Being a member, rather inactive in fact, I have been observing NINETEEN74 and I have over the time met and seen so many individuals from my own country where fashion itself hasn't gone global (at least, not exactly). I might not have met them if NINETEEN74 did not exist. I would like to thank Raoul Keil for his time and for patiently answering my questions.1. First and foremost, when exactly did you launch Nineteen74 and what made you do it? How is it different from other fashion networks?
Very often egoism is the best drive to success. The fashion advisor Raoul Keil just wanted to becalm his curiosity, to unite creative people and travel. He made a business idea out of his passion – over 35,000 pro-fashionals use his web portal Nineteen74.com launched in June 2008, by now. “I just came from a trend scout in Sao Paolo and fell in love with this country. Most of all in fact, that the Brazilians produce are amazingly creative things without huge budgets.” Still in the airplane back to London he was thinking of a way to conserve the energy of the experienced. Being around in the fashion world for many years, he knew about the main problem of the young creative’s: the right contacts! “I have a good eye for talent and I know what sells. In the airplane I have written down the concept for this platform that puts the individual of this industry in the centre of attention.”
The goal of this homepage is to unite creative people from every corner of the globe, coming from different disciplines and backgrounds. Fashion is thereby the surrounding and connecting topic; however, more distant profiles are also more than welcome.
Over 35,000 designers, Photographers, Stylists, DJs, VJs, Journalists, Graphic Designers, Models and Illustrators from 152 different countries have registered already and140 new registrations enter each day. This successful concept got a distinction at the Webby Awards in 2009, which are the branch-oscars. The company has 24 employees at the moment.
Similar to other websites users can create a profile free of charge containing personal information. Different to facebook and co, Nineteen74.com is concerned about the professional background of each individual. Therefore, applications like ‘job search’ or ‘events’ are offered; members can create projects and search directly for people to collaborate with, even in the most outlying locations.
The most important concern is to unite like-minded people and up-and-coming talents, so that new ideas and visions can be realized.
Success stories are uncountable. For example, there were 2 artists from Dallas and Manchester who found themselves on the website and organized together an exhibition inBasel. A visagist from Düsseldorf got discovered for a shoot with German Vogue.
2. There is a new feature called Sky Lounge. What benefits does it have for the members?
Sky Lounge, the new package from NINETEEN74.com, allows members to showcase their company or organisation to an already established database of like-minded industry professionals of more than 50,000. Using the newest online marketing tools Sky Lounge targets NINETEEN74.com’s primary audience of people working in the creative industries. Equipped with a specific function to allow social and professional networking and idea transfer, Sky Lounge and NINETEEN74.com offer maximum exposure for companies and organisations. With many attractive features, NINETEEN74.com’s Sky Lounge needs to be part of your business plan for the future.
* Sky Lounge members have an exclusive option to tailor their profile page to their exact specifications; moving things around, adding link buttons and changing the layout to suit their brand.
* A company logo on Sky Lounge which best represents the brand will be visible to all users in the news feed and on members pages; providing unlimited advertising for the company and attracting new users every day from an already established address book of the creative industry. Also showcased on our homepage, the company logos of Sky Lounge members are seen in rotation by every NINETEEN74.com member as soon as they log in.
* Sky Lounge members have the exclusive ability to upload unlimited information to their profile page; videos of work they’ve done, projects they’ve been involved with, or adverts for their company; giving all NINETEEN74.com members instant news updates from their company.
* The Latest News feature allows Sky Lounge members to tell all of NINETEEN74.com what’s happening at their company, post job applications and advertise events; with these news stories then appearing on the profile pages of every member.
* An individual web banner on Sky Lounge profile pages is displayed randomly throughout the rest of the site and acts as company advertising, meaning Sky Lounge members are constantly being seen by other NINETEEN74.com members.
* Sky Lounge members feature in the NINETEEN74.com newsletter, with a company logo and a link back to their profile page, which is seen by a growing audience of more than 35,000 industry professionals around the globe every month.
3. Is Schön! just another publication about fashion and art or is there any objective behind it?
Schön! is the magazine written for creatives, by creatives, bringing unknown names and high profile characters alike to the forefront of the reader’s imagination.
Created by the energy of the nineteen74 team, each issue will feature contributions from members of the nineteen74 network, offering everything from exquisite fashion spreads to written content. It will showcase the talents of photographers, designers, illustrators, models, artists, musicians and journalists. It is not however, your average fashion magazine, it is your passport to the international fashion industry. It won’t focus on the four major fashion capitals, but will instead explore many cities that are overlooked in other publications. It will neither focus on high-end fashions or celebrities but will simply be chasing and welcoming those who are adept with great ideas to help Schön! create original and fresh content month after month. Schön! is a mere exchange of creative ideas translated into an online publication that may be your ticket to worldwide recognition.
4. Is it going to be limited to Nineteen74 or will you be accepting contributors otherwise as well?
Contributors have to be member of Nineteen74.com, surely we accept any contribution but if somebody wants the full exposure we ask to sign up at nineteen74 as the magazine is a creative mirror of what the Nineteen74 Creative Network has to offer! Global Talent!
5. Any future plans for Schön! that you would like to share?
After the incredible response we received in the first few hours after launching our magazine i am impressed by the appreciation of people around the world
the work the contributors and the Nineteen74 Team have achieved is outstanding and what we like to see is that every Issue being completely different from the previous one!
We have very big plans with Schön! Magazine but i dont want to take away the thrill :P
6. Lastly, what kind of change would you like to see in fashion industry (online or otherwise)?
I think through the major increase in online usage there is already a massive change within the industry. What i try to achieve with Nineteen74 is building a talent pool of people who are not afraid showing their works or have a LOOK AT ME attitude. We try to break the rules that you do not need to live in one of the 4 main fashion capitals to be successful or having a unique talent. I would love to see that people appreciate talent much more than WHO you know! As fashion should be fun and entertainment and as we are talking jumpers, just dont take it too serious ...life is too short and we should nurture ourselves with the incredible world we have today and simply appreciate!
LINKS:
NINETEEN74
Raoul Keil's profile
Schön! website and profile on NINETEEN74
Read the magazine!
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