OC Fashion Week connects digital and in-person fashion
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Fashion
Over the course of this weekend, various emerging and established fashion designers come together for Orange County’s fashion event of the year. At the Laguna Design Center, OC Fashion Week returns to the beach city for September 9, 10, and 11 for its annual fashion show.
Although Los Angeles is primarily known as California’s fashion capital, Orange County is a top contender when it comes to retail and shopping. The shopping destination, including havens such as luxury shopping destination South Coast Plaza, has surpassed Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive by 1.5 billion dollars. With 34 billion dollars spent in retail in the O.C., OC Fashion Week has become a integral time for the fashion industry.
At this year’s event, along with established designers and new up-and-comers; there’s quite a range of artists. FashionUnited talked with first-timer Ionica Moldovianu, showcasing her designs for her collection at the massive venue.
Moldovianu got her start in fashion a while ago, but launched her collection earlier in February this year. “People would tell me, ‘You’ve got to do something about your fashion,’ so I decided to end a 17-year career [in social work] that was very rewarding,” she told FashionUnited. “I just started to put all my work and energy into doing fashion.”
Her brand ranges from elegant, classic, and sophisticated designs but also has very wearable options. “It’s really important when I create something that it can be worn for different occasions,” she said. With a ready-to-wear style and a price point ranging from 400-1,500 dollars, her designs are appropriate for cocktail receptions, parties, and other events. Because of the higher price range, she aims to make her clothing designs versatile and appealing to many women.
Ionica Moldovianu shows collection as first time designer for OC Fashion Week
As she’s showing at OC Fashion Week for the first time, it’s an impressive venue to lock down as a designer. In the past, industry insiders that have attended OC Fashion Week include specialty department store Bloomingdale's, Made to Measure, and Raj manufacturing. There were also many designers at the event's Industry Night which took place Sept. 9 to discuss fashion and its changing ways. Fashion shows have always been about connecting retailers and buyers together in one place to help propel the fashion economy forward. However, the fashion industry has changed recently in terms of how fashion shows are done. With digital influencers taking over, it seems that fashion shows must work even harder to fulfill their goal.
The problem is something that Kathy Marino, president of OC Fashion Week and founder of Orange County Fashion Council, also sees. “I get the sense that with the stronger autonomy happening in retail commercialism and the independence of a new kind of booming entrepreneur independently grown with vast digital media within reach, we have developed an even greater need for fashion community and collaborations, one that provides multi-generational cross-promotions opportunities,” she told FashionUnited. OC Fashion Week still serves as a venue to bring together these opportunities and allow the fashion community to expand on a way that capitalizes on digital media instead of separately from it. “Not only does this growth means that it allows for more cost-effective media exposure while giving an independent voice to persons personified as 'media status influencer' be it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or [whichever] their platform of voice maybe but also as way to finally create that direct-response sale that every brick and mortar or online store aspire for,” she said.
Marino confirms that over the years the fashion week has changed in certain ways. “We definitely have a more clever entrepreneur, smarter consumer, and intelligent buyer who is not only socially trackable [and influential] but is also digitally entertained with purchase buttons for quick gratification and customer [satisfaction],” she told FashionUnited. This is where the “see-now-buy-now” fashion trend has started to take over in other fashion weeks including New York Fashion Week. “They are stylish decision makers, and if they are new to buying, they’re a digital shopper who’s time is more valuable than ever because they can do more in a single app in a blink of a flash.”
Photos: OC Fashion Week / Ionica Moldovianu