A few weeks ago I attended the launch party for Spendthrift, a new fashion label.

It was hosted at Jalouse in Hanover Square, and included a catwalk show and live guitarist.

I recently came across a blog about the event by a stylist named Madeleine.

She takes a bit of mystery out of the event by revealing some of the happenings behind the scenes.

The blog post is insightful reading for anyone that wants to work in the fashion industry.

It’s also indicative of our culture, where we are increasingly educated on, and somewhat becoming immune to, the goings on in the creative/media/pr world.

What goes on backstage, doesn’t always stay backstage.

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The Online Fashion 100 are now voting for the ‘Star’ of the industry, with the winner to be announced, and an award presented, at an event, sponsored by Fash Shot, next month.

Who will win?

Read my latest Drapers blog, ‘Who is the Star of Online Fashion?’

Download Online Fashion 100 for a reminder of the names.

If you’re on the list email vote100@reallycontent.com with the three names you think should win, by June 12th.

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Guest post by Courtney Blackman, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman of Fashion Business Club

Fashion Business Club (FBC) is composed of the sharpest minds in the industry, and there isn’t a member who hasn’t harnessed the power of the Internet.

From digital news providers including Drapers, Vogue.com, Fashion.Music.Style and Stylist Stuff; to a massive list of online retailers such as Koodos.com, Adili and Debenhams, FBCers understand the importance of e-commerce, news distribution and of course using their websites as marketing tools for services like photography, copywriting, legal assistance and show production.

FBC brings all these empirical experts together to share ideas and learn from each other with the end result of course to increase everyone’s bottom line.

FBC was designed to foster business support through experience and knowledge and all it takes to join is a minimum of two years working as a professional in the industry.

To apply for membership, you can download an application form from the Fashion Business Club website.

FBC’s next meeting is on the 28th of May at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and FBC board member and fashion illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve will be interviewing Felder Felder, followed by business networking.

Guest post by Courtney Blackman, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman of Fashion Business Club

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...with (l to r) Lee Friend, Managing Director of Fashshot.com, Marylin Bullock, Entreprenuer, and Steve Uren, Creative Director of Venda.

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Beauty brands are often asked to provide items for goody bags to give out at fashion parties.

Alice Stone holds W7 Press Powder from Pink Drinks goody bag

At London Fashion Week the Metropolitan Hotel hosted its Pink Drinks party, which is a fashion industry favourite.

There are lots of fashion press and buyers at the hotel to see new collections from top designers, so placing something in the goody bags of this event is a good move for brands that want to get noticed by fashion journalists.

This kind of marketing opportunity is a good way of promoting a website too.

By placing a URL on the product journalists can tell their readers where to buy the product, whether it’s the brand’s own store or an official stockist, making it a good marketing opportunity for that store too.

It’s probably one of the least exploited forms of offline marketing by online stores.

In this climate PR agencies could consider doing deals with online stores to charge them a per feature fee when they get them credited for a brand they are working to promote – of course with the full agreement of the brand.

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Last week I went to the On | Off catwalk show which is sponsored by online fashion store Oli.co.uk.

Me with Kate Lapthron

Celebrities on the front row included former model Jodie Kidd, actress Jamie Winstone, All Saint Melanie Blatt, DJ Jodie Harsh and Sugababe Heidi Range.

Enjoying the show: Melanie Blatt, Jamie Winstone and the Lennox sisters

I recently wrote about the importance of online retailers sponsoring events like this as the brand association with cutting edge fashion will, albeit indirectly, have an impact on conversion rates.

Jodie Kidd has a range at Oli.co.uk

The fashion store’s association with On | Off has seen it become talk of fashion blogs which is excellent for brand building and positioning.

What’s important is that Oli encourages blogs and online fashion magazines to link to their website, as this will help with their search engine visibility.

Last season’s show, attended by Peaches Geldof, attracted a write up and link on Glamcanyon.

Online features: Glamcanyon and Wonderland

More recently the On|Off show was featured on Wonderland Magazine but without a link to the store.

