NY NOW Podcast

Mission Global Awareness and Demand for Fashion with The Accessories Council

October 27, 2021 NY NOW Season 1 Episode 57
NY NOW Podcast
Mission Global Awareness and Demand for Fashion with The Accessories Council
Show Notes Transcript

The Accessories Council is a not-for-profit, international trade organization established in 1994. Their mission is to stimulate global consumer awareness and demand for fashion accessory products. They serve the industry globally which generates over $50.8 billion dollars annually in the United States alone. Over the past 25 years, membership has grown internationally to include over 330 companies and organizations, representing the world’s leading brand names, designers, publications, retailers and associated providers for the accessories, eyewear and footwear industries. 

RESOURCES   
Guest Websites:
https://www.accessoriescouncil.org/
https://jmrtrend.com/

| NY NOW:
https://nynow.com     

| NY NOW Podcast Page:
https://nynow.com/podcast     

| NY NOW Digital Market:
https://nynowdigitalmarket.com    


Thank you for podcasting with NY NOW! We look forward to connecting with you across all our platforms and seeing you in person!
Website: nynow.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ny_now
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nynowmarket

Dondrill Glover:

Welcome to The New York now podcast, a modern wholesale market for retailers and specialty buyers seeking diversity and discovery, gathering twice a year in America's design capital, New York City. It's where buyers and designers on Earth have refreshed and dedicated collection of eclectic lifestyle products. Hi, I'm Daniel Glover podcast host and senior producer for New York now, and today we're delighted to welcome special guest Karen Giberson, President and CEO of the Accessories Council, and editor in chief of AC Magazine, along with Jessica Richards, fashion director for AC Magazine, and founder of JMR design consulting. Karen is a leading voice for the industry. She creates and oversees productions of educational events, mentoring programs, the industry newsletter, networking events, charitable efforts in fundraising Gallois, she advocates for policy and has testified before Congress, local governments and works tirelessly to positively impact the assessories industry. Karen is an Emmy Award winner and completed her Warden, GMP, and December 2020. In her free time, she can be found running around Spartan Races and spending time with her husband, Nick, family and friends. Jessica is a trend forecaster brand creator and founder who synergistic focus inspires what is now next. With an extensive background in forecasting concepts and design for major North American retailers. She brings a forward thinking yet commercially and brand right by ability to projects across fashion and the wellness industry. She is a graduate of Boston University with a degree and magazine journalism and additional certifications from fit. Outside of her design and trend consultancy. Jessica serves as fashion and trend director for the assessories Council. Join me in welcoming Karen and Jessica to our New York now podcast. Hi, Karen and Jessica. Hey, how are you? Hello, I am doing fine. I am so excited to have both of you joining us this morning to talk about the accessory Council, the AC magazine and the much anticipated upcoming ace awards. So I do thank you, ladies for taking time for us this morning. It's really, really good to see you. Karen, I love to kick things off with you. You've had a very highly accomplished career. And it's really inspiring. And so I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about your path to President of the accessory Council and chief and editor of AC magazine. I know there's an Emmy Award winner in there.

Karen Giberson:

