Daniela Gregis & a Not so Well Informed Blogger….

Daniela Gregis

Looking for information about designer Daniela Gregis, I stumbled upon an article I’d like to share. Not because it’s a great article, but because of the nonsense written in the article. 

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The Article

This is the point in my fashion career where I start to get mean.  Not because I want to, but because I have to.  Otherwise, it just wouldn’t be right.

I received an invitation to attend the Daniela Gregis Fashion Show for the AW2016/2017 collection during the Milan Fashion Week, and I was very excited to attend.  Fashion Show invites are hard to come by for relatively unknown fashion bloggers and you can read about how to make the most of the Milan Fashion Week for Beginner Bloggers in the article I wrote for the Independent Fashion Bloggers website.

The experience started off a little odd because I got there early wanting to read the press kit to find out more about the designer and the collection.  I tried to do some research online but found literally NOTHING about the brand.  A website with little more than a vague, cryptic description of dissonant phrases, plus the brand has NO SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE WHAT SO EVER!

None.

What?  In this day and age how can a brand even think about selling with absolutely no social media, and yet this is NORMAL, especially for Italian brands who have already established their distribution channels pre-the internet age.

This is still shocking to me, but as a manager and marketer I get it (I think of it as the coward’s way out), but I get it.  I even put together some tips on how fashion bloggers can ease brands into social media in this article for the Independent Fashion Bloggers website.

Don’t Fear The Negative

In the article I mention above, one of the reasons I presume brands shy away from social media is that they fear the negative publicity that can occur from “online shaming”.  Negative tweets, Instagram images with too few likes, critical comments on Facebook, they are all possibilities once you put your designs out there for the world to see.

But here’s the thing.  If you truly stand behind your brand and designs you should be willing to accept the critiques of your followers, buyers and fans along with those of the people who do not buy your brand.  I mean, feedback is one of the best aspects of social media.

You don’t need to listen to everything being said, but believing enough in your brand and designs to participate in a two-way conversation is part of the fashion game now a days.

Daniela Gregis, Clothes for Old Ladies Who Want To Look Like Old Ladies

I have nothing against Daniela Gregis, and it would be wrong of you to think that by referring to her designs as “old lady clothes” I am being negative.  Actually, quite the contrary.  In a world where designers are feverishly making clothes for thin, “Goddess like” women who are all over 5’10” with no hips …I am getting TIRED OF THE SAME OLD.

That being said, Daniela Gregis is an “old lady”, and by old lady I mean a mature woman well into her 60s if not 70s.  It is clear that her collections are targeted to women such as herself, and indeed she furthers this point by actually walking her “catwalk” herself.

Her designs are a very specific blend of unsewn “rawcut” edges, hand knits, asymmetrical shapes and taffeta mixed with  cotton.  A very particular style worn by granola eating, hippy Italians (if granola actually existed in Italy), the whole flavor of the collection was “nonna” aka “Grandmother”.

She is surprisingly well distributed in some of the country’s more prominent stores and her brand is less of a brand than a reflection of herself and her moods.

The only piece of informative text that was to be found in the press kit was a small blurb in English and Italian that went something like this:

“Daniela Gregis laughs, worries, gets angry and has a little present for everyone…friends, relatives, cousins, artists, children, mothers and perfect strangers exchange roles, interact and shape some always new and entertaining creations*creatures…”.

Although I personally would never wear this style, and find it a little sad when fashion moves toward craft and away from the sartorial roots that Italy should be known for, there are things that I do like about her collection.

I appreciate how purposefully unsexy all of the shapes are, intended to create voluminous spaces to house the body while not accentuating any particular aspect of its femininity.  This could be something I seek out as I enter the second half of my life! Who knows!

You don’t need me to tell you that mature women are making waves in the fashion world.  The number of 40+, 50+ and 60+ fashion bloggers is on the rise and for good reason.  Surprisingly enough, main stream fashion has not caught on to the trend fully and only a handful of brands from cosmetics to clothing are really serving and reaching out to this demographic.

A few years ago, I was responsible for putting together a catalogue for one of our luxury exotic leather belt lines.  It was a few weeks before our presentation at a  fashion fair in Paris and I contacted a 50 year old ballerina to be the model for the catalogue.  OH THE CRITICISM I RECEIVED!!

Why did you get such an old model? What did you find so perfect about her? Why didn’t you use a regular model?

Let’s think about it.  How many 17 year olds do you know who can afford 650 euro for an alligator belt? And more importantly,  of the 17 year olds in the world that CAN afford our belts, how many of them are interested in spending their money on “classic” designs as opposed to the latest trend that some rap singer is wearing!?

My audience is NOT 17 year old models, why should I use them to speak to the women who are potentially my clients?  And yet, this decision was poopoo’d upon.  I would like to set the record straight that I am ahead of the times, because the following year, it seemed like beautiful “blue haired” models where in all of the catwalks, a token symbol with little substance of fashion’s willingness to represent who they actually sell to.

But I digress,  Although Daniela Gregis’ collection is not my style I applaud the fact that she is creating clothes for the more than “mature” audience and is willing to put herself in the limelight to prove her style’s wearability.

