferent market.
Everyone has a different lookand idea.
So I really appreciate thatthat's how you started just
collabing together, just ninedesigners collabing and now
(06:31):
you've built a global brand.
That's completely amazing.
Thank you.
What advice would you give toanyone wanting to start a
clothing brand?
What first steps would they haveto take to bring that creative
vision into an actual business?
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Well, sure.
Well, first of all, you have tolove it.
Honestly, if you go there justfor the money, there are other
industries to make money in andfashion will not be my first
choice.
That's for sure.
It is hard unless you love it.
So if you love it, all thoselong nights and sleepless nights
and, you know, all those likemistakes that you make along the
(07:12):
way and in any business, you'llmake tons of mistakes and it's
part of the journey anddisappointments that you'll face
and rejection and all of thatwill be worth it.
it if you're actually liking thejourney if you don't please like
there are other things to do inthis world so I truly believe
that you are you become adesigner only if you cannot
(07:34):
imagine doing anything else whenit's in you to create like when
you know that whatever is inyour head must be out there and
you must create so in that caseit becomes authentic it doesn't
become easy by the way but itbecomes authentic and customers
can connect with that and aslong as you stay true to
(07:55):
yourself and keep developingyour vision i believe you're
always going to find some crowdyes sometimes it takes a while
to find your crowd and sometimesyou need to try different
markets to do that and sometimesyou need a ton of press to get
to those like people that'sactually going to resonate with
your design because noteverybody is supposed to like
(08:15):
you as a designer it's fine imean you like you have to appeal
just to a certain group ofpeople that will become your
customers and others might aswell not like you at all as a
designer but yeah that's thewhole process and again just
make sure you're there for theright reasons and if you are it
(08:36):
will give you so much journey Iremember the first time you make
a piece and it gets sold to anactual person it's a feeling
that you'll never forget you andyou you all of sudden just from
that vision like that wascompletely yours and only you
were liking it i mean peoplewere liking instagram or
(08:57):
whatever but it's not a reallike unless they uh and someone
actually spend their hard-earnedmoney on your design so that's
when it became become real likethat we're like oh wow i had
something that others want.
I mean, it sounds a littlesilly, but it's a realization
that you get when you startselling.
(09:20):
And so that's the first.
And then when you get your firstpress, I also will never forget
how it
SPEAKER_00 (09:25):
happened.
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
It's like all of a sudden you open a publication
and ours was actually for thejewelry brand was New York Times
and open a publication and allof a sudden your piece is in
there.
for everybody to see.
So someone chose it to befeatured.
(09:46):
And it's such a big thing.
And in Flying Solo, I witnessedit so many times.
Obviously, we are, you know,we...
of course there's so manydesigners along the way and for
like you know for a lot of themit will be the first time they
get featured in press and I I'malways so so happy to see their
like tears of joy and like allthe emails back and everything
(10:09):
because I remember that feelingI mean of course years later it
becomes like oh that's anotherHarper's another L another book
like yeah it just become one oranother one and yes we got
spoiled here with all the pressthat we get as designers and
flying so but the first oneyou'll I cannot believe it.
It's me.
It's my design on the page of amagazine.
(10:33):
And yeah, it's a wonderfulfeeling.
And then when you're like, okay,the whole journey, my whole
thing was worth it.
Let's continue.
So I think it's definitely likethose type of little things,
little recognitions give you agood push to keep going.
SPEAKER_00 (10:48):
Yeah, no, that's very true.
And just the part of having thepassion for it because...
Anything creative is verydifficult.
I say this in my podcast, I saythis on my YouTube channel, is
very much you have to get peopleto buy into your art.
And that is the hardest part ofit, because your art is just
(11:09):
like, you know, it's like yourbaby.
It's something you created, it'ssomething you hold close to your
heart.
And unless you're reallypassionate about it, then...
you're not going to go far,unfortunately.
Like you have to eat, breathe,sleep fashion or whatever,
whatever industry, creativeindustry it is.
Because I know for me, like I, Iwork in the corporate fashion
(11:31):
industry and I'm working on mybrand and a lot of people that
my coworkers that I work for,you know, I work with, they say
all the time, like, how are youworking in fashion all day?
And then you go home and you sewand create at night.
And I I'm like, because I lovefashion.
I thought we all did.
SPEAKER_01 (11:49):
Yeah.
Well, funny enough, noteverybody in corporate fashion
are there for the love offashion.
I guess that's true.
But yeah, when you open your ownbrand, you have to be there for
the thrill of just doing thebrand.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
Yes.
Yes.
And like you said, there's a lotof ups and downs.
There's a lot of lessons to belearned.
There's a lot of crying.
I tell people all the time, likethere's a lot of crying, late
nights, crying over a sewingmachine, taking a minute and
then being like, okay, I need toget back and I need to focus and
complete this collection,whether it's for a photo shoot
or a fashion show or for acustomer, a custom item,
(12:24):
whatever it is.
You know, it's a lot.
It's a lot.
But like you said, like buildinga community of people around you
that share the same passionreally help like motivate you to
keep going.
SPEAKER_01 (12:37):
Yes, 100 percent.
SPEAKER_00 (12:38):
Sure.
Yeah.
The next question I have iswhat's the best way to balance
your just your creativeexploration and the demands of
having a fashion businessbecause a fashion-based business
it's hard to be like i want tobe creative and do this and do
(13:00):
all the designing and the loveand the fun stuff and then
you're also like but let's talknumbers
SPEAKER_01 (13:05):
yeah well there are a couple ways like at least from
what i saw throughout you knowjourney with flying so and
seeing different designers um togo through that so one way is to
have two partners and one willbe the creative one and another
will be the numbers one and ifyou have If you are a designer
(13:26):
and you get that part, are youguys going to fight?
Because ultimately, while youalign on the same goal of making
your brand successful, the wholething is you kind of will be
coming from different sides.
And one will be trying to lowercost, to lower production cost,
(13:47):
to shorten the production time.
So lower the cost again andtrying to get maximum money out
of it.
While another one wants to putall your heart and soul into
little details that most likelywill cost you significantly more
but it's so so important to youso it's kind of the same goal
but from different directions soyou end up you know fighting a
(14:07):
bit so that's that's oneapproach but that could be very
successful if you end upfiguring out that partnership
and aligning on you know howyou're going to move forward
with all of that that's a goodidea second one is to do it by
yourself if you don't have apartner But here, the hard truth
(14:27):
that no one wants to hear, ifyou are a designer running your
own brand completely byyourself, At the most, you'll be
designing 5% of the time.