You know, when I was in school, who even knew that being you know, involved in a trade association was a possible career path. It definitely wasn't something that I had planned or intended on. And, in fact, I think when I started out, I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had a degree in communications and theater arts. And you know, I started out my first job offer, my first job was to be in the buyer training program for Macy's. So they had this amazing at the time executive training program. And I was very fortunate to be a part of that and spent the first four years of my career in, you know, both the retail and the buying offices at Macy's. And then I heard about QVC. And I was super interested because of the broadcasting in the theater. And you know, it was retail, which is what I was doing, but it was you know, the other part, the communications, the the live nature of it. drew me in and I applied and I got one of those letters like thank you, we'll keep you on file. Except they really did. And back. They called back, you know, a couple months later and I started working there in the early years of QVC. And I ended up staying for 14 years. Seven of them as a merchant, lots of different roles. And then I had a great opportunity to move into the marketing department there and start an events division No, it was it was really such a learning experience, you know, direct response retail, in the early days, you know, pre internet, it was very at that time a very entrepreneurial company, you know, they really encouraged you to try and do different things. And we definitely, you know, move the needle in a lot of categories. And, you know, the way check really changed. QVC changed the way people were shopping at the time. So it was fun to be there. But while I was a merchant, one of my role was the director of accessories, footwear and intimate apparel. And if you think about TV, shopping in those early days, nobody wanted to sell to QVC or Hsn. I actually, I actually had some of the most creative turndowns I had one, one vendor told me, I'd rather throw my product in the trash than sell it to you. Oh, my God. Yeah. Right. Even, that might be my best turn down line. I figured that it's a lot harder to say no to someone that you know, or someone in person. And so I started to get involved in any kind of organization that I could get involved in, because I wanted to meet the people that were on the other end of the phone and better explain, like what's happening here, you want to be a part of it. And when I read about the accessories Council, I called it was a little teeny weeny blurb in Women's Wear Daily. So I called the person the only person that I knew that was part of founding it. And I said, How do I get in and they said, you're on the board. And that was, you know, so I was on the board while I worked at QVC. And then, you know, when it was time to move on from QVC, unfortunately, the woman who had my role was very sick, she had leukemia. And so while she was ill, I was kind of helping with the transition, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. And she, unfortunately, she passed away. So it was only a couple months before the ACE awards, and nothing had been done. So I'm like, Well, okay, I know how to, I know how to do this, because I had been running the event division. And the board asked me to stay on and run the awards. And at that time, I had kids, I'm juggling work, juggling little kids. I was living in Philadelphia. And I thought, Well, I'll try it. But you know, no, no promises. Like, I don't know if I'm going to stay with this. And, you know, I haven't left yet.

Dondrill Glover:

What, what a journey? I mean, that is I, you know, it's funny that you mentioned QVC, in the early years of a lot of brands and designers, not wanting to be a part of it. Karen, do you feel that it was a part of feeling? Is it particularly in high end fashion, and assessories that it was a downgrade?

Unknown:

You know, I think that the whole retail landscape has changed dramatically. And if you go back to when I started there, it was 1991. You know, there wasn't as much on the internet, there were there wasn't it, you know, the web, web sales, you know, Amazon's those companies just it didn't exist. And there was also a list of 100 department stores. So people had a lot of choices and a lot of options of where they could sell. And along the way, if you look at the history of retail, you know, consolidations, people going out of business. And same time, you know, QVC was getting better at their art and more brands and companies were becoming curious about that medium. And, you know, as the internet kind of came upon us, I think that the hesitancy to sell your goods in that manner change. And the bottom line is that, you know, when products appeared on QVC, is it retail? Of course it is. But is it also advertising and marketing for your brand? It definitely is. So I think brands started to see rise in their business. Outside of that channel, they became more comfortable. And I also believe that as the ability to sell in a lot of places diminished, it became a viable part of distribution plan for many brands.

Dondrill Glover:

Yeah, absolutely. And I absolutely adore QVC and it also has so many opportunities for women in that space. and marketing and selling. So I've always truly appreciated that. I love to move to talk about the assessories Council, you were president, and CEO. And here's an organization that has a history and establishment back to 1994. Give us a window inside of its mission, its purpose and how its evolved through the years in your time,

Unknown:

and it in the mid 90s, at a time when fashion was very, very minimal. You know, the runway designers weren't as invested in the category they didn't have, you know, they hadn't yet expanded their collections beyond the clothes into the accessories like, like now, you know, almost every major brand also has accessories as part of their assortment. But but it wasn't so much at that time. So the industry leaders got together and said, Hey, if we're not going to get promoted on the runway, what can we do to promote ourselves? So you know, the mission, if you read our website says something about increasing consumer awareness. But what that really means is, how do we help our members sell more stuff, whatever their stuff is, whether it's high end, whether it's low end, whether it's a service, like what can we do to help them sell. And, of course, over the years, the tools in our box have grown and changed dramatically, because they are we can use social media, we can do zoom webinars, we can, you know, participate in podcasts, there's so many things that we can do that, you know, before it was either in person events, or, you know, maybe you did like a satellite media tour, or, you know, an advertorial in a magazine. So we're pretty excited about, you know, where we are now. And, you know, of course, with the addition of accessories magazine, which we acquired, and relaunched, we have four issues out now that you can look at our website, which is accessories council that or under the magazine tab, you can read those four issues, completely shoppable. So if you see something you like, you click on it, you can buy it. And our fifth issue will be out. On November 2,

