VANCOUVER, Aug 9, 2003/ FW/ --- Keynote speakers Richie Rich and Traver Rains delighted the audience with their anecdotes about supplying clothes to the stars with their ready-to-wear, pop-infused Heatherette collection.

Rich is a former top-ranked ice skater who trained with Kristi Yamaguchi, and Rains grew up in Montana winning rodeo titles.

They formed a partnership in New York in late 1999 and soon began pumping out leather tops for the likes of Foxy Brown, Gwen Stefani and Lil' Kim thanks to good word of mouth.

Rich and Rains had plenty of solid advice for the Vancouver crowd. "It's all about the stylists when you're a fashion designer," said Rich, recalling how making those connections enabled them to reach other clients like Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Shakira, Shirley Manson of Garbage, and Mariah Carey, who employed them on-set during a video shoot in the desert a few years ago.

"Go out, make those contacts, and keep the contacts alive. Don't burn any bridges no matter how bad the world seems."

They emphasized striking a balance between doing press and getting business meetings in order to be taken seriously by the fashion community.

They also pointed out the value of participating in an event like SNAPSHOT 48 Hours: it mimics the real-life demands of the industry.

"We can turn it around in two days," said Rich. "That's the thing with pop stars: 'Honey, you had better be on it.'"