Its simple, if you do not have web presence, you won't be seen nor heard.  While most designers start off thinking they have to achieve a huge level of success before they launch a site, much less a good ecommerce site, they make poor choices by spending on thier design and product development.  The idea that a good sense of knowing your customers needs are important and achieving recognition by flattery from celebrity fills thier ego, it will not monetize unless you have spent time developing a strategy to draw your customers in from off the cyberstreets...

Its clear that most people are not able to purchase items if they can't see them physically, but a just a small step can monetize faster than branding on the backs of your fav celeb.  We are now a culture of what they see they must get, so if planting your seeds to get noticed means spending on optimizing your site and defining your brand from partnerships built with bloggers and talented directors and producers of the web means you have a small collection, than I say go for the visibilty. 

I talk to so many fashion professionals that work in marketing and design and they seem not to realize the vital importance of websites and WOM.  Gee!  I am somewhat of an expert on clever distribution and marketing and by no means do I have all the answers, but people in fashion have to start defining thier strateges a lot more cleary to be either a brand people just talk about vers. a brand people talk about and actually can purchase.  Waiting for a buyer from a boutique in Atlanta when you are in NYC or LA, won't get you anywhere because brick and morters stores aren't even able to pay thier own bills.  I have close sources from major department stores confiding in me that they ask thier vendors to pay them back 30% just to continue to do business with them.  The outrage can go on, and the little designer man / woman will not survive without selling themselves straight to the consumer.

I can't stress enough how, when walking the floors of Magic last season, so many marketing pros had no idea what in the F' I was talking about. when I mentioned I worked for a new media firm that could possibly become a solution to thier sales and marketing eifforts.  And, so if they aren't willing to bring in the big experts in new media and WOM marketing teams,  I pray that we have luxurious and fashionable clothes to buy from an actual store because no one actually has the money to pay their own bills.  Alas, since the majority of fashion labels are too reliant on buyers to make thier decisions, retailers should do the same, become thier own designers and stop trying to sell out designers from thier own stocks. 

Plenty to be said about this, but that is enough for now.

http://www.mildredbrignoni.com