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Life as a Corporate Fashion Designer
By admins | February 23, 2010
Today we have another fascinating interview for you. As usual we bring you a side of fashion not usually covered by mainstream media and certainly not covered during our recent fashion week. This fashion designer (who prefers to remain anonymous) has been working in the industry for about 12 years and has been responsible for many of the big brands you see at your local mall, department store, and even mass-merchandisers. Her range of experiences makes her the perfect person to share her thoughts on working as a designer in corporate America. At the moment she works for a mid-sized company overseeing two women’s brands and a huge private label business, her team of four assistants, associates and graphic designers do about 42 million dollars of goods a year.
1) Do you feel your formal fashion education helped prepare you for working in the industry?
Yes, definitely. I attended a traditional four-year university and got my Bachelor’s degree with a major in apparel design. I was very concerned that because I hadn’t attended Parsons or FIT I would struggle finding work or even be unqualified. Surprisingly, that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. In many ways I was better prepared because the grads from those schools were so focused on couture and illustrating that they were not well rounded. I had four year of fashion like them plus cad, graphic, and Adobe classes. At that time those schools were not even teaching any computer design, so I actually had a leg up. Plus, since I have a University degree if I choose to leave fashion, I believe it gives me more options as far as other careers or a graduate school.
2) You moved here after graduation from the Midwest, do you like living in NYC, and are you glad you made the move?
Absolutely, this is where fashion is in the US. The city itself is inspiring and this particular neighborhood is so full of fashion professionals and resources. There is nowhere else you get that in such a concentrated area. The amount of opportunity is amazing here and I think if I had never tried, I would’ve always regretted it.
3) What one piece of advice, would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion?
Make sure you really want it, be prepared to work hard for long hours and low pay in the beginning, and get an internship. The internship is a great way to get your foot in the door, especially for your first job, after that your work history and portfolio speak for themselves. I would also say, move if you need to. For recent grads, this is before you have kids, mortgages, medical bills etc, this may be the one time in your life to pick up and move to a big city or different country and not have much to lose. Oops, I guess that is a lot more than one thing.
4) You have worked for some major apparel companies in the garment center, what would like to see companies improve on?
Quality of life for their employees, better pay for everyone but salespeople, who frankly are already overpaid, and most of all I’d love to see Human Resource departments be mandatory for apparel companies and benefits greatly improved. My last company had so many incompetent people who got away with it, while qualified people got frustrated and quit, yet the owner never even knew what was going on until employee exit interviews. There was no HR, no way to notify anyone at the executive level what was going on. The owners of many mid to large apparel companies are so disconnected; they may breeze in and out of the office a few times a week/month and not even know who their employees are. I realize this is the case in many industries and at many large companies and that is why they have HR departments. We need that too!
5) What is you day-to-day schedule like as a designer working for a large corporation?
Well, I think that would surprise most people. I would say being a senior level designer is 85% business and 15% creative.
I spend my mornings following up emails from overseas factories. Seeing where they stand, what questions they have, what problems need to be solved that day etc. Then mid-morning my samples usually arrive. The assistants go through and check/spec them and any problem are brought to me. Any samples for production and fittings are giving to me for review as well. Then I usually meet with my team and review sketches they have and give them any design direction I prepared the night before.
Then I will meet with the sales team and hear the selling reports, what’s doing well in stores, what’s not etc. They will let me now what their buyers want more of, and what styles they are looking for etc. This is probably the most stressful part of the day. Lots of yelling by salespeople of what designs they want to see, how they hate this idea but want that, why one of them believes her request is more urgent then another’s, and how they all want stuff designed and sent to the factory asap.
After this I take an associate designer with me to fit any samples that need to be fit with the technical designer and patternmaker. Then I begin to work on the sales requests and come up with a game plan. At this point I try to eat lunch while working, as it’s usually around 2-3pm. I then pass on the sales info to my assistants and start them working on new sketches and techpacks to be sent tonight. Usually a fabric supplier or trend forecaster will stop in to meet with me, which I try to get done quickly. And often around 5pm-6pm the VP or big boss will want a meeting, have a question, or need a sample review, before they leave for the day.
Then after 6pm it gets quiet with only the design and technical teams left and I can get some work done. I start checking and reviewing my team’s sketches and techpacks, making my comments and corrections as needed. Then I will start finding design inspiration for tomorrow and doing some of my own sketching and techpacking. Finally, I will follow up on all emails and go through any budget, expense, or employee paperwork that needs to be done. Finally I will head home around 9pm-10pm!
