Lucire’s Jack Yan to speak at New Zealand Trade & Enterprise’s Fashion–Apparel Industry Workshop
Dunedin -- Lucire’s founding publisher Jack Yan will join Icebreaker’s Duncan McLean and leading designer Doris de Pont
at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Fashion–Apparel Industry Workshop in Dunedin, New Zealand on March 12 at 1•30 p.m.
This workshop is designed to offer practical insights to current and future designers and apparel businesses.
Held at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s seminar room the day before the acclaimed Vodafone ID Dunedin Fashion Show,
the speakers share their international experiences to audiences.
Mr Yan’s topic, ‘Lucire—promoting fashion through uncharted waters’, looks at the founding of Lucire and the obstacles
that he had to confront in an era when dot coms were still viewed with suspicion. He also touches on the need for
exporters to brand and why New Zealanders should not be afraid to stick to their instincts.
‘While being aware of overseas cultures is important—I am the first person to say, “Think global, act global”—Kiwis
should be proud of the independence, innovation and intuition that we have, rather than abandon our business practices
when we begin exporting,’ he says.
He believes that Lucire survived because of a New Zealand management style and adopting the highest standards for a web
site, qualities which have made the online magazine one of the country’s most widely read fashion titles.
‘Even today, some people are surprised to hear that Lucire has its own global network of correspondents and
photographers and that over 98 per cent of our content is totally original,’ says Mr Yan.
Mr McLean’s topic, ‘A Designer’s Big OE in the Big Apple—Lessons Looking back’, is similarly internationally minded. Mr
McLean recently had eight years in the United States with Cynthia Rowley, the Gap and Banana Republic.
Ms de Pont needs little introduction to New Zealand audiences, helming a highly successful, exporting label, DNA. Now
having reclaimed her name for her brand, the Doris de Pont collection has notched up exports to Australia, the US, Great
Britain and Denmark, while having shown at L’Oréal New Zealand Fashion Week and Mercedes Australian Fashion Week.
The Workshop is free, thanks to the support of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and no RSVP is required. Well known
fashion expert and former Apparel publisher, Paul Blomfield of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, will introduce the
sessions. The speeches, including question time from audiences, are expected to finish at 3•30 p.m.