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Any advice for a starting designer.

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  • eat me
    Senior Member
    • May 2009
    • 648

    #16
    Originally posted by zamb View Post
    you are in a very good position, young, broke and at the bottom of the ladder, <...>
    haha, zamb, that's well put.

    and would rather go the CCP, LUC etc. way
    the market's getting overcrowded, make sure you have something to differentiate yourself.

    Comment

    • Aleks
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2009
      • 475

      #17
      True, I'm a bit put off at how crowded the market is.

      Comment

      • zamb
        Senior Member
        • Nov 2006
        • 5834

        #18
        Originally posted by Aleks View Post
        True, I'm a bit put off at how crowded the market is.
        Alex, the market is not thatcrowded as the client base for that Market is growing, especially as someone like RO has bridged the great divide between that market and mainstream fashion, Bringing in new Customers that five years ago were not interested in clothing of this type.
        you should learn as much as you can, practice really hard and dont be afraid to ask questions.
        when you are ready, which should be awhile, work from your heart, from you own perspective, only refrencing/ imitating others as little as possible, that will give your work a uniqueness that will help to distinguish it from others doing similar things...............
        “You know,” he says, with a resilient smile, “it is a hard world for poets.”
        .................................................. .......................


        Zam Barrett Spring 2017 Now in stock

        Comment

        • Johnny
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2006
          • 1923

          #19
          Zamb's advice is good, except that that market is certainly overcrowded so far as I can see. From rags to rags is not, in my view, a great career plan at this stage.
          I'd concentrate first on the tailoring aspect - learn how clothes are made, traditionally, then fuck about with them if you want (assuming menswear is your bag).

          Comment

          • Faust
            kitsch killer
            • Sep 2006
            • 37852

            #20
            /\ couldn't agree more. if you don't know how to make a men's blazer, you are not a real designer in my opinion.
            Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

            StyleZeitgeist Magazine

            Comment

            • nictan
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2009
              • 885

              #21
              Originally posted by Johnny View Post
              Zamb's advice is good, except that that market is certainly overcrowded so far as I can see. From rags to rags is not, in my view, a great career plan at this stage.
              I'd concentrate first on the tailoring aspect - learn how clothes are made, traditionally, then fuck about with them if you want (assuming menswear is your bag).
              second that. like what faust said, if you don't know how to make a men's blazer, you are not a real designer, in my opinion too

              Comment

              • casem
                Senior Member
                • Sep 2006
                • 2590

                #22
                I haven't reached a great amount of success, but I've been picking up steam lately and have some advice that has helped me try to break into a creative field (music in my case).

                The first, comes from an interview with Terry Richardson of all places. He said the greatest advice he ever got was "just keep taking pictures" take as many as you can and never stop working. Whether success is coming to you or not, keep making clothes, keep producing work, be productive as if you are hugely successful. That way when a break does come your way you are prepared. Personally, I've continued to compose as much as I can in the past year whether there are any prospects of having it played or not. I'm starting to get some opportunities and I'm very glad I have a body of work behind me to pull from. Nobody is going to hire you just because you have a lot of good ideas, you gotta have the work to back it up.

                The second I've learned recently myself, don't be afraid to ask people for stuff! I'm usually shy and hate to impose myself on people, but it's amazing the opportunities that will open up if you just ask! Be bold, as long as you are sincere and talented people will respond well to your requests. You can't wait to be discovered, you have to force yourself onto the world. I'm putting on a concert in NYC in October that came about just from asking some friends if they want to play some pieces of mine and asking some other composers if they want to write some pieces, everyone said "yes" and voila.

                Being in a creative field can suck, you have to do everything yourself at the beginning. Don't worry about school or not, a school isn't going to build your career. After getting my Master's at NYU I've been burned 2 years in a row getting rejected from every PhD program I've applied to but that has been a great motivation for me to get off my ass and make it happen myself, fuck 'em!

                Anyway, that's my rant, I've had far too much espresso...
                music

                Comment

                • eat me
                  Senior Member
                  • May 2009
                  • 648

                  #23
                  Originally posted by casem83 View Post
                  The second I've learned recently myself, don't be afraid to ask people for stuff! I'm usually shy and hate to impose myself on people, but it's amazing the opportunities that will open up if you just ask! Be bold, as long as you are sincere and talented people will respond well to your requests. You can't wait to be discovered, you have to force yourself onto the world.
                  This is a good advice.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Go Casey! I agree about everything you just said, and it gave me another push towards making stuff happen for myself.

                    Comment

                    • business
                      Junior Member
                      • Mar 2009
                      • 11

                      #25
                      Hi all, this is a really heartening thread. It’s nice to see this level of support in this field.

                      I’m in a similar position to you (well kind of). I have been making basic pieces for the last 10 years now and have been producing my own gear and pushing it in small boutiques (its makes enough money to pay for some industrial machines, a small studio). I’m in my mid 20’s now and have been working full time in a different field to support this interest. In the past few years it has become more and more obvious to me that I’m lacking fundamental skills and knowledge in garment construction and design to take it to the next level and while working in different field will provide money to take a small business to the next level it robs me of the time and inspiration to actually do this. For me I have resolved to go back to school next year to get some higher education fashion design.

