Calling this 2017 Fashion Trend Now!

Sorry, 90’s minimalism, you’ve had your fun. For the past year or two, it seems like every it girl has embraced black body suits, chokers, mom jeans, and, of course, those reflective round aviator sunglasses that seem to be everywhere. While the trend is still going strong (here’s looking at you Kendall, Gigi, and Hailey), celebrities and fashion’s elite are embracing a new aesthetic:

You can thank the sartorial genius Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s current Creative Director, for this breath of fresh air. The designer’s cool-meets-geeky, vintage-inspired, more is more approach has rendered some of this year’s most exciting and talked about collections. And, as a result, we’re predicting one of 2017’s most popular aesthetics. Sequins? Check. Embroidery? Check. Ruffles? You know it. Bows, rose broaches, loud prints? Heck yes! You name it and it was probably featured in one of Gucci’s 2016 collections. And that’s just how we like it. There seems to be a little something for everyone, drawing nostalgia from multiple decades and locations while maintaining it’s own unique… je ne sais quoi?

But don’t take our word for it! These celebrities are hardily endorsing the eccentric, globally-inspired, 70s geek-glam mash-up:

Look to Beyoncé’s Visual Album Lemonade too see all kinds of Gucci goodness, or a ton of her current wardrobe IRL. She’s such a fan that even little Blue Ivy gets her own Gucci to rock.

Jared Letto also knows what’s up (hint: It’s Gucci).

Those of us without the Beyoncé bank account can take inspiration and design our own one-of-a-kind look with MyWear! Select our free custom sizing option for an additional dose of luxury. Then, pin on a flower broach and slip into some loafers or platforms and you’re all set!

Are You Taking Advantage of These MyWear® Tools?

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the MyWear platform and designed your first item, you might be wondering if there’s any hacks or tools for even more control during the design process. Lucky for you, there is! Here we’ll walk you through some of the lesser known tools to utilize while designing with MyWear!

Apply Image To

If you only want to apply art to specific sections of your design, use the “Apply Image To” dropdown to add art to desired panels, or uncheck components where you don’t want your art to be applied.

 

Additional Artwork Tabs

If you’re planning on using more than one artwork on your piece, you can use the additional artwork tabs to do so. When combined with “apply image to” you can create pieces that feature multiple works of art on different sections, or it can be used as a tool for even more control over the placement of your art and how it will look on your garment.

 

Clone Tool

Use the clone tool to clone your art to a second (or third!) artwork tab.

 

Center Arrow Button

As you’ve probably figured out, the four arrows located in the artwork tab will align your art further to the left or right, or higher or lower. But, there’s also a small center button which will make your arrows move in smaller increments.

 

Display Order

Use the layer up/down buttons located to the left of your art thumbnail to change layer order.

To set a logo, use a .png file (without a background) and overlay it on top of the other layers.

 

Color Tab

To apply solid color, go to the color tab and uncheck “art” in the component you’d like to apply color to. Click the color box and use the dropper to choose a color or enter a color hex code.

Mirror & Copy Functions

You can also find the “mirror” and “copy” functions located in the color tab. Use these to copy or mirror the art from one side onto the other. For example, for symmetrical sleeves, use the color tab’s dropdown menu under “Mirror” and select “Mirror” to make the left component match with the right. Select “Copy” to apply an identical copy of the art onto the other sleeve.

Once you get the hang of these tools, you’ll find many inventive ways to use them to create truly unique items that your customers can’t find anywhere else. Want a quick visual refresher course? Look no further than our video tutorial!

Seeing Red: You Can’t Be Mad at This Week’s Romantic Looks

Normally, when we think of the color red, words that might come to mind are along the lines of “passion”, “action”, or “anger”. Color psychology associated with red represents “our most physical needs and our will to survive. It exudes a strong and powerful masculine energy.”

But, let us introduce you to the softer side of red. This look has been spotted multiples over the last week, especially at Cannes. Florals, naval stripes, and hints of nude and blush have been keeping things romantic, feminine, and, dare we say, soft?

Red is a classic color that never goes out of style, but with its current popularity, now is the perfect time to design something of your own in the timeless shade.

Here are just a few examples of how you can achieve this style with MyWear®:

How will you showcase red in your next MyWear® design? Tweet us your creations at @LaunchMyWear!