Oli could ask Wonderland to add a link to the post – it’s a process known in the online marketing community as ‘link reworking’.

Link reworking is asking for a link on a blog or article to a brand that is already mentioned in the piece but not linked to.

I hope next season the brand engages with more bloggers who have the ability to directly affect their search engine visibility.

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The Metropolitan Hotel has a pink party twice a year during London Fashion Week.

Fashion crowd pack the Met Bar

The event coincides with designers showcasing their collection to buyers and press at the London hotel.

The party, attended by over 300 people in the fashion industry, has already been blogged about by Bianca Pal and Liz Lamb.

There were a lot of people taking photos who will no doubt blog (or tweet) about the party after the London Fashion Week “come down”.

Enjoying the party: Me and guests

I think premium hotel brands wanting to be synonymous with fashion should encourage this type of coverage by actively inviting fashion, luxury and lifestyle bloggers and online journalists to events.

The more links the hotels get from these websites the higher their visibility will be in the search engines when people search for hotels.

Entertainment was provided by the SKIP Theatre

These blog posts and articles will also appear in the search listings when people search using brand led terms such as ‘met bar’ or ‘metropolitan hotel’.

The appearance of articles from luxury websites when searching for the brand creates positive and relevant associations with the hotel.

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Back in December I was honoured to be asked onto the judging panel for the first Drapers Etail Awards, to celebrate the successes of online fashion stores over the past year.

Last Thursday night ASOS, My-Wardrobe.com, Mio Destino, Sarah Coggles, Schuh, Radley, Mulberry and Sole Heaven all picked up awards for their achievements in online retail.

Host Mica Paris and Drapers editor Lauretta Roberts

Hosted by singer and TV presenter Mica Paris, it was not only a night of champagne and networking but also an opportunity for movers and shakers in online fashion retail to pat each other on the back for an amazing year of growth.

The event was held at Sketch in Mayfair and some amazing dancers got the party started in style.

Dancers in monochrome set the tone for a stylish party

The team at Mulberry had permanent grins on their faces after winning Best Single Brand Etailer, as did the girls from lingerie website Mio Destino who won Best Marketing Initiative, a deserved award if any considering hours after getting it they told everyone on their email newsletter database; flawless.

The night really went to Sarah Curran and the team at My-Wardrobe who walked away with Best Etail Innovation (the click to buy in the video did it for me) and the Overall Winner Gold Award.

Here’s to another great year in online fashion retail!

Photos courtesy of Drapers Etail Awards and FashShot

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Online PR firm onlinefire hosted The Voscars (Virgin Mobile Oscars) to find the best viral campaign.

Bloggers, social media commentators and journalists were asked for their favourite viral campaign and my submission was this Jeans Jumping video which came 17th.

And the winner was ‘Jizz in my pants’.

The event was used to launch Virgin Mobile’s 30p campaign and showcase its own viral.

If you’re interested in seeing what 30 peas can do go see it.

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I was asked to sit on the judging panel for the Drapers Etail Awards 2009. The first dedicated e-commerce awards scheme by the bible of the fashion business Drapers.

Led by Drapers editor Lauretta Roberts the judges – Myself, Zia Zareem-Slade, Julie Howell, Andy Houstoun, Rob Jones, Leisa Barnett and Peter Fitzgerald – discussed all the entries that successfully made it on to the shortlist.

It was interesting to see how the diverse mix of experiences in the room - fashion, e-commerce and retail - added a healthy objectiveness to the judging (I know I changed my mind on a few occasions).

We all brought something to the table, and it was our job to analyse applications and ensure others on the panel took into consideration the positives in submissions which they may not have noticed when scoring.

Good luck to everyone on the shortlist!

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A couple of weeks ago I went to the launch event for the new Karaoke Box in Smithfield, London.

If you haven’t yet had the chance to experience a night in a private karaoke booth you’re definitely missing out.