The rest, 95% will be spent onmarketing it, selling it, actual
production, dealing withcustomers, dealing with
customers that might not behappy.
(14:47):
Even if your product is the mostperfect thing ever, there'll be
someone still upset aboutdelayed shipping.
Maybe something didn't fit, eventhough you did write all the
correct sizing, but so-and-sodidn't read it.
So there are a lot of thingsthat go into running a brand and
dealing with people right andyeah that's what you'll be doing
(15:08):
95% of the time so if you'redreaming of just designing
definitely find a partner find agood one find someone that you
actually can trust because thereare unfortunate stories too how
you know a partnership weren'tcreating in a good faith and
then it's all fell apart but ifyou find someone good that can
(15:31):
actually move you forward that'sprobably the more success uh you
can get or you need to beprepared to just um do 95
percent of the time work thatyou may not like i mean it's
actually production is alsopretty fun like figuring out
like the um how garments orjewelry or accessory are going
to come out uh sometimes yourstrong things can be dealing
(15:55):
with customers like maybe apeople person and you just love
love love chatting witheverybody and like showing your
designs and if you are good umAnd even if you don't want to
and do a complete partner,outsourcing some of your tasks
that you absolutely hate is alsoa good idea.
So let's say you hate dealingwith emails.
(16:15):
It's just like every time youthink of writing one, you're
like, oh God, I'll go dosomething else.
I'll go design another dress.
So outsource that to someone.
And so they will be actuallydealing with it because reality
of business is you need to pushfrom all these ways.
So if you, for example, justdesign and dealing with your
(16:36):
company, customers, you're stilllosing that.
If you are designing, dealingwith customers, but not
acquiring another customers, forexample, through newsletters or
press or any other things, thenyou're missing that part.
So you can, you can definitelyfigure out what you're good at
and it will come natural.
It's super easy task.
If you, if you do somethingfirst, like every time there is
(16:58):
a, like that much of tasks todo, you always go after
something first and then secondand third, and then something
always left, left to anotherday.
So whatever is always left startthinking about outsourcing it
and it could be to an individualit could be to a company let's
say you hate it i don't knowdoing a website maybe think of
outsourcing it of course forsmall brand first and foremost
(17:22):
you need to budget well and donot overspend on well anything
really like the cash is the mostimportant thing for them for the
brand.
So I always advise our brands islike, anytime you want to do a
big production run, just becausethey're the item each item
(17:46):
become cheaper in the biggerproduction just don't like
unless you already have a provendemand and a proven fit and the
proven whatever customerexcitement about this particular
item so meaning that you sold abunch before that and you're
just reordering like the same ora little bit of a bigger amount
just don't do that reality ofthe production is you don't know
(18:07):
what you don't know andoftentimes you run into the
problems like a feed somecustomer dealing like the fabric
maybe just too itchy too liketoo tight too loose too whatever
it could be so many things andit's even if your very first
production run just startbreaking you even it's totally
(18:29):
fine at least you didn't startwith a big production run that
you don't know what to do andyou're saying so much money in
it reality of it first timearound no one gets it right like
i have not yet met a designerwho did their first production
run right like that they did aproduction and everything sold
out and everything is perfect itjust didn't exist and even if
(18:52):
you already had a career in uhalso have another group of
brands that um they mightalready have a career in like a
corporate design and they'relike okay but now i know
everything i know everythingabout design production
everything i did it so manytimes before and i'll do my
brand perfect you won't realityis like you don't have the
resources of the bigger companyso your smaller production will
(19:15):
not put you as a priority likewill not give the same thing
like while bigger companies havevery established relationship
with all their suppliers andstill you could do a bad
production run here.
You much more in the mercy oflike God hope they'll actually
execute on it.
So don't do that.
Like at the beginning.
I mean, if you really followthis advice, you'll thank me
(19:36):
later.
And second, if you, even if youare like, no, that is probably
time to open your own store andyou like, okay, if I just use
all my money right now, I canopen the store and see how it
goes.
don't do it just yet.
I mean, retail is highlycompetitive.
It's really hard to do.
(19:57):
And you always, well, at leastin New York and in Paris, where
we are, it's very expensive toopen things.
It will be cost beyond what youcan possibly imagine.
On top of it, you end up payingrent every month.
So, I mean, that's partially whywe created Flying Solo.
So in Flying Solo, you can tryout retail without upfront cost,
(20:20):
without anything.
You just basically pay a smallmembership fee and we'll sell it
for you and see how it goes.
And you can start creatingdemand.
So what a lot of brands do isthey'll come to us for well
sometimes like two or threeyears like create that customer
base and only then start openingtheir own stores because in the
meanwhile while they'reexperimenting while they're
(20:43):
trying different skills for likecustomers that like within their
demographic while they figureout the production while they
figure out the pricing and itstill takes time they don't pay
a full rent like you know on thestore and don't have to pay for
the stuff and insurance and alsomany costs that comes insurance
into opening even a tiny littlestore in Soho.
(21:03):
So they experiment and thenyears later when they're like,
okay, guys, like we just needthe entire store for our
collections, like no longerdoing it for us.
And then you can definitely likecreate a good business out of
it.
So yeah, that's my two littleadvices to the designers and
yeah, I hope it will reallyhelps them.
SPEAKER_00 (21:24):
Yeah, no, you touched on so much.
Like you touched on having abusiness partner and how that,
how important that would be tohave someone to handle the
business side while there wasanother creative person.
Or if you, if you haven't foundthat person quite yet, but just
being able to give out tasks toother people and delegate,
(21:46):
because that is so importanttoo, because I think a lot of
brands and designers, they wantto be like a solar entrepreneur
and never kind of give outthings.
And they think they're savingmoney, but they're not really
saving money because you're whenyou're saying something,
something's not happeningbecause you're only one person.
And then even just touching ongetting into retail stores
(22:07):
without large budgets and beingable to use your brand, like
Flying Solo, your company, andbeing able to get into a store
and just test out the market andsee what people think of the
creations that these designersare creating is very...
(22:28):
is really great and it'simportant to do because just
starting out, you know, sayinglike, I'm going to get this
retail store and I'm going toput...
my life savings into it and hopeit works out is really scary.
SPEAKER_01 (22:42):
For sure.
