Rock & Royalty™ Takes the Throne

I would like to announce that Modern Material will now be represented by a new brand name called Rock & Royalty™. Over the last 2 years the brand evolved into a clear direction inspired by rock & roll and European royalty. I felt that it was time to create a name that could gain more appeal and understanding for the brand image. Modern Material will still remain the business behind the scenes, but Rock & Royalty will take the throne on the consumer side. I am working on the process of trademarking the name, as there certainly is a market for apparel and accessories inspired by this theme.




New Name. New Domain. www.shoprockandroyalty.com. The former Modern Material website will also remain active as we have developed a strong customer base around the world in the last 2 years. Both domains route to the same site, which has been completely updated to reflect the new brand name. I decided not to start from scratch when creating the new brand image, so there could still be some recognition of the Modern Material brand. The colors and logo look very much the same, however I've added some ornate elements to the design. The brand will now focus on clothing and accessories, while beginning to remove the paper category. Customers can now shop by collections including women's and men's.


Tis the Season to Rock the Night Away. A Holiday giveaway is now underway with a gift set valued over $100. The link to the entry form is on the home page. The items are mostly from the women's collection, but could make a great gift. Please be sure to register and pass the link onto your friends. (Note: my family and personal friends are not eligible).

A Collaboration of Music & Style. The Indie Rock Collection has also been an amazing addition to the brand, which will also go nicely with the new name Rock & Royalty. I am so impressed by the amazing musicians who are featured in this collection. There is a great mix of music from beautiful songs by singer/songwriters to songs that make you want to rock. There are several songs that have been used on hit television shows, including: Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill and 90210. The goal of this promotion was to spread the word about these great artists, while offering customers an amazing value. I appreciate everyone who has contributed to this project. It took a lot of hard work to get things pieced together, but I think the concept is something that will continue to revolve around Rock & Royalty. The current collection will be available until June 15, 2010, or while supplies last.

Several new pieces will be added in time for the holidays! Of course the thing I love to do more than anything is design accessories and embellish apparel. I have several great new items that I have yet to put on the website, as well as some great new designs in mind! One of the most exciting additions I am working on is a collection of ties, for both men and women! They will certainly have the Rock & Royalty flair, consisting of embellishments that will set them aside from anything the rest of the pack. Think rock & roll not business attire. A few limited edition clutches and totes are also in the mix.







Rock & Royalty™ Couture. This will continue to be the line of embellished apparel and accessories that require more time and expense. I personally put a lot of time into these pieces to offer something unique. The Alison Wonderland and Mad Hatter Couture Tees drew a lot of attention this summer. This is a theme I hope to expand on in the future, especially with the Tim Burton remake starting Johnny Depp sure to become a smash hit at the box office.







Inspired by Rock & Royalty Romance. The entire brand is a mixture of hard edge rock and roll elements and elegant ornate details. I'm inspired by the 150 + concerts I've attended to the exquisite costumes from the modern day Marie Antoinette movie and Gwen Stefani's video for What You Waiting For. It feels like a fairy tale romance between the heir to the throne and a rock star from opposite sides of society, destined to be together. A short love story of what has created the style of Rocker Romantic can soon be found in the About section of the web store. Long Live the Rock & Roll Queen.

Creekside Festival & Music Promotion

The last several months have been a whirl wind for me as I set out to conquer several major projects for Modern Material. The first of which being a booth at the Gahanna Creekside Jazz & Blues Festival just outside Columbus, Ohio. The chance to spend 3 days displaying merchandise in front of thousands and thousands of people was sure to give a huge local boost in brand recognition. The second major task was creating an amazing music promotion to draw attention. Somehow I managed to pull everything together to launch the Free Music Download promotion at the festival.

After receiving news about being accepted into the 2009 Creekside Festival, it was time to start building inventory. I added several new apparel and accessory designs which will soon be available online. Much of the product production is still handled by myself, so I spent countless hours and days sewing embellishments and assembling jewelry. My husband, Steve, also contributed dozens of hours to building display walls and updating the website, while my best friend Tiffany found herself helping out with some challenging projects. Perhaps the most challenging of all was being able to locate just about everything I seemed to loose in all of the chaos.