Dondrill Glover:

oh, yeah, we're gonna dive in to more of that magazine. I, I'm in love with it, I think it's wonderful. I'd love to talk about the community, at the accessory Council, your, you know, 50 billion plus industry and over 350, dynamic companies that are a part of this council, let's talk about this community and likeness on them and what they bring to the council. And I guess a bit of a lot of what you guys bring to that connection in the membership?

Unknown:

Well, we work with you join the Council, as a company, you don't join as an individual. So some of our companies have many, many brands. And even those who aren't members, there's a number of companies that we work with episodically throughout the year, they might be part of one event. And then you know, we don't see them until the following year. Of course, we love it when companies are members, but we also enjoy working with talking to communicating with them, as you know, issues or needs might come and go. So, you know, we we provide, we do a lot of educational events, we always did a gift from COVID was forcing us to do them online. And it's even better, it's better because we can record them, we can share them on YouTube. And we can reach communities and members that we would not have been able to share with before. And because of it. We're really getting to know our members and companies in different geographical areas. So you know, you could be a designer in a little, you know, town in Maine and have the same benefits and learn the same things, as you know, the company that sits in New York City and we weren't doing that well before. So that's cool. We do a lot of mentoring. We have three different mentoring programs, networking, hopefully, you know, we'll be doing more of that in person in the coming month. But certainly our ACE Awards, which is coming up is also a terrific networking event. We have now we have the magazine. So we're able to do storytelling, working with Jessica to identify trends and then you know, going on the hunt for who's got those products has become an important part of you know how we Communicating ultimately all going back to the mission of, can we help our members sell more stuff?

Dondrill Glover:

While you're doing it really, really well, I'd love to take a moment to talk about, you know, I know that you've advocated for policy, you've testified before Congress, local governments and retain lobby groups for positive impact in the assessories. Industry, what has inspired your activism? And why are these causes so important to you?

Unknown:

I, anything that hurts our members, is, it's painful for us, you know, there, there have been a number of issues from material use limitations to tariffs, that have, you know, prop 65 issues out of California, they really have hurt our members ability to either work in the ethically sourced legal materials that they want to work in, or have, you know, added to the cost of goods in a way that damages their revenue, and, you know, their their profits. So, you know, when we see something coming, we aim to first be students of the problem and really learn, you know, where it's coming from what it's about, we, so we can advise and direct our companies as best as possible. And, you know, if it comes down to it, I'll show up wherever it needs to be to protect their protect their best interest. And that's how I ended up, you know, in front of the congressional hearings with tariffs a couple times, you know, we've written we write letters, often, and we support other industry groups who do it even better than us people like the A FA, and the NRF. That are, you know, humongously equipped to help with regulative issues, you know, we support them with either communication, signing on to initiatives that they're doing, it benefits our members, we try to be there.

Dondrill Glover:

I think that's fantastic. You know, statistics have shown, as of lately, 70% of consumers are more likely to stand behind brands that align with their value and principles. And knowing that you are an organization that is involved. On the other end of working with brands to make sure that those things are present, they're not violated and that they are in line, not only consumers can continue to get behind, but brands that are aligning with the council. So thank you for being a voice in that face. I'd love to switch gears a bit to talk about January 2021, which we spoke about the magazine, you relaunch the organization's of AC magazine. And I'd like to remind listeners that we also have Jessica Richards, the fashion director, here with us today, as well. Let's talk about the move to relaunch and reimagine the magazine and I opened that up after the book, have you,

