Networking and Competitor Analysis

Gone are the days when each corsetiere thought themselves an island, separate from all other (enemy) corsetmakers. Or at least, I like to think so. Not only are we no longer automatically pitting ourselves against each other, but with the ubiquitousness of the internet, Facebook, and smart phones, the 21^st century has everyone addicted to connectivity, and that applies to not just your friends and family but your colleagues and peers as well. We stay connected to become informed and feel relevant, to get inspiration, feedback, and even good old-fashioned help.

A lot of social media talk is about staying connected with your customers or audience, but one of my favorite ways to use social media is to keep in touch with like minded individuals. This applies not only to other corsetmakers but related artists: illustrators, models, photographers, makeup artists, bloggers, vintage store owners, etc. The cardinal rule of design is that design doesn't exist in a vacuum. What this means is that exposure to the ideas of others inspires and informs your own. I've never been able to get much out of a standard fashion magazine or even big events like Fashion Week, but the level of personal interaction I can have through Facebook or Twitter helps make it much more engaging for me to follow smaller independent artists.

Lounging with Dark Garden model Dwoira Galilea

Keeping up with the Joneses: Who to Follow

Follow anyone and everyone whose work interests you. Some platforms make it easier to follow in bulk: on Facebook, I add basically every corsetmaker I encounter, but on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, I only follow people whose work or updates I find particularly interesting because their feeds have no filter. Model Mayhem can be a little frustrating because there's no feed whatsoever; it's easy to add someone as a friend and then completely forget about it. Where possible, list functionality can help you keep track.

By paying attention to what others are doing, you'll find yourself subconsciously becoming more in tune with trends. You'll pair design details that may have been used by others in ways that are true to your own sensibilities. By openly commenting on and appreciating the work of others, a sense of camaraderie is built. Publicly shared photos may even reveal (to the trained eye) new construction concepts. Handle this with diplomacy: unless you have a strong relationship with the person or know they are very open with their craft, don't ask for handouts regarding construction or patterning. A trusted group, such as the community here on Foundations Revealed or Independent Lingerie Professionals on Facebook, is different from a business page.

This corset contains elements that were directly inspired by other corsetieres, but overall fits in perfectly with my established aesthetic and doesn't look derivative.

Beyond your fellow corsetieres, follow other artists and craftspeople. What other categories of fashion are relevant? Lingerie and certain couturieres often include corsets, as do some ready to wear, cocktail, and evening designers. A millinery or accessories designer may resonate with your aesthetic without being any kind of competition, because their products are complementary rather than overlapping. I tend to follow a lot of models and photographers, personally, as well as a few select Tumblrs that I find inspiring. I like to sharpen my eye to concept, cohesiveness, and composition by paying attention to a range of artistic endeavors, not just corsets or even just fashion.

Comment on and share freely the work of others. Build up personal relationships. Don't forget, however, that if you're commenting from a personal account, they may not immediately associate you with your business, but you can always take the time to introduce yourself if you feel so inclined. The polite thing to do is send a message or leave a comment such as, “Hi, I'm Marianne from Pop Antique. I've been seeing your work around LiveJournal and Tumblr and just wanted to say that I love what you're coming up with lately.” Don't just post a link to your own page, or worse, post and ask for new followers, comments, shares, or likes. If they want to promote your page, that's their choice. Your interaction with their page should be about them, not you. This is, however, an acceptable place to broach the idea of a collaboration.

I got to work with Ulorin Vex simply by telling her I was a fan and approaching her directly. She shot some of my samples with alternative fashion photographer Danger Ninja, who I then I got to work with on his recent San Francisco trip. (Grey ensemble by Dollymop Designs.)

After approaching photographer Araya Diaz for a photo collaboration, she introduced me to model Lauren Luck on one of our subsequent shoots. Lauren in turn shot my work with photographer Edson Carlos, founder of Pinup Lifestyle.

Workshops (Jenni Hampshire of Sparklewren and Alexis Black of Electra Designs both host them periodically) and other group events such as last year's Symington Collection field trip here at Foundations Revealed are a great way to meet and form an in-person bond with your peers. If there's any way for you to participate in such events, I highly recommend it.

Workshops, field trips, and other meetups are not only educational but a really fun way to get to know colleagues whose work you admire. Here I am studying with Alexis Black and Jenni Hampshire and at the Snibston Museum on last year's FR field trip.

How to Connect Locally

While social media platforms are the obvious choice for forging long-distance acquaintanceships or friendships, local connections are invaluable because they can more easily lead to yet more contacts and collaborators.

Events, from local “scene” parties (such as San Francisco's monthly Hubba Hubba Revue burlesque show) to larger galas, which may even have press coverage (Edwardian Ball, or museum exhibit openings and theme nights) will clue you into the local celebrities and social scene. San Francisco is its own special little world, so around here the circles consist of groups from designers to drag queens, burlesque babes to circus performers, tech nerds to graphic designers to photographers, etc, with plenty of overlap. Depending on your area, the array may be more or less colorful.

