Via Scoop.it – Black Fashion Designers

Urban Fashion Network is or rather was  a social network for fashion industry related professionals. Touting All UrbanFashion.net, Urbanwear, Inner-City, Black, African-American, Fashion-Designers, Runway, Fashion-Shows, black-designer, streetwear, harlem, couture,Black-Style-Now! – The following  message has been  left ” Urban Fashion Network has been discontinued due to many of the fashion designers disinterest in e-commerce and publicity service solutions. We at UFN find this to be a perplexing phenomenon, particularly coming from emerging African-American fashion designers. Too many designers are disengaged from the media relation’s process —yet expect communications professionals along with publishing institutions to finance the publicity of their fashions. The industry gatekeepers are to be unrewarded, and the business of communications is to be denounced; yet embraced when performed only as a favor. Sadly, the fashion designers are not the big winners of their own showcases. It’s the event producers and the venue owners who are financially rewarded by these celebrations. Commonly, the results for publicity of the fashions are often doomed because neither the event producer nor the venue owners have contacts or relationships with the fashion industry press. Advertising value of the presenting brands is frequently minimized because proper protocol for media relations often results as being an after-thought.
Ya don’t know… Ya better ask somebody!”   So how much  is truth or how much is this a case of NOT  understanding  your constituent!  Many  seem to  believe that  the Balck  urban designer needs “PRESS” or “PROMOTIONAL EVENTS”! The fact is that  solid designers with line that sell are in great demand and few Buyers will refuse to  see them… the  challenge is that these designers have serious issues to contend with before they  seek press chief among them capable  PRODUCTION and to a greater extent  funding  to  facilitate  production!  This was a case of a company that  did NOT understand the very  community tehy served! Urbannetwork will not be missed since sadly few can  say  what role they played in shaping the success or creating  a platfor that would infact  support ther existence!   Was it just Timing  or will we be seeing more of this will there be a trend! Many  jumped n  board believing they had the solution… often wthout  investigatng the  problems!   Build the Platform then we all will prosper! The Urban  Fashion sector  needs solutions to the  problems that  keep them from  delivering, at the end of the day we sell Apparrel not  Image!
Via www.urbanfashion.net