Category: Successful Fashion Designer Podcast
SFD099 Why this Startup Fashion Brand Makes Clothes for Short Men Only
February 03, 2020
Steve Villanueva is an entrepreneur with a history of success in multiple industries. And, like at least 40% of men, he’s also less than 5 foot 9 inches tall. Frustrated with clothes that just weren’t made to fit short men, Steve set out to find a better way to design clothing for this underserved market. […]
SFD098 How to Get a Better Job in Fashion
January 20, 2020
Michele Mavi is a recruiter and Strengths Coach who’s worked with fashion job seekers for over 15 years. On this episode of the SFD podcast, she shares what she’s learned about how to get a better job in fashion. She’s here to give the deets on landing the best fashion job for YOUR unique set […]
SFD097 How to Become a Fashion Freelancer (and work remote)
January 06, 2020
Guests on the SFD podcast tend to fall into one of three categories: They’re employed by a company in the industry, they work as a fashion freelancer, or they’ve launched their own brand. In this episode, you’ll hear from someone who has done all three! If you’re wondering how to become a remote fashion freelancer, […]
Bonus: Freelancing Advice for the Fashion Industry
December 23, 2019
In this special episode, check out Heidi’s interview on the Spirit of 608 podcast. The interview, which originally aired in March 2018, focuses on her work as a freelance fashion designer, and Heidi doles out tons of valuable freelancing advice for the fashion industry. Heidi talks candidly about her fashion journey, sharing the highs, the […]
SFD096 Q&A: How to Become a Fashion Freelancer with Heidi & Marissa
December 09, 2019
Have you been dreaming of beginning a freelance career, but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’ve been freelancing for a while, but you still have a ton of questions! Between pricing, juggling projects, finding clients and resources, and more, it can be overwhelming to navigate the fashion freelancing world alone. In this special […]
SFD095 How to Get Your First Fashion Design Job After College
November 11, 2019
When you first decide to work in the fashion industry, going to fashion school can seem like the one thing you need to score your dream job. But as many fashion graduates discover, completing that degree is only one step in the complicated and sometimes frustrating process of breaking into the industry. In this interview, […]
SFD094 This Dirndl Designer Grew a BIG Fashion Brand with a TINY Niche
October 28, 2019
Is it possible to start a successful fashion brand when your niche is super small? On this episode we hear from Erika Neumayer Ehrat of Rare Dirndl. Her full time job is designing and selling dirndls. If you’ve never found yourself desperately scouring the web for the perfect dirndl, we’re not surprised! It’s such a tiny […]
SFD093 How to Land Your Dream Job in the Outdoor Apparel Industry
October 14, 2019
Fashion is a tough scene. Even when you manage to break into the fashion industry, how do you get into your dream category? With so much competition for design jobs, it seems like luck can play the biggest factor in many designer’s careers. But what if you could make luck work for you? In this […]
SFD092 Should you sell your clothing line on consignment?
September 30, 2019
Sometimes it seems like there are as many ways to sell your clothing line as there are types of fabric! But when you’re starting a clothing line, should you sell your pieces on consignment? On this show, you’ll hear from Sam Murkoff. Sam’s brand, Manhattan Knights, was born when he started refashioning vintage tee shirts […]
SFD091 100 Ways NOT to Start A Clothing Line: These Guys Learned Firsthand What Works and What Doesn’t
September 16, 2019
Starting a clothing line from scratch is a massive challenge. And when you don’t have big investors and influential connections, it can seem impossible. But these three young entrepreneurs found a way to beat the odds and make their brand a reality. Meet Salvatore Graci, Angelo Acquista, and Luca Graci, founders of luxury streetwear brand […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 an “artsy” degree. Not that uncommon. But then? During her senior year of high school, 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 […]
