#Geeksnacks: online learning series and tips to help your fashion brand

Buenos Aires – The Argentinean Camila Straschnoy, fashion business consultant, trend researcher and professor at IED Barcelona and Istituto Marangoni Miami, created a free online learning series to support brands through this time of crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

FashionUnited had the opportunity to talk with her about the project and gave some tips that could be useful for those entrepreneurs interested in obtaining tools to cope with the difficult global situation.

#Geeksnacks

Within the framework of the online meetings that Latin American Fashion Summit has been offering in the last months, Straschnoy was called to give the talk "Redefining your why" that has to do with the purpose of the companies and why it is important to have a reason to be in these times. "The talk was very successful and I received feedback from many people who told me that they were inspired by my positive but realistic vision. This made me think that I had to be able to reach more people and I decided to make my first IGTV under the title of #Geeksnacks to share a little of these concepts," says Straschnoy.

That was the beginning of a series of videos with useful tips for brands that were just beginning to face the crisis unleashed by the pandemic. Little by little, more chapters were added: "I first created six videos, but I noticed that people were interested in more than just an IGTV, so I transformed it into something else. I don't like to call it a course because I think a course requires academic rigor with a more armed structure and all this was given more spontaneously. So I called it a learning series. The videos are available along with a workbook to put into practice the concepts Straschnoy talks about in his virtual presentations.”

To develop this series, Christina Bifano, a researcher from Boston who lives in Barcelona and works as a coordinator at IED, provided advice for the development of this project.

Fashion, trends and business

The series is divided into six modules: "Defining your purpose during disruptive times", "Online messaging during and after COVID-19", "Trend Forecasting Basic Concepts", "A Reflection On Post Covid-19 Trends", "Post-Pandemic Design Trends" and "Understanding your new consumer profile”.

In the videos Straschnoy explains the concepts and examples of concrete cases and various situations that many brands go through. "I realised that there were difficulties in communicating. Some firms didn't know what to do, they were in disarray and there were some that kept doing the same old thing as if nothing had happened”. As a result, in the second video she mentions five issues to consider in communication: Physical distance is not emotional distance, when the goal is to sustain connection with your audience. Another one refers to good vibes and keeping consumers in a good mood; one about mental health: "We must not forget that our consumers are locked in their homes with anguish, stress, fear, etc." Straschnoy also talks about escapism and how to align the mark with reality according to their DNA. And finally, celebrating working from home, for example, by showing ambassadors and influencers doing their homework at home.

In terms of trends, Straschnoy defines the outbreak of the pandemic as a trigger or accelerator. "It's something that happens and triggers consumption trends that we were already prepared to adopt. For example, digital penetration as a result of need. Having to survive as a company forced many people, especially in Latin America, to sell online. The digital solutions to work from home, to show fashion shows, to sell clothes virtually is not that they were not there before, but Covid-19 accelerated them.”

"I believe that for now brands that will win are those that can offer essential, minimalistic, simple and good quality clothes, but with their stamp, with their DNA. Now fashion is going to go for outfits for working from home, comfort, timelessness and dressing from the waist up for online meetings. Also, go for local consumption by closing borders and the feeling of unity to support what is close. In addition, technology is going to have a lot of influence on fashion," Straschnoy says.

The series will be available in English for six months on https://camilastraschnoy.teachable.com/p/geeksnacks.

Images: Camila Straschnoy, Aldo Decaniz, Steven Sierra, Jeff Walton