A Foray Into Fabric - Artist Tamara Kate Serrao & the International Quilt Market

This past week I just published the schedule of the Trade Shows we will attend this year - The Moon from My Attic will report on these markets and exhibitions as Press. We welcome interviews with artists, agents, manufacturers and retailers from around the globe!

One trade show I really wanted to attend this year but couldn't was the International Quilt Market in Portland this past May. Unfortunately, it overlapped with Surtex. But one of my favorite artists, Tamara Kate Serrao, had her debut at the show and she has graciously agreed to share her exciting experience with us.

The Moon from My Attic: What new ventures have come about for you in licensing since our last blog post? I had just started licensing when we last chatted. Over that year I licensed six fabric collections to Jelly the Pug, an American children's clothing designer.

They even produced some swimsuits with the latest line.

And I licensed a few designs for medical scrubs.

The most exciting step for me has been signing a two-year contract with Michael Miller Fabrics. After we last spoke I designed a watercolor and pen-and-ink collection, Flight Patterns, for the 2012 (Fabric8) contest on Spoonflower.

While I didn't win the contest, that collection got me noticed by Michael Miller and within a few months I had my first two professional lines in the works: Flight Patterns and Les Monsieurs are shipping to stores as we speak.

TMFMA: Tell us about your debut at the quilt market! The International Quilt Market happens twice a year in the US. This past Spring it was in Portland, OR. If you love fabric like I do, this show is a must see! There is booth after booth after booth of fabrics, ranging from traditional to modern and everything in between. As it is a professional trade show geared toward the quilting market, independent fabric stores and manufacturers - bedding, children's clothing, etc, the emphasis is definitely on printed cotton fabrics. With a few exceptions, you won't find dressmaking or upholstery fabrics there.

There are also booths offering sewing patterns and kits and other related items. It was wonderful to be in such a creative environment with others who share my passion. Basically it's a place that international brick-and-mortar and online shops come to order fabrics for coming seasons. They are not shopping for designs, but rather finished goods.

Clockwise from top left: Mo Bedell, Skip Stone, Penguin & Fish, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner, Leah Duncan

TMFMA: What did you learn from it?  Meeting individuals in the industry was one of the most important aspects of attending the show for me. There was a steep learning curve involved in understanding the different roles (buyers, manufacturers, media, distributors, sales reps, designers) of attendees. I spent quite a bit of time talking with other designers, some industry veterans, some new to the field like I was, to better understand how everyone works. There is a range:

• There are some designers (like me) who have an exclusive contract. This eliminates any other printed fabric licensing opportunities but the upside is regular work without having to constantly be a salesperson … though you still have to pitch new ideas that can obviously be declined if they don't fit with what the fabric house wants at the time. Some designers shoot for one collection a year, some do one per quilt market (Spring and Fall) and some do more than that. You need to think of diversity if this is the route you choose. Your work will lose its impact if your style is pretty constant, and a fabric house won't want too many repetitive collections in a row.
  
  
• There are the designers who remain independent. They sign contracts for one, or perhaps two collections, but are not limited to working with one company. Attending Market would be important in this role, as one could shop around for a future fabric company with which to work. They also have the opportunity to pick up other licensing jobs in the fabric field, say a bedding line or a childrens clothing line.
  
  
• Then there are designers that don't attend the show. Just because one has a collection debuting at Quilt Market does not mean one has to be present. For some the expense is too great (factor in booth space, shipping costs, flights, hotels, etc). There isn't necessarily a monetary benefit to attending. After all, if one has a collection showing, the licensing deal has already been accomplished. For others who also exhibit at Surtex, the Spring market is not a possibility as they happen at the same time. Then there is the factor of when a designer gets their hands on fabric. Due to production times, sometimes (very often) the first few yards of fabric are couriered to a designer mere days or weeks before the show, leaving little time to prepare. There are some companies that encourage designers to be there (like Michael Miller) and there are others who do not. They prefer that their reps do all the selling and PR work.

