The Nolcha Fashion Business Conference is a conference centering on independent fashion, created especially for independent fashion designers and retailers.

It’s an all day event that will be held on May 10, 2010 and consists of informative panels and discussions that focus on issues key to success in independent fashion.

The conference will focus on the topics of imaging, branding, manufacturing, sourcing, virtual worlds, social networks, retail, and finance and includes a buffet lunch and cocktail reception.

Featured speakers include:

• Long Nguyen (Fashion Director, Flaunt Magazine)
• Rick Weinstein (Director of Sales/Marketing, Searle NYC)
• Jennifer Evans (President, Evans Group International)
• Susan Power (Founder, About Sources)
• Yuli Ziv (Co-Founder, My It Things)
• and Michael Rabin (Sales, Datafashion)

The early bird ticket is $135, and you can register here.

Conference Schedule

8:45am: Registration opens

9:30am:  Imaging and Branding – Image is everything and with that said… from the initial image that launches your collection all of the way to the seasonal updates, a fashion brand needs a path. Learn from the experts who will tell you everything from what colors mean to the consumer, what fonts really say and how important is a unique logo.

11:00am:  Manufacturing and Sourcing - Where do you turn when starting your collection? How do you grow when your orders get bigger? What are the pros and cons of sourcing internationally? How do I create a proper tech pack for my manufacturer? All of these questions will be answered as well as how to find pattern makers, seamstresses and a one stop shop for production.

12:30am: Virtual Worlds and Social Networks – A new institution in the fashion community, virtual goods have become a $100 million business per day. Learn how fashion fits into the equation with 3D modeling, virtual runway shows and virtual fashion pieces that can not only save money, but make money. Also learn about how social networks fit into virtual worlds as an additional marketing tool for your independent business.

2:00pm: Buffet lunch provided by Nolcha

3:00pm: Retail - Buyers and showroom representatives discuss what they expect from designers in terms of numbers of sku’s, linesheets, lookbooks and how to approach a buyer/showroom with your collection.

4:30pm: Finance presented by NYC Business Solutions and M & T Bank- From bank cards, to lines of credit to loans, factoring, purchase order funding and merchant cash advances.

6:15pm: Cocktail reception