And we do have brands like this.
I mean, we have, we had a brandthat we've been with for,
they've been with us for threeyears.
So when they started it, thebrand that is called Aparil, New
Yorkers probably know them verywell because when it gets cold
in New York, everybody's wearingtheir vegan fur coats, very
colorful, like they everywhere.
(23:03):
But they started with us.
A lot of people don't know thatthey started with us.
We opened our brand in 2016 andthey opened their brand in 2016,
probably the same month as wedid.
So what a lot of people don'tknow about them, while they
completely right now know justfor their outerwear, like vegan
fur, that's what they've alwaysbeen known for.
They started not with vegan fur.
(23:24):
They started with the entirecollection of tops and dresses
and all this stuff.
And it was only one skew thatwas that vegan fur coat.
And nothing was selling otherthan coat so literally they're
like it took them years tofigure out like what's really
(23:44):
working so after only once Q wasselling they're like okay maybe
there is something to it solet's bring two of the same
coats in different colors andsee how it goes all of a sudden
that is sold out and then slowlythey're like okay let's try
different vegan fur like thisand that different colors
different models and three yearslater they grow it into just out
(24:05):
of where vegan collection andthat was they actually found
their niche exactly in the righttiming vegan fur was definitely
on the rise no one was producingas good quality vegan fur as
they were and they were very fundesigns it was like super simple
to wear like you know was reallygood body for for the design and
(24:26):
they found their market yes theyare like they did leave us to
open their own stores and nowthey're in Saks and
Bloomingdale's but they alwaysthank us for those like years
because they're Like God knowshow much it will cost us to run
our own store at that time.
Because all that figuring out,imagine you sold one SKU in a
month, one SKU and you'rerenting the whole store.
(24:46):
And it doesn't mean that they'llnever become successful.
They did like, but it takes sometime to figure out what your
customer actually wants.
And oftentimes it's pivoting andadjusting and all those things.
But at least you doing itwithout paying huge rents and
like having your own stuff andpaying for, you have to pay for
everything in your own store.
Electricity, internet, internet.
insurance, your staff, and thenyou have to have a manager to
(25:09):
manage your stuff and all thosethings.
So yeah, I mean, you will, youmost likely, if you keep
growing, you'll get theresomeday, but don't start with
it.
It just, you don't know so muchabout retail when you've never
been in it.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
No, that's, that's such great advice because I
think a lot of aspiringdesigners, they see getting into
a retail store is just like, youknow, the dream, you know?
So they see that or they watchshows like Project Runway and
all these types of shows wherethe prize is to get placement in
a store.
(25:44):
So they're like, oh, that mustbe the ultimate, you know, dream
or that I have to, if I have myretail store, people will come.
But like the story you sharedof, they weren't even trying to
do outerwear.
They weren't an outerweardesigner or they had some, but
they probably thought they weredoing other, they were more of
like a dress designer or otherthings.
(26:04):
And then- outerwear was thething that sold, you know?
So I, I, I have that as well,which is so funny because I feel
like I'm a dress designer, butmy number one bestseller is a
raincoat.
Oh, wow.
That is so awesome.
Interesting.
Okay.
See, I don't know.
It's this pink raincoat.
(26:25):
I designed it in like 2018 andthat has been my number one
bestseller since then.
And it's, but like you said, younever know until you meet that
those customers and they theyyou you see that customer
journey of oh we really likethis okay so now let me make it
in different colors let me trydifferent things and then that
(26:46):
became their entire brand likethat's uh that's amazing like
that I mean, sometimes ithappens like that.
You don't even recognize it.
But sometimes with, you know,brands like that happens and
then having it in a placement ina store so you don't have to
worry about, like you said, likerents and electricity and
insurance and all employees andall that stuff.
(27:07):
Like you're only paying like afee to have your items in a
store with people that areactually trying to sell it.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Exactly.
And what other advice I'll giveto designers is like once you
find that item, keep buildingdoing on it what happens a lot
to us designers and I mean I canspeak for myself because I'm
also a designer and I knowexactly how the thinking process
go you get bored so you startselling something you're like I
know I'm not producing next yeareven though it's but I'll create
(27:37):
something better because youknow I need my creative juices
oh god like you first of all youneed money so if something is
selling leave that please tosell you might bring a few more
colors and see how that goes.
But if something is alreadydesired by your customer, so
they love the feed, they lovethis, leave that and build
(28:00):
something else.
Do not eliminate this cue.
And again, I see too many timeswhen, oh, no, no, I need
something new.
I need something exciting forthis.
Yes, but you also need the moneyto be made.
So yes, that's my other littleadvice.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
I love that.
I think you have given so muchgreat advice to independent
brands and people that arethinking about going into the
design world and not really surewhere to start because you can
buy all the eBooks, you canwatch YouTube University,
whatever, but getting...
um, actual advice from peoplethat are in it are very
(28:42):
different, especially on theindependent circuit, because,
um, I think also there's, youknow, people who do drop
shipping and those kinds ofthings when they're not coming
up with the full designthemselves.
So that's a different businessas well.
But this is for like, creativesthat are starting from ground
zero and me too.
Exactly, exactly.
(29:04):
So that's, it's amazing.
Just to close out, because Ifeel like we've gone over so
much today.
Is there, do you have any lastadvice for designers or you want
to talk a little bit more aboutFlying Solo and what Flying Solo
can offer independent brands,whether you're in New York or
(29:24):
Paris or wherever you're at?
SPEAKER_01 (29:26):
Sure.
Well, collaborate like I thinkcollaboration is the most
important thing in fashion andI'm not only saying designers
between designers but you'realso going to collaborate
between the stylist and pressand photographers and models and
please when you do that be kindto each other because really a
(29:50):
thank you goes a long way so ifyou If you get a stylist, for
example, someone DM'd youthrough Instagram and asked for
an item to be placed somewhereand then you get a publication
out of it, do make sure that youactually thank that person.
If someone bought it or wore itand tagged you, be thankful for
(30:13):
that because those little thingsgo a very long way.
And we always teach ourdesigners in Flying Solar, even
though, for example, for ourpress showroom, we do
communication with the stylist,but but we always say, look,
someone actually chose yourdesign to be published in this
and that magazine.
Make sure you say thanks to thestylist who actually pick it up
(30:34):
because what will happen is nexttime when they'll come over,
they're like, oh, let me see thewhole collection of this person
because they were so gratefulwhen it's happened.
