Tomo Koizumi Fall-Winter 2019-2020 New York show became one of the most popular show this season. Tomo Koizumi made a major case for major overstatement. Cloud of tutti frutti whipped cream, bud of electro flower …

Between 50 to 80 meters of fabric are needed to create one dress. Dreamlike, operatic, tending towards sewing … The work of Tomo Koizumi evokes by its accents “pop” those of the pioneers of the new maximalism. Neon petals grafted on ball dresses. Tomo Koizumi presented his collection for the first time in New York at the Marc Jacobs store on Madison Avenue.

In 2016, Tomo Koizumi dressed Lady Gaga in a unstructured ballet dress. “It’s only been three years that I’ve been making these ruffled dresses because I didn’t have the technique to make big gowns before, so my clothes were very fitted and body conscious,” he explains. “As a costume designer, I need to make sure that the clothes are easy to handle because they’re worn for performances.”

While Koizumi is still wide-eyed when talking about the fast trajectory that turned him into an overnight sensation, he admits that he has to figure out how to evolve his signature style to avoid being pigeonholed for his ruffled look.

Story of “Fashion Cinderella” is just about to begin, when his designs were noted in Instagram by one of the critics, great friend of Marc Jacobs, who asked him to give great support. He invited Tomo Koizumi to New York, pushed trough formalities, gave his store to show Fall-Winter 2019-2020, even Spring Summer 2020 seasons…. Marc Jacobs with all his generous nature also invited top-models graciously to do the runway for this designer.

When Bella Hadid, Karen Elson and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie accepted to show the pieces the magic was about to begin….. Vogue Magazine right away wrote some very flattering review (September 7, 2019). Too bad that no one in Vogue who writes reviews today check their own archives (great Suzy and wonderful Hamish don’t count). It’s not about expertise after all. It’s about new catch, the toast of New York.

RED ALERT – COPY!

Turns out that this magic fairy-tale of “Fashion Cinderella” Tomo Koizumi might have very bright beginning, but it is indeed has a very dark end, or about to have. Tomo Koizumi, talented designer, craving for all opportunities he could get, is in fact making copies of a not very known French designer Stella Cadente Stanislassia Klein.

Old archives in libraries, or Pinterest database of great but unknown designs are perfect source for opportunists like this Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi, and bad luck for designers who don’t really care about media, and simply think that facebooking is perfectly enough to share for bunch of close friends the designs. Of course that would really help… to people like Tomo Koizumi to copy the designs. Self-communication on facebook or other social media is not the way to protect intellectual property. Ignoring professional media, snobbism in getting in touch with them leads exactly to this kind of results.

And ones again Stella Cadente didn’t turn to the media when she discovered copy – international news papers and the magazines to tell her story and looking for support. No, she shared it on facebook with couple of friends. Even some friends wrote facebook posts for her…. Dozen of people read them, the ones who speak French, not even experts saw them. But did it help, did it solve the problem? Did Marc Jacobs trough away Tomo Koizumi? No… Vogue wrote article about him and his career will go on.

The moral of this story : COMMUNICATION is a big part of mix-marketing strategy. And POPULARITY MATTERS.

How many stories like this we know for the past several years with known and unknown designers? Countless cases. Why did it happen? The reason is LACK OF COMMUNICATION !

How many designers today find themselves in the position of being ignored, left out of the market, their designs and inventions copied and reproduced by other companies, who didn’t ignore the communication, and gave the necessary budget for publications in printed and online medias.

How to prove that this design or invention belongs to this designer, when no one knows about, except couple of friends from post on facebook? Not even an expert involved or seen the designs, no publication has appeared in printed or online media. Even in front of the law it is very hard to prove and… not always possible. And the court DOES NOT base it’s opinion on couple of posts on facebook.

COMMUNICATION or professional media involvement as a part of marketing strategy MATTERS. Many problems can be avoided, and specially these ones.