10 Things we learned In Conversation with Miroslava Duma and Dion Lee

Buro 24/7 founder Miroslava Duma (left) and Australian designer Dion Lee. -- PHOTOS: DESMOND WEE, ST FILE
Buro 24/7 founder Miroslava Duma (left) and Australian designer Dion Lee. -- PHOTOS: DESMOND WEE, ST FILE

On the second day of Singapore Fashion Week, street style star and fashion news website Buro 24/7 founder Miroslava Duma and Australian designer Dion Lee sat down at Lasalle College of the Arts to talk about "The Power of Social Media on the Global Fashion Industry".

Here are 10 things we learned.

1. Duma, illustrating how much technology and the Internet have changed our lives and our daily processes, says she checks her iPhone first thing in the morning before even brushing her teeth.

2. The next step in social media for fashion brands may be making the content more accessible to platform users - for instance, shoppable content. Apps such as LikeToKnowIt and TheNetSet are part of that larger trend.

3. Buro 24/7 has two offline projects, a beauty/styling agency Buro Beauty and a cafe Buro Canteen. The cafe is a first in a chain planned in Moscow, and it's a great place for people-watching, according to Duma, thanks to its central location.

4. Duma is careful to point out that she and Buro are not the same thing. She has never even had a column on the website. She says she is "not great at writing" and prefers to conduct meetings, sell products, deal with licenses and such.

5. The social media queen - who has over a million followers on Instagram - does not post the usual clickbait of flowers, mirror selfies or kids. She thinks people who come to her want to see other, more interesting things.

6. When asked to elaborate on the difficult aspects of social media, Lee says that social media is a "beast that you need to feed". There are constantly new platforms and it takes work to be on them. You need to be discerning, he says.

7. Buro has launched in eight countries, including Singapore which kicked off operations yesterday. Turkey is the next country in line. Localised content, which comprises about 20 to 30 per cent of offerings, is important, says Duma.

8. Dion Lee says his move to show his label overseas is a "reactive one", because Australia is a much smaller market, and located far away. He is working on launching accessories, and plans to continue to have showings in New York.

9. Duma introduces a Russian phrase when talking about Buro expansion, having "Napoleon plans", which means plans to conquer the world.

10. Duma chose Singapore as the first Asian outpost of Buro because it seemed like a stepping stone between West and East with sophisticated consumers. It also seemed to lack quality digital media and she saw that as an opportunity.

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