Blog 2: Blake Mycoskie

Blog 2

Blake Mycoskie is the Chief Shoe Giver and founder of TOMS Shoes Inc. Mycoskie, who has started five businesses since college, currently lives in Los Angeles on a sailboat while successfully managing his thriving business. Blake is a man with a big heart who fell in love with children while spending time in Argentina. The children inspired him to dedicate his work to helping those in need.

Blake developed a business structure for TOMS Inc. which is called the One for One program. For every pair of TOMS shoes sold, a pair will be given to a child in need. Although, the shoes given to children around the world are not the shoes that millions are people are purchasing. The shoes are similar, but the donated pairs are developed to fit in with the culture and the lifestyle of the children in need.

TOMS Inc. strives on three principles for success: 1. Enhancing impact through partnerships, 2. Long term commitment to children, and 3. Do no harm. These principles have obviously proven the world successful, considering the huge following that TOMS has. By the end of 2009, TOMS had successfully given over 140,000 pairs of shoes to children all over the world.

If I were to actually interview Blake Mycoskie, these are ten questions I would ask him:

1. How much research and development does it take to create shoes for the different cultures around the world?
2. How did you come up with the three principles that TOMS Inc. lives by?
3. How has that plan aided the company?
4. What does TOMS actually stand for?
5. Why did you feel this was the most appropriate name for the company?
6. Have you ever found negative effects of giving your shoes to those in need?
7. How did you come up with the style for the original TOMS shoe?
8. Which came first: the One for One business structure or the TOMS shoe?
9. What keeps you motivated?
10. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to model their businesses after the One for One business structure?

Links

http://www.toms.com/blakes-bio

http://www.toms.com/how-we-give

http://www.myspace.com/blakemycoskie

Article Rewrite

The article I chose is entitled “GlobalTex Marks First Anniversary As Buyers Seek Stretch.” It was featured on WWD and is intended for an audience of people who read WWD, who are familiar with the fashion industry, and who may be interested in what the trends are in textiles. The organizational model is in the journalism pattern with a detached tone not having a specifically strong feeling about anything in the article. The purpose of this article is to discover something. The writer has gathered ideas about what is going on in the textile industry, what types of fabrics are being bought and who is buying them. The writer is simply conveying this info to the readers. Here is a link to the article.

For those of you who love fashion and would like to someday become a designer yourself, here is a look into the trends of textiles. GlobalTex is fairly new textile fair that displays and sells the hottest new textiles for upcoming trends. It is important for new and old designers alike to research into what kind of textiles customers will be wanting and GlobalTex is a great place to start.

Many foreign mills who want to expand their companies display at GlobalTex in hopes of having created the hot textiles of the season. Many of the objectives for the textile companies to cater to designers is to be able to capture the tastes of many designers with the collections the mills bring to the show.

From the looks of the second annual GlobalTex fair, stretch is a very important attribute for designers for the upcoming seasons. Very tailored and strategic texture, as opposed to being distressed, are the types of textiles that are selling like crazy, according to one of the vendors.

Since designers are trying to keep stable grounds underneath their businesses despite the economy, they are looking for only the best textiles at GlobalTex. Luckily, a lot of vendors know how to provide great quality to the buyers. The more innovative a vendor is, the more appealing it will be to the designer. The designers and buyers just need to know what they are looking for.

From floral, black and white, and animal printed knits, to stretchy, Lycra blend, three dimensional knitted fabric, GlobalTex proved to be yet again a reliable source for the hottest upcoming textile trends. The vendors are great at keeping their prices reasonable, while keeping designers and buyers happy. If you are an aspiring designer, GlobalTex is the place for you.