Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 11:31PM AF Admin We would like to thank our wonderful audience for participating in the Q&A and providing great feedback to the presenters.
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 8:41PM AF Admin Transforming San Francisco into the Fashion Technology Capital of the World
May 8, 2012 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom, Merchant’s Exchange
Photos by Lambert Li Photography
The panelists.
San Francisco, CA. The much anticipated third bi-monthly Ahead of the Fashion event on May 8th provided another successful program at the intersection of technology and fashion. Over 300 entrepreneurs, angel investors, VCs, bloggers, members of the press, photographers, fashion designers, models, makeup artists, hairstylists, fashion and business students filled the magnificent halls of the Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday night. The vision of Ahead of the Fashion is to turn San Francisco into the Fashion Technology Capital of the World. Since its inaugural January 10th event, over 1,000 attendees have participated in the AF events to date.
The MC.
The panelists were nothing short of the ordinary – Enrico Beltramini, Co-Founder of AF and former Board Director of GUCCI; Will Young, Director - San Francisco at Zappos.com ; Joan Barnes, Founder of Gymboree and Yoga Studios; Gower Smith, Founder & Co-Chairman of Zoom Systems; and Barry Gilbert, former SVP of Warner Bros. Studio Stores, former CEO of Smith & Hawken, and former President of The Sharper Image . Paul Weiss, Principal at Panthera Leasing and an active angel investor and an advisor, was the MC extraordinaire of the night, and Sonja Markova, Co-Founder of AF and Managing Director of Keiretsu Forum, was the host.
The first set of presentations were from six fashion technology startups. The presenters travelled across the globe to present at this unique program combining technology and fashion: from Southern California aka Silicon Beach, China, Boston, Israel, Canada, and San Francisco. The most consistent question posed throughout the night was, “What makes you different?” The panel asked almost every single entrepreneur that question.
Brian Meert and Kristina Moreno of Handbago.com, the premiere shopping resource and online destination dedicated to all things handbags.
Fiona Huang and Luca Toscani of MIXR, a social shopping platform that intertwines a virtual and real community of China’s style-curious.
Vishaal Melwani of Combatant Gentlemen,an e-commerce corporate menswear brand with a direct-to-consumer model that offers edgy, ultra-modern corporate essential designs for the budget-conscious, yet highly motivated male.
Ramsay Hoguet of DesignIn, Inc, a visual search engine that connects consumers with fashion and home décor products that match items in their wardrobe, the décor in their homes and their personal style.
Gal Rozov of Fold4me Ltd., developing FoldiMate™ the world's first automated folding machine suitable for clothing stores and commercial laundries. Soon in every household too!
Tom Lam & Jon Lam of StyleYou, which helps users catalog their clothes into a mobile app, which then gives them professionally styled outfit recommendations with their own clothes, on an image of them. It also provides a completely new shopping experience - seeing retailer items composed into an outfit with your own wardrobe.
Then, Brad Carrick, an AF sponsor and supporter since the beginning, presented SOLZ, Inc. SOLZ provides uniquely fashionable products which meet the rapidly growing demand of women and men for distinctive shoes and accessories that identify them with, and actually enhance their enjoyment of, an active, leisurely lifestyle.
Four fashion shows followed thereafter.
Jacyn Siebert, a fashion blogger and social media professional, introduced the designers.
The winner of the March 6th AF event Founder and Designer Wen Guo of BODITECTURE was the first on the runway. BODITECTURE is a convertible fashion line in which each design has surprising element of transformation in styles with different devices. The second designer was Christopher Collins™, a women's contemporary sportswear brand for the modern woman to “feel beautiful, fresh, natural and new" with effortless elegance. Christopher Collins is a Project Runway Season 8 finalist. Next were Alina Gorbaty and Laura Webb of Ragabond. Born in the heart of the Mission District of San Francisco, the Ragabond clothing line specializes in topshelf vintage and upcycled vintage as well as handmade threads. The final designer, Vasily Vein, Founder of Vasily Vein Art Design, wowed the crowd with his women’s Hi Fashion designs, from casual wear to red carpet exclusive gowns.
