Fashion Group International

CHIC.TV anouncing Social Media Sponsorship of the FGI (Fashion Group International)

Fashion Week Bloggers

Meet Fashion Bloggers of New York Fashion Week.

Top 5 Fashion Trends - Fall 2011 New York Fashion Week

Top 5 Fashion Trends - Fall 2011 New York Fashion Week

Welcome to CHIC.TV Magazine

Welcome to the first edition of CHIC.TV Magazine for the iPad. CHIC.TV Magazine covers fashion, beauty, models, social media, lifestyle, dining and all that is chic. It is a personal thrill for me to launch a magazine. As I have been obsessed with them since I was a teenager, I have a feeling you know what I mean. For me it was a combination of business magazines like Fortune and fashion and style magazines like Interview. On my bedroom wall you could see Lee Iacocca alongside Naomi Campbell. The iPad just seemed like the natural and economic format to fulfill my dream. The CHIC.TV Magazine incorporates all the great work we have been doing for the past 5 or so years since CHIC.TV was born and it is the first of many niche magazines we are about to launch but in the near future, but this app is the most comprehensive and includes much of CHIC.TV’s popular content.

CHIC.TV magazine is constantly updated on a daily basis and is divided into four rows or sections. The first section contains original content we have crafted especially for the magazine. Here we'll focus on the best fashion and beauty picks, steal the style of our favorite models and celebrities and highlight the link between social media and fashion. We will also feature interesting products and events. CHIC.TV magazine will try to maximize the iPad’s capacity for multimedia, in particular video, image and text. This time we interview Richard Paris of Rebecca Taylor and Kendra Bracken-Ferguson formerly at Ralph Lauren and now co- founder of Digital Brand Architects. Both are social media mavens and are pioneers in pushing the fashion industry to the social landscape.

The second section of the magazine is dedicated to video and includes most CHIC.TV video shows including coverage of fashion week, models interviews, top trend picks and much more. Video is what we are known for, and like many millions of viewers across our syndication network including Hulu, YouTube Shows, iTunes and AOL, we are sure you'll enjoy this content. The third section is a direct feed of our main blog which covers all aspects of fashion and lifestyle and is updated several times a day. During fashion week we'll shower you with posts giving you a feel of what really goes on at the tents and around the city, so check it out and be in the know. The fourth section is a feed from Flicker which includes runway and backstage images and a selection of photos.

The magazine is work in progress and we hope to prefect it in time, so I hope you’ll enjoy and don’t forget to tweet or like any article that peaks your interest.

Rami Rinot
CEO, CHIC.TV

The Blogger Agent Kendra Bracken-Ferguson

Exactly one week before New York Fashion Week, we met with Kendra Bracken-Ferguson at Lincoln Center. Kendra, who's the founder and owner social media agency, Digital Brand Architects talked to us about Fashion Week, the emergence of social media, and why bloggers are the next big thing.

CHIC.TV: What's your take on social media and Fashion Week?

Kendra: Social media has opened Fashion Week up to a whole new audience. It's no longer a private community for designers and editors. Anyone can participate. Social media makes fashion more accessible.

CHIC.TV: How did you get your start in fashion?

Kendra: In 2003 when MySpace launched I had the chance to work with AT&T on a youth marketing project. The project was the first time a brand and a social networking platform came together to monetize content. From there I worked for Digital Practice Group, traveling the world and helping the company's internal department learn how social media relates to marketing.

CHIC.TV: And then you started work at Ralph Lauren?

Kendra: Yes. My role at Ralph Lauren was to figure out the company's overall social media strategy and execution of programs. What's great about Ralph Lauren is that the company really understands the space and is willing to be very innovative. They were the first brand to have QR codes and the first to have an e commerce platform. They're leaders in this space because they try new things and recognize trends.

CHIC.TV: Tell us about your company Digital Brand Architects.

Kendra: When I met my business partner, Karen Robinivotz, we instantly hit it off. One night I couldn't sleep. I had this idea to open an online management agency for bloggers. I called Karen and she loved the idea. We realized that we had something really unique. Digital Brand Architects has two arms. One part is social media management for different brands. We do social media strategy and execution for clients like Tory Burch, Brian Atwood, Ralph Lauren, and Aldo. The second facet of our business is managing bloggers.

CHIC.TV: Do you consider blogging a job?

Kendra: We represent bloggers as talent, doing paid partnerships with them and brands. We have one client that's writing a book, one that's doing a TV show. We think bloggers are talent and that they have extreme value. We're turning bloggers into media channels.