And especially with press, evenif it didn't happen, but someone
still chose your design to like,you know, be on the pool, but
then somehow they couldn't placeit because because I mean, there
(30:54):
are a lot of creative decisionsmade and sometimes pictures get
cut from the publication, thingslike that.
Still say thank you.
And still, because someoneactually gave you attention and
very often next time they'regoing to choose you.
Yeah, same goes for the customersaying them a thank you note.
For all those little things,this industry, while it seems to
(31:16):
be very big, it's actually verysmall.
Everybody knows everybody.
Someone being like not nice tosomeone the word will spread
very quickly and someone beinglike respectful polite
delivering on time will alsospread quickly so make sure to
be that person and yeah againcollaborate we're in flying so
(31:39):
all about collaboration on alldifferent levels like from this
like stories our collaborationbetween many designers press
showroom is so many differentbrands the one that couldn't
stand on their own but becausethey under the same roof they
get so much attention same forfashion weeks they we get so
much valuable press likeeverybody from vogel harper's
(32:01):
come over to our show becausethere's so many brands under the
same roof it's just so simplecompared to one person just
trying to do it on their own anduh it's like it's really hard to
get attention but i thinkindependent designers should be
under the same roof because wereally are Just think of your
customer at the end of the day.
(32:22):
Your customer who loves you forbeing an independent brand, it's
very likely might like otherindependent brands as well.
And it does mean that if theypurchase from you or purchase
from some other brand will neverpurchase from you.
They actually like the wholecategory of it.
Like they love something freshand exciting, something that
they cannot see anywhere else.
So that's how the whole thingactually works.
(32:44):
Not you competing against one ofthe bigger brands that the
person actually deciding shouldi buy a big brand or should i
buy you they come to you becauseyou bring something super unique
and that might be uh true foranother independent brand so
just collaborate like on thesmall scale on the big scale
like we all much more noticedtogether as independent brands
(33:05):
so that's that's um that's myadvice to everybody
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
all right well thank you so much that that's So
great.
That's very true about justcollaborating and being thankful
for just your small wins.
Just being thankful for thembecause along the way you'd get
a bunch of little tiny smallwins and then you'll get a big
win and you will be thankfulthat you were thankful in the
(33:31):
past about your little smallwins.
because it allowed you to getthe big win, you know, down the
road.
And like you said, people willremember you.
They will remember when you werenice to them or you thanked them
and they're like, hey, whatabout that person?
I remember.
Exactly.
They're going to constantlyremember that as opposed to
going radio silence, even if itdidn't work out or something,
(33:54):
you know, maybe they pulled yourthings, but they didn't end up
using it, whatever the case, atleast, you know, you're thankful
for the experience of justhaving that, that all very true
and um it's it's a great way tocollaborate because people will
remember niceness like you saidand and meanness and rudeness
but they're more likely to workwith you again yes yes
SPEAKER_01 (34:17):
100 and any designers that want to reach out
to us we have an instagramflying solo nyc so we have all
the applications there link inbio or you can just like like
and share like you know what wedo and see our other designers
there we create quite a fewentertainment and you
educational content there.
So you're always welcome tofollow us, Independent Designer.
(34:38):
We also do our own podcast thatis quite fun.
So yeah, even if you're notlooking into retail, there'll be
a lot of fun things along theway there too.
SPEAKER_00 (34:48):
Yeah, so that's great.
Thank you so much, Elizabeth,for sitting down with me today.
I know it took up way more timeprobably than I said it was
going to take, but it was agreat chat.
SPEAKER_01 (34:59):
It was a great chat.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I love your energy.
I love your passion and thankyou so much for having me today.
SPEAKER_00 (35:07):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you so much.
So thank you everyone forlistening today.
And if you want to check outFlying Solo, I will also put it
in the links, put the links downin this podcast.
But check out Flying Solo Incand see what they have for you
because they might be what youneed to get that just put in the
(35:28):
door and just start what you'rethinking about and what you're
working on.
So.
why not just try thank you thankyou so much thank you all right
Hi, cuties.
Welcome back to the HarajukuRealm, the podcast about fashion
and fashion entrepreneurship.
I have a guest today by the nameof Elizabeth Solomina, who is
the marketing, I'm sorry, themanaging director at Flying
Solo, Inc.
And...
Flying Solo Inc.
(00:20):
is a company that gives aplatform to independent
designers to show theircollections on a large scale
with international fashionshows.
They have so many fashion showsin so many different countries
for so many different fashionweeks, which is amazing.
And they also give anopportunity for small brands to
have their collections in theiractual flagship retail stores.
(00:44):
So I am very excited to learnmore about Flying Solo and how
they help independent designers.
As you know, I am an independentdesigner myself, and I always
want to give advice toindependent designers because
we, I mean, we're shapingfashion.
Let's be real.
I agree.
SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
I agree.
Definitely the next generationof fashion.
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Yes.
Elizabeth, if you can, I know Igave you a little background
about your company, but you knowit best.
If you can give me just a littlebit more about what Flying Solo
does and how they helpindependent designers.
SPEAKER_01 (01:23):
Of course.
Well, let me start with, well,first of all, thank you so much
for having me on this podcast.
And the story of Flying Solostarted with a 10 designers we
actually it was 10 of us at thebeginning of this journey me
being one of the designers I'm ajewelry designer and nine others
and we actually wanted somethingfor ourselves so a place like
(01:47):
Flying Solo but it didn't existso nine years ago we opened our
very first store on MulberryStreet.
And it was rather small.
And what quickly startedhappening is a lot of other
independent designers reachedout to us to join.
So 10 quickly became 30, became50, became 100.
(02:09):
So now we have over 200 brandsin Flying Solo between our New
York and Paris store.
And the idea behind Flying Solowas always collaboration instead
of competition.
