Getting to Know our Sascha Frangilli

Hi my Top Fashion. Here is our second interview with the great designer Sascha Fangilli from Sascha Designs. Sascha selected to place her story in a synopsis and I think it is worthy to read. She is an example of what a person can achieve when determination is on the mind. Looking for your goals pay dividends. Sascha now is one of the most recognized clothe designers in Second Life. So here she is:
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Here is the synopsis of me…..
I came to SL in November 2006 by sheer coincidence. I had never played any online games, but a RL friend told me that if I wanted to see something addictive, I should download Second Life. I laughed and tried his bluff. Oops… it is addictive, very addictive! I am from Holland and quite down to earth, and I do see SL as a fun thing and when people tend to take SL too seriously, lie or have a certain attitude, I fly away from them at 100 km per hour. Get real!

When I entered SL, I also invited my RL partner (MikeyTwo Frangilli) and fairly soon he had made enough money to buy land and set up a ballroom in SL. So I wandered around, bought large amounts of dresses and hair, waved at people and after a few months got a bit bored with that. I am very happy to be online together with my RL partner (though we do not live together, we see eac hother during the week on Second Life). For fun times, I have created a second avatar so I can also have fun without having to be “Sascha” all the time.Bare with me, I had no experience whatsoever with graphic designs (besides downsizing a picture in Paint), so I bought the “Business in a box - dresses” as I had fallen in love with all the ballroom gowns that I saw. I wanted to make them too! But I was totally horrified with what I had acquired (these dresses were awful) and started searching for new textures to put on the flexified skirts. These dresses were not what I had in mind ….. Then I bought the Looprez from Ged Larsen and my mind went berserk by the realization of the potential that I could create here.Early summer 2007 I downloaded Photoshop on my pc and I suddenly realized I had one hell of a serious problem. No graphic background and no person sitting next to me explaining what I should do. Slowly, very slowly…. but surely, I got more experience in Photoshop and it took me nearly 6 months to get a bit of grip on the whole PS thing. Believe me, I swore a lot!

Early 2008 I discovered several applications on PS that made me be able to ‘travel beyond’ to what I had done before. I opened my main store in March 2008 with a small collection of ballroom gowns and within 3 months, I had to upsize twice my land/store; business was growing much quicker than I anticipated! At that time I had to quickly decide upon a name and came up with the very uninspiring name Sascha’s Designs, hahaha. And yes, it is hard to get more known in Second Life with all the wonderful competitors around, but word of mouth does do wonders.

I must admit that I find a bit hard to mix my RL child, partner and work with my SL work. It is quite demanding to run a SL store, host each week a different designer/fashion show at Mikey’s club, be sociable and to make new dresses as well. So I got my friend as a manager (Sapphire Teebrook), 2 other girls (SkyAngel Janus and Anika Heartsdale) and a photographer (Laurent Vesta) who help me in so many ways. I get so many IM’s from not only customers but also plenty of people offering things, fashion shows etc. that sometimes I am a bit overwhelmed with everything.

I am a normal person in RL; I like the occasional glass of red wine or Jupiler beer - LOL, I fart, I like fashion but am not an ultra fashionable chick that follows all the latest fashion (though I love high leather boots). I prefer to buy clothes that can last me a few years and I have put this preference into my SL gowns too. You can still wear my gowns in a couple of years (so to speak, unless LL comes up with a complete new building tool) as they are timeless and not made after the latest fashion quirk.
http://saschasdesigns.blogspot.com/

X Sascha Frangilli

This is the Real Sascha.

Now Enjoy some of her best creations. She has a lot of beautiful gowns so I bet there is something for every taste at her store.

Bella

Divanation

Grandiosa

Feel free to post your comments. I hope you enjoyed reading her story. See you with the next one. Who would be? I still don't know. This is random pick; remember.

Hugs from

Madonna & Lunna

Interview with Izira Kirkorian - a Second Life Master Jeweler

As I promised to all of you; our group will not only be about receiving notices. I will also put an effort for all of you be able to get to know our designers in other ways; as person, as Human Being. They will be sharing with us their experiences; goods and bads, to help us learn and understand the nature of their businesses. I hope you enjoy this very first Interview with our SL Master Jeweler Izira Kirkorian.