Combatant Gentlemen and Christopher Collins™ shared first place and Vasily Vein was the runner up.
The event partners included: the Churchill Club, the Demo Coach, Electronic Financial Officer, Enhanced Stage and Lighting, the Entrepreneurs Club, M Industrial Design, Smart Water, Trendy Lime, Verdona Models, and WebWallFlower Events.
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 11:14PM AF Admin 
Born in the heart of the Mission District of San Francisco, upcycled vintage meets hand-crafted DIY. The Ragabond clothing line specializes in topshelf vintage and upcycled vintage as well as handmade threads. Our pieces are selectively sourced from all over the country. We scour through tons of clothing to find the most original, rare and authentic items we can. However, this is only the initial phase in the whole process of Ragabond productions. Each piece is carefully inspected and then revamped to meet the highest standard of style, quality, and originality. We put a great deal of love and care into our collections so that each piece retains a timeless value.
Friday, May 4, 2012 at 8:22PM AF Admin 
Interview by Jenny Ortiz
Q: How did you decide that you wanted to become a designer?
A: Being a designer has always been part of me. I liked to sew when I was young and was always inspired by art and creating things.
Q: What matters to you most as a fashion designer?
A: What matters most is that my work encourages a woman to highlight her own strength. Its important that the clothing echo's her spirit and mind. Authenticity is key.
Q: Where do you get your design inspiration?
A: My inspiration comes from feeling, from culture, art, and from nature. I love to travel because people fascinate me; the way they walk, talk, enjoy themselves, present themselves, and the way I feel being around them. This all can translate into a mood, which then becomes the essence of a collection.
Q: How do you intend women to feel when wearing Christopher Collins labeled clothing?
A: I want her to feel Powerful and Beautiful.
Q: Where do you see yourself in a 5 years from now?
A: I see myself with a nationally recognized, multi-million dollar business by selling to major department stores, boutiques, and online social media networks.
Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 8:09PM AF Admin 
With the popularity of the hit series, Mad Men, a high powered, well tailored executive male is on trend. Combatant Gentleman, a company based out of L.A., is to present at the next Ahead of the Fashion event, Tuesday, May 8th. We got up close and personal to see who their consumers are and what this brand is all about. Bringing corporate clothing direct to their budget-conscious consumers, Combatant Gentleman helps their clientele, known as the CG-Army, save cash for scotch and martinis with the men. We asked them what the Combatant Gentleman is concerned with. Their answer? What every male is concerned with, Quality. Fit. Value.
Who is the Combatant Gentleman? A young professional on the fast track to success. Like Arjun Dev Arora, the CEO and Founder of the internet advertising firm Retargeter.
Quality. All of our shirts use single needle detailing: From the placket to the yoke seams, the entire shirt has been hand cut and sewn to ensure durability and, most importantly, size consistency. Typically many would see similar style stitching, but with a lack of consistency in the look. This is usually the mark of mass produced items, which lack in personal touch and down right quality. Mass production sewing houses that have crucial crunch times try to mimic the classic way of shirt making, but will never achieve the consistency of a hand assembled garment. Our way of shirt engineering is and always will be focused on quality all around. From the cloth to the machine it is sewn on, nothing is left unnoticed.
Fit. All of our shirts were conceived through the use of a handmade pattern to instill perfection in terms of its fit. Fit and form are key to the success of any garment, our shirts are no different. Therefore, we decided to hand cut all of our patterns locally in-house within our Los Angeles facilities. For this reason, we were able to achieve the level of accuracy in terms of give, extra room, and durability. We take this exact step with each and every one of our garments and we’d hope that our Gents would expect nothing less.
Value. All of our shirts have been built with durability and multi-purpose use in mind: Whilst building our garment catalog, our CG Army were the first on our minds; hence, we made stylized fit and longevity #1 in our books! We wanted to make sure that every piece we produced stood the test of time so as an absolute must, we added a couple of really cool features like invisible collar stays and reinforced button stitching. These features alongside our high quality yarn count shirting cloth make for an excellent garment that will be a guaranteed repeat in your closet for years to come!