Unknown:

you know, we had been working to acquire the magazine for it was months, months and months. And I had finally signed the contract on I think it was March 10 of 2020. No, I had to I had envisioned that we would be able to hire a team and try to figure it out. And, you know, as it became apparent that, you know, we were in a longer term situation. You know, we were losing, you know, we're cutting our budgets. We were, you know, cutting our employees. You know, it happened naturally, mostly. But, you know, the thought of launching a magazine in the manner that we wanted to just didn't seem like it was in the cards. And I was very fortunate. I was finishing a program, an executive education program that, you know, I had committed to a few years ago and my classes were online. And one of my class exercises was working on a business plan for like some phone company. And I thought, You know what, I'm not going to do the exercise. I'm going to do it on I'm going to use this process to figure out how we can make this magazine work. And I came out of it and I had a plan. It was The plan that I had hoped for but involved, you know, basically, if it was going to happen, it was going to happen because I was going to write it, because we couldn't hire, we couldn't afford to hire a team. So we we tried to do it ourselves. And it looked, it looked really awful. And so, you know, I found a friend and found the amazing Andrew Egan from cool gray seven, who was able to take our idea and, you know, add his visual, his talent really made it magical. And, you know, reached out to Jessica, and was like SOS you to help us. And, you know, I'll turn it over to Jessica, on how she attacked, how she kind of attacked the project.

Dondrill Glover:

Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to bring Jessica and on this. And before we go to that question, Jessica, I'd love to I know your incredible background, how talented you are. We've had the privilege of working together on several occasions, and so much valued our relationship. I love to talk a bit about your journey to fashion director of a magazine and then look back to this, this relaunch.

Jessica Richards:

You know, I started, you know, it's funny, there's so many crossover points when Karen was talking about her background in her story that that really resonate with me. I grew up I loved fashion. I really was thinking how do I get into the industry and my skill set has always been in writing. And in sort of, I would say organization organized creativity versus art. I'm probably the world's worst sketcher. So from where I grew up in suburban Massachusetts, I didn't understand that outside of being able to sketch and draw that there was a future for me in fashion. So I went to Boston University, I have a degree in of all things, magazine journalism. So here's our first you know, our first cue of how we get to this path. I moved to New York City, I started working as an executive assistant, I wanted to learn the background of retailers to understand Understand, really all of the different avenues that were open to me now also, if there's anything worse than anything that I'm worse at than drawing, it might be math. So being a buyer was not in the cards for me. So I was working at a specialty retailer, and I've told this story a million times, I met my mentor. She really came out of thin air into the office I was working in I was working in the president's office, we started a conversation and she said, if I take this job in the design, office, I would love for you to come be my assistant and we had never met before and Marie Rael, I know every single time I do an interview or talk about my background, I always give her props because I would not have had this career without her. She has been incredible to me. She took the job, and she would became the head of design, and it was 2008. So what was happening in retail was that we were seeing that consumers were facing the recession. And that company needed a creative leader that was going to come in and really be rethinking the design process because the product assortment that they had was very targeted to a specific audience. And what I will say is probably one of the greatest lessons that I learned from Marie, is that forecasting and thinking about trend is not limited to the product itself. It is really so rooted in storytelling. It's so rooted in what the consumer mindset is, it's so rooted in the Zeitgeist and what's happening around and all of those factors have to be considered before we can even start saying it's all about sparkle, it's all about this. And naturally, you're you're able to drive to what the trends will be if you're really considering those factors. So when she came into the design office, I joined her and I was able to have a front row seat to be part of the building of a an accessories concept store. So in 2008, what we learned was that the consumer was turning into a trade down customer, if they were used just shopping at a certain level, they were now going into the level of stores below that, because they just didn't have the same spend that they had previous to the recession. So the target of this store was to find consumers that would normally not shop at our parents store, but that we're looking for that price point and we were going to deliver accessories to them that were of the moment and trend but at a really fantastic price point. So I learned how to build a brand I learned how to To be reactionary to changes in the market, I learned how to build product build assortments, it was really a 360 of coming in and doing everything from trend and concept all the way through to reviewing sales, it was a complete Crash Course, but also a full education in retail from front to back. From there, I also went on to work at a department store group working in private label. Here's another crossover with Karen. There, I was a first the director of concepts and color, but later became the director of footwear accessories, and intimate apparel, which always are like the three fancy things that end up going together in whatever retailer you're in. We built a really prolific private label program with a fashion point of view, as well as the commodity programs for those retailers. So

