16TH COLONY - SUMMERSALE

Happy long weekend, guys!

I know I'm definitely ready for it. Crossing my fingers that I'll be able to squeeze in an hour at the beach - wish me luck.

Anyway, there's a sale happening on select 16th Colony pieces right now. If you've been eyeing a poncho, now is the time to snag one. Sale runs through the weekend until 9/1. At checkout, just enter SUMMERSALE and then you're good to go! Head on over to the site, here.

BLYTHE FILMS: SEARCH FOR SANITY

Last month, I filmed for the brand Search For Sanity.

The video shot was the behind-the-scenes of their Fall 2014 collection. They just launched it on their site - check it out here. The concept is uptown/downtown - the kind of girl looking to dress for day to night. This was a fun one to film because I got to play with a little bit a of a different style, little more movement and also editing the vid as black and white.

HIGH IN THE SKYE

I finally returned from my week long stint in Las Vegas.

I went out for a portion of the week as a guest speaker for Stitch Factory - definitely more on that experience later. And the last part of the week was spent filming the behind-the-scenes set up with ENK Women's.



The weeks leading up to this have been absolutely insane. I mean, it's blowing my mind how much things are ramping up and how many things there are to take care of. I finished shipping out 16th Colony orders to stockists, edited a client video, along with prepping for the Vegas week and wrapping up my speech/presentation.

Unfortunately, I did get a little under the weather for a couple days. I'm realizing that 6 weeks of very, very little sleep catches up. So I'm becoming really fond of those green juice drinks to stay on top of being healthy. My new obsession for sure.

On a high note, I found time in last week's schedule to wear pretty Flynn Skye dresses and frolic around town and the rooftop of the Ogden where I was staying.



Coming up next, I'll fill you in on all the deets of the trip.

Dress - Flynn Skye

16th COLONY : MYSTIC SPIRIT

I'm beyond excited to announce the release of my latest collection, Mystic Spirit.

It's been a long time in the making and it's always so hard for me to keep the new collections under wraps before the release date. I just get really excited, but it's finally here. Every season I'm really amazed by the feeling of seeing my designs come to life. The intense hours that go into a season is indescribable but in the end, so worth it. Admittedly, there are some stressful moments but even during those times I literally think to myself that, I'm so happy I took the risk two years ago and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, doing anything differently.

Mystic Spirit really channels a mysterious and moody vibe and the pieces are designed to reflect a certain artistic expression. I used fabrics and trims that are bold, yet soft to the touch. If you want to see the entire lookbook, check it out at the 16th Colony site.

FASHION ACCELERATOR 360

Recently, I had a great opportunity to take a FA360 course.

So, here's a little rundown, Fashion Accelerator 360 is a site that offers online courses for the fashion and lifestyle industries and are all instructed by established experts. There's several 4-week classes to pick from like 'Social Media 101', 'The Business of Blogging' and 'Branding A-Z', just to name a few. I chose to take 'Launch Your Line' taught by Lisa Deyrmenjian.

I graduated from FIDM with a major in Fashion Design and it was a great school in terms of learning the fundamentals of design. But I've learned a lot since completing college and immersing myself in the industry and because of that, I really believe that you can never stop perfecting your craft - especially if you're looking to grow and move forward within your field.

So I was really grateful when I was offered to take a course with FA360 and in fact, it came at the perfect time for me. With the steady growth of 16th Colony I've been needing to scale things up a bit with sourcing and manufacturing. In my previous jobs, my role was to solely focus on designing while other steps of production were already taken care of. So when it came time to start finding my own factories and stuff, you can probably imagine how daunting that all seemed. I wasn't really sure where to start.



The Launch Your Line course was really interesting and informative. There were also a lot of things discussed throughout the 4 weeks that I was already implementing in my brand. A few things that we covered, I'd learned previously, but I'd decided to go against the grain in some ways purposely since the beginning of 16th Colony. But there were truly a lot of details I needed to learn in order to overcome some of the hurdles I was experiencing while growing my business. Hands down Liza knows her stuff, inside and out - she knows this business so incredibly well, is full of ideas and a wealth of industry knowledge. She has the experience to back it up too - Liza started her first factory at the age of 19 and produced a line of her own.

This course in particular, focuses heavily on what it takes to start a line - things like sourcing fabrics and contractors, design, costing and planning your line and marketing/selling to stockists. And like I mentioned, they have several other fashion related courses that are great for not only designers but bloggers, publicists and entrepreneurs as well.

The next 'Launch Your Line' class starting in late September. Feel free to wander on over to the FA360 site and check it out for yourself.

CATCHING UP

Hey, hey. I know that usually I do a post the first of each month with 'Iphone Only Photos', but this time I decided to give an entire briefing of the month of July since things have been crazier than ever. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to blog everything in individual posts.

But I'm going to fill you in - so, here goes. The new 16th Colony collection, Mystic Spirit, is releasing in just a few days. I've been working on all the finishing touches to this - cutting, making sure production is in place, tagging garments, you name it.

The new Rumours Poncho

We're also going to be carried in more stores! The growth of 16C is really amping up, which means I'm constantly figuring out ways to keep up with that and it's been super exciting.

Fox and Moon, Long Beach

Also, 16th Colony will be showing at Unique LA again this Summer. This time it's held Downtown Los Angeles and I'll be sharing a booth with my girl Bri, designer of Briana Rene. It's coming up next weekend, so if you're in the area come by, check it out and say hi.



I've been taking a lot of meetings, and luckily at some pretty awesome spots. Anyway, it's been for everything from production, collaborations to client meetings. All during a month of banning coffee. Yikes.

Gypsy Den, Costa Mesa

Urth Cafe, East LA

Lemonade, Venice Beach

Then, of course I hit up Agenda as usual but I also attended a really great event for Entrepreneurial Women, which was hosted by General Assembly and No Subject located at One Santa Fe in LA. It was basically a panel of women who are kicking ass at their businesses and they shared their stories.

Agenda, Long Beach - Duh

Women In Business Event

Oh yeah, and I also had the honor of guest speaking at Saddleback College. I was invited to talk about my journey and how I starated 16th Colony from the ground up. I basically hit topics and points that have inspired me along the way and have kept me moving forward. It was really great to be able to share some of those experiences with students.

In fact, I'm actually really excited because I'll be doing some more guest speaking later this month in Las Vegas. But I'll get more into that later - stay tuned.



I spent a lot of time filming last month for clients like Willow & Clay and Search for Sanity. One of the locations was out in Joshua Tree, which I'm absolutely in love with. Anyway, I'll share the vids once they're released.



I snuck in an extra mini photoshoot for 16th Colony as well...

PS - This is what it looks like when you're short and stand in for your model to get a test shot.

I also made a solo road trip out to Arizona for a few days to visit my family and, of course, my best friend. While I was there, I was really crossing my fingers for a major Monsoon and it happened. It was such a crazy, incredible storm. I sat out on the back patio for a while playing with slow exposure on my camera and hoping for a shot of lightening.

Got it.

Chillin' in a beautiful Flynn Skye top.

Okay and finally, I've also been filming a bunch for Hanger Shortage as well - so get ready. I shot Style Interviews with Haley Solar, the designer of Junim and with Amber Farr, designer of Flynn Skye. They're both such talented women and I'm looking forward to launching those videos within the next couple months. I also shot a little behind-the-scenes video for OC Style Report, which I'll have on the blog sometime soon.

On location at the Junim Design Studio.

On location at Amber Farr's home.

Filming a photoshoot with the girls of OC Style Report.

Anyway, now you're in the know and I'll keep it that way by posting more soon.