The Four Fashion Capitals of the World

As with many things, location is a key factor in the success or failure of a model. Proximity to jobs means you can get there faster and cheaper, and in the fast moving fashion industry, quick turnaround is often a deal breaker. You should always put yourself where the action is. As a general rule, big cities offer many more opportunities than smaller places, as the clients and agencies are concentrated there.

There are four major fashion capitals in the world: London, Milan, New York and Paris.

London

London has a long history as a trendsetter and leader in world fashion, and in recent years has been named as the number 1 fashion capital of the world thanks to the ascendency of Kate Middleton and the London Olympics. The vast majority of the international modelling agencies have their main UK offices in London and it is the base for hundreds of fashion photography studios and the supporting teams, including the best photographers for glossy magazines.

London’s fashion hub is located in Soho, in the centre of the city between Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus. This area is full of trendy shops and bars and has a bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The major modelling agencies are mostly based in Central London, around South Kensington and Leicester Square, including: Elite, Storm, Premier Model Management, Models 1, BMA Models and Next Models.

Milan

In 2009 Milan was declared the top economic and media capital of fashion. There are a great many world famous Italian fashion brands which have their main headquarters located in the city, including: Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Prada, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana. Milan Fashion Week is held twice a year and is one of the Holy Grails for catwalk models.

New York

The only recognised fashion capital outside of Europe, New York is a metropolitan city that never sleeps and is home to the cutting edge of innovation is style and culture. New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009 is held in February and September every year – and was originally the first ever fashion ‘week’.

Paris

Paris has a long standing history as a centre of art and fashion and is home to several prestigious fashion houses. It is known for the classic timeless elegance of the designs that are born there. It has an up market high fashion shopping district where all the most exclusive labels can be found.

Why Digital Marketing Is Important For A Startup Business

A startup business lacks big budgets for advertising purposes. On the other hand, they don’t have the resources as well. Hence, these businesses find it difficult to compete against the big boys in the industry. In fact, a startup has only big ideas and hard work to compete with the big businesses in the niche. A small business needs to compete for space in a sector where new companies are launched almost on a daily basis – which means a startup business has to undergo so many obstacles to carve out a niche of their own. In fact, they need to tackle all these challenges to succeed in the market.

The constantly changing behaviour of the customer also needs to be taken into consideration when operating a startup. If not, it is difficult to deliver what the target audience is expecting from your business. In fact, a startup business needs to survive in a market where some players spend millions of dollars on marketing their products and services. Being a startup among millions of other startups is not a pleasing situation at all. That is where digital marketing comes in handy. It helps a startup business make its presence felt in a highly competitive marketing environment. With the presence of the internet, a shoestring budget won’t prevent a startup business from realizing its goals and objectives in the long run.

Since startups don’t have the budget to implement traditional marketing campaigns, they have no other option but to leverage digital marketing to their advantage. In fact, digital marketing comprises of four major techniques such as SEO, PPC, Reputation Management, and Ad Display. The most important benefit of digital marketing is the traffic increase and online exposure that a startup business gets. It helps a startup build a strong relationship with its customer base and improve the brand in the process – which means a startup brand is spread across the internet at an extremely affordable cost.

Digital marketing helps a new business set up a two-way communication with its customer base. The marketing campaign is planned so that the branding message reaches a wide sector of users on the internet. You can use both paid and organic marketing methods to meet the short and long-term goals of your startup business effortlessly. Digital marketing differs from single-channel traditional marketing due to its impacts reaching multiple channels in quick time. This is achieved by capitalizing on the latest technology of automation. All actions taken in this regard is well-coordinated and personalized compared to the traditional marketing methods.

A reliable digital marketing team will help promote your brand across multiple digital platforms to take your brand to the next level in a short period. Digital marketing methods such as social, mobile, content marketing, and email marketing help a business understands their customers better. With measurable results to easily gauge the success or failure of a campaign, a startup can easily amend the strategies they use to improve the chances of success and reduce the chances of failure. That is why digital marketing is considered one of the best marketing strategies for a startups.

How Do You Grow a Garden?

‘Gardens are a form of autobiography.’ ~Sydney Eddison, Horticulture magazine, August/September 1993.

I read this quote the other day, and it couldn’t have been more appropriate to me at the time! Having just returned from spending four glorious days in Chicago doing the clinical study for my Graduate Certificate in Horticulture Therapy from Kansas State University, I had the opportunity to explore the uniqueness of many different varieties of gardens, each telling its own story through its distinctive style and personality!

I saw rose gardens, vegetable gardens, roof top gardens, enabling gardens, self-contained ‘earth box’ gardens, and a Japanese garden! The enabling garden was very special, as it was built specifically to accommodate those with disabilities. The gardening beds are built higher off the ground for gardeners in wheelchairs. Every person who visits the enabling garden has their own unique experience, no matter what their handicap or disability may be. They are all able to enjoy the garden in their own unique way.

My fellow students and I helped lead a game for a group of five-year-olds in the enabling garden. This garden has textured plants specifically for the visually impaired. These plants have endearing nicknames like ‘lamb’s ear’ and ‘bunny’s tail’ and the plants actually feel like their namesakes. You should have seen the excitement on the children’s faces as they explored and wandered through the gardens touching each plant along the way!

The Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital has the most beautiful roof top garden with a waterway running through it! This garden is used for horticulture therapy with the patients. And at the Chicago Botanic Garden the living walls were abundant! Living walls feature high vertical structures blooming with the most colorful flowers, vegetables and plants you have ever seen!

We also visited Cook County Boot Camp that is a boot camp for first time felony offenders. These gentlemen tend large vegetable and fruit gardens. The gardens provide food for the boot camp kitchen and the food is also sold at the local farmer’s market. So many of these men have never eaten the vegetables and fruits they grow. This offers a life changing experience, a sense of accomplishment, and vocational training for inner city males who have been accustomed to getting their fruits and vegetables from a plastic containers!

My experience in Chicago left me feeling connected with many people from many different walks of life. And the common thread bringing us all together was the garden. Not just one garden, but a variety of many diverse gardens. I believe that gardens, like people, come in many different shapes and sizes, each one as unique and distinctive as the gardener that nurtures it!

Gardens speak to us on so many different levels. They allow us to appreciate and embrace the differences and diversity in our lives and celebrate our similarities as well. It really doesn’t matter what type of garden you have, whether it is a rose garden, a vegetable garden or a roof top garden! We are all connected and yet unique, and the garden is a way for us to express and honor that individuality. It is a way to write our own autobiography!

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