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STEP 3: HOW TO APPROACH THE FASHION SHOW
Approach 1 – Outsource it to a department store
To see what our fun and fabulous shows look like, click here.
The Fashion Chair must manage the relationship with the store. She can't just hand it over and expect them to show up on game day.
Check with all department stores in your community. We've worked with the gamut from Belks and Dillards to Saks and Neimans.
All department stores will be doing the show purely for what's in it for them, for example, marketing and sales.
What’s your demographic? This impacts which stores will be interested.
Stores work with clients. Hence, they are most likely to say yes to the best customers. Find out if you have any on your committee. Who are the big names supporting your event and charity? Are they clients? Can you bring them in to ask?
When you make your pitch for partnership, lead with what’s in it for them.
Is there a sales opportunity for them at the event? Can you bring a group of 30 – 50 people in a couple of weeks before the event for a VIP shopping evening? It’s all about who you know…
Saks and Neimans have done several shows. They do great work; however, in order to enroll them you must have the right audience, and the right local person asking. (We can't enlist them for you.)
Their response is entirely based on who’s asking and if they see the marketing value for themselves. They respond to good customers and groups they know will have their target audience in attendance.
Both Saks and Neimans have strict requirements for lighting, staging and sound that can get very expensive.
Other expenses include models, hair and security for the merchandise.
How these expenses get divided up between the charity and the store all depends on your relationship with them and what they feel they will get out of the event. In the couple of dozen times charities have worked with them, we’ve seen them run the gamut from paying for nothing to everything.
Make-up usually is handled by one particular line that is carried in the store and the make-up artists who work for that line. (Chanel is the most common.) The line is then represented in the department store’s “booth” in the marketplace. This allows them to sell cosmetics and help cover the cost of providing the make-up artists
Other department stores will work in a similar way but are usually more lenient about professional vs. community models and expenses.
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