NYFW hiTechMODA is Paving the Way for the Future of Fashion
Radical change” is at the heart of hiTechMODA’s three-day series of shows at NYFW. As producer PS Privette says below, “new technology is changing the way fashion is created, purchased and even disposed of.” This all-women leadership team is working to create a truly transparent fashion week series focused on THE issues of our time: diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability.
With a focus on newer international designers, they’re working to create spectacularly designed fashion shows catering to a variety of aesthetics and visions.
These are ethically-driven, exciting shows you absolutely don’t want to miss!
Meet Our All-Female Executive Team
Award-winning producer known for employing emerging technology and trends to create stand-out and original productions. Her diverse professional career experiences have allowed her to easily adapt and excel in many industries, and have given her the foresight to merge technology with fashion in a whole new way and deliver it to a broad audience.
Award-winning curator, a former model, actress, comedian and performer who is now an icon in plus size fashion events and productions in New York City. Her career in fashion spans 4 decades, and she has been a pioneer in plus-size fashion every step of the way.
With a wide range of experience in numerous fields, she brings an arsenal of business and organizational skills, her creative mind, and her love of technology to the world of fashion.
Interview with Producer Pamela Privette (PS Privette)
Q: What is hiTechMODA? What does it mean, and why did you choose that name?
hiTechMODA is an event and marketing platform whose purpose is to use technology in a “higher,” more-evolved manner to drive the much-needed shift of the current paradigm within the fashion industry.
Not many shows embrace and showcase diversity, inclusivity, accessibility as well as sustainability. And Season 2 is about the MOMENTUM we are fostering through opportunity.
Not many shows embrace and showcase diversity, inclusivity, accessibility as well as sustainability
We try and feature new technologies each season that advance our goals and target not only business-to-business, but business-to-consumers as well. Not just for industry insiders, this is a show for all interested and related parties.
On our runway, we inspire and motivate by using artistic means of expression which emotionally trigger awareness and heighten appreciation and stimulate the possibility of radical change.
Commerce must become more targeted, customized and authentic.
We incorporate all aspects of multi-disciplinary art forms on our runway – fashion, art, beauty, commerce, dance, music, digital media, photography, videography and even theatre. Last year’s technology was pattern-making software, this year’s is live fashion show shopping with a phone app called Buy It Live and fit-matching avatar capability with Savvy Tech’s ENLY.
And the technology doesn’t stop there.
We have “wearable tech” being highlighted through 360 Fashion Network. We are determined to “move the needle” and encompass and captivate everyone in the audience, no matter their affiliation to fashion.
Of course, the event space where hiTechMODA is being held is itself state-of-the-art in terms of technology and show production advanced venues. And National Geographic gives it the planetary theme we are so focused on, with preservation and conservation.
Q: How did you come to produce fashion shows? When did you decide that was what you wanted to do?
I love fashion. Fashion as a profession was a part of my everyday life. When my daughter, Paige Clark, (currently working as a New York model) was first gaining access to the New York City market before she became established, she was working to gain access to the fashion industry and we would attend fashion shows where she modeled and I would assist backstage.
I loved the hustle and chaos backstage, and the captivating beauty and serenity of the final product — the runway event itself — was something I absolutely loved.
almost all of the positions are women
Coupled with the fact that I have industry experience in project management, expediting and other strong managerial skills, I wanted to produce a successful fashion show during NYFW and proved I could with Season One.
It was a natural extension of all my talents. Creative types need a lot of guidance and appreciate my eye for production detail. You know the saying, “if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere.”
I accepted that monstrous challenge of trying to do something that was a bit more “of the people” that was high quality of great value and filled a gap I saw in the NYFW marketplace.
The next step involved meeting the right person because the other saying is, “No man is an island.” I needed a core team that shared my vision and drive and could bring their A-game.
Industry veteran Catherine Schuller is our Fashion Curator and Creative Director, Brenda Jameson is our CIO.
It’s an interesting fact that almost all of the positions — not the just the top three — are women! Women are ready to take on these leadership positions and work together to bring heightened and more compassionate business practices to every level of every industry.
Women are ready to take on these leadership positions
Q: Many fashion shows during NYFW are held in ballrooms and other large open venues. The National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey is sleek, state of an art venue. Why did you choose the location you did for your Fall show?
With our work in sustainability, social awareness, and the current trend toward climate topics on everyone’s collective radar, the venue choice is truly the right fit for hiTechMODA.
Q: What kind of designers do you target for your shows?
We specialize in independent designers who have not been in business more than five years.
We specialize in newer, independent designers
We also have partnered with Suuchi, a change-maker, award-winning manufacturing entity based in New Jersey that will provide the “next step” for those designers who are ready to scale up and start to produce quantity, etc.
Most designers are hungry for exposure and also need runway footage to give them credibility and validate their line.
If you’ve shown on a New York runway, it’s almost like a rite of passage. It sets you apart. A designer can always shoot a top-notch editorial spread and build that kind of content, but runway takes a lot to create. It really has to be the “real deal” to make it look believable.
We never were the “pipe and drape, erector-set stage with minimal backdrop.” Our aesthetic rivals the IMG or CFDA industry shows that they call “the tents.” And our designers find us through our stellar content on social media and our website!
Our aesthetic rivals the IMG or CFDA industry shows
And we thank them for their diligent research on best show venues to participate in for a fair price. Our fashion show is professional, well-organized, and successfully brings opportunities to not only the designers, but also the models and everyone involved.
Many of our designers have already said, “I have not even gotten to do your show during NYFW yet and I already have opportunities coming my way.”
We have strong relationships throughout New York and internationally. Our support staff is strong and experienced and our team is dedicated and professional. If you are transparent, keep focused on strong communication skills and are fair, they will beat a path to your door by word of mouth alone.
If you are transparent, they will beat a path to your door by word alone
Q: Your Fall event is comprised of 4 separate fashion shows; can you tell us about them?
Because we are an all-inclusive and accessible show, each segment represents a different theme/direction. Gone are the days when those exclusive, industry-insider-only fashion shows are all that’s being offered during NYFW.
With brick and mortar stores closing and retail taking a nosedive, the fashion industry is in need of a makeover. We are there to fit the need for a new direction. We are the fashion for the people!
We are the fashion for the people!
Finally, the consumer demands to see themselves on the runway. We created 4 shows to create more diverse opportunity for models and designers in different areas; Friday, 7:30 pm, couture; Saturday, 12:00 pm, Red Carpet, Kids; 4:00, Sustainable; 7:00, Premier All- Inclusive Fashion Show.
And we have a tech partner with 360 Fashion Network who is providing our wearable tech as well as live fashion show shopping with Buy It Live and Savvy Tech’s Enly.
Q: Where do you see yourself in the coming years?
We are about discovering, showcasing and monetizing the fashion runway. It is a platform for selling at its core, a pop-up shop in a different guise.
We want to seek new innovations and provide new opportunities and be known as the launching pad for new ideas, introducing more technology that is changing the way fashion is created, purchased and even disposed of.
new technology is changing the way fashion is created, purchased and even disposed of
It’s a burgeoning new field and my team and I have the collaborative vision to stay the course and bring fresh insights and integrity into the event production arena. We are the new trend in fashion, not just what’s on the runway, but how it is presented and marketed on that runway. The runway is the new retail experience as we see it.
Q: How can people follow your brand?
People can follow us on instagram @hitechmoda, FaceBook hitechmoda, Pinterest @hitech moda or subscribe at www.hitechmoda.com
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With love,
FWO