At the opening of San Francisco's De Young Museum's Gaultier exhibit, which I attended with my friends from Dark Garden.

Even just day to day, you probably make a conscious choice about where you buy home furnishings, new clothes, eat lunch, and find inspiration, and each of those is a potential opportunity to make new contacts. Your favorite tea shop may end up hosting your next photoshoot or fashion show. Consider yourself a walking billboard for your craft, particularly at the more conspicuous events. Which is to say, I'm not implying you should wear a corset to the grocery store, unless you really want to, but you should be conscious of looking the part. Always carry your business cards: you never know you might meet or whom they may know. Even the existence of a business card gives a certain impression, and reaching for your card case to realize you left it in your other purse is its own special kind of personal torment.

By dint of my dangerous near-addiction to Betsey Johnson, I was considered a VIP at the downtown San Francisco store and afforded the opportunity to meet her in person, at which point she personally invited me to intern with her.

If you meet or collaborate with someone whose work you find to be hit-or-miss, don't patronize or ignore them. It never hurts to be friendly, and a few months down the road they may have improved their skill level or provide an opportunity to work with some other interesting talent. Friendliness and enthusiasm can open up new opportunities, for them and you.

The Barter System and the Golden Rule

I'm a big believer in the barter system. I got it from my dad, a full-time musician. The important thing to remember is that bartering, or working for trade, is not the same as working for free. A lot of creatives will become very stern about how much they value their work and they don't work for free.   The question is, do you also value the work of others? For example, is it easier for you to earn $400 from another client to pay a mechanic or to simply do a trade with them to get your car fixed? I personally see no reason to not do a services trade, if the exchange is a fair and equivalent. Only you, and the other person, can be the judge of when that's the case. Trade work doesn't preclude future paid work: I've passed paid gigs onto photographers and hair stylists that have done trade shoots with me, and some of my collaborators have also become clients.

Another way this comes into play is with the idea of crowd-sourcing, such as Kickstarter or other similar websites. If another corsetiere has a Kickstarter project (I can think of at least three from the recent past), and you support it either monetarily or by sharing it, it'll probably come back around if you try to crowd-source funding for your own projects.

Local boudoir photographer Mariah Carle initially approached me about my shooting my designs (which we did), but since then I've shot a variety of projects with her. One of our first shoots was of me in an old Sparklewren cincher; one of our more recent was a promo shoot for Dark Garden's boudoir photography program, in which I got her involved.

The Elevator Pitch

So when you're out in the world and someone asks you about what you do, what do you say to them? Try to come up with an “elevator pitch,” a mini speech that succinctly summarizes what makes you and your line unique. This can be tricky for those of us who are naturally shy – the inclination is to stop at, “I, um, make corsets...” Conversely, you may find yourself rambling or even ranting. Make a plan. Write yourself some notes. What's special about your line? What do you want to emphasize? Then rehearse saying it aloud until it flows naturally. Try not to memorize your elevator pitch verbatim: it will sound rehearsed. Instead, just memorize the key concepts and phrases. Record yourself with a webcam or microphone to learn your idiosyncrasies, such as hand gestures, filler words (“um,” “you know,” “like,” etc), or speaking too fast. Practice on your friends, who are morally obligated to put up with such things (and hopefully are enthusiastic and helpful as well).

Keeping Track of Colleagues and Assessing Competitors

The old model of thinking is that all corsetmakers are vying for the same limited quantity of corset wearers. Growing in popularity is the idea, instead, that the more artists practicing their craft, the more opportunities there are to attract a larger audience overall. Most of us have distinct points of view: visions for our aesthetic and silhouette, how we reach our customers, and our core values. Every now and then someone will emerge who tries to build a business from stealing bits and pieces from the work of others (photos, flats, website text, etc), but by and large none of us are out to steal each other's designs or clients. We're too busy with our own ideas. So how do you determine who actually is your competition? And with so many corsetmakers, how do you keep track of everyone else?

My tack was to create a spreadsheet. Easy to update and edit, I made note of key facts about various corsetieres and bolded those that overlapped with mine. Likely, you'll be surprised at how little any one corsetiere occupies the same market segment as you. Here's how my chart is organized.

First, the name and location of each corsetiere. The obvious reason why location matters is for clients who receive custom fittings. There's also a lot of overlap between the “buy handmade” and “buy local” movements, which could affect your client base. On the flipside, you could start up a more personal relationship with other local corsetieres, possibly collaborating on a concept or event, or just getting together to talk shop.

Next up, I have each corsetiere's price point for basic overbust and underbust corsets. Trims and fancy fabrications create too many variables; you want something to serve as a clear point of comparison. It can sometimes be tricky to find basic pieces on the websites of corsetieres whose work is at the far edges of the ready-to-wear/made-to-order/custom spectrum, but do what you can. There are other articles about knowing your worth, but doing some price point comparisons not only helps you keep track of other corsetieres individually but serves as a reality check for where you fit in, or want to.