                      I’m not too worried about if this is going to be good or bad idea, I’ve already had enough people tell me if it’s a dumb idea and I’m smart enough person to know that I’m not going to be the next big thing. I know from first hand experience the industry is rarely glamorous, running your own business is an epic money sink and wages working for someone else in fashion are notoriously poor or non existent.

                      At the end of the day though the thing that makes me happy is sitting in my little studio working away.

                      My advice (be it good or bad) would be to think long and hard about what you want to do with you life. Taking up fashion is not so much a career choice but more a life choice. I know from my experience that going down a fashion based road means you are more than likely never going to make as much money as your friends who work in the business world.

                      To get started here’s a few things that you should work on/note:

                      1.Learn as much as you can about the industry – read, attend conferences, contribute on blogs/forums go to fashion weeks (even little unimportant ones).
                      2.Take work experience wherever you can get it. Working for a tailor is awesome, I spent time working in large industrial garment factory (not quite a sweatshop but close) it gave me an appreciation of the scale of industry and how the supply chain works and the importance of proper pattern making and grading.
                      3.Make up your own stuff, I still can’t afford nice fabrics but its amazing what can be achieved with jersey cotton. I remember a talk by the guy who created Pong (and helped found Atari) saying that you cannot design without restraints. The more constraints you have the more creative you need to be.
                      4.Try and find a mentor. Look for someone else in the industry (probably locally) who you respect and get them to take you under their wing.
                      5.Learn to sell yourself; this is the hardest part, something I still fail at. Take some of your pieces (or a look book) around your local shops and try and get them to stock you. When your dealing with 1-10 pieces consignment is fine. Be prepared to be rejected a lot.
                      6.Be prepared for a lot of criticism and rejection.
                      7.Learn / Practice drawing. If you are applying for a fashion course down the track learning to draw is key. Knowing how to represent the human body and how different fabric drapes is vital during the design stage. I can recommend a book called “9 Heads” as a good starting point.
                      8.Create, create, create. Even if you can’t sell your clothes you can usually trade them for favours with your friends. Something that worked for me was giving clothes to local bands that I respected. Musicians rarely say no to something for free and its good almost free publicity when you are starting out.
                      9.Keep your integrity. The comment earlier on about being a rent boy is bullshit. Integrity and mostly a hell of a lot of time and hard work is the key.

                      Keep everything you do, be it comments on magazine articles, business cards from fabric shops, sketches on napkins, some practice sewing etc etc. This will help make up your visual diary and help a selection officer at college / university see how you think and how you go about the design process. A visual diary is as important as your folio.

                      Don’t put timeframes on when you will study etc etc. Do as much as you can as often as you can. Once you start doing it you will progress much faster than you expect. Start creating / applying now! Long term timelines breed procrastination.

                      If you are serious and committed to fashion based career then nothing can stop you! Good luck!

                      Apologies for the wall of text and the inevitable spelling / grammar mistakes.

                      Comment

                      • DHC
                        Senior Member
                        • Jul 2007
                        • 2155

                        #26
                        Originally posted by STEALTH View Post
                        Find a really good patterner

                        And then let them design your collection
                        Uummm..I'll let the baby say it for me.




                        Originally posted by Faust
                        fuck you, i don't have an attitude problem.

                        Sartorialoft

                        "She is very ninja, no?" ~Peter Jevnikar

                        Comment

                        • eat me
                          Senior Member
                          • May 2009
                          • 648

                          #27
                          business, can you post some of your stuff?

                          Comment

                          • Aleks
                            Senior Member
                            • Feb 2009
                            • 475

                            #28
                            Thank you everybody, this thread was an excellent idea. I'm extremely motivated now.

                            I'll let you all know how things progress.

                            Comment

                            • zamb
                              Senior Member
                              • Nov 2006
                              • 5834

                              #29
                              Originally posted by eat me View Post
                              business, can you post some of your stuff?
                              welcome to thje forums business, great advice and it would be good to know more about your work...........
                              “You know,” he says, with a resilient smile, “it is a hard world for poets.”
                              .................................................. .......................


                              Zam Barrett Spring 2017 Now in stock

                              Comment

                              • Geoffrey B. Small
                                Senior Member
                                • Nov 2007
                                • 618

                                #30
                                The Environment for young designers

                                Hello,

                                I have been asked by C'est fini to bring a post I have just put up on the Geoffrey B. Small thread over here to this discussion. It is a piece I was asked to write last year for the NJAL Not Just A Label site (notjustalabel.com), which also was published and translated in Japan for "Quotation" magazine that gives insight from a long-time working designer's perspective on what the environment is like for young designers trying to show on the international circuit in Paris. Here is the link to the page, please scroll down and refer to posts #133-135 for the piece...



                                Please feel free to read it over. Hope it adds something worthwhile to your thread and discussion.
                                Best wishes,

                                Geoffrey B. Small

                                Comment

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