Olivela + NYC Fashion Week
Blog Post by Ava Kornblum
September 2022
New York Fashion Week draws the biggest designers, celebrities, models, and performers. Every brand from Tommy Hilfiger to Christian Siriano, revealed their new collections for Spring/Summer 2023, determining the major fashion trends for the upcoming year. We met up with Olivela buyer Alexa Aldrich to get the inside scoop on the most popular event of the season.
Can you share a few of the fashion trends that came from New York City Fashion Week?
Dopamine dressing or wearing clothing you love to boost your mood has been a growing trend recently, and it’s clear that it is going to continue through Spring. The shows brought a lot of happy colors (bright green and orange were most noticeable), bold prints, and plenty of sparkle. LoveShackFancy embraced the playfulness in its party dressing with plenty of pearl, rhinestone and tulle details.
There was also a big focus on texture this season, like seen at Jonathan Simkhai, with extra long fringe and intricate crochet designs dominating the runways. In many places, they were combined with embroidery, three dimensional additions or sequins for a really special look.
Minimalist dressing also held its own with architectural shapes, strategic cutouts, and sheer fabrications making for a bolder approach this season.
Source: Love Shack Fancy
Can you share the process of how what is shown on the runway ends up in stores where our readers shop?
As buyers we visit the brand showrooms, run through the collections with the sales team, the models try on our top picks and then we run through the selected rack of products and edit to what we think will be most relevant for our customer. We then write the order and quantities and confirm with the brand. The key is to really immerse yourself in the mind of the customer and the trends we are focussing on as a business when working through a selection. It is important you have those wow pieces to draw the customer in as well as the styles you know will be best sellers. It is so fun, we are very lucky as buyers to have such creative yet business orientated roles in the fashion industry.
Can you share the process of how what is shown on the runway ends up in stores where our readers shop?
In many cases, the runway show is a snapshot of the brand’s most inspirational pieces of the season. It is a big event where press, brand ambassadors, and buyers can experience the collection and get a sense of the story behind it. Outside of the runway, there is a much larger collection that actually gets sold to stores.
In the weeks following New York Fashion Week, my team meets with each of our brands to see the full line up close. This is our chance to get hands-on with it, and see how our customer would respond to each piece, so that we can make our own selection of what we will sell on the website. This is also a chance for us to collaborate on business strategy and work through how we want to support the partnership growth.
Following the appointment, we put together an order to submit to the brand. This is based on a combination of sales data analysis and trend forecasting, also considering the customer’s shopping habits, the trends that we want to represent, and the story that the brand wants to convey. It will take several months for the brand to produce all of the pieces, so orders we are submitting now will be finished from January through March of next year. Then, all that’s left is to gather the product information and images to launch it on the website for customers to purchase.
Source: Diane Von Furstenberg
Can you share any insight from the designers you worked with in this market?
Now more than ever, designers are looking for ways to share their stories and connect with customers who hold similar values. Whether their focus is on committing to sustainability, supporting local communities, providing educational opportunities, or giving back in another way, designers are putting their ethos at the center of their brands. This is why they value partnerships with platforms like Olivela, that provide a forum for them to share their message with like-minded customers. With so much product available at the click of a button, it is a priority for customers to make an impact with their purchases by aligning themselves with conscious brands.
Source: Bird and Knoll
Please share anything additional that you would like our readers to know!
The buzziest event of NYFW was Vogue World which saw models, celebrities, athletes, musicians and performers walk through a very chic New York street fair. Friend of Olivela, Carolina Lindo, attended looking fabulous in a Dalood blazer that I have had my eye on.
Olivela is one of Project Glimmer’s retail partners, donating 20% of proceeds to our organization. To start shopping, Click here!