Learn what it takes to launch a successful fashion label with hands-on collaboration by industry pros. Opportunity for ongoing mentorship and chance to attend LA Fashion Market to meet with industry influencers.
Immediate Release: June 25, 2015
HONOLULU – Emerging Hawaii fashion designers have an exciting opportunity to learn from some of the most successful names in the business by applying to participate in the Creative Lab Hawaii Fashion Immersive Program (CLH/FI), a five-day intensive workshop with eight months of business mentorship that provides in-depth guidance on how to be a Hawaii fashion success story in a global market.
Creative Lab Hawaii is a business development program founded by the State of Hawaii DBEDT’s Creative Industries Division (CID) to empower creative entrepreneurs across multiple sectors.
The intensive workshop portion of the fashion immersive, which is taking place from July 17 to Tuesday July 21, 2015, is being managed by The Cut Collective, who was selected by CID and it’s partner, INNOVATE Hawaii to execute the program.
The program is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to deepen their relationship with their craft, increase opportunities for investment and provide hands-on mentoring in creating content, producing it, marketing it and importantly, monetizing it.
Up to 10 fashion designers will be selected and provided with guidance through the process of designing a collection, creating patterns and samples and developing their brand identity, collateral and public relations campaign.
Three finalists will be selected to fly to Los Angeles for LA Fashion Market in October. There they will participate in an itinerary that includes meetings with industry experts covering important areas of business such as investment, sales opportunities, and manufacturing, as well as attend fashion shows during LA Fashion Week.
Workshop instructors include Hawaii’s Bliss Lau, now a highly sought-after New York-based fine jewelry designer, co-founder of The Cut Collective, Allison Izu Song, a successful Hawaii fashion designer, Brie Thalmann and Stacey Makiya, senior fashion editors at HONOLULU Magazine, and Dennis Kwak, senior business advisor at Hawaii’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
Mentors include Keola Rapozo, owner of Fitted Hawaii, Tanna Dang, founder of Eden in Love, Bree Dallwitz, vice president of public relations and digital communications agency, Klick Communications, and Frances Harder, founder of Los Angeles-based company Fashion Business, Incorporated.
The 10 selected participants will have the opportunity to be considered to show their collection during a major Honolulu fashion event in November and will receive continued mentoring through February 2016.
All applications must be submitted by Friday July 10, 2015 to
[email protected] in PDF format.
For full program details, the selection process and to download the submission packet visit www.thecutcollectivehi.com/fashion-immersive Any questions and inquiries, call (808)497-8400 or email [email protected]
About The Cut Collective
The Cut Collective is a collaborative shared workspace and boutique design house focusing on product development and light manufacturing for independent designers and entrepreneurs. Co-founded in 2013 out of a desire to provide local designers the resources and skills to streamline their production process, womenswear designer, Allison Izu, and fashion stylist, Summer Shiigi continually seek to transform local manufacturing into the most affordable and innovative option for all.
About Creative Lab Hawaii
Creative Lab is an immersive year-round program to accelerate global export of Hawaii’s creative content and creative products to strengthen our creative entrepreneur’s capacity for success. Co-founded in 2012 by the Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic, Development, and Tourism (DBEDT)’s Creative Industries Division and the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), Creative Lab and Creative Lab at HIFF provide a rich environment for creative collaboration and building of new business relationships with a global audience. Creative Lab represents a key facet of DBEDT’s HI Growth Initiative and is developing an ecosystem of connectivity to increase export, attract investment, and build the state’s creative entrepreneurial capacity.
Led by the Creative Industries Division and industry partners including the Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts, The Hawaii International Film Festival, and the Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA, Creative Lab aims to further the professional development of creative entrepreneurs and increase the growth of commercially viable contact for acquisition/distribution.
