How I went from Fashion Designer to helping Creative Entrepreneurs Build a Sewn Product Brand and a Business they love.

Before there were laptop computers, smart phones, CAD systems for pattern making and grading, websites, social media and online courses, the fashion industry functioned in “old school mode” through cumbersome processes in manufacturing, marketing, retail sales, trade shows, showrooms and sales reps.

Back in the day I owned a children’s wear manufacturing business in New York, designed 36 styles, sourced the materials and trims, drafted the first patterns and graded most of them by hand. I did the hand cutting and sewing of all my first samples and dozens of salesman samples to perfection. Then I hired a New York City sales rep with a busy showroom visited by eager buyers,  employed ten experienced sales reps across the country, attended major trade shows to sell my products, advertised in Earnshaw’s Review ( the reigning children’s wear magazine) and shipped my children’s clothing to high end retailers. Our customers were Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and hundreds of small retail businesses all across the USA.

And since then so much in the garment industry has drastically changed; processes has been automated and streamlined, much of the “work” is contracted out to freelancers or developers for pattern making, grading, tech packs, illustrating and sample making and sourcing has become an online adventure.

We experienced the real “If you build it, they will come” scenario! When our line of children’s clothing launched our sales reps were bursting at the seams taking orders and we worked non-stop “tagging, bagging and shipping”. The work was an exhilarating, fast paced, non-stop dream for over 5 years. Success had come quickly and we counted our blessings. (Read more about my early days from Earnshaws Magazine here.)