Because we realized early on inthe journey of being independent
designers that it's so hard tostand out on your own and real
(02:31):
competition it's not aboutanother independent brand next
to you but you're competingagainst big marketing budgets of
larger companies and for you tostand out it takes a lot of
resources so by joining forcesyou not only can afford a place
like to be in city like New Yorkand more than being in soho or
(02:56):
paris but you also get much moreattention so each of us
individual could not possiblyget the same attention as 10 and
then 30 and then 50 so that wasalways an idea behind flying
solo and funny enough i meanright now like nine years later
it's almost sounds ridiculousbut nine years ago a lot of
(03:16):
people thought that uh fashioncould never be collaborative
it's only after it's only withinthose nine years we start seeing
a lot of brand doingcollaboration and start being
super popular and differentbrands like start collaborating
collection but actually thatwasn't the case back then back
in 2016 when we started and alot of people back then came to
(03:37):
us saying like well that willnever work you guys all end up
just like arguing between eachother and parting your own ways
and for me it sounds beyondridiculous because my background
I always been in creativeindustries but I was in film
production before that beforethat I was in graphic design and
it's always a team it's never aproduct like especially when you
(04:00):
work on video film shoots it'snever been done by one person
it's always a collaborationbetween different creatives and
you put ideas together andfashion for me was a little
strange because everybody waskind of on their own however we
as creatives always crave to bein the crowd so when 10 of us
get together something magicalstart happening we all of a
(04:22):
sudden um start like showingeach other's designs.
It's like, I'm working on this,you work on that, giving each
other ideas, collaborating ondifferent projects.
And all of a sudden thatcreativity starts flowing.
I was like, okay, clearlysomething magical is happening.
And yeah, that's how Flying Sologrew.
Now it's an internationalcompany.
So we have a store in New York.
(04:44):
I mean, it's much larger storethan the original one.
We move quite a bit.
We opened one in Paris a yearand a half ago and we have a
large press showroom separatelyfrom our store.
where we do press for our brandsand we do New York Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week and MilanFashion Week with our designers
also showcasing them oninternational major stages also
(05:08):
in collaborating instead ofcompeting so it's a big show
showcasing different brands oneafter another so this way we can
create so much attention to ourshow that each of us
individually just couldn't evendream of so that's That's a
quick story of Flying
SPEAKER_00 (05:26):
Solo.
Yeah, and that's amazing.
I love that it started withcollaborating, just creatives
collaborating, because you'reright, there's so much of this,
like, just like feeling whereyou need to compete.
But like, I think, like yousaid, the competition is the
bigger brands with the biggerbudgets and the bigger marketing
budgets and all of that.
(05:49):
And that's what makes it hardfor independent designer to
stand out and just feel like,oh, I can reach out to that
person.
And maybe that person would liketo collab.
Like you said, you do jewelry, Ido clothing.
It would be a great collab tohave a jewelry designer and a
clothing designer or a bagdesigner and a jewelry designer,
(06:10):
you know, like those types ofthings.
Exactly.
Really does help the communityof fashion because we're all
creative and everyone has adifferent market.
Everyone has a different lookand idea.
So I really appreciate thatthat's how you started just
collabing together, just ninedesigners collabing and now
(06:31):
you've built a global brand.
That's completely amazing.
Thank you.
What advice would you give toanyone wanting to start a
clothing brand?
What first steps would they haveto take to bring that creative
vision into an actual business?
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Well, sure.
Well, first of all, you have tolove it.
Honestly, if you go there justfor the money, there are other
industries to make money in andfashion will not be my first
choice.
That's for sure.
It is hard unless you love it.
So if you love it, all thoselong nights and sleepless nights
and, you know, all those likemistakes that you make along the
(07:12):
way and in any business, you'llmake tons of mistakes and it's
part of the journey anddisappointments that you'll face
and rejection and all of thatwill be worth it.
it if you're actually liking thejourney if you don't please like
there are other things to do inthis world so I truly believe
that you are you become adesigner only if you cannot
(07:34):
imagine doing anything else whenit's in you to create like when
you know that whatever is inyour head must be out there and
you must create so in that caseit becomes authentic it doesn't
become easy by the way but itbecomes authentic and customers
can connect with that and aslong as you stay true to
(07:55):
yourself and keep developingyour vision i believe you're
always going to find some crowdyes sometimes it takes a while
to find your crowd and sometimesyou need to try different
markets to do that and sometimesyou need a ton of press to get
to those like people that'sactually going to resonate with
your design because noteverybody is supposed to like
(08:15):
you as a designer it's fine imean you like you have to appeal
just to a certain group ofpeople that will become your
customers and others might aswell not like you at all as a
designer but yeah that's thewhole process and again just
make sure you're there for theright reasons and if you are it
(08:36):
will give you so much journey Iremember the first time you make
a piece and it gets sold to anactual person it's a feeling
that you'll never forget you andyou you all of sudden just from
that vision like that wascompletely yours and only you
were liking it i mean peoplewere liking instagram or
(08:57):
whatever but it's not a reallike unless they uh and someone
actually spend their hard-earnedmoney on your design so that's
when it became become real likethat we're like oh wow i had
something that others want.
I mean, it sounds a littlesilly, but it's a realization
that you get when you startselling.
(09:20):
And so that's the first.
And then when you get your firstpress, I also will never forget
how it
SPEAKER_00 (09:25):
happened.
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
It's like all of a sudden you open a publication
and ours was actually for thejewelry brand was New York Times
and open a publication and allof a sudden your piece is in
there.
for everybody to see.
So someone chose it to befeatured.
(09:46):
And it's such a big thing.
And in Flying Solo, I witnessedit so many times.
Obviously, we are, you know,we...
of course there's so manydesigners along the way and for
like you know for a lot of themit will be the first time they
get featured in press and I I'malways so so happy to see their
like tears of joy and like allthe emails back and everything
(10:09):
because I remember that feelingI mean of course years later it
becomes like oh that's anotherHarper's another L another book
like yeah it just become one oranother one and yes we got
spoiled here with all the pressthat we get as designers and
flying so but the first oneyou'll I cannot believe it.
It's me.
It's my design on the page of amagazine.
(10:33):
And yeah, it's a wonderfulfeeling.
And then when you're like, okay,the whole journey, my whole
thing was worth it.
Let's continue.
So I think it's definitely likethose type of little things,
little recognitions give you agood push to keep going.
SPEAKER_00 (10:48):
Yeah, no, that's very true.
And just the part of having thepassion for it because...
Anything creative is verydifficult.
I say this in my podcast, I saythis on my YouTube channel, is
very much you have to get peopleto buy into your art.
And that is the hardest part ofit, because your art is just
(11:09):
like, you know, it's like yourbaby.
It's something you created, it'ssomething you hold close to your
heart.
And unless you're reallypassionate about it, then...
you're not going to go far,unfortunately.
Like you have to eat, breathe,sleep fashion or whatever,
whatever industry, creativeindustry it is.
