What I Love

My journey as a designer started long ago, when I was a kid actually.  It starts out like probably a lot of designer's stories start out.  I loved fashion, loved paper dolls, loved dressing up, loved crafting my own creations.  As I got a bit older, it included designing my own clothing, or altering clothing I bought to make it meet my creative expression.

It was when I saw Romeo Gigli  in the pages of Vogue in 1986 that I was inspired to turn my passion for fashion into a career.

And so, here I sit almost 30 years later, and I still love fashion.  I've been fortunate to earn a living in design and development for 25 years now.  I've learned a lot along the way...  A lot about fashion as a business, a lot about design as a commercial enterprise vs design for art's sake, and a lot about myself.

I've worked very hard in my career.  Fashion is not a leave at 5pm job, it's very consuming - lots of folks get into this business and get back out again pretty quickly.  It's not for the faint of heart.  I've also been very fortunate in my career.  I've been able to work in a number of apparel categories and do design for women, men and children.  I've made dresses, sportswear, suits, shirts, knitwear, sleepwear, swimwear, athletic and technical apparel....I've made cut and sew and seamless products.  I've worked for both large and small companies, from established to start-ups.  I've worked with retailers and price points ranging from Wal-Mart to Dillards to JC Penney to Nordstrom to Victoria's Secret to Neiman Marcus to high end specialty boutiques.  I've worked on branded and private label lines as well as licensed apparel from Tommy Hilfiger to Hang Ten.  I've run production domestically and overseas.  I've also taught fashion at Emily Griffith Technical College and mentored emerging designers through my volunteer work at the Denver Design Incubator.

I was asked recently what my favorite thing about this business is....it's that I've never been bored in my career.  Not for a minute.  I've been happy, sad, crazy, pulling my hair out, excited, angry, frustrated - you name it, but never bored.

You know what else I've found that I love?  It's the design process.  OK, yes, sketching is fun, shopping for fabric is fun - but what I find really fun: getting inside the customer's head, figuring out what kind of product they want, and bringing it to life.  In the past several years, I've gotten more into technical products, and it's really exciting.  I can create a pretty dress in my sleep - but to create something that's technically going to serve a purpose in terms of apparel - that's something I can sink my teeth into!  Yes, you still sketch, and you still shop for the fabric - but it's not just pretty fabric - you're researching performance and finishes to fulfill a need.  

(then)

(now)

We lost a lot of something when the apparel business went overseas in the early 90's.  Our production patternmakers, who really understood fit and how to make clothes fit properly have finally retired.  We left the fit of a garment up to the overseas factories - and we lost a generation of folks here who really understood fit and construction.  It's fine to make a pretty garment, but if it doesn't fit properly, you might as well use it to wash the car.  With a return of interest in American made, we have younger designers starting to realize how critical patterns are, how critical grading and proper construction are.  Making patterns is a science and an art - so is grading.  Testing, which used to simply be part of the design process (fit testing, wear testing, care testing) has become an afterthought to many.  

But to me - that's what the fun part is - the process.  I guess you could call it the craft of the business. Not just drawing pretty pictures, but actually creating product that has purpose, works as it's intended, is priced correctly, fits and wears great, and lasts.  And the "devil is in the details" as it were....from the initial design, which should consider functionality, form and pricing to the development phase, which includes sourcing, patterns, fit, grading, testing, etc to the final product - ready to work for the consumer.  It takes a lot of attention to detail to get all that right, and it takes managing the process well to get it all right and on time.  To some designers - that might sound tedious.  Some designers - they love the fashion shows or the creative sewing to see what they come up with - but to me, it's the design process itself that holds my attention.  

My 2 cents about What I Love....

Salu,

Holli