I also learned that many designers in the field also have other business ventures. Some, like I mentioned, exhibit at Surtex looking for other diversified licensing opportunities. Many who want to focus on the fabric end of things also have lines of sewing patterns (clothing, quilts, accessories) with international distribution or embroidery patterns and kits. Some better known designers also make affiliate deals with major manufacturers (sewing machines, thread, etc). There are also those that have had related books published. One could also venture into woven items (rugs, ribbons, etc). I actually recently licensed some designs to a European ribbon manufacturer.

Overall I would say that Quilt Market is a place to make connections and hopefully make an impact (promoting your collection and/or being noticed by a manufacturer, distributor, publisher …).

TMFMA: How did you make your decision to attend? Whether to attend the show or not was a tough decision. I wanted to better understand the market. I wanted to meet people in the industry and get an idea of how other designers make a living doing this. While I knew the sales reps would all show my fabrics to the buyers, I felt that having my own booth showcasing my collections, exhibiting specific items sewn with them, basically demonstrating my vision of how the fabrics could be used would be a plus and hopefully result in increased sales. The cost and logistics of sending a booth and larger pieces across the border (I am in Montreal) almost made me bow out, though. One has to factor all this into a decision and as I am new to the game, I still cannot gauge the cost effectiveness of my decision. I do feel, however, that I made an impact and I had numerous buyers stop at my booth that then made a b-line toward the reps to place an order.

TMFMA: What tips can you give to textile designers who want to follow their passion in the quilt industry? The most important things in my mind are:

1. Find your voice: design the world through your own eyes. Don't try to imitate. Be original.
   
2. Do the work. Unless you are really lucky, opportunities come most readily when you keep at something. I designed on Spoonflower solidly for over a year, entering almost every weekly contest, and bit-by-bit I started to get noticed. One thing led to another, and I am truly happy with where it has brought me.
   
3. Enter contests. There are more and more great contests coming about, from Fabric8, to Repeated by Printed Bolt to Connecting Threads to name just a few, that give designers wonderful opportunities to make their mark in the fabric world.
   
4. When you feel your work is strong enough and you have a few great collections to show, just do it. Be confident in your work and start contacting fabric companies (most have specific guidelines for submissions on their websites, so that takes out the guesswork). And finally – should you sign a fabric contract and plan to attend Quilt Market, have a plan in mind of an additional venture you could take there with you. You will already be in front of buyers and other important industry members, so pack your bags and go make the most of it!

Website: www.kayajoydesigns.com

Blog: www.kayajoydesigns.com/category/blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TamaraKateDesign

An Art Licensing True Story - by Artist Jennifer Wambach

I opened up my Spoonflower shop last year because I wanted to get fabric samples made of my patterns and include the swatches in my Surtex press kit. I thought they worked out really nicely so I then decided to put some of the designs up for sale and have been lucky enough to sell several of them. While exploring contests and other shops I ran into so many great designers and artists - Jennifer Wambach was one of them. She had such lovely work and had successfully won many contests. She is a very diverse and talented artist.

I invited her to share her story with us on how she became a licensed artist through Spoonflower.

Jennifer grew up in a small town in western New York in a 1950's ranch house with lots of art and craft supplies around, thanks to a mom who loves to sew and enjoys pretty much every craft except cross stitch, she says. "She and my dad always encouraged my creative pursuits, although projects like drawing our family portrait in permanent marker on the basement floor and dumping glue on boxes of fabric scraps to get that magical sticky result was probably not what she had in mind." Still, they didn't try too hard to talk her out of going to art school - Jennifer has a BFA in painting and drawing and a certificate in botanical illustration.

© Jennifer Wambach

After college, she moved to Chicago where she "meandered around the world of graphic and product design, dabbled in children's book illustration, earned a certificate in botanical illustration, did some digital scrapbook kit design, made some collage and found art pieces; I tried to do some oil painting and colored pencil drawing, but just couldn't find my niche."

