Amanda Uprichard Backstage

As the recipient of an extra ticket won by Mercedes, our wonderful friend at VSA Designs, I got to attend Decoded Fashion, a series of panels on the marriage between fashion and technology, which is sometimes shaky, other times phenomenal. Decoded was conceived and put on by another good friend, Liz Bacelar (who invited us to Assembled Fashion last year).

The daylong event was launched with a panel featuring Rebecca Minkoff, Instagram’s Amy Cole, Percolate’s founder Noah Brier, and Saks Fifth Avenue’s social media pro, Carla Dunham. They each talked about how they had created successful social media campaigns and left us with these tips: make whatever you’re working on personal and authentic, stay flexible, sometimes it’s about trial and error, pay attention to your followers. Ms. Dunham said if people don’t feel moved by what you put out there, you aren’t doing your job.

Throughout the day we heard from major players in both fashion and technology. tumblr’s founder and CEO David Karp was a keynote speaker, and hands down we all agreed he was adorable. Everyone oohed and ahhed over Wirewax’s taggable video, which can be peeked at on their website.

My favorite session was the CFDA panel hosted by DKNY’s Aliza Licht, Stacey Bendet of Alice + Olivia, Nicole Miller and kate spade’s president Deborah Lloyd. Besides it being packed with girl power and besides Ms. Licht’s amazing hosting skills (She asks her panelists: “iPhone or Blackberry?” Her own answer: “Bi!”), I was left with the sense that fashion has become more of a conversation between designers and customers, and that to successfully intersect fashion and technology, one must tell a story. A good one. -Ayesha A.

Mercedes and me on the rooftop of XVI, where the super-inspiring day was topped with an after party. Photo credit: decoded.whosevent.com