Unknown:

I had the benefit from before learning how to react to the customer learning how to chain react to changes in the market, I look at trends very differently than really any other trend forecaster, I would say, especially the major agencies that are out there is a very commercial point of view and the way that I approach it, and I will explain the trends and why they're happening, how long I think they'll go on. And I'll really pick the key tenants that are driving them. So it can we built these really beautiful private label programs across both the commodity as well as a fashion point of view. And then in 2018, this is where my accessories counsel story begins. I was overseeing handbags, I was overseeing footwear, it was a very, very large multi million dollar program. And Karen and I were connected because she was bringing a team of designers and design leaders to India to explore production out of India, moving from China because of the tariffs. And she was really reaching out to a broad group of smaller designers, larger retailers. And I had the fortunate, you know, benefit of being able to join this trip. And it was such an amazing experience for me not only personally, but also to get this visibility to what the accessories Council does to live its purpose. So when we talk about or when Karen talks about the ability to not only be an activist for for all parts in all parts of our community and all different price points and members of the community, this is bringing together these groups that everyone has the same purpose, we want to sell more stuff. So we have to figure out a way to do it. So that was my first introduction with the council. I was invited to so many events and really just sort of a on the side sort of participant but then moving into 2020 Karen and I had lunch, I was heading to California, I said oh, you know, I'm probably going to be doing some shopping reports. Let me put something together for you. And by the time I came home a week later, the world had closed down. So it went from being a shopping report to being a full trend report that I was putting together. And then webinars were so new and everyone was so interested to join. I did a trend forecast for the accessories Council. And that really started a whole path of working more intimately under a more I would say organized title fashion director and then as we were discussing the magazine more and what we needed, I have joined as well as fashion director, and then it's been

Dondrill Glover:

and I love the fact that you move through the consumer lens very often, when we see trends in it's, you know, from Paris, and it's from Europe or from on the runway, there was a time where people were trying to figure out how can I tap into that? Can I afford that? Or how can I bring that style to me, for me, fashion has always been about high and low. I mean, I go to parties and burn up my credit card there. And then I run over to the gap and J Crew to get my jeans, you know, and just you know, I didn't so much compromise on shoes and shoes are really important. So I always stayed in a higher place with that, but all those other things. If not, I wouldn't have been able to do it all at Barneys or burger opera, or you know, and also work at Bendel's. And so, you know, our employee discount was pretty spectacular. So I got my cashmere because I'm bringing it from Italy. And so but I the fact that you bring it to the consumer lens and I've had the privilege of you know, seeing any of your trend reports and it's very relatable and people are inspired from that. To say in that Rome, I wanted to know how important was it you with before the relaunching of the magazine to creatively internalize the direction and the vision set forth and What inspires your approach to present that fashion lens?

Unknown:

One of the the mission that I have is to help the accessories community sort of trace the journey from the forecast that they see a year before, to the actual production of the magazine when it's when it's released to see how those trends have come into fruition and why and what that means. So, again, the big word that I love to say is storytelling, and how that begins to drive the entire product development cycle and why that's so critical for designers and product developers to think about that, because we're not just in this, I do think that COVID has become a major reset in the consumer mindset. And what we've been able to do is say, Okay, we're going to be more thoughtful in our purchasing, even at the beginning of the recording, you were talking about, consumers wants to be aligned with the brands that they're shopping from. So again, these ideas of thoughtful purchasing, conscious consumerism, so critically important, so think about where the consumers head might be, and what sort of stories or tenets are driving their purchases, not I just want something that's quick and trendy that I'm going to wear on Instagram or social media once and then never think about, again, we've we've been able to move past that, I think after leaving 2020. So when we're considering the product stories or editorials that we're going to have in the magazine, what I like to do is then drive it back to why this is happening, not just that it is happening. But what's the reason? So I think a an example that I would give is, we talked I want to say fall 2021 forecast, one of the big ideas that I had presented for the assessor's council was called fantasy in the everyday, and I have to tell you, that handle has really just I don't see it going anywhere, I love to just keep bringing it back and back. And the thought process that I had was that not only are we sort of served kind of coming out of this long period of being locked up and, and wanting to be present again in the world and be seen and be in a sort of a sort of social setting again and have that opportunity. But this idea that maybe we were just so driven by essential shopping, or that we were just so afraid to be optimistic or to be a little bit opulent. So everything was so controlled for so long. And now this idea of bringing a little bit of fantasy back, maybe the coast feels a little bit more clear that that would be driving the consumer mindset. So what would that mean? Maybe it means that we're still doing so much on Zoom, we're still doing so much on on the phones instead of in person. Maybe we need some really decorative hair accessories, because we do want to show that opulence and that optimism, but we are really still shoulders up. So that's what I mean when I say why are some things going to track wire some things may be going to have a little bit more life. How long does that look like? And I try to present all of that from the forecast all the way through to the editorials in the magazines. And I