"I met a wonderful guy," she continues, saying "we got married, had three kids, and I stayed at home with them and did freelance design when they were napping. One afternoon I stumbled across Spoonflower quite by accident and not having much of a clue how to make a good repeat, put together a print and entered my first Fabric of the Week contest (my design placed #15 out of 64 entries.) It was quite addicting and fun!"

"Right about the time I discovered Spoonflower, my husband bought me a Silhouette SD digital diecutting machine for Christmas." Jennifer signed her first licensing contract with Silhouette soon after (2010) and won a few Spoonflower Fabric of the Week contests around the same time, two very wonderful and coincidental occurrences that started her out on her art licensing journey. "It was a perfect fit, because it draws on (ha ha) a bit of everything I love," she concludes.

© Jennifer Wambach

"My absolute favorite thing and what amazes me every single day is the opportunity to draw nearly anything I want! It seems wrong somehow that I can use my goofy little drawings to create designs to sell through the Silhouette store and then use them to make fabric collections which I'll sell on Spoonflower and send to fabric companies for licensing. After many years of corporate design (same old projects over and over again, like brochures with very limited parameters and using a very limited set of photos) it's amazing - AMAZING!!! - that I can draw anything, and even more so, that people will want to buy it," Jennifer confesses.

© Jennifer Wambach

The favorite of all her artistic pursuits is probably fabric design. "I can get so completely involved in whatever one I'm working on that I don't realize I'm hungry, I forget about whatever I just set to cook on the burner - I just want to tweak this one little thing, it'll just take 30 seconds - and don't notice when both my legs have gone completely numb because I haven't shifted position in two hours," she says.

As for inspiration, I asked Jennifer what she does. Her answer is that it's a bizarre mishmash of all sorts of niche, fringe, and completely unrelated and random things, like mid-century design, florals, advertising kitsch, Van Gogh, fabric, graffiti, Renaissance art, children's drawings, toys, bright color palettes, her pets (an elderly cat, a puppy, three loud cockatiels and a red betta), interior design, kids' clothes, abstract expressionism, Degas, folk art, robots, NOVA PBS shows, antiques, music, early 20th century illustrators, and her current food obsession: expensive chocolate combined with weird things like horseradish or paprika.

© Jennifer Wambach

Jennifer is running 150 miles per hour and produces beautiful products while doing so!

She says:" it sounds cliche, but my favorite is usually the newest one I'm working on. Right now I've been semi-obsessed with the wrought iron/chalkboard trend and flowers, and am working on some new (pretty, not kitchy! sort of new for me) fabric collections and Silhouette designs inspired by those. I'm also hoping to do more watercolor (probably have to wait 'til kid #3 is old enough to know not to grab everything off every table within his reach), and am experimenting to find a way to incorporate those paintings into my repeats." She also adds: "I also really enjoy the 3D shapes I come up with for the Silhouette store. It's a challenge sometimes to make them work, since paper sometimes bends or resists bending in ways I didn't imagine when I pre-designed the finished object in my head, but I love figuring things out."

© Jennifer Wambach

I asked Jennifer what she has in mind for future aspirations. "In the short term, I'd like to finish the redesign of my website, www.jenniferwambach.com, and go through the boxes of art supplies and really organize and put them away in my new "office" - a corner of the family room with shelves and desks.

© Jennifer Wambach

Both of those goals will hopefully lead to me doing much more licensed art: fabric collections, home decor and stationery. I also want to expand my Silhouette designs to include more intricate and more 3D shapes. And finally, I definitely want to get back to watercolor painting."