Personalized Clothing Made Easy with MyWearStore.com

Custom clothing has long been associated with celebrities and the wealthy. And for good reason! The cost to create clothing in custom designs, fabrics, and sizes is incredibly expensive. At the very least, it would involve purchasing the perfect fabric and hiring a seamstress that could pattern the piece of clothing and tailor it to your body. Not surprisingly, this sort of thing is out of the ordinary, if not out of the question for most of us. At least it was, until now…

Thanks to our new custom fashion marketplace, MyWearStore, customers are able to order custom clothing for themselves at department store prices. Using a combination of patent-pending technology, automation, and specialized mass manufacturing techniques, MyWear® is the only platform that delivers high-quality apparel and accessories, custom made with your pattern of choice, and personalized to your size and choice of fabric.

For those not interested in jumping straight into creating your own patterns, don’t feel left out! MyWearStore also offers a line of customizable clothing designed by our talented community of independent LaunchMyWear artists and designers. Our marketplace lets you to discover new, emerging designers and trends while getting your pieces custom made to your size and fabric specifications– all at affordable prices!

To get started visit MyWearStore.com!

MyWearStore.com: Custom Fashion at Affordable Prices

Have you heard the news? We’re very proud to announce the launch of our new marketplace, MyWearStore.com!

MyWearStore is the world’s first and only collection of completely customizable apparel and accessories, designed by a talented community of independent LaunchMyWear artists and designers. Our marketplace allows customers to discover new, emerging artists, designers, and trends – all at affordable prices. Customers have the option of personalizing every aspect of their order, from size and fabric, all the way down to the actual design itself. In turn, independent artists and designers are able to sell their own lines of apparel and accessories, under their own labels and with no minimum order quantities. We believe this is the future of art and fashion: an ecosystem of innovation, on-demand production, and full customization.

Once upon a time, having an up and coming designer make you a one-of-a-kind piece in your measurements and choice of fabric meant you were insanely wealthy. Now, with MyWearStore, you can have exactly that, at less than department store prices. We live in the future, guys!

I thought we’d use this as an opportunity to showcase some of our artists’ work, so, without further ado, here are some collections brought to you by the incredibly creative people that make MyWear possible:

I’ll start with one of my personal favorites, the folky designs of Ms. Ranka Stevic. Ranka uses patterns and prints that I would normally associate with embroidery, but updates them with modern colors and sharp angles. This marriage of tradition and modern design feels both familiar and fresh.

One of our earliest supporters and favorite designers has been Inspired Fashion. Inspired offers a huge range of unique apparel, with a positive message to boot.

I’m also a huge fan of these trippy designs from Fashion4U:

YSO Serious fashion has some seriously unique graphic tees:

Last but not least, my favorite, Reality Inc., brings technicolor pop art to the table, combining satire, modern art, and a Warhol-esque approach in his designs.

We’re expanding our marketplace constantly with new designers and a huge range of products in the pipeline. Those of you interested in creating your own line can register on LaunchMyWear.com. Those looking to support the artist community and snag your own one-of-a-kind pieces can visit MyWearStore.com.

Happy shopping!

LaunchMyWear How-To: Create a Tribal Print

In this week’s MyWear® How-To, I’ll walk you through creating your own tribal print. To do this, you’ll need Photoshop and a little creativity. Easy peasy!

Start by using the rectangular marquee tool, located on your tool bar to your left, to create a couple of lines. Fill them in with the desired color using the paint bucket, also located in your tool bar.

Use the polygonal Lasso Tool to begin shaping out an angular design. To do this click corners and the polygonal lasso will connect them with lines. You’ll be using this tool a lot for this particular design, so I recommend playing around with it for a few moments to get a good feel for it.

Once you’ve created a shape, fill it in with the desired color.

Add an additional color, if desired.

Create more space for expanding your design by lengthening the canvas size. To do this, go to “Image” on the Menu Bar, then “Canvas Size”, and shift the anchor to one side. Enter a larger number in the Width box.

To repeat a design, use the rectangular marquee tool to select area you’d like to repeat. Copy and paste (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) and use cursor arrows to move the desired spot.

Continue creating a design using your Polygonal Lasso Tool and filling it with the Paint Bucket tool, adding additional colors as you go.

From here, it is really just a matter of creating, copying, and pasting, and adding to your design.

Here’s my final pattern:

From here, you can either save and upload to LaunchMyWear or you can add texture. To do this, Go to “Filter” on your Menu Bar and dropdown to select “Oil Paint”. Move around the dials and up the “shine” until you achieve desired effect.

Now you’ve created a one-of-a-kind tribal print ready to be uploaded to LaunchMyWear and turned into an awesome piece of clothing or accessory. Have fun and remember to tweet your designs to @LaunchMyWear.

LaunchMyWear How-to: Create a Print from a Photograph

This is the first installment of a weekly-running tutorial on different ways you can create art for your LaunchMyWear collection. In this one, we’ll explore how to make a print from a photograph!