Dondrill Glover:

want to remind them for audience for those who might have missed a Jessica's latest New York now presentation, high impact trends for fall 2021 and beyond. It's on demand. And I must see for buyers and retailers. I'll be sure to share links and today's closing remarks. Just to shout that out. It was a fantastic presentation. Absolutely. As we know, the latest Fall issue has been released. I think it's simply fantastic. I actually adore this magazine. I am a magazine girl. I was thrilled back in the day when September hit your editorial presentation, the stories, the layout, the images are just they're really fantastic. And so I'd love to talk about what you both and what readers can expect in this issue and some of the contributions of other creative voices that they can find inside.

Unknown:

Yes, so this last issue had more unique content than any of them up to the point and I think that every issue we put out we try to raise the bar a bit higher. In our latest issue, you'll see photography by our creative director Andrew Egan. Throughout the story, he shot the cover he shot some of the hot Sox photos. He also shot the sparkles section in the front. And then we have a really kind of unique scarf presentation that was shot by a California based photographer Fred Segal and Fred not you know Fred Segal the store, the other Fred Segal at Grand Rapids reservations when he called and but no, he shot the scarf spread for us. And, you know, we we have a few rules for the magazine and one of them is that we're really not, you know, we're an accessory magazine. So if we want to put a sock on the cover there, you know there's a sock surprise and delight everyone with every issue and in fact, we are undoubtably going to be featuring more Fred's work. In the next issue, we have a very, very special plan under works, which I won't, I won't share quite yet except to say when the January issue comes out, we're doing something completely different. And, you know, we were already working on ideas for, you know, what Andrew might be shooting. Our next issue, though, is a special issue. It's the first one that we're doing that's event specific, and it's around our ACE awards. It happens to be the 25th anniversary of the ACE awards. So that contents a bit different because it's very much geared towards the honorees for the event. And so we also, you know, from the first issue where I either had to borrow content from other people or write it myself, for this issue, we have three guest writers, all of them who have contributed to past issues about we have Roxane Robinson, who used to write for Women's Wear Daily and now is freelance, She's based in Paris, we have Kathleen Beckett, who writes for many, you know, very well known, you know, newspapers and magazines. She wrote a few stories for us. And then we also get to feature the talent of Lynn Yeager, who wrote two stories for us. So we are using a few outside voices to help us tell the stories and you know, along with what I write, so you've got you get it makes it more interesting. Yeah, you don't have to pay for it. It's not. And you know, that's one of the things about being a not for profit we can do is offer the service to our members. You know, we have a newsletter that goes out every week with lots of information too. But the the the magazine is there for reading, shopping, consuming. And if even if you follow our newsletter, we put our editorial requests in our weekly newsletter. So most of Jessica's most everything that Jessica writes about, we cast a big net, and then I send it all back to her and she gets to kind of finalize what she likes and that we work with, you know, Andrew and the creative team to lay out the pages. So everybody's got a chance to be a part of it, whether you're a member or not.