3 DAY WEEKEND
Creekside turned out to be a very successful event. My close friend, Jamie Linscott, joined me to sell her fine silver jewelry and vintage creations. Overall the sales were great, and the responses to the line was amazing. It gives me a huge boost in confidence, and from a marketing standpoint, it was a great customer analysis by overhearing the conversations that people were having with each other as they looked around. The Alison Wonderland Couture Tee (originally designed as a gift for Gwen Stefani), was an instant attraction, followed by The Mad Hatter Couture Tee, which is now available. The Royal Highness necklace was the most popular Modern Material jewelry item, while the new Long Live The Rock & Roll Queen tanks also sold well. I also introduced a military style hat which was easily a best seller.



THE INDIE ROCK COLLECTION, V1
The music promotion was also very exciting to share with customers, although I don't believe it was really the right crowd who understands indie music. It did seem to open up some interesting opportunities that were presented to me, which I hope to be a part of. As you are now beginning to notice, Modern Material is becoming intertwined with indie rock & roll music. Music originally inspired the overall mood of the brand, and I am very honored to have found so many talented musicians wanting to support Modern Material and license a song for us to give away as collective gift with purchase. I intend to use this collaboration to not only generate more sales, but also shed light on dozens of lesser known indie musicians who deserve to find success in the music industry. I want to make the shopping experience with the brand a statement. I remember receiving music samplers at concerts or other events, which at first glace seemed like a waste of time because I had never heard of a single musician listed. However, I soon discovered some artists who would go on to be among my all time favorites musicians. A new tee shirt or piece of jewelry will probably stick around in your closet for a year or until the trend wears out. A great song will never go out of style....unless of course popular radio kills it for you...over...and over.

THANK YOU
I would like to give thanks and credit to the dozens of people who have contributed to this music promotion. First I owe the largest thanks to my husband Steve for his patience with me over the last few months. He has also made everything possible as I continue to want to add new features to the website almost every day, and we still have a major piece to tackle with the 30 artist profiles. I would next like to thank Vance McNabb from Charleston, SC, manager for Howie Day, Jay Clifford, Owen Beverly, Steven Fiore, and Nick Zuber for his support of Modern Material over the last year and for guiding me in the right direction as I set out to create this music compilation. Thanks to Jason Corron, Art Director of Promowest Productions in Columbus, OH, for opportunities that are hopefully yet to come. Thanks to The Thrifters (and basist Chris Henke) from Cleveland, Ohio, who found me online and expressed interest in collaboration and who took the promotion on tour around the US. I would especially like to thank those who I reached out to, simply because I heard a song that I really liked. Thanks to David Blutenthal of Brick Wall Management in New York City for his strong support, lending music from The Alternate Routes, K.S. Rhoads, The Spring Standards, The Clarks, Slow Runner, Ari Hest, and Sons of William. Thanks to Chris Hacker of Engine Room Recordings in New York City for sharing The Bloodsugars, Porterblock, Lowry, and Israel, Darling. Thanks to Andy Forts of Eenie Meanie Records in Hollywood, CA for the music of Great Northern, Scissors for Lefty, Blue Eyed Son, and Oranger. And more thanks to Fara D'Augiar with Derek James. Jody Gayle with Listen 2 Three. Cloud 13 Records for Soft Targets and The Ums in Tallahassee, FL. Brad Lyons of Oceanship in Ontario, Canada. Gandhar Savur with Miss TK & The Revenge in Ashbury, NJ. Andrew Lizon of Drew in Columbus, OH. Paul McGough and Hillary Abel with Vacuity in Kitchener, Ontario. Tiffany Schloesser and Stef Shapira of The Rebel Group in New York City for music from Wheat. Corinne, Cindel, Dustin, and One Union Project from Rock Factory Studios in Pickerington, OH. Music has been licensed for a period of 1 year, and over the next several months we will be working on building a marketing campaign to reach out to music and fashion media outlets, primarily in the U.S. The response to the Modern Material brand and music collection has been amazing, so we anticipate much more exposure once we have the chance to distribute press releases. Things are just getting started, so please check back for the latest and greatest.

MICHAEL JACKSON
On a final note, I would just like to pay tribute to the very first musician who truly inspired me when I was just 4 years old. I will never forget watching the videos for Thriller, Billie Jean, and Say Say Say over and over again on an old VHS tape. Michael's poster hung on my bedroom wall, perhaps my first crush or just someone I wanted to be. A piece of my childhood gone, just like everybody else's.

