Fashion and magic have a lot in common. The art of illusion and managing the perception of your audience is key in both mediums. Living with a magician of sorts, I watch my brother, known to audiences as Charlie Tips, practice and refine his medium to entertain the audience and push the boundaries of human abilities. While all of his skills are practiced and honed, there is an element to every act that has a physical formula to make the impossible possible. 

 

Likewise, as a designer, I know it is essential that I captivate my audience season after season. My message must be told and loyalty must be created in order to sustain and grow a successful brand. Planning a collection, picking your colors and creating a campaign that tells the intended story is tricky, as it all has to be conceptualized and done months before the season begins. Ultimately, you rely on many people coming together to create and convey your illusion correctly.

 

To add to the complications already set before me as an entrepreneur and designer, I have chosen the difficult path of running a social business. What, by definition, does that mean? Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, pioneering the concept of micro-lending wherein loans are granted to eradicate poverty. Due to the amount of impoverished people aided by the Grameen Bank, a Nobel Peace Prize was awarded. He first coined the term “social business” and defines it in his book, Banker to the Poor. “Today when we think of business we think of enterprises that are dedicated to making money – to profit maximization…A social business is a non-loss, non-dividend enterprise, created with the intention to do good to people, to bring positive changes to the world, without any short-term expectation of making money out of it.” This is an evolved capitalism so-to-speak, a capitalism that is not based on greed, while simultaneously still aiming to be successful and profitable. This is the foundation that our brand is based upon, while still striving to be a competitive company. And this is what lead to the message of our fall 2010 campaign.

 

In a fashion campaign, there are expected perceptions that have to be created. Many things have to coordinate in order to achieve success – from the photographer's alignment with the design vision and the caliber of the models, to the hair and makeup, and the stylists' choices. For this years campaign, we needed to use these elements of perception and illusion in order to tell the real story. After the fall collection itself was completed, my team and I met with Photographer Bode Helm. The concept was to share our social and environmental message of Freedom Purpose in a way that had never been done before. We explained that we wanted to showcase beautiful clothing and beautiful strong women in contrast with wasteful manmade destruction in order to send this message. Bode immediately took it to the next level by selecting a tire recycling junkyard which actually serves to double the life of landfills, while temporarily being a great showcase for a lot of waste. Amethyst Maya-Rosenauer, from my design and styling team, worked hand-in-hand with support from Stylist Barri Martin. They used accessories from Nest Jewelry's Fall 2010 collection and beautiful designer shoes. Brandi Adams perfectly captured the hair and makeup look we had selected which brought the focus directly to the clothing and the message.The final images exceeded my expectations and were unveiled at a dark carnival-themed event at South Side on Lamar. Circus de la Muerte, the vaudeville sideshow troupe my brother performs with, provided entertainment and contrast to the models in our collection. It was magic.