California Dreaming: An Inside Look at our LA Square Kickoff Panel
Photos and story by: Cara Best
If you follow us on social media, you've seen us raving about the amazing panel discussion we hosted at our Los Angeles Square during our Fall/Winter '17 market. "California Dreaming: Insiders Perspectives on LA's Fashion Revival" is what we hope to be the first of many discussions held at our Squares in both New York and Los Angeles and we couldn't have asked for a better group for our first panel in LA! In partnership with The Zoe Report we were lucky enough to have Nicky Deam, Editorial Director of The Zoe Report moderate the panel of Clare Vivier, Owner/Designer of Clare V.; Jacey Duprie, Editor/Blogger at Damsel in Dior; Jen Gotch, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Ban.do; and celebrity and editorial stylist, Penny Lovell.
We know not all of you could be there, so we want to give you a sampling of some of our favorite moments from the talk (because we're nice like that). Below are our top bites and photos from the night to ease your FOMO and help you pretend you were there.
Our favorite difference between other cities and LA:
"There's always that question about 'what inspires you' and I don't know how to answer that because I think it's just like, being here [in LA]. I think the energy of the city just sort of infused itself into our brand." - Jen Gotch
Our favorite moment of realization:
"[My father] said to me, 'You know, you're creating jobs in your community. That's so important." I was like, 'I am creating jobs!' And that for me was a light bulb moment that made me really proud to be producing in Los Angeles." - Clare Vivier
Our favorite 'Started From the Bottom" reference:
"I think you always have to start at the bottom in this field...unless you're best friends with a really famous person and they like the way you dress." - Penny Lovell
Our favorite question to new business owners on being thrifty:
"That's always my first thing when I'm giving business advice: [I ask] 'Are you utilizing those tools, like social media, that are just there and ready for you to manipulate to your advantage?'" - Jen Gotch
Our favorite lesson on being vulnerable:
"The more I share, the more people respond and the more receptive they are. The more vulnerable I am with my content the more people can relate to that content. It's tough to know where to draw that line and I'm still learning where to draw it." - Jacey Duprie
Our favorite bit of advice from each of our panelists:
"Success does not come from constantly talking about something. It comes from constantly doing one thing over and over and over again. Just do it. Just start it and do it every day and see what happens. And if you don't enjoy it, it ain't gonna happen." - Jacey Duprie
"Don't look around. [In Los Angeles] we are so by ourselves and doing our own thing and I think that has been such a gift to be able to just do what we do and not look around." - Clare Vivier
"My baseline advice that I give to everyone is "don't do it." I wouldn't have taken [it], but it's a good test to know if your heart's really in it, because it's hard and it's heartbreaking and it takes a lot of sacrifices and it takes a long time. You really have to check in with that a lot. For me, Ban.do felt like it was right even when it wasn't going right, always. It's the only thing that's been like that in my life that I knew undeniably this was 'it.'" - Jen Gotch
"There's so much that goes into [styling] that is very, very strategic and business-like. All of those times that I was iike, 'What am I doing? This is a terrible job. I'm miserable,' every single one of those jobs meant something and I could tell you what I learned from every one of them. And listen to yourself. You can put up with a lot if it's right." - Penny Lovell
"Finding your own voice sometimes takes a little while. It's so important to be authentically you, whatever that may be, because people can sense it otherwise. Playing around with it doesn't hurt." - Nicky Deam
We want to send a huge thank you to The Zoe Report for co-hosting this event, KW Private Bar Services for catering, our moderator Nicky Deam, all of our panelists, and everyone who came to celebrate the launch of our Los Angeles talk series! You're all superstars! We can't wait to continue these panels and bring even more incredible people together to discuss all things fashion and business.
P.S. We want to see you, so make sure you subscribe to our newsletter to find out when and where our next event will be!