FashTrend Interview - iZa boutique – Oct. 16, 2008

Q. WHAT IS YOUR SL NAME?

R. Izira Kirkorian

Q. WHEN DID YOU START PLAYING SL?
R. I started playing SL Jan 18, 2006 and fell in love with it the first day.

Q. WHERE DO YOU HEAR ABOUT SL FOR FIRST TIME?
R. I was surfing the web and just kind of stumbled onto the website.

Q. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO COME TO SL?
R. SL appeared to be a very interesting premise… it had wonderful graphics! And I knew that when I learned how to manipulate it correctly it would be the first program I could include my own creations. And if that wasn’t enough, it encouraged you to have your own business!

Q. NOW THAT YOU ARE A BUSINESS PERSON IN THIS WORLD WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR BUSINESS AND HOW YOU DECIDE THAT NAME FOR IT?
R. Actually my business name is iZa boutique, I used my own nick-name because I wanted my students to be able to remember it and find it easily.

Q. DID YOU CAME HERE THINKING OF BECOMING A DESIGNER SINCE THE BEGINNING OR IT HAPPENED LATER DURING YOUR WEEKS AT THE GAME? TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THAT.
R. I did not come here planning to be a designer. When I first got here I was lucky enough to get directed to a wonderful school my very first day. I rarely left this school for the first 4 - 6 weeks! If I did it was usually only to take a class at another school. By the end of two months I had taken in the range of 300 classes on every subject the schools offered and requested to become a teacher and give back to the community what I had received. I was soon approved to teach by LL and I just continued to build... finding I had a great love for Nano-prims!

Q. WHAT EXACTLY YOU DO AS DESIGNER i MEAN WHAT YOU CREATE?
R. Well I am first a jeweler :)... I adore making jewelry, silks, shoes, and accessories as well. I have begun to branch out, I have made some clothing, even made a couple of hair styles, but right now I am very into making my own skins and find it is a lot of fun!

Q. DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN HARD TO BE RECOGNIZED AS DESIGNER AND HAVING AN INCREASE IN YOUR SALES?
R. Business is never easy, especially as we are in a global market here. I think you first have to judge your success by whether you are doing what you enjoy, and then be realistic about what you consider success is as well. Usually in business you are considered successful if you make a profit within 5 years... here if you can support your business costs and still have some fun too... I would have to call that successful.

Q. FROM WHERE YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION TO CREATE, TO DESIGN; THE MUSA?
R. Well to get a feeling for upcoming styles I look to current fashion shows around the world, I also try to go to as many in-world fashion shows as possible... but my actual inspiration - that comes from my dreams.

Q. DO YOU HOLD ANY OFFICIAL TITLE THAT SHOW YOU AS A MASTER IN WHAT YOU DESIGN? I MEAN A TITLE GIVEN TO YOU BY ANY SL ORGANIZATION OR SCHOOL.
R. Yes actually I am a Master Jeweler... I was one of the first Master Jewelers in SL (fall of 2006) and was given the title by First Page from TUi. She also happens to be the owner of the first school I worked for as an instructor back then, and I am still associated with her school. My school, MJC, is associated with First's TUi thru their career courses program. Without First's influence I would not be where I am today, many people owe their start in SL to her.

Q. DO YOU THINK IS HARD THE COMPETITON HERE AS DESIGNER? WHY?
R. Yes the competition increases everyday. As the influx of people, and talent, increases, it is more difficult to find any one way to reach the populous. (When I first started 3,000 people online at time would create issues…lol.) Of course that is also true in the real world. So you need to be creative in your method of getting the word out about yourself, and your product.

Q. FOR HOW LONG HAS YOU BEEN DESIGNING HERE PROFESSIONALY? TELL US A LITTLE HOW YOU HAVE EVOLVED.
R. To start I was not a jewelry store but a boutique where you could purchase items that we had made in my classes. Since I started taking classes my first day, I began building my first day - I had land and a building of my own within 3 weeks. Then as I began to teach I would teach a class on making a chair... actually it was a series of classes on making an entire front room set... then I would also have that set for sale in my shop - but with special textures I had made myself in GIMP. As an instructor I taught classes because I wanted to help others learn as I had learned… anyway, as my classes evolved from swimming pools, to furniture, to Fairie Lights, to jewelry… I found many people that wanted to purchase my jewelry. So by the fall of 2006 I had focused on jewelry. I absolutely love being creative in SL!

