EL COLTAN Y LA GUERRA DE CONGO

With the continued popularity and hype surrounding emerging designers, designers have increasing opportunity to extend their brand awareness, distribution, production abilities, and income through collaboration and partnership opportunities. Marc Beckman of Designers Management Agency

(DMA) says there are opportunities in creative direction, licensing, product endorsement, sponsorship, and personal appearances..7 _{His agency manages designers in a similar manner as talent agents handle}

actors and rock stars and helps them find alternative revenue streams.

It‘s no longer taboo or downscale to partner with mass-market retailers. Designer Isaac Mizrahi led the way with Target, followed by Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, and others partnering with mass retailers such as H & M, and then Simply Vera by Vera Wang for Kohls. During this evolution, mass retailers began showing an interest in bringing new emerging labels to their customers. Targets Go International Program gave the mass customer authentic but afford-able designer wares from Luella Bartley, Libertine, Proenza Schouler, Keanan Duff ty, Behnaz Sarafpour, Alice Temperley, Erin Fetherston, and more.

Through partnership with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, Gap launched its Design Editions program to introduce fledgling designers and Fashion Fund finalists, Doo-Ri, Rodarte, and Thakoon, to its broader audience through a series of limited-edition white shirt designs.

The trend caught on, with Payless Shoes working with Lela Rose and Laura Poretsky of Abaete; Thakoon Panichgul creating footwear, gloves, and handbags for Nine West; and Uniqlo‘s collaboration with a series of eight designers. The Uniqlo program launched with designer Alice Roi, and the items, priced between $49.50 and $69.50, sold out of four styles almost immediately in New York. Phillip Lim, Alexander Plokhov of Cloak, and Lutz & Patmos are also creating collections for the chain.

It‘s not just the discount brands seeking collaboration with new talent. Brooks Brothers hired menswear designer Thom Browne as its first guest designer to create the higher-priced, edgy Black Fleece collection. And luxury company Tod‘s Group hired designer Thakoon Panichgul to work on a special collaborative project with Hogan.

Nonfashion partnerships and design opportunities abound as well and can be a great way to align with a large consumer brand and benefit from its advertising reach and customer base. Designer Luella

Bartley is designing a suite at a resort owned by Sir Richard Branson, and New York designer Dana Buchman was commissioned to design the interior of a prototype Cadillac SRX. Other opportunities include collaborating with fabric companies; creating I-Pod cases; and designing uniforms and shopping bags and interiors for restaurants, bars, stores, and airlines.

All of these programs represent a key movement in marketing by larger, established brands. According to Marc Beckman, whose Designers Management Agency (DMA) arranges many of these deals, ―traditional advertising doesn‘t connect with consumer in the same way anymore; you aren‘t going to buy a skirt because you saw it on a billboard or heard about it in a radio ad.‖.8_{The larger}

companies instead use partnerships to bring the cachet and excitement of a new, buzz-worthy designer name to their brand as they try to respond to growing demand for designer name product at a different price point. The new, innovative product draws attention, which ultimately results in increased sales of their entire product range.

A partnership introduces the designer to a new and larger audience that doesn‘t otherwise buy that label. The designer benefits from the large distribution network of the partner and from the large marketing budgets that highlight the designer‘s name in advertising and PR campaigns.

A partnership also provides a unique opportunity to create designs at a lower price point without having to handle sourcing and production, and it can open new markets that a designer has previously been unable to crack. For example, the Alice Roi for Uniqlo designs were available at 900 Uniqlo stores in Asia.

Each deal comes with some financial support for the designer, though many say these deals are generally not that profitable. Compensation may include a flat design fee and a percentage of sales, which is generally between 2 and 6 per cent. According to the New York Times Magazine, people familiar with the Target Go International program say the designers have been paid approximately $250,000 for each collection.. 9_{Negotiating the details of the deal is important. Be very specific in}

defining your duties. Designing a bag could include sourcing the fabric and overseeing production or just providing sketches. the compensation should equal the time and effort put into the project as well as the use of your name. The agreements can last for one season or one product or include a multiyear contract for full collections or product lines.

Of course, you need to make sure you partner with the right brand. While the high-end brands bring enviable endorsement to the designer, a few designers have had their wholesale accounts drop their collections because the buyers were worried that their mass-brand partnership made the designer‘s product and name too accessible and not special enough for their high-end customers. If you are a new brand with high-end accounts and are offered a mass-market partnership, you may want to limit the partnership to just a few months rather than gamble on whether your brand can sustain a longer-term commitment at the low end.