Dondrill Glover:

I think it's I think that's wonderful. I'd love to talk about it, the upcoming ace awards. It's an absolute grand, black tie affair. I know that past honorees have included some of the most legendary, iconic and accomplished people and brands in the world. From Diane Von Furstenberg at Saks Fifth Avenue or mez, Bergdorf Goodman, Kerry Washington, take a banana, Calvin Klein, Nancy Gonzalez, Nordstroms Tracee, Ellis Ross, Jimmy Choo Valentino.

Unknown:

There are people that we haven't honored. But you know, you think about it, 25 years, it's the 25th anniversary, and we've had such remarkable guests and attendees and fun stories with this event. But you know, as we contemplated returning and what it was going to be like, it felt wrong to figure to honor people the way we had been honoring people. You know, we used to honor designer the year brand of the year and influencer and you know, our industry did some remarkable things over the last 18 months. So we decided this year instead of just honoring beautiful product and talent, that we would honor the beautiful hearts and contributions that the industry had made. So anybody who wins an award this year, is a hero in our eyes. And that means they either did something really cool or remarkable around COVID Relief around sustainability, general charity like commitment to just giving back and then Diversity, Equity and Inclusion So are winners. And the even cooler thing is as you look at their stories, most of them are doing all of it, you know that they have just really have beautiful, dense and beautiful and meaningful things. And so we celebrate that in the magazine and that's what we're going to celebrate on the second of November when we give out our 25th annual ace awards. It is at Cipriani and it is live in person. And we're really excited to have people back together. The award winners include brands like crocs, retailers, like the curate group or Shopbop. Yeah, Allen Edmonds, which is a USA made footwear company. We have Christian Siriano. West Gordon, who is the designer for Carolina Herrera, Laquan Smith, a woman named Karen show and Bart, she's the president of the NPD Group. And they all have amazing stories of what they did during you know, during last 18 months. So we get to tell those stories.

Dondrill Glover:

I mean, nothing like mission and purpose. This award, I mean, I have to ask, are there tickets left? I mean, who gets to come,

Unknown:

we get a who's boo. But okay, you know, it's a networking event. It's a press generating event. There's lots of faces there. But it's very, very true to the mission of the Council, which is making noise about the industry, our brands, getting people excited about the products before a key shopping season. So you know, purposely engineered to be a motivator for people, you know, recognizing our categories and our designers,

Dondrill Glover:

what that night is going to be like, with attendees and the honorees, I'm so excited to even be here talking about the 25th year celebration of the ACE awards. With that said, I'd love to talk about what can we look forward to, for the council in 2022.

Unknown:

We have some very big plans brewing for 2022 is that I will be able to share more in the coming weeks on. But you know, as an organization, we have also had to reinvent, you know it for many years, we were educators, we were, you know, membership base, and we raised, you know, our money to support the industry based on a few events. And, you know, what we learned during COVID Is that, you know, when that doesn't happen, and, you know, you need to have a healthier balance of how you, you know, where our operating money goes to, because all of our you know, we run a very lean machine, but our money goes right back into helping our membership, whether that's, you know, a lobby group or, you know, providing, you know, tools that it's, you know, the communication tools, the things that you need to just have a viable organization. So we're looking at, you know, different sources of revenue to help grow and expand what we do, you know, and all with the magazine in is part of that. So, you know, the magazine will be successful when more people know it's out there and more people read it. So we're, you know, we built it, it's our Field of Dreams. Now, we just need to get everybody to come and look at it accessories council.org You can sign up for our newsletter, the newsletters have the editorial requests in them. So if you look, if Jessica says, Karen, I want rainbows. Did you know

Dondrill Glover:

On the subject of rainbows, Jessica, I do want to ask, you know, is there any sort of like a little sneak peek that you can give us to trend mentions? Potentially coming in the AC magazine for 2022? Oh, sure.

