The evolution of the fashion designer

I see how much the fashion industry has changed and how companies seem to think they come a dime a dozen. I've been doing this for 30 years and of course there are changes. There are in every industry. But this industry is becoming uninspiring.

What I find fascinating is how little money companies want to pay now for college educated fashion designers. The expectations have also increased. They really want someone who can do 3 jobs for the price of a low paid single position. I am not talking about just myself at this time but many people in the field who are looking for work. It's extremely discouraging and think companies need to really evaluate this.

Designers have always had to wear multiple hats. We are creative people but also need to understand the business side of things. We aren't just artists that can't analyze the sales and understand how to update best sellers. We have to be sales people in order to present our ideas to the merchant teams. Even if it's convincing them to test a new color that may be out of their comfort zone. We do our research. We are analyzing the runway shows, we look at a million instagram and blogs a day, we go to art museums, we attend cultural events, and we do anything that is going to inspire us to design great products. We also have to have a merchant side in us because we really need to understand what is selling and why and how to offer up new styles that will be perfect for the customer. We are also product developers. There are many companies who don't even have this role. We need to understand costs and how to make cute styles without over designing. We know what our vendors capabilities are and what we can and cannot afford. We also have to be stylists. In order to sell our ideas we need to put together the looks so we can then show it to everyone involved in the company. Designers need more credibility. In every company that I've work the merchant always has the clout. I understand they are the ones writing the P.O.'s but they need to appreciate that partnership.

We need to be proficient in Adobe CC, PLM, Microsoft office, and also be able to illustrate. But seriously, how many companies use illustrations? I know they are beautiful to see but they are rarely used. We always are required to do a project for almost any interview we have. It doesn't matter how many years of experience you have. They want to see if you can understand the aesthetic. It drives me crazy. I remember one time years ago I was interviewing with Abercrombie. This was when we didn't use computers and sketching was done by hand on vellum with rapidograph pens. We colored them in with markers and cut out the mini bodies and spray mounted them on boards. Well I did that for the boy's division and had to send it ahead of time. I was so excited to be picked up at the airport and taken to the company headquarters. I sat and I sat and I sat. 90 minutes later they told me the director was ready to see me. I see my project in the corner wrapped up and he hadn't ever looked at it. This was devastating to me. All of that time that I spent on it and no repect from him. This is what I'm talking about. I have decided that I'm not doing projects anymore. If they want me they will hire me. My experience should be enough. Trust me, I've done kids, men's, women's, juniors, denim, outerwear, swim, and I could go on and on. If that doesn't speak for itself then I'm not the right candidate for you. Most the time I truly believe it's the insecurity of the hiring manager. If they can't make a decision based on the type of person you are and the previous jobs that you've had then that's on them.

I always love interviewing with the HR person first who seems to know very little about the position or what it really pertains. How are they the ones screening if they don't know anything about design? Now I'm not saying they are all like that at all. I just had an experience recently who asked me what adobe illustrator was and what I did on that. I wanted to say "how are you determining if I am moving forward or not?" The process is quite messed up I would say.

The biggest concern for anyone starting out in their career is that companies now think they can have the merchants design the line and have sourcing develop it. They want to do more with less. In my years of experience working with merchants and merchandising teams they have their own skill sets and as much as they want to be designers they don't want to push the envelope. They tend to be more safe and look at last year's numbers. Yes, there are some rare ones that have the courage to think ahead. It's always the designer's job to push forward and the merchant holds back. It's the push and pull that usually makes for a great balance for companies. There is a reason that we all have our roles and need to stay in our lanes.

Ageism is another issue in this industry. It seems that older people go into real estate or shift to sales. I don't think people realize that just because someone is older it doesn't mean that one becomes frumpy and has no taste. If the person was younger and didn't have taste then they may still not have taste. I remember one of my shopping trips when I was with some younger people and they couldn't keep up. They were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. They hated carrying all of the bags. Seriously, the more senior people know how to get it done and shop until the stores close. Obviously with the pandemic the shopping trips aren't happening except online. Even though I'm older I am more up on what's happening fashion wise than a lot of people but it doesn't matter. People look at your resume and assume you are a dinosaur and won't be able to design cool stuff for their customer.

Trust has been something that is lacking in this industry. I sometimes think I would like to work with more men than women and I hate to say that since I am an extremely independent strong woman. But men can generally make decisions without a ton of emotion. I'm not saying they all can by any means. Most women I've worked with tend to take things the wrong way or second guess their decisions. I have felt like a lot of time is spent explaining how what was said wasn't meant that way, etc. I prefer to work with people who are direct and not passive aggressive, those who make decisions and stick with it. My very first boss was male and he challenged me and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I loved it even though it scared me so much. I wanted to prove to him that I could do the job, no matter what he through my way. It was amazing how much I learned from that experience since he trusted me. He knew I'd make mistakes but also knew that I'd learn from that.

I'm disappointed in this industry and thinking about what's next. I know so many extremely talented designers who are being wasted or over looked because of not having the exact right experience. I think companies to reconsider when evaluating what a designer does. They are an important part of the organization and the stores are looking stale. Think about that when hiring the next designer. For those companies who think it's OK paying a Design Director $75K or an associate $15/hour you should reconsider. You certainly aren't paying for the talent and experience that these candidates have.

Good luck to my fellow design peeps! It's rough out there and we may all need to find new careers. And companies who are hiring- think about how much talent and expertise designers have and that it's not just drawing pretty styles.

Thanks for reading.