Leading the way for organization and location of samples and the lists of people that request them, Fashion GPS has organized half of the industry’s elite.
With a system created specifically for the fashion world, it understands the needs of a designer.
Name: Eddie Mullon Corporation: Fashion GPS Location: 248 35th Street, New York
Nolcha : Mr. Mullon, can you please tell me a little bit about your background and how why you decided to create Fashion GPS?
EM: I was doing a lot of consulting and started working with KCD worldwide. They approached me with the problem of tracking their samples, and I started with a simple program. They used it for a year, they traffic a lot of samples, the system needed to be developed larger. Then Marc Jacobs wanted to use it, we created a web based system, multiple users. That is where the first version of Fashion GPS evolved. We currently have 23 clients. The more clients we garnered the more we could understand their business processes and be able to build a better program.
N: Why is technology so important in a creative industry like fashion?
EM: While the visual aspect of fashion industry is always growing and keeping innovative with new trends, behind the scenes hasn’t quite caught up with the front end. There is significant room for technology to streamline the day to day management of the fashion industry. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and technology helps it run as such.
N: For a new designer that does not have a whole team of people to organize his/her business, how does the sample inventory part of the service help?
EM: Fashion GPS takes into account the entire process of sending out samples, following up on them, creating reports, managing requests, reservations and lookbooks. This can literally consume all of one’s time leaving a new designer with little time to focus on other important matters. We are like a virtual employee.
N: How is an on-line look book easier for a designer to manage than the physical look book?
EM: We view online look books differently for larger established designers than we do for young growing designers. For larger designers, online lookbooks are a great supplement to hard copies, allowing people to quickly send over the pictures, request items, and have more control over what they are pushing. For young designers, it allows them an outlet to showcase their work to a broad audience in a technologically advanced cost efficient manner. The good think about the look book is as soon as the show comes off the catwalk things can be put right into the system. You can also contact the people that just saw the show via Advanced Fashion GPS and send a mass mailing out to all the attendees.
N: Is the fashion week invitation and organization a separate system?
EM: It is a separate system that works standalone or ties in directly with Fashion GPS. Events GPS goes from start to finish for the fashion show from contact management press, retailers to seat selection, show check in, and then the Fashion GPS picks up after the finished show, where you can upload the lookbooks and send the virtual book out to the people that attended the show.
N: Can an individual designer utilize this part of Fashion GPS, or is it best for PR companies?
EM: We have more designer clients than we have PR companies at the moment. It really comes down to companies large or small that want to streamline their day to day business.
N: Will there eventually be a way to track the buyers that attend shows to their buying orders to gauge potential profit?
EM: This is a natural compliment to Fashion GPS that has emerged in conversation with numerous clients. This is on our radar and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this all linked up in the near future.
N: As technology evolves so must business… what is in store for the future of Fashion GPS?
EM: Fashion GPS has earned a strong and reputable name in the fashion and pr industry. As publications becoming increasingly interested in using technology to efficiently manage their sample closets, you will see Fashion GPS emerge as the portal between designer and publication. In five years time hopefully you will be able to go into a showroom scan the pieces with the blackberry camera. Shoot what you are the most interested in and then the technology organizes the request
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