Fashion week visitor a curator of cool

Jason Campbell

The curator of cool is discussing the importance of "eyeballing" fashion.

Designers can't, says Jason Campbell, expect international acclaim by sitting on their hands - instead they need to take their fashion to the world.

"You may be doing wonderful things but you can't exist in a vacuum," says Campbell, founder and editor in chief of the JC Report - a bimonthly report on fashion trends breaking around the world. The JC Report is regarded as one of the best email magazines, with more than 40,000 global subscribers.

It's a wonder Campbell can forecast any trends from behind those supersize Historie De Voir sunglasses. But never mind, he's in the game of cool hunting, tracking urban trends, and he's coming downunder for New Zealand Fashion Week. As one of the trumpeted A-listers, he'll be ogling our designers in their natural habitat for the first time. He may be bluffing, but he sounds excited about the visit on the phone from New York. New Zealand has been on his radar for some time.

"I go to many different regions and if I find one designer I'm pleased. New Zealand has several designers that can play on a larger stage."

As trendspotting.com observed, the new catchphrase is "Curated Consumption" where thousands of consumers follow and obey the new curators of style. JC Report is at the top of the style-bloggers' pile. The Financial Times dubbed the site fashion's "new front row".

Campbell has a staff of 20 cultural detectives - writers, journalists, and forecasters - and they don't just interview their computers for their email reports. "We make an effort to go to parts of world that have significant fashion that's worth knowing about" he says.

Campbell has a credible history of writing and documenting trends well before mainstream acceptance. He cut his teeth working on the PR team responsible for designer Alexander McQueen and Antonio Berardi's American launch, worked as a model agent in New York and London, and is the co-founder of netsetgoods.com, the first online concept store.

"I started netsetgoods.com with a university friend in 1998 and we were right in the Silicon Valley trenches. We bought and sold hot, cool things sourced around the world. It was furniture and accessories that I thought would resonate and sell in America. We sold them all on line - it was very new. JC Report has really evolved from this site."

Campbell is a busy man. He writes for Fashion Internet magazine, runs his boutique marketing agency catering to clients including Limited Brands, Piazza Sempione, Grab bags, and the NFL. He is also a contributing writer to *Surface, WestEast, Sportswear International, Rodeo, and Blue Mode magazines. After two years writing Magiconline's Trendcast column, he realised there was a need to deliver this information swiftly to style influencers and tastemakers, and JC Report was born.

Campbell says his key consumers are the "creative class" - people in the creative industries who make important decisions based on the latest trend. The rest are just plain consumers hungry for the next big thing.

"There are a growing number of consumers who like to be aware of what's going to happen next, early in the game, who don't want to read about it when it's saturated in the national newspaper."

The faster he can pick up on a trend, the faster online readers can react.

"Speed is definitely important and also the kinds of stories we decide to do. I have a great deal of freedom to really cover whatever I want. I travel a great deal so I have great network of people internationally. I get the stories - and people appreciate reading them. They are not necessarily salacious, they are informative and useful."

In the latest online report, Campbell and his team are tracking skintight curves in Milan and "integration" lingerie in New York.

So how much does he make out of the site? He won't name figures, nor will the publishers Flavorpill Productions but there are blue-chip advertisers on the site. And rival Daily Candy is certainly pulling in the dosh.

Daily Candy's controlling investor Bob Pittman recently put the trendy email service on the auction block with a minimum bid of US$100 million. He later withdrew the offer.

Campbell roams freely among the rich and powerful. He does "wardrobe therapy" for some very influential and wealthy women in LA and New York. He discovered Zambesi and Karen Walker in their vast, extensive wardrobes. He laughs long and New York-loud down the line. "You never know where you're going to eyeball a trend."