© Jennifer Wambach

Find out more about Jennifer Wambach:

Spoonflower: http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/jennartdesigns

Blog: http://jennartdesigns.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennartdesigns

Website: www.jenniferwambach.com

Bright Colors, Fabrics and Quilting Design - Artist Cara Gulati

I've started to test print some tear-sheets for my new collections that I will present at Surtex this May - I am testing for colors and size, depending on the artwork. Some fabric repeats, for example, make more sense when presented in a larger format. The paper I am using is premium presentation matte. Colors are very key to presentations and getting the right hues is important, especially when you work on coordinated pieces. Unfortunately it requires lots of ink and paper to get all the collections printed but I think it's still a necessary evil. I will also use a tablet at the show to show my designs in addition to the printed artwork, at least for my first year - both systems work well. Many artists just show digital images, no more paper or binder presentations, and they love it.

© Alex Colombo

Speaking of presentations, at a Christmas party with my local art licensing group in Berkeley I met designer and artist Cara Gulati. She designs very colorful quilts and travels the world, too. She knows what fabrics are good and what are not. I invited her to be our guest and talk about this popular world of textile design.

Cara says her career path is composed of many different jobs. "I am a designer, author, teacher, publisher and quilt artist. My background is in fashion design and merchandising." She currently lives in San Rafael, California with her part time dog Roxie whom she shares. "It’s a great arrangement because I travel so much. My house is also my studio space. I get to decorate it any way I want to. Every room is a different color!"

Radiant Suns - © Cara Gulati

She also adds: "I consider myself to be quite lucky to work in my field of choice. In order to do that I have to have my hands in many buckets, so to speak. I design and make large fiber art quilts and I design fabric. I write and publish books and patterns for quilters. I sell long-arm quilting machines for A1 Long Arm Machines - big industrial machines for stitching three quilt layers together. I travel the world to teach and lecture about my work. I also show my work in galleries."

Cara tells us about her techniques in quilting and sewing. "I am known for including curved seam piecing and freezer paper applique. For designing fabric and art quilts I use Adobe Illustrator and for publishing I use Adobe CS." She then continues, saying: "Fiber art is my first love right now. I am continuing to work on a series called 3-D Explosion, which involves designs that look like scrolls of paper rolling up and unrolling. The designs appear to have two sides. I create art quilts with these designs to hang on the wall."Fabric is her muse. Bright colors and sharp graphic designs catch her eye and send her mind into a frenzy of ideas. "It's even more interesting to me when the feel and the hand (the drape and weight of the fabric) are soft, smooth and heavy."

Jazzy Jewels - © Cara Gulati

Some of Cara's inspiration comes from other artists' work, world architecture, and books of patterns. Nature inspires her with colors. "In my home/studio almost every room is a different color," she comments. "My favorite room, the family room, has three different orange colors in it. The first two are tints, the last one is very saturated. It's decorated with art and an area rug in brilliant aqua/turquoise blues. I have art (mostly from other artists) hanging on every wall in my house. It's very uplifting to me."

She is currently working on a new show that runs between Thanksgiving and New Years. It's going to be a new series similar to 3-D Explosion. Quilts usually hang flat on walls like tapestries but she plans to attach them to stretched artist canvases so they hang like art that people are used to buying, "with the hope that my fiber art will be experienced in a different and yet familiar way," she concludes.

Any important tips you'd like to share in regards to designing quilts or fabric designs for quilts that will help new artists with their collections, I ask?

Neon Fireworks - © Cara Gulati

"Fabric companies that cater to the quilt market are looking for a story. Design collections that show and sell well usually have one main fabric that the rest of the line is designed around. Let's say you are doing a panel with a tree, some birds, flowers and grass. The important supporting fabrics would be made up of elements from your panel, such as the same flowers on one fabric and birds on another fabric. Then the next set of supporting fabrics would do well as all-over designs such as tone-on-tone grass or the pattern of the tree bark. Leaves would also be a good all over. Dots and stripes in the same colors are good supporters too."