Adjacent to the price points, you want to keep track of the quality level, fit, and/or production method. The spectrum for me runs from mass-market (factory made, low price point), upper mass-market (better quality or more “designer” aesthetic), high-end RTW and MTO (handmade, often by the designer), semi-custom, and custom-only.

Obviously the shape given by a corset is key. This is both tied-into and distinct from the above quality/production category. The silhouette and amount of reduction can be a reflection of the quality of materials and patterning, but may also be a conscious choice based on personal aesthetic, local demographics (ie, body type trends for the region), and customer needs/wants (for example, some clients may want the look of a corset but find the dramatic proportions alienating). The latter obviously can become rather cyclical in nature. My chart uses the categories of minimal, moderate, and hourglass [reduction]. I've mostly filled this in for corsetieres whose work I've personally seen and preferably tried on, but you can sometimes make educated guesses based on, for example, familiarity with the models photographed or before-and-after type client images.

Lastly, and most subjectively, aesthetic. Here I just list a few adjectives or phrases to sum up my perception of a corsetiere's style. Do they emphasize historical, or contemporary, silhouettes? What types of fabrics do they use: the fibers and prints? Do they do a lot of mix-and-match style MTO or is there a strong designer stamp on each of their pieces?

Don't forget to include links to their website, Etsy, and social media somewhere. You may find yourself wanting to add additional columns, perhaps noting how many panels their corsets have as standard, if they've dressed celebrities or particular models, etc.

All this helps me not just to define my closest competition, but simply to keep straight the many practicing corsetieres.

Collaborations

I tend to collaborate on a lot of photoshoots, personally, but I've also been involved in a few runway shows and benefits. I take on the role of designer, stylist, model, and/or art director. For me, half the fun is just being involved with new creative people and projects, although seeing the outcome is also satisfying.

Bouquet Fashion Show Snapshot

Since I'm frequently the one coordinating shoots, I have to balance knowing each team member's style and personality type, though often the team is united by their high skill level. I think it's really key to balance being organized without micromanaging. In other words, communicate clearly on things that you're knowledgeable about or which can be predetermined, but leave it open for others to share their ideas, particularly regarding their given skill set. Just like you probably have better ideas about wardrobe, a photographer may have a great idea for lighting that you wouldn't have even known to think of. The phrases, “Do what you think is best,” or, “Tell me what you think would work well,” are not cop-outs.

One valuable lesson I learned on a collaboration at the beginning of the year is that if you have a very specific vision, it's probably not the best time to test working with several new people. Of the people involved in a particular shoot, I was working with two well-known models for the first time as well as a new photographer. The makeup artist, at least, had worked with me several times already. The shots weren't bad, but they weren't what I'd been hoping for. One thing that could've helped me was if I'd shown the team my inspiration/reference images one last time just as we started shooting. Once you've built up a rapport with the other talent, you may be able to to step back and have a more relaxed, freeform project, working in a more impulsive or organic manner.

While I enjoyed working with Krysta Kaos, Raven Le Faye, and Andres Razo, it was challenging to execute my specific vision since I hadn't previously collaborated with any of the team save for makeup artist Chrysalis Rose.

I've also been involved in a couple collaborations simply because I knew and trusted someone involved in their organization. While these situations may not necessarily bring you much in the way of fame and glory, it can show your line to a new audience and introduce you to other local creatives. A particular make-up artist/model I know was briefly involved in a local fashion magazine, which hosted a model contest. The contestants themselves were largely uninspiring, and one of them wrought havoc on our shoot plans, but through our random pairing I did meet my aforementioned favorite makeup artist, and a photographer who's since gone on to launch his own digital magazine.

Marina Petrenko is a talented, ambitious, and organized model-turned-makeup artist who can get me to say yes to just about anything.

The evolution of a collaboration. Jesse Alford, Chrysalis Rose and I were thrown together by a contest but have continued to work together long after the end of that project.

Lists and Organization

I've touched upon this a bit in the above paragraphs. While I tend to get pretty excited about making any kind of list (don't ask me why), the current crop of social media platforms offer some interesting visual list options. The obvious one is Pinterest: many of us already use it to group inspiration concepts or analyze trends. I've also taken to using it to define a collaborative project, by posting examples of each team member's work as well as inspiration images. On Pinterest or Model Mayhem you could populate a list or a board with images that you consider iconic representations of other corsetieres or any other “Who's Who” type situation.

A couple photographers I work with create extensive shoot itineraries using Google Docs. Within, they post call times and contact information for all team members, a list of concepts, inspiration and reference images, locations (with convenient Google Maps links), detailed notes regarding styling or location, and basic information about their standard policies regarding releases and final image expectations, etc.

Go Forth and Network

If I had to sum all this up into three points, I would tell you to pay attention, reach out, and be nice. Use Foundations' new forum as a rich resource and starting point for your own networking, and as a space to introduce yourselves to each other (and me). Go forth and network!

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