Fashion Muse - Rachel Bilson

Bilson in Roberto Cavalli

Rachel Bilson's style has come a long way since playing Summer Roberts on TV drama series the OC. A fashion inspiration on and off the red carpet, Bilson's ability to look just as good in boyfriend jeans as she does in couture, has seen her become a front row regular at fashion shows around the world. As well as acting and directing, Bilson has collaborated with various fashion companies to create her own collections. In 2007, she worked with DKNY to create a clothing range called Edie Rose. The collection was launched in September 2008 with the focus on black and white pieces with splashes of yellow. The line was made accessible to consumers, with each piece under $100.

In April this year, Bilson teamed up with JewelMint to design a pair of earrings as part of their Celebrity Guest Curator Series. 50% of the proceeds from Bilson's designs were donated to charity.

In March this year, Bilson was shot by fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld in three short films for Magnum Ice Creams. Regularly seen in Chanel on the red carpet, Bilson is one of Lagerfeld's favourites to dress.

Generally seen in jeans and statement bags (Bilson favours Zac Posen and Derek Lam) off the red carpet, for special events Bilson steps up the glamour in Chanel, Roberto Cavalli and Zac Posen.

Check out some of Rachel's best looks below:

Images sourced from http://instyle.com, http://.teenvogue.com, http://zimbio.com, http://2threads.com, http://stylbistro.com

Information sourced from http://wikipedia.org

Shape The Range

Jess Hart in Nina Maya's
Power SHoulder Swarovski Mini

Nina Maya is a brave woman. In uncertain times, she has withdrawn her label from Myer stores and more than 50 boutiques to focus on building her online store, Nina Maya Emporium. 


Maya has become the first Australian designer to take advantage of "crowd-sourcing" or democratic design. Creating a sample range of 14 designs for her new Spring/Summer collection, Maya asked consumers to 'Shape The Range' by voting on their favourite piece. The top 10 went into production and will be available to purchase exclusively online in July. By selling the garments from her online store, reducing overheads, Maya is able to offer her pieces for around $260 each, 30% less than the regular retail price. 


The Derek Lam for eBay collection was an example of a similar campaign which was very successful. By putting power in the hands of the buyer, designers can make stronger collections and allow consumers to feel part of the design process, helping to build brand loyalty. Maya indicated that what consumers wanted was actually different to what shop owners had ordered. 

Maya has indicated that she wouldn't be stopping at letting her fans pick her range. Her next step is co-creation, i.e. allowing consumers to help shape her designs. Although she would maintain her design aesthetic, she has suggested there is room for consumers to have an input, particularly in relation to areas such as hem lengths and fabrics.


The Australian fashion industry needs more designers like Nina Maya who are willing to take risks and push the boundaries of marketing to help their brands stand out not only in a local market, but in an international one.

Check out the designs consumers were able to vote on:

Information sourced from http://stuff.co.nz and http://www.ragtrader.com.au/news/nina-maya-puts-collection-to-a-vote
Images courtesy of http://ninmaya.com/main.htm

Democratic Design

A term coined by the Wall Street Journal, “democratic design” represents the process of giving consumers the power to influence brands via the Internet. Traditionally, fashion editors and buyers have determined the styles that get produced, effectively acting as agents for consumers.

In a first for fashion, American designer Derek Lam has collaborated with eBay to produce a 16 piece collection which was voted on by consumers. The top 5 designs were chosen and revealed on 2 March 2011. These 5 designs will be produced and made available in sizes 0 to 16 for purchase on eBay on 10 May 2011. Emails were sent today to those who registered interest in the designs, to pre-order their dresses. Each piece will cost between $125 and $295. As with most designer collaborations, these price points are significantly cheaper than Lam’s primary line, which generally starts at $1,000.

The five winning designs from Lam's eBay collection.

What makes this project unique, is not only has Lam collaborated with a non-traditional retailer, but consumers have been actively involved in the process. In this case, the people that will be buying the products, have determined what will be available to the market.

Lam isn’t the only designer to take this approach. Levi’s is using its 2.7 million Facebook fans to choose their social media brand ambassador via Facebook. In a video recruitment contest called “Become the Next Levi’s Girl”, Facebook users can vote on youtube clips made by hopefully contenders. This isn’t the first time Levi’s have done this. They used the method successfully to find a Levi’s boy in early 2010. With the success of this campaign the Next Levi’s Girl campaign was rolled out late last year.

It seems amazing that this principle hasn’t been applied more frequently in the fashion industry. Who better to consult on designs than the people who will be shelling out their hard earned money to buy them. However, what does this mean for fashion editors and buyers? If this process takes off, could the middlemen be eliminated? Unlikey. Fashion editors and buyers have a level of expertise and access to consumer data, which means they still have a valuable role to play when determining what designs hit the shelves. Fashion editors in particular have the ability to determine trends through coverage in their magazines which is a necessary part of advertising for designers.

Designs from Lam's main line

In an interesting twist, Lam as announced that he will be launching his own diffusion line, separate from his collection for eBay. This is not new in the fashion industry, even Australian brands such as Nicola Finetti have created diffusion lines at a cheaper price point (e.g. Nicola Finetti introduced Nylon Flocks at a lower price point to his main line). What makes this noteworthy is Lam's recent collaboration with eBay.  It turns out this was a smart business move. Not only has he advertised his brand to a wider audience who would potentially be interested in his lower priced range, but with eBay users having to give their email address to participate in the voting process, he has a database of consumers he can easily target when his diffusion line comes out.

With many designers using social marketing to promote their brand, this may not only change the face of advertising, but change the way companies do business.

Learn more about the developments in online retailing by reading Life's a Beach and I'm Feeling Lucky.

Information from www.mashable.com, http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/03/derek_lams_diffusion_collectio.html and http://dereklam.ebay.com/