It’s an opportunity for you and your friends to lock yourself away in a room equipped with microphones and a choice of 5,000 songs.

You pay a set fee, based on the size of your party and the hours you sing the night away.

I feel there would be an opportunity for more revenue to be generated by recording booth sessions (with permission of course) and allowing partygoers to watch themselves, or see photos, online the next day.

It could also act as a viral marketing tactic.

Everyone loves putting up party photos on Facebook. Karaoke Box could offer visitors the opportunity to find their photo on the website and easily put them into their Facebook profile, complete with Karaoke Box branding embedded on the photo.

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A couple of weeks ago at the launch night for RAW at London nightclub Jalouse (in support of Cancer Research UK), I saw an example of an established profession using the internet to generate revenue.

On arrival at the private members club, frequented by celebs including Sienna Miller, Ronan Keating and Leonardo DiCaprio, attendees were photographed red carpet style by Pictures Inc, and given the option to purchase the print outs on site; just like when you get off the Log Flume at Alton Towers.

But if you didn’t want to run the risk of losing your print out on the way home, you could always log on to the Pictures Inc website the next morning and purchase the photo online as an A4 print out or get it made into a key ring.

The internet means photographers can generate revenue after an event.

Paul Martin from Pictures Inc says the practice is a double edge sword, whilst many partygoers like to see their photo online, only a few go on to purchase.

I think Paul is correct, but quite possibly polite in his observation. I would go as far as saying it’s simply modern day narcissism in action.

The kind of narcissism that would lend itself to sending to friends, posting on Facebook, or embedding into a blog (who would do that?).

This ‘self gratifying viral’ behaviour can be used to the advantage of sponsors whose branding appears behind most photos (in this case The Fashion Crowd and Jalouse) – it’s like making a celebrity out of every individual. Perhaps this is the way to fund event photography, in addition to merchandise?

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I was lucky enough to attend a listening event of Alesha Dixon’s new album at Volstead club in London with fellow blogger and friend Michele Obi of MYFASHIONLIFE.

The album sounds brilliant (can’t wait to get my hands on it) – I’m no music critic, music journalist or music blogger but I’ll use my blog as an opportunity to describe it as perfect infectious British pop.

The event invite actually came as a surprise. Arriving in my inbox two days prior to the event apparently I had won the tickets? I didn’t realise but weeks ago when I entered my email address to download a free Alesha Dixon track I also entered a competition to attend a listening event.

A great idea to get fans involved, especially with Alesha there to meet them, but I feel the event could have also been used as an opportunity for the Strictly champion to meet music bloggers.

Lots of pop bloggers and the influential posters on pop message boards (UKMix, Popjustice) would have spread the word about Alesha’s album online like wildfire.

They would also have linked to her new website www.aleshadixon.co.uk, which would help it move up the ranking in Google when her name is searched for (which would also save a few pennies as they are currently paying per click on Google Adwords).

A least one [fashion] blogger Michele was there – look out for an interview with Alesha on style on MYFASHIONLIFE.com.

Also: I must say I was also shocked that the email invite had no less than 45 of us winners in the CC field. Yes, not the BCC field, but the CC field. Surely record companies have access to email marketing platforms?

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Last week OSOYOU, in association with Philips Sonicare, hosted a Sex and the City night in London.

Fashion blogger Michele Obi from Myfashionlife.com (above, reaching for her Cosmo) was there to enjoy the action, as was new Gladiator Spartan!

The drinks party finished with a talk by my celebrity stylist friend Zoe Lem.

Everyone then headed off to watch a private screening of the film.

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Click to see more photos from the Sex and the City party

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If you haven’t checked out The Hoxton Pony on Curtain Road yet, make sure you make a date with it this week. Here more photos from the opening launch party which I went to last week.

Nat Weller and Henry Holland

Jefferson Hack

Elinor Olisa & Isobel Beauchamp

Mark Hooper & Kevin Braddock

Zoe Lem and me LEON Bailey Green

The Hoxton Pony

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