Unknown:

I want to give a little shout out to probably my favorite editorial that I do in every issue which is called How to rewire it and it is about Yeah, you know, we were just we've been talking about sustainability a few times on the channel. cast. And I think that one thing we learned is that maybe we have beautiful things in our closets already. And we just need to think about how to rewire them or restyle them in a way that feels current to the season. So I always have an illustrator, join me and do illustrations. As we've discussed, I can't sketch myself. So Jacqueline Fox did our first two issues. And then Lisa Bayer did our second two issues, just really bringing a beautiful point of view in life to this idea of how we're rewiring in the current issue. It's about belts, can you imagine that no one wore a belt for maybe all of 2020, we moved through 2021, we're still really looking for comfort, where it's time to cinch it up and maybe look a little bit more tailored and put together. So looking forward to the belts having a large moment and fall 21 and beyond. And then as I mentioned, it's really continuing the story of previous forecasts, the design tenets that I've laid out for the season. So in the current issue, we're really talking about trends like dramatic gloves, which I think is really about having presence and being out in the world again, we're also still seeing that there's a lot of trends driven by comfort. So the idea of warm and fuzzy surfaces. And then I always think that there's a bit about security, we want to have that groundedness so a lot of platform and lug soles and all weather boots, I think that all of those are important. Going into the ACE issue. I love the opportunity to say that this is not your typical black tie season. If we learned anything from the Met Gala, the red carpet there anything goes but we're really seeing those design tenants come to life. You know, I think that she's the absolute Queen of the Met Gala. But Rihanna showing up in this gorgeous what I will call a sleeping bag, but with fine jewelry. And you know, just looking absolutely stunning. Yeah, and, you know, ASAP Rocky is with her. And he's wearing basically the same kind of garment. But it is a sustainable upcycled quilt that somebody found in a secondhand store. I don't know that story is really incredible to i If anyone hasn't read about it, you really should look it up. And future issues. I think we're just continuing to follow the path present. And if you listen to the New York now, recording that I did earlier, for this season, it's just talking about presence and wanting to be out in the world again, what kind of trends are we going to see we're going to be seeing so much rainbow. So if you have it, please send it in we're looking for for those rainbow items. This month, we're looking for bright, warm and bright colors we're looking for, you know, I'd say shoes that go clunk, because it's this idea of being present. So we're gonna see a lot of platform shoes, we're gonna be seeing a lot of heel heights and things like that. So all of those tenants that we're moving forward with, I think color and presidents are going to be the two key drivers over the next year. I do want to give a little plug to I had talked about this in one of our accessories, councils forecasts. But the idea that returning to the runways and seeing the Fashion Week's come back to life again in the different cities, such a an interesting point of view of compassion and humor in the fashion industry that I don't think we've seen before. So for example, this blend Thiago collaboration with The Simpsons, you know, really poking fun at ourselves as a fashion community and saying, and having a sense of humor about what it is that we do, we never see that especially from the French, the Parisian. In in also coming out of Paris, this idea of compassion and humanity, just the love for Albero baths, who's the creative director of of Lawn Fawn for so long. And then had just started his own brand AC factory and then passed away very suddenly from COVID complications and the show that was dedicated to him, I think really spoke to how, maybe historically, fashion has been very exclusionary, and it's been very, you know, only the top level of people, the top tier of people. But now we're really seeing that everybody wants to be welcomed in and I love this idea of humor, compassion, and it's really tying in today's rewards as well, this idea that we care about heroes, we care about our industry, and we care about people and we care a lot. So I

Dondrill Glover:

I definitely feel that those intentions are coming through and we're just seeing people that you know, during COVID, we saw local community really galvanize Yeah, come out in support, and raising their voices. This is important to me, and that we are all welcomed at the table. We all have something to contribute. So this conversation for me has been it's just been really wonderful learning more about the both of you, the organization. It's just truly been a pleasure. And I'd like to thank both of you for joining us today and like I said, couldn't be more excited about what VA supports. It's coming but the newest magazine issue there's so much to look forward to at the assessories Council and we will be watching and right along with you. So I really appreciate this. To connect with Jessica visit J Mr. trend.com. And follow us on Instagram at Jessica X rich to watch high impact trends for fall 2021 and beyond. Visit New York now.com. To connect with Karen and learn more about the assessories Council, the ACE awards and to ascribe to AC magazine, visit assessories council.org. And follow us on Instagram at assessories. Council. Thank you for listening to the New York now podcast. Make sure to tune in weekly for engaging and insightful conversations touching on the most relevant topics facing our community today is your gmail.com to learn more about our market and how you can join in all the conversation