Lisa Springsteel - Becoming a Fashion Designer

Front Cover Illustration by Izak Zenou

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Back Cover Photographs and Illustration: (top left) Spring 2010 watercolor handbag painting by Raquel Caruso, (top right) Red Dalilah 2056 Collection from the Kara Saun 2006 runway presentation, (bottom) Sketch entitled Romantic Rhythm by fashion designer Emily Tischler.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Springsteel, Lisa J.

Becoming a fashion designer / Lisa J. Springsteel

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-14382-7 (pbk. : alk. paper); 978-1-118-41916-8 (ebk); 978-1-118-42098-0 (ebk); 978-1-118-43373-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-48701-3 (ebk); 978-1-118-48703-7 (ebk)

1.Fashion designVocational guidance. I. Title

TT507.S735 2013

746.9'2023dc23

2012026251

To all future fashion designers on your triumphant journey to creative success

__________________________

Good clothes open all doors.

Thomas Fuller

__________________________

Foreword

Embarking on a career in fashion design can be daunting . But if you have a passion and a love of fashion, you should never let anything hold you back. Becoming a Fashion Designer is so exhilarating because it details the successes and failures that so many of us in fashion have had to endure to create and maintain our businesses. You can learn as much from someone's mistakes as you can from their triumphs. Our collective experience as designers will likely be the best information you receive. That is why this book will be so important to you.

When I started, there was no formula for success. Now, I see that becoming a designer required not only passion, but also a lot of essential know-how. One of the most significant insights I discovered along the way was that I could manufacture my clothes in New York City's Garment Center. If it hadn't been for the small factories that nurtured me without judgment or minimums, I wouldn't be where I am today. These factories still operate here in New York and can help you get off the ground and guide you through the ups and downs ahead.

Becoming a Fashion Designer is so valuable because it chronicles how we as designers made our big mistakes and where we seized our most vital opportunities. Our stories can help you avoid the setbacks and seize your moment. This book reveals the most imperative lessons for success, including how to survive when things aren't going well and how to behave when they are. In fact, I envy you. I wish I had these insider tips when I was just starting out. But now that you have all the information and resources you need from Becoming a Fashion Designer, the pressure is on you to step up and fulfill your dreams. Now it's your turn. Are you ready to become a fashion designer?

Nanette Lepore

Preface

As a high school student , I narrowed down my career paths to two possibilities, and interned in both fashion and child psychology to determine which field was the best fit. Although I possessed an extraordinary adoration of children and a knack for helping people, I felt my true passion was in fashion. I did question if having such a specific degree might hinder me if I ever decided at some point in my career that it was just not for me. I remember having a conversation with my grandmother about my concern, and from the next room my grandfather, who had overheard our conversation, said, Lisa, do you love fashion? I said, Oh yes, yes, grandpa, I do. He said, Then major in fashion. Do what you love. After receiving his straightforward advice, I was further convinced fashion was indeed the right choice for me, and I have never looked back since.

Having had a clearly defined idea of what I wanted to major in during high school allowed me to focus on my fashion program selection. I wound up attending Florida State University, a school whose renowned fashion program ranked fifth in the United States at the time. Part of the curriculum included a mandatory internship, which took place during my senior year of college. I headed off to Neiman Marcus, located in Bal Harbour, an upscale coastal beach village in Miami, Florida. I worked in visual merchandising, and it was exciting to be in such a luxurious environment working for a specialty retailer of that magnitude. I remember consistently getting the urge to sketch concepts that came to me as I sat day after day in that wonderfully inspiring environment. I was surrounded by stunningly gorgeous designer gowns, exquisite visual displays, a clearly affluent clientele, and a beyond talented staff.

Shortly after I graduated from college, I decided to move to New York to pursue my fashion career. I arrived in the summer of 1994, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Over the span of my 20-year fashion career, I have experienced the most exciting and wondrous journey of a lifetime. I have participated in design meetings with Mr. Ralph Lauren, selected fabric for the wardrobes of celebrities attending the Emmy Awards and appearing on the front cover of magazines, worked alongside Sean Combs to globally source all of the luxurious fabrics for his Fall 2008 menswear runway show for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York (while simultaneously being filmed for an MTV documentary), attended star-studded black tie events, and have met many famous fashion insiders. I learned through experience what to do and what not to do in every imaginable situation and became an expert on the ins and outs of the fashion industry. Knowing firsthand how difficult it was to learn the tricks of the trade of fashion, I became passionate about sharing my knowledge with others who were setting out on the same path. I wanted the information to be presented in an authentic and no-nonsense format, giving aspiring fashion designers an unmistakably solid idea of what the fashion industry is like and what will be expected.