“Fashinnovation Talks” with Tessa Barton & Coco Rocha

Fashinnovation is a platform (co-founded by husband/wife Marcelo & Jordana Guimaraes) which puts together conversations to discuss innovations in the Fashion Industry both via technology as well as other themes which include women empowerment, sustainability, inclusivity, etc.

December 18^th2019 at Hudson Yards hosted an intimate crowd of 100 or so press and fashion-forward leaders in NYC with the Fashinnovation Talks series titled “FASHION Is from Influencer to Entrepreneur with Coco Rocha, Tezza and Pandora Amoratis -style director of Daily Mail.” 

Pandora Amoratis of Daily Mail hosted interviews onstage with guest fashion blogger Tessa Barton and high fashion model Coco Rocha, who both shared their expertise in the business of fashion and technology. Coco mentioned that she has been in the fashion industry for 16 years, and Tessa mentioned a 15-year journey in fashion. Coco has over a million followers on Instagram, and Tessa is nearing a million herself. After a decade and a half of consistent work ethic and dedication in fashion and technology, both of these women are taking the fashion world by storm.

Coco spoke passionately about her work lobbying for change in the fashion industry to protect model rights, as well as her passion for training up the younger generation of models with her model camp. She also runs the modeling agency Nomad Management while being a wife and also mothering her two young children. Coco has leveraged her influence to really empower other fashion models, and she has over 500 youth in her model camps presently. She is a powerhouse of industry and professionalism while also being one of the most unique models out there as far as posing and embracing her unique style and personal taste. She is known for expressiveness in her posing and expressions, and is also known for staying true to herself. She has really learned to listen to her own voice first before the voice of others. Her confidence is innate, and this is something she really seeks to instill in others breaking into the industry. Her unapologetic embracing of self is both refreshing and inspiring. She owns her individualism and does not seek to “fit in”, but rather, blaze her own trail. Coco has helped myriads of others walk into their confidence and to carry that forward into their lives from fashion and beyond.

Tessa and Cole’s union is a force to be reckoned with, bringing Cole’s tech skills together with Tessa’s photography and modeling skills as they produce their own fashion content. They primarily use their influence by offering tools to other artists that equip them for their business through the creation of their Iphone and Android photo-editing app “Tessa”, created by Cole himself. Their app presently rates number 17 in the app store, following closely behind such apps as Facebook and Instagram. Tessa and Cole’s growth has been astonishing in the last couple of years. When asked what their secret was, Tessa mentioned they spent two years consistently waking up early, sometimes at 5am, and trying to sneak in a photoshoot every day, even when they were busy. This consistency really pushed them forward to the next level. Tessa shared other secrets to her growth, which can be summed up in two words: “Take initiative.”  This dynamic duo offers a variety of other lifestyle products to consumers, as well, including their collage kit, which is a package of various curated images to hang on the wall that are nostalgic and inspirational in nature.

Both Coco and Tessa have published their own book, as well – Coco’s book “Study of Pose: 1,000 Poses by Coco Rocha” trains in the art of posing, and Tessa’s book “Instastyle” shows others how to take beautiful photograph with posing and curation. Both women are leaders in the fashion industry whose dedication, creativity and individualism of expression have earned them positions as “top” names in fashion. Their iconic poses and personalities and personal senses of style pave the way for others to find their own unique style and expression as artists, also. When asked what was their ultimate secret to productivity was, they both boasted their husbands and also their teams. Coco has over 45 people on her team, and Tessa’s team is growing rapidly. Coco spoke on the importance of embracing your uniqueness and not letting others define you. Tessa expressed the importance of creating quality over quantity with content. It’s better to create something of real value and share less content, than to appear “busy” and put out mediocre content.

Thank you to Jordana Guimaraes, co-founder of Fashinnovation for bringing these women together in the same room to share their valuable experience and expertise.  (Jordana is seen wearing a lovely bespoke suite from Hall Madden).

The next Fashinnovation Talks series will take place on Jan. 14th at BounceX at the World Trade Towers and will be in correlation with NRF (National Retail Federation).

The 4th NYFW Fashinnovation Summit will be on Feb. 5th, 2020 – full day conference.

Article written by Holly Glasser, CEO & Editor-in-Chief of @mithmagazine