Lucky FABB Conference

Ever imagine what it would be like to have the shiny pages of your favorite fashion magazine come to life? Well that fantasy became reality last week when we attended Lucky Magazine’s FABB: Fashion and Beauty Bloggers Conference. Typically held in NYC, its arguably the best fashion conference of the year. This time they packed up and headed west to Southern California and we definitely made it a point to attend!

The day was packed with celebrity guest speakers, panel experts, brand booths, and interactive activities. They streamed the conference live from their website but incase you missed it, we’re taking you on a behind the scenes look of what went down.The day opened with a conversation with the genius responsible for some of the most beautiful red carpet gowns, Zac Posen. He talked about how he started and his journey to get where he is. Next up was a panel “Stay True to Your Voice” which included Sophia Rossi (Producer/Co Founder Hello Giggles), Kristen Ess (Celeb Hair Stylist/Co Founder of The Beauty Department), Jane Marie (Co Editor, The Hairpin), Bri Emery (Owner Designlovefest) and Brit Morin (Founder, HelloBrit.com). Then Jessica Alba joined her business partner Christopher Gavigan to speak to us about their Honest Company which produces an eco friendly line of baby products. (Girl Crush!)

After the first three talks we were given a break to go to the brand experience suites where we met the amazing Michael Stars and ran into panel speaker Jenni Radosevich of I Spy DIY.The Michael Stars suite had a cool interactive dressing room, while the P&G Grooming Suite had several hair stations for us to get hair touch ups or even a complete style change.

Back in the conference room we heard from the next panel as they spoke about “What Hollywood Can Teach Fashion” which included Ashley Madekwe (Actress, Revenge/Founder Ring my Bell), Will Gluck (Film Director, Screenwriter and Producer), Christin Trogan (Producer, Funny or Die), Jeannie Mai (TV Host and Digital Correspondant), Hillary Kerr and Kathrine Power (Founders, WhoWhatWear.) We also got to watch in amazement as actress Kiernan Shipka (Actress, Mad Men) talked about her skills as a dress designer and Janie Bryant (Fashion and Costume Designer, Mad Men) about the fashions on one of our favorite shows.

During the next break our Brand Experience was with JellyPop Shoes, where we saw shoes grow on trees and filmed a really cute video. We also designed our very own tote bags at Miss Me Jeans.

Next we saw one of our favorites panels “How I became an Entrepreneur” with Soliel Moon Frye (Social Media Expert, Entrepreneur, Eco Leader, Author. Hello Punky!) Alli Webb (Founder, DryBar), Wende Zomnir (Founding Parnter and Excec. Creative Director, Urban Decay), Jennie Radosevich (Founder, I Spy DIY), Kate Somerville (Founder and CEO, Kate Somerville Skincare and E.J. Johnston (Co-Creator, Fashion Star).

This was followed by “How Brands Work with Blogs” where Aimee Song (Founder, Song of Style) made it a point to express the value in what bloggers do. She was joined by Geri Hirsch, (Founder, Because I’m Addicted) and brand execs Quinn Donnelly (Digital Marketing Manager, benefit Cosmetics), Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, (EVP and Artistic Director, OPI) and Gabrielle de Papp (VP Corporate PR, Neiman Marcus) who all talked about it from their point of view.

The last panel (not pictured) “Ways You Didn’t Know You Could Monetize Your Blog” had Amber Venz (President rewardStyle), Vanessa Flaherety (Director, Brand Development, Digital Brand Architects), Macala Wright (Founder and Publisher, FashionablyMarketing.Me, Wendy Nguyen (Founder, Wendy’s Lookbook) Tina Craig and Kelly Cook (Co Founders, Snob Global Media) all sharing ways to make money doing what you love.

Our last break took us to the Tacori Suite where we were allowed to drip ourselves in these beautiful jewels and take fun snaps in their photo booth. We also took note of the cute outfits that were all around us.

The final guest speakers were the Elizabeth Banks (Actress, Founder ElizabethBanks.com) and Randi Zuckerberg (Founder, RtoZ Media) Elizabeth, who spoke to us like we were her long lost girlfriends, talked about her fashion website. Randi gave us humorous stories about her days at Facebook as well as targeted the social media trends and how to use them in business.

The day finished with an amazing cocktail party and performance by A Fine Frenzy which really was the perfect ending. We left unbelievably inspired in so many ways and excited to do it again soon. The next event will be in NYC this fall!