Today’s tutorial will require Photoshop. Adobe Illustrator is also used for an additional step, but not necessary. Some basic knowledge of Photoshop would come in handy, but fear not if you’re a beginner. There are lots of free resources out there.

Because life if absurd and I’m obsessed with my pets, Andre and Shanté, they will be the source of my pattern today!

Awww

1. Open desired photo in Photoshop. Click on the quick selection tool, located to the left in your toolbar, and select the area you want to feature in your print. You can use the magic wand or lasso to select the area, as well.

2. Create a second blank document in Photoshop.

3. Copy and paste the selected area (ctrl-c, ctrl-v) and use the cursor to drag the layer to its own new Photoshop document.

Double the Andre, double the fun!

4. Use the clone stamp tool or eraser to soften edges. To select the area you want to clone, hold down the alt key while clicking on desired area. Then, click again where you want to apply the cloned selection. If you’re new to this feature, take a few minutes to play around with it. It’s incredibly intuitive once you get the hang of it, but requires a little getting used to. In this case, I’m selecting the white background and applying it to the edges of Andre’s fur, to soften the appearance.

This is getting weird.

5. If you want a cartoon-y effect, I recommend turning up the saturation, which will help keep the photo from getting washed out during the process of making it look more illustrated later in AI. To add saturation, go to “Image” on your menu bar, then “Adjustments” in the dropdown. There, you’ll see an option for “Hue/Saturation”. Turn the saturation dial up and press ok. You can also turn up the exposure under “adjustments”, which I have done here.

6. To create the cartoon-y effect mentioned above, save your saturated document and open in Adobe Illustrator. Go to “Object” in the top menu bar and select “Artboards”, followed by “Fit to Artwork Bounds”, which will be necessary for saving/exporting the file later on. From here, you can click on your image and an “Image Trace” box should appear. Use this to change the preset to 16 colors.

You can also use the pen tool, located on your toolbar to the left, to trace your photo and create an outline.

7. Return to Photoshop after exporting your art from Adobe Illustrator (don’t forget to check the “Use Artboards” box when exporting!) . From here, create a background color with the paint bucket tool.

8. Enlarge your canvas size and copy and paste your photo repeatedly until you begin to create a print. Here, I added Shanté to the mix in the same way that I did with Andre earlier.

9. Keep going until you develop the desired size and look.

10. There you have it! After re-sizing to 20MB or less and saving, your artwork is ready to be uploaded to LaunchMyWear. You can also size it into a square and use the tile option when uploading to LaunchMyWear.com Your print is now on its way to being turned into an incredible one-of-a-kind item. You’re not going to find this scarf anywhere else, that’s for sure!

Have fun! And, as always, tweet you designs or questions @LaunchMyWear.

Turn Art into Merchandise and sell with MyWear®!

 

Register for your free account at http://www.LaunchMyWear.com. After you’ve signed up, you’re ready to create your first piece! Follow along for the steps and helpful tips I’ve learned when designing products.

1. First, you’ll want to upload your artwork. I usually create my art in Photoshop, but you could also use Microsoft Paint, Adobe Illustrator, a photograph, or a picture of something you’ve drawn/painted. I recommend uploading 300 pixel/inch resolution, so your artwork is large and high-res enough to cover your design in full. The one I uploaded here is 4000×6303 px and 19.4 MB.

2. Hover your mouse over the art you uploaded and select “Design your own”. This will take you to a menu of products to choose from. I’ve selected the Plus Size Fit & Flare.

3. Now, we get to the fun stuff! When your design first appears on your product, it will show as a rectangle, one that most likely doesn’t fit the entire piece. There’s an Auto Fit button which will automatically fill the entire product.

4. Or, in order to get your print to cover your product entirely, you’ll want to use the plus sign to scale the art to the whole piece. Use the arrows to align it further to the left or right. To make the print smaller, use the minus option. If you’re planning on using more than one artwork on your piece, you can use the additional artwork tabs to do so.

5. To apply color, select the area of your product you’d like to fill and turn artwork off in the color tab, if needed. Choose the color you’d like to apply to the selected section.

6. Now your design is up and available for purchase on your MyWear® store! Share your newly designed piece with family, friends, and your social media audience! When an order is placed, we’ll manufacture and ship it, and credit your dues to your account.

How to Design a Logo for Your e-store at LaunchMyWear.com

After you’ve registered at LaunchMyWear.com, it’s time to create a brand identity for your e-store. One good way to do so is by developing a logo. A logo is what visually represents your business and brand, after all, and can influence people’s attitudes towards your business, as well as your brand’s memorability. In this article, we’ll focus on points to consider while designing a logo for your business.