What's next for Cara? "I am looking into doing more graphic design and possibly trying licensing in some different industries. The Home Decor market has always appealed to me, so I'll be looking seriously at that in the near future."

3D Party Explosion - © Cara Gulati

Find out more about Cara Gulati here: www.doodlepress.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cara.gulati

[Editor's note] All photography © Gregory Case: www.gregorycase.com

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A Special Interview with Angela Menendez, Director of Merchandizing for Garnet Hill

My journey in art licensing has been an intense and interesting experience so far – I began in October of last year painting my first collection after reading about licensing for several months prior to that. This past January I was offered representation and off I went to a new adventure that took me to Surtex in May. In recent weeks I have decided to represent myself, so I am now out in the open ocean again, sailing away, charting my own course through the maze of this industry. As our special guest says below, I want to build partnerships directly with clients that will help build my brand.

My birthday is in October, too, so I thought to celebrate it with my licensing contract with Magnet Works – my Desert Garden design has been featured as part of their beautiful new Spring/Summer 2013 collection – and by inaugurating a new twist in this adventure with my first interview from the other side of the licensing business.

After meeting her at Surtex 2012, we're happy to introduce Angela Menendez, the Director of Merchandizing for fabulous Garnet Hill, who was gracious enough to let us interview her about the field from the perspective of a manufacturer and retailer.

The Moon From My Attic: Could you give us all a little background of yourself and how you got into this field?

© Garnett Hill

Angela Menendez: Well, I feel like now I have a dream job with Garnet Hill. We are small enough to have a team that works collaboratively, so I work really closely with the design team from concept to product finalization. The head designer and I shop the market looking for trends and inspirations and she will come up with themes and color palettes based on that. Then I'll work with her to build the assortment, so we're really an interesting balance, where I'll come in with what I would recommend for product expansion and categories of emphasis for a season and then we build the line together. We're very lucky to have a small but very talented team.

I've been here about 4 years, and prior to this I was VP of Merchandizing for Plow and Hearth, a retailer based in Virginia, and in that environment it was much more of a hard goods environment. We sold everything from apparel to hearth products to garden furniture. There we didn't have a design team per se so I worked more with designers who worked with vendors or once in awhile we'd hire freelancers to do certain projects. Still I was pretty hands-on in that world. Prior to that I was with LL Bean in product development, and LL Bean is such a large corporation that there roles are a little bit more defined. I was working much more off-the-shelf and the product development team was a separate team. I've learned that I actually really enjoy being part of a slightly smaller company that's design focused and where I can get my hands "dirty" in the work!

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: It definitely sounds like the closer you are to being right in the middle of the work and the action, the happier you are - you can even hear it in your voice! Besides the collaboration dynamics of your job, are there other aspects of your work that you find really satisfying and inspiring, as well as what things do you find challenging?

AM: I think for me the most exciting part of a project is the inception, the initial development of the product ideas, working with color and fabrics and putting the stories together to identify and create a vision for what something needs to be - at this point you're right in the middle of that creative process. This is especially elevating when you work in conjunction with someone who you really understand and have such a strong relationship with. When we each come up with a vision for something, most of the time we have the same vision - or similar enough that we can visualize things immediately.

We don't take that for granted, because it takes so many years of close collaboration to get to that kind of dynamic in a relationship. The peak experience, of course, is when you get to see a design come to fruition and then go through all the iterations with the vendor and then be able to stand back and say, "yes, this is exactly what we wanted it to be." We sell luxury goods, very lovely products, and we take a great deal of pride in them and really sweat the details; for me, that part is also really exciting.

© Garnett Hill

On the other hand, it's a pretty high stress job because it's very deadline intensive and we put out about a 150 products per season, so it's a lot of work and it's all very fast. The frustrating part of it, especially for the design team, is that it's art but it's also production. As a result, there are many times when we have to make trade-offs - knowing we could continue to evolve something and improve it, but that it's really good enough to go forward with it as it is. With most every product, we have to find that balance between the integrity of the work itself and what we know is going to sell, and take it just to that point to keep it moving in development. Many times there are purely practical compromises that you have to make during the process, based on pricing or production efficiency, and when we have to do that it's a judgement call and it's always a trade-off of that original vision and idea.

