Just got back from the first official event of Portland Fashion Week, the “Boutiques and Designers” panel, featuring Rebecca Pearcy (Queen Bee Creations), Alice Dobson (Sofada), Giovanna Parolari (Una), Liza Rietz (the Liza Rietz line and Liza Rietz + a broken spoke), Jo Carter (Physical Element), and Elizabeth Dye (the Elizabeth Dye line and the English Dept).

A small crowd (including a photographer who seemed to be taking excessive amounts of photographs of seven people sitting at a table) showed up at the Art Institute during lunchtime to discuss the relationship between boutique owners and local designers, and a great deal of the conversation centered around how designers can be better prepared to present their merchandise to a prospective boutique. Many of the roadblocks boil down to common sense and professionalism: Understanding and operating under the apparel industry’s calendar; offering size runs; being on time with your production and delivery, and having the quality of the final product on par with your samples; treating it as a job interview by making an appointment rather than busting in; being forthcoming about where else your designs are available.

There was also discussion of the pros and cons of consignment. Elizabeth Dye, for example, seemed more open to designers interested in consigning to supplement her store’s wholesale inventory. Meanwhile, Jo Carter expressed that retailers might want or need to put more effort into selling their wholesale merchandise over risk- and investment-free consignment items.

Perhaps most interesting was Liza Rietz’s testimony about finding the right balance as a designer between work and art. Having stepped away from wholesale, with her new store/studio, she can both do short size runs, allowing customers to buy off the rack, and do custom work for interested clients who don’t fit properly in the pieces on the floor at a given moment. Rietz, who effuses about the knowledge and experience she is able to gain from custom tailoring, offers the option for no additional charge.

The presiding sentiments seemed to be that as a designer one needs to decide if having product available everywhere is the priority, and if so be prepared for the real work of dealing with increased production (and finding the labor that doing so entails), being a presence at the trade shows, etc. That consignment can be a great way to begin and to experiment, but not the best way to make money. And of course, to be yourself, dedicated to and excited about your product, and making it work for you, even if, like Rietz, that means finding your own way and methods.

Fittingly, the panel was hosted by The Changing Room, a new magazine on the subject of: “fashion and business connected”.