Keep it Simple: Keep your logo simple for easy recognition. Simplicity is easier to process, which, in turn, can be more memorable and help you stand out in your consumer’s mind. Often times, simpler logos are also more identifiable in smaller forms, such as on mobile devices and business cards, and they’re easier to recognize when printed with lower quality. As tempting as it is, logos don’t need to tell the entire story of your business, so try to focus on sticking to a two-color scheme and minimalist design, and not overthinking it.

Memorable: Another critical point to keep in mind while designing your logo is memorability. You want your logo to be unique, after all! Creating something that will stand out in people’s minds, while still remaining simple enough to process is the key here, as it ensures better ROI (Rate Of Return) from your marketing campaigns.  For example, Apple’s logo design is incredibly simple, but the bite on the apple makes it unique and memorable.

Timeless: Logos should be enduring for many years to come. It would be counter-productive to create something that you’d eventually have to change, after devoting so much time to creating awareness and recognition around your original logo.  However, trends change, customers’ preferences and mindsets do, too; So, your logo should be able to withstand evolving customers and an evolving product portfolio. Hence, a timeless logo is great to have.

Versatile: Your logo should be versatile enough that you can use it on various platforms. This includes web, mobile, and any marketing material; like your apparel and accessories on MyWear®. You want your logo to hold up on different sizes, a single color design, and on multiple products, so, it’s a good idea to make sure your logo isn’t too wide or tall.

Appropriate: As mentioned earlier, your logo doesn’t need to advertise what you sell exactly, or the entire story of your business, but, it should make sense in the eyes of your customer’s. A certain amount of relevance in accordance to your business will help your target customers gain a clear perception of who you are, with comparatively lesser marketing expenditure.

It should also trigger the proper emotional appeal. Colors can play a major role in this. To know which colors trigger which emotions, refer to the table below:

via ideopsychology.com

Some other points to be considered while designing your logo:

• Most top brands only use one or two colors in their logos
• Blue, red, and black are the most used colors in logo design
• Many top brand’s logos use only text, with no graphic design or symbol
• The most commonly used text is San serif
• Many logos have a rectangular shape or horizontal orientation
• Many include the registered trademark symbol in the logo
• Most top brand logos don’t mention the products they’re selling

Keep in mind: the above practices shouldn’t be taken as gospel. As an artist, you probably already know what logo’s right for your business. These are just handy tips to be considered during the logo designing process. Now, go ahead, and get to designing! You can upload your new logo in the setting section of LaunchMyWear.com.

Your Print Guide for Spring/Summer 2016 is Here!

If you caught any glimpses of Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2016 ready-to-wear collection, you’ve probably already caught the buzz. After watching the absolutely dazzling array of cheerful, globally-inspired prints that walked the runway, I wanted to pre-order one of everything the models were wearing. Unfortunately, that isn’t in my budget this year, as I am not Beyoncé 😦

D&G took us around the world, with loud, in-your-face color and embellishments that were streamlined in classic, feminine silhouettes. Just look at these photos from the show!

This recipe of adventurous prints and color in ladylike cuts made for an absolutely delightful show that, of course, inspired me to create my own look on my LaunchMyWear:

Clearly inspired by D&G’s lemon print here

Marc Jacobs’ print game was strong, too. His collection showcased a lineup of models with tons of pumped-up, old Hollywood glamour, and even more New York Dolls-style attitude. Marc Jacobs is one of my favorite designers, so, of course I had to pay homage to his  incredible Spring ready-to-wear line, as well.

My take on his plaid/floral numbers. I ❤ you, Marc!

Another gorgeous collection that stood out for me was Diane Von Furstenberg’s. I know floral prints in a spring collection isn’t a new concept, but Diane Von Furstenberg does it so darn well. This woman knows prints like she knows wrap dresses. So, this Spring ready-to-wear trifecta wouldn’t be complete without her.

Love her mix of prints!

Other labels that brought it for S/S 2016 included:

Gucci (Spring 2016 Ready-To-Wear)

Jonathan Saunders (S/S16 Ready-To-Wear)

Temperley London (Spring 2016 Ready-To-Wear)

And Clover Canyon (Spring & Resort 2016)

Because MyWear® is the perfect platform to create custom clothes with your own custom prints, every runway show can provide inspiration for your own designs, without the Beyoncé bank account! What are your favorite looks from S/S16 collections? I’d love to see your takes on them! Be sure to tweet your designs at us @LaunchMyWear