The Beat of Chic: Stephanie Solomon on Trends, Fashion, and more

Stephanie Solomon is a true trendsetter, responsible for finding the most fashion-forward merchandise for Bloomingdale's stores. The Syracuse University alumna is the operating fashion director for women’s ready-to-wear. Here are some of her tips for trend-spotting, trendsetting and more. 

As a fashion buyer, Ms. Solomon must always have her eyes on ready to spot the next big thing. She must know and predict what American women want to wear and what they will buy in the upcoming season. Picking trends for a particular season begins with a marketing council meeting, where the fashion office meets with the visual and marketing departments to brainstorm ideas of themes for the upcoming season. She then has a guide to take with her to the runway shows.  To decipher trends, she starts at "the big show" which she indicated was Marc Jacob's show. She also mentioned she extracts trends from the models backstage and guests that attend the shows. Models and guests are wearing what is on the runway and adapt them to be wearable. 

Deciding trends is also about instinct and intuition. She picks and choose what feels right and what hasn't been done in a while. Its always a combination of influences and endless curiosity- studying your surroundings. Who is wearing what and why. Trends are about finding something that is already out in the culture and making it a product. After all the trends are collected, a powerpoint is put together with information and visuals and then sent to all the executives and certain staff of Bloomingdale's. These ideas are then incorporated into the catalog and advertisements. This translates to what we see in the store. 

Although fashion buyers, celebrities, editors, and others in fashion do have a say in what trends are, the people who ultimately change, move, and shift fashion are the designers.

3 things to remember:

1. "Education happens when you listen and shut your mouth and do not let ego get in the way"

2. "Paris is center of all innovation in fashion"

3. "Get where you wanna be even if its for no money and you have to sweep at night"

To Be a Star + Forever 21

Richie Rich and The Next Ish team

As the sun set on the pier, three rows of press and VIP guests along with hundreds of others surrounded the runway and did not know what to expect from the evening. Richie Rich of Heatherette arrives fashionably late in all black with fabulous metallic blue nails and takes his seat in the front row. Shortly after, the Walk on Water Forever 21 fashion show began.

The Next Ish team attended the fashion show and launch party to celebrate the opening of the new Forever 21 location in Times Square and the introduction of the To Be A Star series, a documentary that follows 6 aspiring models during their three months of in NYC. Creator and producer Jason Metz created "The Academy" to provide development for the fashion and entertainment industries through mentoring and partnerships with well-known industry professionals.

Between four segments of Forever 21 fashion, introductory clips of the women were shown. All of them were pursuing careers in modeling, acting, or singing. One of them in particular had a certain star quality and an infectious energy that was hard to ignore.

Miram Ebrahim is a Long Island native, pursuing three degrees at Long Island University of C.W Post. She is a senior studying international business and public relations, while also pursuing an MBA.

Aside from her academics, modeling, and acting, Miram has also interned for companies and people such as Regis and Kelly, Power 105.1 and the Britto Agency. She has also been featured on the Tyra Show and episodes of Law and Order among other projects. Miram Identifies Tyra as an inspiration because Tyra is a mogul and sends the message to “uplift and inspire.”  She would like to have a syndicated talk show of her own. Being Egyptian, Miram doesn’t consider herself the average American. “ I’m not the quiet girl. I have a lot to say, I’m outgoing,” she said.

Miram and I

She is grateful for her opportunity and assures that attending the To Be A Star Academy has changed her life. She learned to present herself, how to speak, how to carry herself in a room, and other skills that are crucial in the entertainment industry. She exuded poise while also being unafraid to have a good time. I also had a good time at the event and hope to attend more.

xoxo,

The DoLL

 

To find out more about Miram and the To Be A Star Series you can visit: www.tobeastar.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tobeastar

Chip the Stylist

New York. Paris. Milan. Tokyo. Some of the biggest cities in fashion, but fashion thrives other places as well. Ladies, have you been wearing UGGs this winter? Most likely you have, so how is it that we forget about Australia when thinking about fashion, especially with models such as Gemma Ward and Elle Macpherson hailing from the island continent.

Upcoming fashion designer and stylist Chip Phomphithak has been working in the fashion industry for 15 years and is no stranger to Australian fashion. She has worked in various fashion publications as a freelance fashion assistant along with selling her designs since age 15. She began working for a clothing label Lili and Charlie Brown and she seized the opportunities presented to her there.She believes being a stylist is often underrated by some, but it is an essential part of music, fashion, and film. Styling is a form of expression and a key element in making everything cohesive. She says her role as a stylist is to break down any inhabitions and explore a person's true self which is then reflected on the external. She is currently working on the wardrobe of a short film, but her tasks vary. Some days she can be styling for an editorial or working with an artist.

After spending time in New York, Chip was inspired to create a children's clothing line, which she hopes to launch for the Australian summer. "As a designer I source ideas from colour, people and my environment. An idea can come from the arches of a church to the colour of the water." Her love for fashion and design came from none other than the Barbie Doll. When she was younger she would make clothes for Barbie and it went from there.

Her advice to young hopefuls who want to break into the fashion industry is "to believe in your ability and remember the business is cut- throat so having a strong backbone is key." She highly recommends studying business or marketing because one must constantly sell themselves and know their position. She admits that the fashion is difficult work but the rewards are fulfilling.

Follow her on Twitter: ChiptheStylist