Welcome to TaylorMade Solutions’- Perspectives Blog. I am eager to share many my insights and observations related to the rapidly changing Fashion Industry. We are in the midst of constant and significant change in every part of our industry. That puts an especially heavy burden on educational institutions to stay relevant, competitive, and dialed into the realities of the Fashion Industry. Working in the Fashion Industry for more than twenty-five years has been stimulating, challenging, and rewarding. From the early years of retail buying and divisional management, to the unpredictable yet fulfilling years spent shaping young minds in educational institutions across the United States, I ha
Good fashion designers "see" things that most of us mere mortals do not. Their gift oftentimes is their creativity and sense of possibility. At some point however, their sketches and ideas end up in a pattern that others can use to make the garments or accessories they have designed. A pattern puts the design into a concrete form that others can use to execute the designer's vision. Fashion entrepreneurs need equally concrete plans to turn their business vision into a a viable venture. A substantial case can be made that start-up ventures categorically suffer from insufficient “upfront” planning and a lack of strategically informed decision making. High failure rates (55% within the first 5
Big Idea: TaylorMade Solutions™ (TMS) is a concierge-professional services firm focused on the US Fashion Industry – most specifically the growing number of university and college fashion departments that are struggling to remain competitive and relevant given the significant change in the fashion industry. TMS’s managing partner, Stephanie Taylor, has more than twenty-five years of experience as an innovative and progressive educator and administrator in fashion schools in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Charlotte and Milan Italy. Prior to that, Ms. Taylor held merchandising and buying roles in lead retail establishments. In these assignments, Ms. Taylor est
