I originally posted this image, and the following text, almost two years ago – time goes by soooo fast! – but the subject is a recurring theme in a designer’s life, so I thought it was apt to repost both and reevaluate where I am now, two years later: designing another Spring collection, preparing to show it at fashion week, and once again hesitantly embrace the fashion calendar with which I have such a tumultuous relationship.
One part of designing this collection that I have not written about is the recurring doubt I believe most designers experience during the critical part of the design process. It is accompanied, for me anyway, by terrible insecurity, concerns regarding my judgment, and panic that the collection will be irrelevant or badly received. I’ve come to learn that this is part of the (my?) process and I am much better at dealing with it now than I was 11 years ago when I started designing. Yes, it’s been that long! (I guess it’s been 13 years now!)
That said, it’s never easy to deal with and can become creatively crippling to a designer, which has been my case in the last few weeks while preparing for the show. At times like this it’s so important to have a support system – other designers with whom to share ideas, friends who will listen to you vent, family and loved ones who will support you – to remind you why you do what you do in the first place.
I started out working on Spring 12 with the same trepidation I usually feel, the plain truth is I’m far less confident with Spring than I am with Fall. However, the major difference between this season and two years ago is the depth of the community I have in New York to lean on and share ideas with, the talent of the group of interns who are working with me this season (a big huge thank you to all of you!). I’m also grateful for the NYC subway, to which I attribute a great deal of my inspiration – and often times my frustration. I didn’t commute into Manhattan two years ago when I was first starting out. Seeing the skyline going over the bridge on my daily subway ride from Brooklyn, and the Empire State Building as I walk up the Bowery to GUILDED, is more motivating than I ever thought it could be. So thank you MTA, there’s a little something for you in the Spring 2012 collection…
Yesterday was the first edition of Show & Tell for Study Hall. I’ve started inviting people who work in, or on the peripheral of, the fashion industry who have something to share with young designers. I’m planning for it to be a weekly occurrence. Why not? I’m learning something too… Our inaugural speaker was, Ahn-Thu Nguyen, the founder of Ahkun, which I’ve only recently discovered thanks to a new friend!
On a brutally hot day in or studio, Ahn-Thu attempted to ignore the fact that we don’t have an air conditioner and spoke to the Study Hall group for almost an hour about how Ahkun works, what they do, the trials (and benefits) of working with artisans in remote locations, and why she wants Ahkun to work with young designers instead of established companies. She brought samples of the products that are available in the online shop to show us the quality – we’re thinking Study Hall x Ahkun collaboration!
Ahkun means ‘thank you’ in Khmer (Cambodian). We work with entrepreneurs who have received microloans to further their skills and build better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities. We connect them to the global marketplace—creating sustainable businesses and closing the gap between microfinance lenders and borrowers, consumers and producers.
The mission of Ahkun is to connect entrepreneurs who have taken out a microloan with the global market. By creating an online marketplace, buyers from all over the world can find a product or an entrepreneur they want to buy from and Ahkun will arrange the shipping.
Just like the peer-to-peer microlending site Kiva.org, the entrepreneurs you see on our site are real individuals who want to sell their goods abroad. We hope to help each entrepreneur in two ways:
(1) By providing them access to a larger market.
(2) By allowing them to receive a higher price for their goods.
Ahkun will host a pop-up sale event featuring carefully curated clothing and accessories from independent designers, sustainable brands and fair trade organizations. Ten percent of sales will be contributed to artisans abroad through the micro-lending website Kiva.
Saturday July 30 and Sunday July 31
from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Lower Eastside Girls Club space at 56 East 1st Street.
This event is being held in cooperation with the New York City Fair Trade Coalition, Kiva New York Lending Team and Lower Eastside Girls Club. Each vendor has pledged 10 percent of sales to Kiva, a micro-lending website that lets individuals make small loans to entrepreneurs around the world. According to Nguyen, “Ahkun brings consumers closer to the origins of the things they buy. Our pop-up shop will prove that there’s more to New York fashion than just Fifth Avenue and Fashion Week. When you know that your purchase has a positive impact on the person who created it, it becomes much more meaningful.”
Have you seen our IndieGoGo campaign yet? As most of you may remember I funded my first runway show through Kickstarter so I have a special affinity for crowd funding. Enter the Sustainable Design Fundamentals program we are working on at GUILDED.
After months (and years) of preparation, we’re raising the money we need to launch our first core program: Sustainable Design Fundamentals. This education for designers and creative professionals is the whole reason we started this business – and it’s what this industry most desperately needs.
Our video explains everything you need to know, so check it out, become a backer if you can (there are a ton of amazing perks), and help us spread the word to everyone you know by writing about it on your blogs, connecting through Facebook and Twitter, and by coming to our seminars and workshops right here at the studio.
