Category: Blog
SFD090 How to Stand Out in Your Fashion Career (and always get the job offer)
September 02, 2019
Whether you’re still in fashion school, or you’re looking toward your next opportunity, you’re probably wondering how to stand out in your fashion career. In such a competitive industry, it can feel like an uphill battle to even get noticed by fashion hiring managers among stiff competition. On this episode, we talk to London designer […]
If you want to work in fashion, don’t send emails like this ?
August 27, 2019
I’m going to put on my glasses and wag my finger at you for a quick minute. Like the true nerdy old lady that I am ??! Because there’s a BIG lesson many people (and you?) need to learn to advance their fashion careers. It starts with emails like these ???: What should I include in […]
23 Adobe Illustrator Shortcuts for Fashion Designers (with animated gifs!)
June 03, 2019
When you’re learning Adobe Illustrator for fashion design, it can feel like you have to know EVERYTHING! And that’s OVERWHELMING. Which is why you don’t need another printable PDF with every. single. shortcut. in the world. ? So, I decided to give you just what you need, and no more: 23 of my “can’t live without” Adobe Illustrator […]
SFD089 How This Fashion Designer Balances Career and Being a Mom to 4 Kids!
May 27, 2019
Working in the fashion industry can be brutal. The long days, late nights, and cutthroat competition can make balancing a fashion career and motherhood seem impossible. But the reality is that women everywhere are finding ways to make it work. While there’s no magic answer for every situation, there are many ways to balance a […]
SFD088 How to Build Your Fashion Business with Festival Vending
May 13, 2019
Kimberly Ponniah didn’t take the typical route into the fashion world. Yet through grit and perseverance, she went from knowing almost nothing about the industry to running a successful fashion design business. She now works full-time designing her own line of accessories, Wild June. Through years of experience, Kimberly learned how to use festival vending […]
SFD087 How to Become a Fashion Merchandiser and Product Manager
April 29, 2019
In this interview with Shelby Collins, we go a little off the beaten path of the Successful Fashion Designer podcast. Shelby is a merchandiser and works in product development–she knew right from the beginning that design wasn’t quite the right path for her, so she did a lot of self-exploration throughout school and found the […]
SFD086 This 76 Year Old Worked in the NYC Fashion Industry since the 60’s. Here’s her story
April 15, 2019
Judy worked in the industry way back in the 60’s and 70’s in New York and she has so many fun and inspiring stories about what her journey was like through fashion back then. Whether you’re listening for a fun flashback or for some insight into what the New York fashion world was like back […]
SFD085: How this Mom Got her First Tech Design Job After a 12 Year Career Break
April 01, 2019
Nicola Osborne is a technical designer who got her break back into the fashion industry after taking 12 years off to raise her family. Getting back to any career after 12 years is a daunting task, but getting back into the fashion industry is an even more intimidating one. As Nicola says in her own […]
SFD084 How to Become an Event Planner for New York Fashion Week
March 18, 2019
Emily Burton lives in Georgia, is barely 5′ tall, and has a thick southern accent. She’s pretty far from what you would coin as a stereotypical “fashionista”. But she’s a spitfire of a woman and through pure perseverance and hard work, built an event planning company that now works with brands at New York Fashion […]
How to Draw Fashion Flats in Illustrator (In 20 Mins!)
March 14, 2019
If you want a job in any part of fashion, knowing how to draw fashion flats in Illustrator is a mandatory skill. The problem? Adobe Illustrator can be a really frustrating software to learn. And it can feel like everything takes FOREVER. But it doesn’t have to! CUT YOUR ILLUSTRATOR TIME IN HALF WITH THESE TUTORIALS ⏰ Oh. […]
8 More Strategies to Land Your Dream Fashion Design Job
March 07, 2019
No matter your skill level or where you live, you can use these strategies to land your dream fashion job. If you haven’t noticed, there are a few themes that come up over and over in this book to land your dream fashion design job. Beyond the required technical skills of sketching fashion flats in […]
SFD083 How This Designer Built a Vegan Luxury Shoe Brand
March 04, 2019
Bebe Mehr’s fashion entrepreneur journey began in 2001 while she was in college and started selling stuff on Ebay. Little did she know, that 13 years later, after a lot of different fashion careers, it would turn into her own line of vegan luxury shoes, Cult of Coquette. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, Bebe’s journey […]
How to Land a Fashion Design Job If You’re 35+
February 28, 2019
Have Experience But in Between Jobs? Take Time Off for a Family? This Chapter is For YOU! An interesting thing happens when you hit a certain age in fashion. Well, the word “interesting” may not be quite right. Arguably, “depressing” is more appropriate. Whether you happen to be a more seasoned candidate or took some […]
How to Find Your First Fashion Design Job (or Internship!) After College
February 21, 2019
Even If You Have No Experience You know one of the hardest things to do in the fashion industry? Land your FIRST job. It’s the whole chicken and egg thing: “I can’t get a job without experience. But how can I get experience without a job?” Getting your foot in the door when you’re just […]
SFD082 Fashion Startup Trade Shows: Are You Ready (and what’s the cost)?
February 18, 2019
When it comes to trade shows, there are SO many questions. How much is this going to cost? How does this all work? How do I make sure it’ll be a success? Am I ready? In my interview with Danielle Licata and Kelly Helfman, we talk about these exact questions and more. Danielle and Kelly […]
Seven Awesome Fashion Jobs You Never Knew Existed
February 15, 2019
Because Being a Fashion Designer Isn’t Your Only Option! We just reviewed what a day in the life of a fashion designer looks like. And it may have left you feeling a little flat. Which is why we’re going to go through 7 awesome fashion jobs you never knew existed. The best part about these […]
How to Get a Fashion Design Job
February 07, 2019
You want to know what happens when you go to fashion school? They teach you how to tap into your creativity by hand sketching, draping, and sewing beautiful designs. And while you may walk away with gorgeous portfolio from your senior collection, a book full of amazing sketches and photos of your runway show is not going to get you a job.
SFD081 When Your Parents Don’t Support Your Fashion Design Dream
February 04, 2019
Kayla’s fashion career journey has been an uphill battle. First, her parents didn’t support a “artsy” degree. Not that uncommon. But then? During her senior year of highschool, her dad became incarcerated. There was no money to pay for her college education. Kayla explored alternate, more “practical”, career paths like accounting and biology, but they […]
SFD080 Production & Manufacturing Processes for Small Batch Fashion
January 21, 2019
Jessica Osborn is the CEO and founder of Privy Label, a company that help brands and boutiques create their own custom clothing lines from design to delivery. She works closely with small-batch manufacturers in the USA in order to cut down on the wasteful practice of overseas manufacturing. Jessica has six years of experience in […]
SFD079 Three Years as a Freelance Fashion Designer
January 14, 2019
Kimberly Dippel was on the Successful Fashion Design podcast in August 2017, and we talked about her success finding freelance projects on UpWork. Since then, she’s come such a long way! In this episode of the podcast, we’re doing our first (!) follow-up with a past guest. Kimberly has slayed the freelance game this last […]
