The Business of Fashion

Wow. What a past week here at The Chicago Fashion Incubator (CFI)...

On May 11th our Designers in Residence (DIR) learned all about costing their garments. Costing is obviously essential to any great design business, but not valuing products correctly seems to be the biggest mistake that all new designers make. Thanks to the amazing Kathy Chrucky the designers have been hard at work breaking down their pricing structures.

On May 13th the DIR had their second Marketing Planning session with the incredible Ken Walter. SWOT analysis, competitive analysis, and target market psychographics are just a few of the great exercises the designers have been working on.

Today the DIR and I headed over to ORBA to learn all about Quickbooks - a near perfect tool for any small business, especially for a new designer to manage their accounting.

Ahhhhhh. Just another week here at CFI!

WELCOME ANNA!!

The Chicago Fashion Incubator would like to welcome Anna Hovet as a designer in residence for the 2009 - 2010 class. Anna will be taking the place of Alonzo Jackson whose line, Fashion Geek, has enjoyed enormous success in the past several months. With a solid business support structure in place, the Incubator board agreed that they could best support Alonzo externally and on an as-needed basis, making room for a designer who was at a more crucial stage in their career. Please find Anna's bio below.

Anna Hovet

With a passion to add beautiful and interesting things to the world, Anna Hovet moved from North Dakota to Chicago in 2003. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she earned her BFA with a focus in design.

Anna’s determination to be a well-rounded designer led her to Chicago’s well-known store Akira, where she worked as a stylist and fashion show coordinator while in college. After graduating, she was hired by Kids Headquarters where she designed layette for Ecko, Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole, and Target.

Anna is currently launching her first full collection – Anna Hovet Fall 2009 for women, and developing her newest concept – Hovet for men. She is also selling custom-made pieces to individual clients and at a local boutique.

Beyond designing, she freelances as a stylist and frequents art, music, fashion, and social events to evaluate developing trends and anticipate their usability.

www.annahovet.com