Behind the Fashion

On October 26^th, students at Kent State University’s New York City Studio received the opportunity to speak with Sophia Chang.  Sophia Chang started her career working in the hip hop music industry.  After many successful years in the business, she decided to explore a new avenue of creativity as a producer for the Vivienne Tam Fashion Show.  It’s amazing how much time and effort goes into a twelve to fourteen minute fashion show.  As the producer, Sophia becomes part of the team eight to ten weeks before the show is scheduled. During this short period of time, she is in charge of a plethora of tasks.  For instance, Sophia obtains corporate sponsorships and puts together detailed presentations to show potential sponsors.  This presentation explains what the sponsors would receive in return for donating money, hair and nail products, and makeup for the show.  This could include tickets to the fashion show, backstage access, press releases, or the company logo on the “step and repeat.”  Next, Sophia must make arrangements with vendors to find a venue, choose a date and time, and find the correct music and set design for the show.  After the venue and sponsorships are finalized, Sophia is in charge of hiring all of the people that make the show run smoothly.  These employees include Back and Front of House Producers, a Public Relations Company, Venue Managers, Stylists, a Casting Director, Dressers, Fit Assistants, a Videographer, and a Runway Photographer.  Finally, after much anticipation, the day of the fashion show arrives.  Sophia starts preparing around 7:00 AM and frantically runs around the venue until the show starts at 3:00 PM.  During this hectic time, she is making sure every detail is finalized and perfected.  After the show ends at approximately 3:15 PM, she must check fashion blogs, pick up runway photographs, and prepare for the after party.  After putting fifteen long hours of work into producing a successful fashion show, Sophia’s day finally comes to an end around 10:00 PM.  I was never aware of the amount of people, hours, and hard work it takes to produce a fashion show.  Sophia took the time to share some life lessons that she has learned over her years spent in the fashion industry.  She informed us that we need to manage our expectations, have a contingency plan, under promise and over deliver, admit and own up to our own mistakes, be extremely organized, create an atmosphere of team work, and have good follow through.  The insight and advice that Sophia Chang shared can help fashion students succeed in any aspect of the fashion industry.   

Sophia Chang

Image from:

http://www.cencom.org/uploadedImages/Cencom_Home/People/Bios/Sophia-Chang.jpg