Because I know for me, like I, Iwork in the corporate fashion
(11:31):
industry and I'm working on mybrand and a lot of people that
my coworkers that I work for,you know, I work with, they say
all the time, like, how are youworking in fashion all day?
And then you go home and you sewand create at night.
And I I'm like, because I lovefashion.
I thought we all did.
SPEAKER_01 (11:49):
Yeah.
Well, funny enough, noteverybody in corporate fashion
are there for the love offashion.
I guess that's true.
But yeah, when you open your ownbrand, you have to be there for
the thrill of just doing thebrand.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
Yes.
Yes.
And like you said, there's a lotof ups and downs.
There's a lot of lessons to belearned.
There's a lot of crying.
I tell people all the time, likethere's a lot of crying, late
nights, crying over a sewingmachine, taking a minute and
then being like, okay, I need toget back and I need to focus and
complete this collection,whether it's for a photo shoot
or a fashion show or for acustomer, a custom item,
(12:24):
whatever it is.
You know, it's a lot.
It's a lot.
But like you said, like buildinga community of people around you
that share the same passionreally help like motivate you to
keep going.
SPEAKER_01 (12:37):
Yes, 100 percent.
SPEAKER_00 (12:38):
Sure.
Yeah.
The next question I have iswhat's the best way to balance
your just your creativeexploration and the demands of
having a fashion businessbecause a fashion-based business
it's hard to be like i want tobe creative and do this and do
(13:00):
all the designing and the loveand the fun stuff and then
you're also like but let's talknumbers
SPEAKER_01 (13:05):
yeah well there are a couple ways like at least from
what i saw throughout you knowjourney with flying so and
seeing different designers um togo through that so one way is to
have two partners and one willbe the creative one and another
will be the numbers one and ifyou have If you are a designer
(13:26):
and you get that part, are youguys going to fight?
Because ultimately, while youalign on the same goal of making
your brand successful, the wholething is you kind of will be
coming from different sides.
And one will be trying to lowercost, to lower production cost,
(13:47):
to shorten the production time.
So lower the cost again andtrying to get maximum money out
of it.
While another one wants to putall your heart and soul into
little details that most likelywill cost you significantly more
but it's so so important to youso it's kind of the same goal
but from different directions soyou end up you know fighting a
(14:07):
bit so that's that's oneapproach but that could be very
successful if you end upfiguring out that partnership
and aligning on you know howyou're going to move forward
with all of that that's a goodidea second one is to do it by
yourself if you don't have apartner But here, the hard truth
(14:27):
that no one wants to hear, ifyou are a designer running your
own brand completely byyourself, At the most, you'll be
designing 5% of the time.
The rest, 95% will be spent onmarketing it, selling it, actual
production, dealing withcustomers, dealing with
customers that might not behappy.
(14:47):
Even if your product is the mostperfect thing ever, there'll be
someone still upset aboutdelayed shipping.
Maybe something didn't fit, eventhough you did write all the
correct sizing, but so-and-sodidn't read it.
So there are a lot of thingsthat go into running a brand and
dealing with people right andyeah that's what you'll be doing
(15:08):
95% of the time so if you'redreaming of just designing
definitely find a partner find agood one find someone that you
actually can trust because thereare unfortunate stories too how
you know a partnership weren'tcreating in a good faith and
then it's all fell apart but ifyou find someone good that can
(15:31):
actually move you forward that'sprobably the more success uh you
can get or you need to beprepared to just um do 95
percent of the time work thatyou may not like i mean it's
actually production is alsopretty fun like figuring out
like the um how garments orjewelry or accessory are going
to come out uh sometimes yourstrong things can be dealing
(15:55):
with customers like maybe apeople person and you just love
love love chatting witheverybody and like showing your
designs and if you are good umAnd even if you don't want to
and do a complete partner,outsourcing some of your tasks
that you absolutely hate is alsoa good idea.
So let's say you hate dealingwith emails.
(16:15):
It's just like every time youthink of writing one, you're
like, oh God, I'll go dosomething else.
I'll go design another dress.
So outsource that to someone.
And so they will be actuallydealing with it because reality
of business is you need to pushfrom all these ways.
So if you, for example, justdesign and dealing with your
(16:36):
company, customers, you're stilllosing that.
If you are designing, dealingwith customers, but not
acquiring another customers, forexample, through newsletters or
press or any other things, thenyou're missing that part.
So you can, you can definitelyfigure out what you're good at
and it will come natural.
It's super easy task.
If you, if you do somethingfirst, like every time there is
(16:58):
a, like that much of tasks todo, you always go after
something first and then secondand third, and then something
always left, left to anotherday.
So whatever is always left startthinking about outsourcing it
and it could be to an individualit could be to a company let's
say you hate it i don't knowdoing a website maybe think of
outsourcing it of course forsmall brand first and foremost
(17:22):
you need to budget well and donot overspend on well anything
really like the cash is the mostimportant thing for them for the
brand.
So I always advise our brands islike, anytime you want to do a
big production run, just becausethey're the item each item
(17:46):
become cheaper in the biggerproduction just don't like
unless you already have a provendemand and a proven fit and the
proven whatever customerexcitement about this particular
item so meaning that you sold abunch before that and you're
just reordering like the same ora little bit of a bigger amount
just don't do that reality ofthe production is you don't know
(18:07):
what you don't know andoftentimes you run into the
problems like a feed somecustomer dealing like the fabric
maybe just too itchy too liketoo tight too loose too whatever
it could be so many things andit's even if your very first
production run just startbreaking you even it's totally
(18:29):
fine at least you didn't startwith a big production run that
you don't know what to do andyou're saying so much money in
it reality of it first timearound no one gets it right like
i have not yet met a designerwho did their first production
run right like that they did aproduction and everything sold
out and everything is perfect itjust didn't exist and even if
(18:52):
you already had a career in uhalso have another group of
brands that um they mightalready have a career in like a
corporate design and they'relike okay but now i know
everything i know everythingabout design production
everything i did it so manytimes before and i'll do my
brand perfect you won't realityis like you don't have the
resources of the bigger companyso your smaller production will
(19:15):
not put you as a priority likewill not give the same thing
like while bigger companies havevery established relationship
with all their suppliers andstill you could do a bad
production run here.
You much more in the mercy oflike God hope they'll actually
execute on it.
So don't do that.
Like at the beginning.
I mean, if you really followthis advice, you'll thank me
(19:36):
later.