Modern Day Inspiration

It's been a few months since I've really spent much time continuing to develop Modern Material. I've been extremely busy adjusting to a new full time job in which I am designing fashion accessories and graphics for numerous retail brands. I am really enjoying the exciting projects and creative atmosphere during my 8 to 5. At first I thought I might loose some of the creative motivation I had over the last year, but instead I'm finding it more inspiring as I am constantly surrounded by creativity and style. Time, is still however the hardest part to find.

I found this site while looking over my website analytics and thought you might enjoy it. It all started by someone adding some Modern Material products to their profile, and from there, many other users have branched on. The site is called Polyvore, and it's a fun place for inspiring fashion and style. I've spent the day building my own profile, and hopefully adding more items from Modern Material for other people to use in their style sets. Remember how as a teenager you would cut out your favorite things from your magazines and create a bulletin board on your wall? Well this is basically an online edition where you search the internet for anything cool and trendy, and create your own collage. So far I've seen dozens of users add Modern Material items to their collages. It's cool to see the inspired trends by potential customers.

Here are a few sets I pulled. If you ever have any free time, start your own profile and see what inspires you.


Click to view image.

Well my long weekend is nearing the end. I still have some freelance work to finish and it's finally time to watch the premiere of Gossip Girl! It's a great new show for inspiring trends in fashion, design, style, and music. It's the new O.C. replacement for today's fashionistas.

xoxo

annie

Queen Alexandria Reigns New Mexico

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. Ohio weather is actually coming through for us this year! I have so much work to do on Modern Material before I get started on a freelance project for Crabtree & Evelyn for the next few weeks. Steve and I moved our computers out to the patio so we can enjoy the crystal clear weather and watch the neighborhood garage sale bring lots of traffic to our quiet circle. So I probably look like the biggest dork with my 24" iMac desktop computer sitting on the patio table. But hey, it's much better sitting out here listening to Cake with the cool spring breeze as summertime approaches.

Speaking of Cake, I just checked out pictures from Cutie Pie Boutique, in Albuquerque, NM, who has been carrying Modern Material in their shop via Hey Pretty Cupcake, another cool boutique carrying my line. Here are some photos from some rockin girls in New Mexico.



Gabbie at Cutie Pie Boutique






Betty, owner of Cutie Pie Boutique knows how to look like a Rock Star wearing the Alexandria necklace.


Interior of Cutie Pie Boutique, Albuquerque, NM

Introducing Couture Tees...Pre-Order NOW

This idea came to mind late one night while I was watching Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers tour on HDnet. I had just received my spot in Gwen's celebrity baby gift basket and I wanted to be inspired to design some new products to send her. I started thinking about how much I enjoyed creating my Gwen Halloween costume a few years ago. It was a costume but I loved it so much it was hard to shove it in a box, never to be worn again. So I started thinking....how could I translate this costume into daily wear? The answer...Couture Tees.



I started designing a shirt based on an aqua American Apparel tee I had in my closet and some left over lace and ribbon from my costume. After a few days I felt I had runway material. The next step was order the materials. I ran into many roadblocks along the way. American Apparel had discontinued every style and color tee I felt could work for this design. There were limited sizes and quantities available, so I knew I would never be able to make this a permanent addition to the Modern Material line. But then I realized that would make this tee special. Once they are gone, they're gone.

As soon as I got my materials, I sat down at my sewing machine and let my imagination run. I have to admit, I was quite impressed when I was all finished. The next step was to see what everyone thought. I slipped on a black pencil skirt, black heels and accessorized the shirt with a wide black patent belt and chunky chain link necklace. I decided not to mention that it was one of my designs. I figured people would think it was either some weird crazy trend I was sporting that hasn't caught on yet...or they would love it. I was hoping it was the later. That day, I seriously received more complements in one day than I thought was possible. People I didn't even know very well were saying how much they loved my outfit. One of my friends realized I designed it, and couldn't shut up about it. I wore it out on the town that night, and my husband said he noticed a bunch of girls checking me out. I'm pretty modest, so it was hard for me to accept so much attention, but I knew I was on to something that could set me apart from the millions of other tee shirt designers.

So if you are looking for something amazing to add to your wardrobe or want a special gift for a friend, you'll know where to find it.

I am accepting pre-orders now, before this design is introduced to my web store. Keep in mind that sizes and quantities are extremely limited, so if you want one, please let me know. For more information, including price, please send an email to annie@modern-material.com.

Be Bold. Be Daring . Be Different.

- a n n i e -

http://www.modern-material.com