Now, if she was on social media she would know about this review!  Social Media and “the internet” is not something every over 60 year old has embraced, so I will just assume that her lack of social media presence is part of the technology age gap and less about social media fears.

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My Response

This fashion blogger did some research on the internet and found nothing on the brand,  plus the brand has NO SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE WHAT SO EVER! In this day and age how can a brand even think about selling with absolutely no social media, and yet this is NORMAL, especially for Italian brands who have already established their distribution channels pre-the internet age.

Everybody has the right to determine how to run their company. How and if to promote their brand. Because there’s the possibility to work with social media, doesn’t mean you have to promote on social media. There are brands that choose to not promote at all, also brands which are relatively young, like for instance Paul Harnden Shoemakers. A very sought-after brand, although almost nothing is known about the designer.

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one of the reasons I presume brands shy away from social media is that they fear the negative publicity that can occur from “online shaming”.  Negative tweets, Instagram images with too few likes, critical comments on Facebook, they are all possibilities once you put your designs out there for the world to see.

For some brands, the clothes/collections speak for themselves. Some fashion bloggers have the idea they can make or break a collection, but they’re overestimating the power of social media.

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But here’s the thing.  If you truly stand behind your brand and designs you should be willing to accept the critiques of your followers, buyers and fans along with those of the people who do not buy your brand.  I mean, feedback is one of the best aspects of social media.

You don’t need to listen to everything being said, but believing enough in your brand and designs to participate in a two-way conversation is part of the fashion game now a days.

If you truly stand behind your brand and designs, you don’t need a two-way conversation. Maybe for designers who only want to please their customers, feedback is a good aspect….

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That being said, Daniela Gregis is an “old lady”, and by old lady I mean a mature woman well into her 60s if not 70s.  It is clear that her collections are targeted to women such as herself, and indeed she furthers this point by actually walking her “catwalk” herself.

The “old lady” on the catwalk is not Daniela Gregis, but the beautiful model and actress Benedetta Barzini!!!! If the writer of the article had taken five minutes to to do some research online, she would have found out Daniela Gregis is the woman in the photograph above this post, like it took me five minutes… 

Benedetta Barzini has been modeling for many decades. Discovered on the streets by Consuelo Crespi in 1963, Diana Vreeland soon spotted her potential as a model and arranged a photo shoot with Irving Penn, which established her successful fashion career in New York. She also worked with other notable fashion photographers such as Bert Stern and Richard Avedon. Barzini graced the cover of the first issue of Vogue Italia in November 1965. In December 1966, she was named one of the “100 Great Beauties of the World” by the American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar.

Benedetta Barzini, Ph. by Irving Penn. Vogue, September 1968
Benedetta Barzini, ph.Steven Meisel for Romeo GigliBenedetta Barzini, ph. Richard Avedon, Vogue 1967 Benedetta Barzini,ph.Bert Stern, Vogue US, January 1965  Benedetta Barzini in Daniela Gregis show

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A very particular style worn by granola eating, hippy Italians (if granola actually existed in Italy), the whole flavor of the collection was “nonna” aka “Grandmother”.

I appreciate how purposefully unsexy all of the shapes are, intended to create voluminous spaces to house the body while not accentuating any particular aspect of its femininity.  This could be something I seek out as I enter the second half of my life! Who knows!

Daniela Gregis collection is sold by the Dover Street Market stores (multilevel fashion retail and concept stores created by Rei Kawakubo of Japanese fashion label Comme Des Garçons) in London, Tokyo and New York, together with Raf Simons, Vetements, Gucci, Dior and The Row (the luxury brand by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). So maybe the writer of the article doesn’t get the style of clothes Gregis designs…… ? 

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You don’t need me to tell you that mature women are making waves in the fashion world.  The number of 40+, 50+ and 60+ fashion bloggers is on the rise and for good reason.  Surprisingly enough, main stream fashion has not caught on to the trend fully and only a handful of brands from cosmetics to clothing are really serving and reaching out to this demographic.

Wow,mature 40+, 50+ and 60+ fashion bloggers are on the rise….! What could they have to say? And do they need special brands? 

I think “mature women” could know a lot more about fashion, then the writer of the article. And “mature women”, like Anna Wintour, Franca Sozzani, Miuccia Prada, Pat McGrath, Grace Coddington and many more still dictate fashion today…..

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Now, if she was on social media she would know about this review!  Social Media and “the internet” is not something every over 60 year old has embraced, so I will just assume that her lack of social media presence is part of the technology age gap and less about social media fears.

The writer of the article is on social media, so I assume one day she will know about this review and find out, Daniela Gregis is not “over 60 years old” and her collections are sold in the trend setting Dover Street Market stores and are not (only) made for the “mature women” in the second half of their lives…. 

If you want to be a great fashion blogger, respect choices people/brands make, do good research before you start writing and don’t overestimate the social media!

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A/W 2016/’17  Daniela Gregis

info: http://reasonstodress.com/danielagregis/