And second, if you, even if youare like, no, that is probably
time to open your own store andyou like, okay, if I just use
all my money right now, I canopen the store and see how it
goes.
don't do it just yet.
I mean, retail is highlycompetitive.
It's really hard to do.
(19:57):
And you always, well, at leastin New York and in Paris, where
we are, it's very expensive toopen things.
It will be cost beyond what youcan possibly imagine.
On top of it, you end up payingrent every month.
So, I mean, that's partially whywe created Flying Solo.
So in Flying Solo, you can tryout retail without upfront cost,
(20:20):
without anything.
You just basically pay a smallmembership fee and we'll sell it
for you and see how it goes.
And you can start creatingdemand.
So what a lot of brands do isthey'll come to us for well
sometimes like two or threeyears like create that customer
base and only then start openingtheir own stores because in the
meanwhile while they'reexperimenting while they're
(20:43):
trying different skills for likecustomers that like within their
demographic while they figureout the production while they
figure out the pricing and itstill takes time they don't pay
a full rent like you know on thestore and don't have to pay for
the stuff and insurance and alsomany costs that comes insurance
into opening even a tiny littlestore in Soho.
(21:03):
So they experiment and thenyears later when they're like,
okay, guys, like we just needthe entire store for our
collections, like no longerdoing it for us.
And then you can definitely likecreate a good business out of
it.
So yeah, that's my two littleadvices to the designers and
yeah, I hope it will reallyhelps them.
SPEAKER_00 (21:24):
Yeah, no, you touched on so much.
Like you touched on having abusiness partner and how that,
how important that would be tohave someone to handle the
business side while there wasanother creative person.
Or if you, if you haven't foundthat person quite yet, but just
being able to give out tasks toother people and delegate,
(21:46):
because that is so importanttoo, because I think a lot of
brands and designers, they wantto be like a solar entrepreneur
and never kind of give outthings.
And they think they're savingmoney, but they're not really
saving money because you're whenyou're saying something,
something's not happeningbecause you're only one person.
And then even just touching ongetting into retail stores
(22:07):
without large budgets and beingable to use your brand, like
Flying Solo, your company, andbeing able to get into a store
and just test out the market andsee what people think of the
creations that these designersare creating is very...
(22:28):
is really great and it'simportant to do because just
starting out, you know, sayinglike, I'm going to get this
retail store and I'm going toput...
my life savings into it and hopeit works out is really scary.
SPEAKER_01 (22:42):
For sure.
And we do have brands like this.
I mean, we have, we had a brandthat we've been with for,
they've been with us for threeyears.
So when they started it, thebrand that is called Aparil, New
Yorkers probably know them verywell because when it gets cold
in New York, everybody's wearingtheir vegan fur coats, very
colorful, like they everywhere.
(23:03):
But they started with us.
A lot of people don't know thatthey started with us.
We opened our brand in 2016 andthey opened their brand in 2016,
probably the same month as wedid.
So what a lot of people don'tknow about them, while they
completely right now know justfor their outerwear, like vegan
fur, that's what they've alwaysbeen known for.
They started not with vegan fur.
(23:24):
They started with the entirecollection of tops and dresses
and all this stuff.
And it was only one skew thatwas that vegan fur coat.
And nothing was selling otherthan coat so literally they're
like it took them years tofigure out like what's really
(23:44):
working so after only once Q wasselling they're like okay maybe
there is something to it solet's bring two of the same
coats in different colors andsee how it goes all of a sudden
that is sold out and then slowlythey're like okay let's try
different vegan fur like thisand that different colors
different models and three yearslater they grow it into just out
(24:05):
of where vegan collection andthat was they actually found
their niche exactly in the righttiming vegan fur was definitely
on the rise no one was producingas good quality vegan fur as
they were and they were very fundesigns it was like super simple
to wear like you know was reallygood body for for the design and
(24:26):
they found their market yes theyare like they did leave us to
open their own stores and nowthey're in Saks and
Bloomingdale's but they alwaysthank us for those like years
because they're Like God knowshow much it will cost us to run
our own store at that time.
Because all that figuring out,imagine you sold one SKU in a
month, one SKU and you'rerenting the whole store.
(24:46):
And it doesn't mean that they'llnever become successful.
They did like, but it takes sometime to figure out what your
customer actually wants.
And oftentimes it's pivoting andadjusting and all those things.
But at least you doing itwithout paying huge rents and
like having your own stuff andpaying for, you have to pay for
everything in your own store.
Electricity, internet, internet.
insurance, your staff, and thenyou have to have a manager to
(25:09):
manage your stuff and all thosethings.
So yeah, I mean, you will, youmost likely, if you keep
growing, you'll get theresomeday, but don't start with
it.
It just, you don't know so muchabout retail when you've never
been in it.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
No, that's, that's such great advice because I
think a lot of aspiringdesigners, they see getting into
a retail store is just like, youknow, the dream, you know?
So they see that or they watchshows like Project Runway and
all these types of shows wherethe prize is to get placement in
a store.
(25:44):
So they're like, oh, that mustbe the ultimate, you know, dream
or that I have to, if I have myretail store, people will come.
But like the story you sharedof, they weren't even trying to
do outerwear.
They weren't an outerweardesigner or they had some, but
they probably thought they weredoing other, they were more of
like a dress designer or otherthings.
(26:04):
And then- outerwear was thething that sold, you know?
So I, I, I have that as well,which is so funny because I feel
like I'm a dress designer, butmy number one bestseller is a
raincoat.
Oh, wow.
That is so awesome.
Interesting.
Okay.
See, I don't know.
It's this pink raincoat.
(26:25):
I designed it in like 2018 andthat has been my number one
bestseller since then.
And it's, but like you said, younever know until you meet that
those customers and they theyyou you see that customer
journey of oh we really likethis okay so now let me make it
in different colors let me trydifferent things and then that
(26:46):
became their entire brand likethat's uh that's amazing like
that I mean, sometimes ithappens like that.
You don't even recognize it.
But sometimes with, you know,brands like that happens and
then having it in a placement ina store so you don't have to
worry about, like you said, likerents and electricity and
insurance and all employees andall that stuff.
(27:07):
Like you're only paying like afee to have your items in a
store with people that areactually trying to sell it.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Exactly.