6) What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry?
How freaking hard it is! It’s a business, its manufacturing; it’s much more than style and shopping. Fashion is hard work but can be incredibly rewarding as well. I wish people, students especially, would realize it is serious business. Having interns who show up thinking it is all going to be styling outfits and going on shop trips, and whine when they have to track packages or get stuck measure dozens of pre-production samples, makes me crazy! Yes, there is fabulousity, yes, there are shop trips to Europe but they are not the bulk of the business and they don’t come easily.
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Topics: designer, fashion industry | 18 Comments » 
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February 24th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Great interview. When I started working I had no idea how things worked. This sounds exactly how we worked at both my old jobs, Baby Phat and Lei but I was a lowly assistant. Good for her for all she has accomplished but boy is that a long day. I don’t miss those.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
This interview is obviously with a talented and hard working designer. Her view of the corporate world gives a realistic idea of the hard work that goes into a designer’s career. Kudos to her!
I am impressed.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:45 am
What an excellent interview with tons of insight!
One thing that stood out to me was when the designer said “Make sure you really want it, be prepared to work hard for long hours and low pay in the beginning, and get an internship.”
You truly have to have a passion for what you do, otherwise it isn’t worth it. Take the right steps towards your specific goals, even if they are small steps in the beginning.
ps – is that Wendy’s dress? LOL!! XOXO
pps – it was SO great seeing you!! I forgot how gorgeous you are ;-)
February 25th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
This is such a great interview!! Point #4, point #4, point #4…. spot on :-) I also loved her comment about interns! I find it the same with brand new assistants. I’ve had so many of them actually CRY… and I’m nice. What would they do with a bitchy boss? They don’t want to do any grunt work at all, but we ALL did it in the beginning and I certainly never cried about it.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Such an interesting interview, I found the comments about her education choices particularly revealing and helpful for anyone interested in fashion as a career. And I’m completely bowled over by her hours and hard work!
February 26th, 2010 at 7:52 am
I found this interview very interesting! Lots of insights into the industry.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:30 am
It is a great interview. I agree, you have to have passion close to obsession to make those crazy long hours and the stress worth it.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Fantastic interview so much vital information! Thank you so much!
February 26th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
This all sounds too familiar! I worked on 7th ave for a few years. Her request for HR is spot on. Great interview!
February 26th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Great interview. Important to point out how fashion is a business and not just fabulousness all day every day. I’m always surprised by how many people aren’t ready for that.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
So true! I used to work as an assistant designer and it was crazy how numbers take presedence over creativity when it comes to collections, so boring at times. As a side note recruiters often think design graduates are only capable of doodling in paper without any administrative knowledge.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Great interview. I like a good dose of reality. And LOL @ Midtown Girl. I thought it was my dress for a second too!
February 27th, 2010 at 1:41 am
Hey!!! Very cool picture there!
March 1st, 2010 at 5:12 pm
great post – very interesting xxxx
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Great interview! Thanks for providing such great insight.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Great interview, but I strongly disagree with her opinion that salespeople are overpaid. I have been in the wholesale side of the business for almost a decade, and while at times you can make an enormous amount of money, you have to save it up for the days when you don’t. What she doesn’t understand is that we have to front all our expenses (rent, travel expenses, sample charges. And I have to pay my assistants!) and pray the merchandise she designs ships. Then we have to hope the goods continue to retail, and that the company pays us on time (or at all in some cases). Regardless of what her company ships every month, she gets her salary. And her health insurance (another luxury us “overpaid” salespeople don’t have. I pay for mine out of pocket).
March 5th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Hi All! Thanks for all the compliments. It was hard fitting everything in, and I couldn’t help but ramble a bit. Overall, design is a fantastic career but only if your willing to work hard for it.
Leia – I fully stand by my comment regarding salespeople. Obviously, you are unaware how sales work for large apparel firms, I’m not sure what you are selling or where, but you are an independent sales rep, that is not the same thing. Every company I’ve been at and most in the area have full in-house sales teams, who ARE salaried employees. Of course they have full benefits; plus company cards, 1st class flights on the company, paid vacation, 401k, expense accounts and they don’t pay a dime out of pocket. And their assistants are also company employees. On top of their salaries they get huge bonuses and commission checks, meanwhile they often work the least of any division.
March 5th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Thanks for clarifying the salespeople you were referring to. But I do work for large apparel companies, mostly over 100 million in sales…