Q. DO YOU THINK YOUR DESIGNS ARE DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE? WHY? EXPLAIN A LITTLE.
R. I do make a lot of the classics; such as the pearls for weddings, and the diamond encrusted tiaras, but I also have a fun side which would include my StarShine series with the sparkly stones and dangly stars, my shoes covered in flowers, my watches that tell time from your own time zone... I also make some pretty intricate designs such as my Promises set and a personal favorite is a Men’s ring I designed that is based in part on the design of Gandalf’s ring – you would have to see the chaining design embedded around the ring, took a lot of planning to make that design. I also take very good care of my customers… without them I would not have a business. If a client requests something special… a texture change, an added charm, a different fit… I am always glad to accommodate their needs. Sometimes there is a fee involved depending upon their needs… but I always try to be fair and to give them what they want. This is a fairytale world; here you can have what you cannot have in the real world… I enjoy giving that to someone.

Q. DO YOU HAVE TIME TO HAVE FUN? HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR SL AS DESIGNER WITH YOUR SL AS A NORMAL RESIDENT?
R. Sometimes yes… most times no. I not only run my boutique, I also run a very exclusive school for Master Jewelers which has an intensive 16 week program for designers. I also have a busy real life that requires my attention but when I do have time to just go out and have fun I tend to turn to music here. I am very lucky to have Speelo Snook as a very good friend… in real life he, Marx Loeb, was just inducted into the AZ Blues Hall of Fame this past weekend! Everyone should listen to him whenever they can – he is the most awesome drummer ever and plays regularly with Tone Uriza. He also has the best DJ gig's in SL. I also go listen to Tone Uriza (rl Tony from Tony & The Torpedoes) play some really HOT blues, or Zaphod Theas (rl Allan Dawson) play a varied range of original acoustic and electric live rock. SL is very lucky to have the talents of these musicians, and others, so readily available, with their real life musical experiences translated to the SL audience.

Q. IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE A ROMANCE AND BEING A DESIGNER AT THE SAME TIME? WHY? HOW YOU HANDLE OR WOULD HANDLE THAT SITUATION?
R. Of course I think it would be possible, as I have seen it time and time again successfully. However is that what I am looking for in SL? No... I am not actively looking for a relationship in SL. That being said, I would also not walk away from the possibility. I think a relationship in SL would be fabulous, interesting, and extraordinary! - Both appealing and challenging. I know I am looking for a Knight to ride in on his white horse with a fairy tale ending… not very realistic… but stranger things have happened- And in SL anything is possible!

Q. ANY ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATION YOU WANT TO GIVE TO OTHER DESIGNERS, BUYERS OR RESIDENTS?
R. Be yourself, be fair, treat others as you would like to be treated... and above all else remember to HAVE FUN!!!

Now I will share with you some pictures of her best creations.

Thanks izira for taking the time to answer these question and share a little about you with us. We do appreciate that. Now all of you know that Izira has a School for those interested in creating so visit her main store and apply to become a student if you really want to pursue a career here as Jeweler.

Next; Interviews with our designers

Please, stay tuned because we will be interviewing our designers one by one; little by little. We have one interview ready with a SL Master Jeweler that is one of our designers. I am just waiting for the pics to be able to place it here. Some RL situations are having me a little offline more than usual but this week I hope to catch up with you and keep the blog updated with the latest news. This group will be a special one. We have several projects that will put in place but we are getting organized to start that. The interviews project has begun so soon here, you will know your favorite designer a little bit more as persons; Human Biengs and know how they evolved to become what they are now in this magnificent society.

Despite Lunna and I are bilingual she handle better the spanish language and I handle both. so I will be in charge of english interviews while she will be in charge of spanish one. I will do my best to have the interviews translated but i can not assure I will have the time for that. But I will try.

Hugs and thanks for your interest in our group and for your support.