Scottish Fashion NetworkRoisin McAtamneyScottish Fashion Network

As I skipped off the train at Queen Street (as much as you can skip in five inch platforms) – having left my work in Edinburgh thirty minutes early of a Wednesday evening – I could feel a slight nervous twinge in my belly.  I was meeting my friend Ashley (owner of quirky fashion brand: Love FRMS) and heading to the launch night for the Scottish Fashion Network at the Corinthian.

This was really the first event like this I have ever attended, with the exception of client events – but at these you generally know the people with whom you are conversing, meaning you don’t feel quite so much that you are walking into the unknown.  Networking as a concept can be a bit daunting at first, but when you strip it back you have been doing this since that first day in playgroup when you toddled over to the person who looked like they had that best friend potential.  It is a similar kind of idea in professional sense (sans the toddling of course), where your aim is to meet new contacts, find out what they do, discover how you could help each other and perhaps even develop ideas for future projects.

The Scottish Fashion Network is the brainchild of Gordon McGuire – a budding entrepreneur with the charisma and threads to pull off a fashion networking platform.  Keen to find out about his driving force behind launching the network, Ashley and I got our chance to catch up with him as he ‘worked’ the room.  Gordon informed us that the Scottish Fashion Industry turns over in excess of £1bn per year with 600 registered companies and 11,000 employees and based on this, he saw a gap in terms of there being no platform in which to bring these Scottish fashion folks together.  And it’s true to say that if you Google fashion networks UK, Manchester and London seem to be the only two which really feature.

Having only launched the network four weeks ago, the turnout was as impressive as the venue.  The Corinthian (located in the buzzing Merchant City area of Glasgow) oozes a glamorous sophistication and has provided the backdrop for a wealth of fashion shows over the years.  So with the ultimate location, a high calibre of attendees and champagne on tap, the buzz of networking kicked off in fine fashion.

There were a handful of Scottish businesses who brought along products to showcase, which was of course a great talking point.  I got speaking to Roisin McAtamney, a very talented knitwear designer who has worked in the fashion and textiles industry for over 10 years.  Her extraordinary pieces are enough to brighten up any wardrobe and her dedication and passion for knitwear was impressive.  Next, I caught up with Debra Hogan, founder of One Velvet Morning, who offers an inspirational and bespoke personal styling service in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders.  It is her belief that personal styling should focus on an ‘inside out’ approach and she uses various techniques to empower her clients (a topic I am going to cover in a future post) before the shopping begins.

Eager to emphasise the positive power of networking to you, I asked some of my new contacts for their feedback from the evening itself, info on their brands and thoughts on the Scottish Fashion industry.  Moving forward I am keen to expand my posts to include interviews of others.  In life I find there’s nothing more interesting than people, and I would like to share the stories of others in the hope of providing you with ideas and/or inspiration.

Laura Faint from Mallzee

“We love getting out and meeting people who love fashion as much as we do, so events like the Scottish Fashion Networking Event are right up our street. It’s so nice to be able to get feedback on what we’re doing and just generally network with some great people!
Mallzee is a personal shopper in your pocket, designed to make shopping all about you. The app brings together over 100 top high street retailers in one place, learns your personal style and lets you get opinions from friends before you buy. We like to think of it as a bit of a Pinterest meets Whatsapp for fashion! Mallzee is available for free on the app store now

Sarah Ward from PR agency Weber Shandwick

“Networking events such as the Scottish Fashion Network are really great opportunities for like-minded people and businesses to get together to chat and collaborate on what they are most passionate about. It’s also an excellent opportunity to celebrate the great and thriving textiles industry in Scotland.

We are never afraid to express ourselves through fashion in Scotland and we always do such a good job at showing the diversity of our country with cool street style representing our historic cities and innovative functional clothing which is always needed for our unpredictable and sometimes harsh less desirable weather conditions!

I met some really great contacts at the first of what’s likely to be a successful Scottish Fashion Network.”

Victoria Warnock from Modelscotland

“Fashion Networking Nights in Scotland are a brilliant way for Scottish creatives to get in touch and exchange ideas. I feel like Scotland has the potential to be at the forefront of the fashion industry but that the community in Scotland itself is very fragmented. We have so much great talent here- from designers all the way through to models, bloggers and business leaders- but there hasn’t been a proper platform for us all to connect, which the networking nights now offer.

Glasgow is the second best city in the UK for retail and I feel that Scottish style reflects this. Style and Fashion for me is an eclectic mixture of vintage charm and heritage, combined with the sort of edginess you would usually associate with London’s style scene”

We are absolutely living within the networking generation.  You just have to log on to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to appreciate this and as a business tool, networking’s power can be impressive if utilised in the correct way.  Should you be looking to get your name out there in a particular industry, why not use networking to do so?  Here my top tips when it comes to networking:

    • Radiate confidence – even if you don’t feel it internally, try to look like you are brimming with the stuff.  If a small tipple will help with this, then go for it but be careful not to take it too far.  Being back on the Herbalife diet (Monday – Thursday), by 7pm I was absolutely starving and after my second glass of champagne I knew just one more and I would have been remembered as the Pink Tartan Lush, so its important to be controlled with your alcohol intake at networking events
    • Make the first move – fellow networkers will respect you introducing yourself and in doing so this will make you memorable
    • Meet the organiser – it is always good to be on first name terms with the organiser as he/she can advise other attendees to speak with you (for example if a brand manager is looking for bloggers to join their network, the organiser will point them in the direction of bloggers present).  You can also keep in touch about future events
    • Hand out business cards and in turn take one from everyone you meet
    • Don’t be too modest or overly cocky – you are looking to inspire people as opposed to put them off your personality
    • Analyse how you could work with new contacts when speaking to them
    • Finish conversations by promising to be in touch – that is only if you intend to be
    • Add your new contacts on LinkedIn
    • Drop your new contacts an email – looking to develop any ideas discussed.  In the words of Gordon McGuire “It’s not about ideas, it’s about making them happen” so make your conversations count
    • Remember that you are not going to get the chance to speak with everyone – if there was anyone with whom you would have liked to have spoken with but you missed at the event, then why not drop them an email via LinkedIn to say how sorry you were you never got the chance to chat, but that it would be great to meet up should you be looking to extend a business proposal

The overriding mantra of the Scottish Fashion Network is that: “it’s not just who you know, but who knows YOU” and as a novice blogger hoping to get more involved in the fashion industry, this statement resonates strongly.  The evening itself was tailored to perfection, I very much so look forward to the next and the icing on the fashion-filled cake…all proceeds from the evening went to the Glasgow School of Art to help with the restoration effort following the devastating fire that took place at the school last month.

I would absolutely encourage readers to research and attend any networking events within your specific sectors.  Take a deep breath and get your name out there, you never know where it may lead… x