CHIC.TV: What websites to you visit during your free time?

Kendra: Pinterest, GetGlue and Mashable.

CHIC.TV: Where, in your opinion, is social media going?

Kendra: It's hard to say. The biggest thing is that brands have to get into the game. It's more than just being there. Brands have to figure out how to optimize social media platforms and figure out how to use them. What makes you unique? Are you creating experiences? It's not all about the brand, it has to expand into a lifestyle.

CHIC.TV: Can you give our readers that want to be bloggers any tips?

Kendra: If you really want to be successful ask yourself what makes your blog different. Are you a resource? How do you inspire readers? If you just want to have fun, and have a voice, go for it!

To learn more about Digital Brand Architects and what Kendra and Karen are doing in the world of blogging and social media go to http://thedigitalbrandarchitects.com/.

Rebecca Taylor's Richard Paris on Social Media and Fashion

We recently met Richard Paris, Director of e-commerce at Rebecca Taylor at their boutique on Mott Street in NYC to chat about social media and technology and how it affects the fashion industry.

CHIC.TV: In your opinion, how does social media influence fashion?

Richard: In fashion there’s always something new. It’s an evolving industry. The way we communicate should evolve as well. Social media created an opportunity to disseminate information quickly to fans. The beauty of this is that fans are the ones talking about the product. Facebook, for instance, is a non intrusive way to communicate a brand message to the consumer.

CHIC.TV: Why is social media so beneficial for brands as a marketing tool?

Richard: When social media sites began, they weren’t meant to be used as a marketing tool. Eventually people began to discover that social media could be used for marketing. People are more focused on how they use social media. For instance, we started a Facebook sweepstakes called the “Sparkly Tights Sweepstakes”. We had a great pair of Swarovski studded leggings from Fall 2010 line. We felt that photos didn’t communicate the movement of leggings effectively so we uploaded a video of the leggings to our YouTube and Facebook pages and ended up having a waiting list for the leggings. We’re now running a sweepstakes where you can enter on our Facebook fan page to win a pair of the leggings. The sweepstakes has increased our Facebook friends by over 1000 within 3 weeks.

CHIC.TV: What do you think is the future of social media?

Richard: I expect to see more Industry focused social networking sites. Also, video is replacing imagery on websites. Video is great because it give you the full motion of a product.

CHIC.TV: Where do you spend your time online?

Richard: I read pop culture blogs like Gawker and TMZ. They’re the “cliffnotes” of pop culture. I also spend a lot of time on Facebook. For business news I go to the Wall Street Journal online. It’s very important for me to have an understanding of the global marketplace. I also visit tech driven sites like Mashable.com and female driven publications like WWD.com.

CHIC.TV: What do you think about sample sale websites like Gilt.com?

It’s great because it’s like event shopping. I think that people like the excitement of being a part of a live event. It creates an immediacy. It’s more of an organic way of shopping.

CHIC.TV: Tell us about e-commerce at Rebecca Taylor.

Richard: Our e-commerce site is a little more than a year old. Our first step was to have a strong store presence. “at Rt.com it’s purely us and we’re able to present the product in that way”

CHIC.TV: What makes shopping at RebeccaTaylor.com different than buying Rebecca Taylor pieces on websites like Saks.com?

Richard: Our site is focused completely to Rebecca Taylor rather than other sites that focus on many brands. We spent a lot of time making a website that’s simplistic, clean, embodies Rebecca Taylor image. The Rebecca Taylor site presents our product brand and lifestyle in the most ideal environment as possible.

Visit Rebecca Taylor's e commerce site at https://estore.rebeccataylor.com/store.aspx to learn more and don't forget to become a fan of their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MyRebeccaTaylor.

What Brand has the Most Facebook Friends?

How effective are fashion brands at utilizing social media? We think one of the best ways to tell is by the sheer number of friends they have on their facebook fan pages. Facebook has become such a great source of not only advertising, but attracting new consumers. See our list of top brands and their number of facebook fans below:

Victoria Secret: 11,294,649

Zara: 7,919,884

H&M:6,113,459

Lacoste: 4,493,980

Burberry: 4,034,576

Gucci: 3,660,562

Chanel: 2,961,062

Ralph Lauren:2,312,504

Louis Vuitton: 1,833,506

Coach: 1,576,470

Gap: 1,316,899

Express: 717, 056

Prada: 665,176

Dior: 527,692

Marc Jacobs: 399,458

Versace: 381,810

Michael Kors: 178,899

Ann Taylor: 116,647

BCBG: 106,627

Oscar de la Renta:102,363