TMFMA: Is that the same kind of frustration that you have to deal with when you buy art from another artist rather than producing it in-house?

© Garnett Hill

AM: When we buy a piece of art from an artist we usually see something in the artwork itself, sort of an underlying spirit in the original piece that we want to preserve. In our case, since we will often modify the art quite a bit, we prefer to buy it outright rather than license it. The design team might buy the art, then rescale it and prepare it for wide-width printing (for fabric) and for the screen printing process, we'll have to also reduce the number of colors. If we buy something that's really painterly or needs to have a cleaner background or cleaner lines, we need the freedom to do that. It's not that it's frustrating, but if we have to do too much of that, it can change the character of the original art and then we should have just started with something else. We've developed such a good, strong relationships with the artists we work with so they really trust what we do with their art, which is also a great credit to how we work with artists here and in the U.K.

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: When you are looking at other artists or scouting out designs, it sounds like you already have some concepts, products, and themes in mind, and in that frame of mind something clicks with an artist you come across. Is that sort of how it works?

AM: Yes, although it can work both ways. We can go to the market with an idea, like we were in Paris at Bon Marché a couple of years ago and they had these really cool lines that "stuck" right away. This sparked some ideas about how it would be pretty cool to do a home theme. In fact, a lot of people on both the design and merchandizing side of the company had that same coincidental, parallel thought process - in addition, it was right after the royal wedding. We were all thinking the same thing even though we hadn't read anything about it or talked about it yet, so suddenly four of us came out with very similar themes. Some design themes emerged out of that trip and we went looking for certain things. But, we also go to shows and see something that's so fabulous that we'll decide that we need to build a story around this - so it can work both ways.

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: From the standpoint where you bump up against art like that from outside, where do you typically scout for or find new art?

AM: We do go to shows like Surtex, but more and more often we are also looking online and looking at design blogs - the blog-sphere has become a major influencer, so we're looking there as well. And if we are thinking of something and we haven't found it, then we'll commission different things depending on the artists' hands, such as if we have someone who is really graphic or someone who is working with cut-outs, or someone else who does hand drawing.

TMFMA: When you're either scouting or bumping up against artwork or artists, it sounds like for you it's less relevant that they have a complete collection as opposed to that you can see a real style and consistent hand.

AM: Yes - we're essentially looking for a unique point of view. At the last Surtex, we actually found a couple of designers who were new; it was their first show and they had just been together about 6 months. As a result, they really didn't have a huge amount to show. But, what they did have was so cool and so fun that we commissioned some things from them. And, we said, "you know what, we can't use what you have here but could you do this for us." They just had a hand that we thought would work for Garnet Hill, and they were happy to start working with us. An important part of it is just that personal interest and passion around the art and the product that makes it worth the effort - it's not just about commerce, but bringing this idea to fruition together. That can just be incredibly satisfying when you have a good relationship.

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: It sounds like the relationship side of the equation is equally if not more important when you're working with outside artists.

AM: Absolutely. As part of that relationship we need to be comfortable - the relationship can help overcome the ego part of it. If you as an artist are coming in with something or an idea and it can't be modified, if you have the mindset that it can't be changed, then you're self-limiting. However, even if you've spent hours painting something up, if the prospective buyer wants to change it and you are OK with that, it allows the relationship to open up. And, ultimately, that is the most important part of the whole enterprise, the development of that collaborative partnership.

TMFMA: Another aspect of your work that would be interesting to learn is how do you balance the ability to set trends as well as know when or how to follow them?

