Why is Fashion Important to the Auto Show?

After tweeting about the NAIAS Charity Gala today, which I declared myself the "Best Dressed" in jest of course... Some random man decided to focus a tirade against me, talking about how all anyone cares about at the North American International Auto Show is the cars, and how dare we turn it into this "Hollywood type" spectacle, having a Red Carpet and all that. Wow.

My first thought was "what an ignorant idiot this is" and after reading his tweets on other topics, this theory was confirmed. My husband works in the Auto Industry, and I am given a daily play-by-play of the workings of it. In my mind, focusing the public eye on the fashion aspect of the NAIAS is **GENIUS**!!!!!!

Think about this in a marketing sense. How do we broaden our demographic? I don't give a crap about cars. I rarely drive. But will I go to a Red Carpet Event that may sweeten my aspirations to own a flashy vehicle? HELL TO THE YES I WILL.
So if you say, "All anyone cares about is the cars." You obviously have a one-track mind, and you obviously don't care about selling more cars than you are selling now. That's business. *Let's find other people that ARE NOT necessarily interested to sell to.* That is how you make money, IDIOT. Not catering to the exact people that you already have in your pocket.
But you need to appeal to your car connoisseurs too, and they do. They have the "brand ambassadors/showcase models" (i was asked to do this, no thanks) that will *Talk that Talk* with you about effing engines and 8 speed flux-capacitors. You can climb right under the hood of these things, shimmy underneath a car if you like, lick your finger and stick it in the gear box- if that's what gets you going.

I'll probably get even more hate-tweets for this. But I think this stagnant mind-set is a big problem in our area. We need to diversify and extrapolate upon industries, upon views of what is, and what should be. Let's re-imagine Detroit and the Auto Industry. Add different tangents and angles to it. Let's ACTUALLY make that Hydrogen Fuel Cell car. Let's put some light rail in so people can actually get around the city. Let's make things accessible, and different and new and not all the same.

Ok, now let's talk about why *FASHION* is important in itself. In my mind, Fashion is another wonderful, beautiful art form. It's as important as sculpture, painting, anything. There is beauty in the construction, the originality of design, and the color and movement of a piece of clothing on a person.
Detroit is a perfect setting for the Garment Industry. There are some awesome companies capitalizing on this.

• The Dirt Label
• Made In Detroit
• Fotoula Lambros
• Francine Houston
• Cynthia LaMaide
• Knit Sew Fabulous
• Berry Favorite Things
• Twirly Needle Fish
• Etc. Etc. Etc.

We have talent. We have man-power. We have space and buildings that would be perfect for this industry. We have an army of models waiting to show the clothing off. Let's DO THIS!!

So long story short, Detroit needs the Fashion Aspect of the NAIAS Charity Gala, this brings fresh eyes onto our existing major industry, adds focus and positivity to our city, and helps our fledgling garment industry prosper.