And what other advice I'll giveto designers is like once you
find that item, keep buildingdoing on it what happens a lot
to us designers and I mean I canspeak for myself because I'm
also a designer and I knowexactly how the thinking process
go you get bored so you startselling something you're like I
know I'm not producing next yeareven though it's but I'll create
(27:37):
something better because youknow I need my creative juices
oh god like you first of all youneed money so if something is
selling leave that please tosell you might bring a few more
colors and see how that goes.
But if something is alreadydesired by your customer, so
they love the feed, they lovethis, leave that and build
(28:00):
something else.
Do not eliminate this cue.
And again, I see too many timeswhen, oh, no, no, I need
something new.
I need something exciting forthis.
Yes, but you also need the moneyto be made.
So yes, that's my other littleadvice.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
I love that.
I think you have given so muchgreat advice to independent
brands and people that arethinking about going into the
design world and not really surewhere to start because you can
buy all the eBooks, you canwatch YouTube University,
whatever, but getting...
um, actual advice from peoplethat are in it are very
(28:42):
different, especially on theindependent circuit, because,
um, I think also there's, youknow, people who do drop
shipping and those kinds ofthings when they're not coming
up with the full designthemselves.
So that's a different businessas well.
But this is for like, creativesthat are starting from ground
zero and me too.
Exactly, exactly.
(29:04):
So that's, it's amazing.
Just to close out, because Ifeel like we've gone over so
much today.
Is there, do you have any lastadvice for designers or you want
to talk a little bit more aboutFlying Solo and what Flying Solo
can offer independent brands,whether you're in New York or
(29:24):
Paris or wherever you're at?
SPEAKER_01 (29:26):
Sure.
Well, collaborate like I thinkcollaboration is the most
important thing in fashion andI'm not only saying designers
between designers but you'realso going to collaborate
between the stylist and pressand photographers and models and
please when you do that be kindto each other because really a
(29:50):
thank you goes a long way so ifyou If you get a stylist, for
example, someone DM'd youthrough Instagram and asked for
an item to be placed somewhereand then you get a publication
out of it, do make sure that youactually thank that person.
If someone bought it or wore itand tagged you, be thankful for
(30:13):
that because those little thingsgo a very long way.
And we always teach ourdesigners in Flying Solar, even
though, for example, for ourpress showroom, we do
communication with the stylist,but but we always say, look,
someone actually chose yourdesign to be published in this
and that magazine.
Make sure you say thanks to thestylist who actually pick it up
(30:34):
because what will happen is nexttime when they'll come over,
they're like, oh, let me see thewhole collection of this person
because they were so gratefulwhen it's happened.
And especially with press, evenif it didn't happen, but someone
still chose your design to like,you know, be on the pool, but
then somehow they couldn't placeit because because I mean, there
(30:54):
are a lot of creative decisionsmade and sometimes pictures get
cut from the publication, thingslike that.
Still say thank you.
And still, because someoneactually gave you attention and
very often next time they'regoing to choose you.
Yeah, same goes for the customersaying them a thank you note.
For all those little things,this industry, while it seems to
(31:16):
be very big, it's actually verysmall.
Everybody knows everybody.
Someone being like not nice tosomeone the word will spread
very quickly and someone beinglike respectful polite
delivering on time will alsospread quickly so make sure to
be that person and yeah againcollaborate we're in flying so
(31:39):
all about collaboration on alldifferent levels like from this
like stories our collaborationbetween many designers press
showroom is so many differentbrands the one that couldn't
stand on their own but becausethey under the same roof they
get so much attention same forfashion weeks they we get so
much valuable press likeeverybody from vogel harper's
(32:01):
come over to our show becausethere's so many brands under the
same roof it's just so simplecompared to one person just
trying to do it on their own anduh it's like it's really hard to
get attention but i thinkindependent designers should be
under the same roof because wereally are Just think of your
customer at the end of the day.
(32:22):
Your customer who loves you forbeing an independent brand, it's
very likely might like otherindependent brands as well.
And it does mean that if theypurchase from you or purchase
from some other brand will neverpurchase from you.
They actually like the wholecategory of it.
Like they love something freshand exciting, something that
they cannot see anywhere else.
So that's how the whole thingactually works.
(32:44):
Not you competing against one ofthe bigger brands that the
person actually deciding shouldi buy a big brand or should i
buy you they come to you becauseyou bring something super unique
and that might be uh true foranother independent brand so
just collaborate like on thesmall scale on the big scale
like we all much more noticedtogether as independent brands
(33:05):
so that's that's um that's myadvice to everybody
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
all right well thank you so much that that's So
great.
That's very true about justcollaborating and being thankful
for just your small wins.
Just being thankful for thembecause along the way you'd get
a bunch of little tiny smallwins and then you'll get a big
win and you will be thankfulthat you were thankful in the
(33:31):
past about your little smallwins.
because it allowed you to getthe big win, you know, down the
road.
And like you said, people willremember you.
They will remember when you werenice to them or you thanked them
and they're like, hey, whatabout that person?
I remember.
Exactly.
They're going to constantlyremember that as opposed to
going radio silence, even if itdidn't work out or something,
(33:54):
you know, maybe they pulled yourthings, but they didn't end up
using it, whatever the case, atleast, you know, you're thankful
for the experience of justhaving that, that all very true
and um it's it's a great way tocollaborate because people will
remember niceness like you saidand and meanness and rudeness
but they're more likely to workwith you again yes yes
SPEAKER_01 (34:17):
100 and any designers that want to reach out
to us we have an instagramflying solo nyc so we have all
the applications there link inbio or you can just like like
and share like you know what wedo and see our other designers
there we create quite a fewentertainment and you
educational content there.
So you're always welcome tofollow us, Independent Designer.
(34:38):
We also do our own podcast thatis quite fun.
So yeah, even if you're notlooking into retail, there'll be
a lot of fun things along theway there too.
SPEAKER_00 (34:48):
Yeah, so that's great.
Thank you so much, Elizabeth,for sitting down with me today.
I know it took up way more timeprobably than I said it was
going to take, but it was agreat chat.
SPEAKER_01 (34:59):
It was a great chat.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I love your energy.
I love your passion and thankyou so much for having me today.
SPEAKER_00 (35:07):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you so much.
So thank you everyone forlistening today.
And if you want to check outFlying Solo, I will also put it
in the links, put the links downin this podcast.
But check out Flying Solo Incand see what they have for you
because they might be what youneed to get that just put in the
(35:28):
door and just start what you'rethinking about and what you're
working on.
So.
why not just try thank you thankyou so much thank you all right
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