© Garnett Hill

AM: Yes, this is a tricky part of the business. Since we work about 18 months out we have to anticipate what trends are going to be. But we also consciously select and edit the trends. We were talking about something just the other day with one of our art directors, looking around to see if we're missing anything, and she said, "you know what, there are some things we just don't have to touch." And she's right. Again, it comes to that point of view because otherwise if you're watering it down and you don't have a strong point of view, then the customer is going to also be confused. And in that confusion they're going to go buy somewhere else.

TMFMA: You still have to hold true to your own sensibilities and your own ideas. So given that, what are some of your favorite trends that you do resonate with right now?

© Garnett Hill

AM: I like that whole trend of high-low decorating, where people are essentially gathering things that they love - it's less about whether it's cheap or expensive. It's sort of a personally edited eclecticism where are homes and our spaces need to be more reflections of our personal biographies, of where we've traveled and what we love and love to do, and our families, and not worrying so much about looking decorated or which period it comes from. There's also this factor where there is furniture that we've inherited from our parents or we've bought at flea markets or whatever so all these things that we've purchased or made ourselves or repainted or revamped, there's just a lot of authenticity to that, and I like the fact that big collection designers are touting that rather than having everything staged. Also, I think the more uncertainty there is in the world, the natural instinct is to turn in and make our spaces safe, comfortable and reflections of us.

TMFMA: There is something very engaging about things becoming more personally meaningful to individual consumers.

© Garnett Hill

AM: Yes, and I would also say that people aren't afraid to spend quite a bit of money on a few things that have a great deal of meaning. But, for the things that need to be commoditized, then they'll look for the lowest price or best value. Our customer in general understands the value in investing in one or two good pieces rather than buying multiples. It doesn't mean we don't have things that are also reasonably priced, but even still there is a basic level of quality that you can expect.

TMFMA: So it's like the product also carries an emotional aspect, rather than just a piece of art or home decor...

AM: Yes - a lot of our Garnet Hill prints this fall have a sheet pattern that includes retro clocks - and they're kind of funny when you think of it, putting clocks on a bed. However, we thought it was funny and had a mid-century retro look and we had already sold a few pieces with it, so we just went with it. It's the kind of thing that makes people laugh. So we want to make people really comfortable and cozy. We also want to get that emotional response.

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: It must be really challenging, when I think of your business, that when the market evolves and commerce becomes meaningful, then the market itself becomes really sophisticated and so how do you build meaning into the products you're selling?

AM: I think the trend is towards enhanced web content - people want to know what they're buying and why. They want to know where we make it, what's gone into it, they want to know what's inspired us. If they resonate with that, then they're more likely to buy it. I like that meaningful commerce phrase. We're really fortunate to be working with vendors and suppliers who look at the whole supply chain.

TMFMA: Something about information and the availability of information that makes this all very interesting.

AM: Yes, and it's about consciousness - doing things consciously versus just automatically.

© Garnett Hill

TMFMA: As a final question, do you have any tips, thoughts, or perspectives that someone getting into art licensing could benefit from - for example, when working with you?

AM: We were talking about design integrity and that point of view is important, to know where you stand and to be aware of which areas you can be flexible. Also, to understand what you want as an artist - do you want your designs represented only in certain markets or in certain ways. If so, you need to be discriminating about entering into relationships. We buy artwork outright instead of licensing, partly because we may use artwork for home but the ready-to-wear team may also want to use it, so it might have multiple uses and we like the flexibility to do that. As the artist/designer, you should understand how you want to brand yourself; it's very important.

© Garnett Hill

Also, listening and building the relationship. You're listening to the market, you're listening to what the vendors are asking of you and sharing with you. Then you need to be that tireless student of pop culture, taking it all in and interpreting what you see.

TMFMA: Right - that's the inspiration part. You have to take it all in and transform it and make it come from yourself.

AM: That's correct - and I believe that in that unique point of view is the soul.

TMFMA: Thank you again - we appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

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You can visit their website and view all their great products at:

www.garnethill.com