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On the topic of interns...

1/30/2014

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To start at the beginning; after finishing at lisof I worked as a shop slave (technically shop assistant, but “slave” was a more fitting a term) for a year. After that I was fortunate enough to secure a position at a Cut Make and Trim factory (CMT) that produced clothing in downtown Joburg. The owner; my first patterns lecturer, Erica de Greef, guided me exposing me to all the different elements in this insane industry. I worked under her guidance for the next four years learning more about the gritty, practical aspects of fashion than I ever thought existed! 

The local fashion industry is fairly small and well guarded. Sure, anybody can walk into Golden Glow (a fabric wholesaler in Fordsburg) and buy fabric.. in theory.. In real life; it’s tricky. Who to speak to, how to tip, what to ask for, what to avoid, who has the best quality, best price, who is the most reliable, how to find out what fabric is being brought in just after the buyers return from the East and so much more. Having a mentor helps you avoid some very expensive mistakes. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve made my fair share of f#ckups, but it could have been worse.. On my own I would have struggled to survive one season.

On that note; I’ve also been blessed with an amazing financial guide, who happens to be my father and who happens to turn 60 tomorrow. Very few aspiring fashion designers value the importance of being able to draw up a little spread sheet showing their predicted income and expenses. Most fashion diplomas/degrees have only recently started adding business as a possible subject for students to take and then, in most cases, it is presented in such an abstract way that students don’t realise the value of it.

I want to say that I’ve been lucky, but I’ve also put in a fair amount of work.. luck and hard work do seem to go hand-in-hand.. But either way, I wish to continue the cycle of sharing. For the past six years I’ve accommodated interns from the various fashion design institutions/institutes in and around the country. Some helpers have been more successful that others; some have been chased away and some became close friends. 

It is a huge risk letting these creatively charged, excitable and oh so young personalities into your space, into my creative bubble, into my secrets that I’ve spent the past decade gathering. I’ve been hurt, had designs stolen and copied; down to the pleats inside the pocket! But I still feel internship is a vital rite of passage between student and designer.

I currently have a little troupe of helpers, some have become valued employees and some are still busy completing their degrees; that, on paper, will leave them more qualified than me. Yet I feel that the time they spend working in the industry is more important. Some days are a bit mad; I’m not the most enthusiastic micro-manager of people and rely greatly of them to find something they are interested in doing within my operation and run with it. I prepare worksheets that cover everything I feel I can teach, but it does rely greatly on interns taking initiative. And that does become tricky. The entire reason for you being here, taking up energy, taking up my time and mental space is for you to learn, to work and to grow. The only way to sustainably succeed in this industry in this industry is to work your perky ass off. 

I want you to thrive, to grow as designers, as entrepreneurs, to contribute to the industry. This little rant is also in no way aimed solely at my current interns, but at aspiring fashion designers and student in general. Appreciate what we as hosts, as mentors can teach you. Not by buying present at the end of your internship, but by using this opportunity, by learning and growing and working. There is precious little that is more rewarding that seeing my interns fly...
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Photographs of some of my fabulous interns courtesy of Lingo Rodrigues and Jess le Roux, depicting some of the mad things we've done. So much love to all my interns, wherever you may be <3 
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Welcome to 2014

1/17/2014

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So 2013 came to a slow and painful end...queue 2014...Oh wait! We’re halfway through January already!

In the middle of a heat wave and I've kicked of winter production. I get light headed every time I have to try on a sample to make sure the fit is right or to check if the length needs adjusting. This is always the tricky part; staying ahead of the consumers’ demand means I need to think at least three months ahead. That means shopping for boiled wool and heavy weight knits in the middle of summer, convincing your wholesale clients to, just quickly, slip on this long sleeve hooded dress. It takes some getting used to, but I guess its part of the job.

This week I also had to book my time slot at SA Fashion Week (SAFW) for the spring-summer 2014-15 collection. I personally love winter and find designing summer collections arduous. It’s weird; most SA designers tend to prefer summer and only do a minimal winter collection. Summer tends to be a more commercial season and as great as that is in terms of being able to pay rent on time, it makes designing for a fashion show harder.

As the owner-manager-designer-financial-and-HR-departments of my own business I tend towards trying to streamline all processes as much as possible. In the design process this translates to designing one collection per season that I can show at SAFW and, six months later, send to my retail outlets. Most large fashion houses have the resources to present a fantastical fashion show, then has a team of designer translating it into a commercially viable collection. As much as I wish I could, I simply can’t operate like that.

I started designing my summer collection last week; merging the most successful elements from this summer into fresh silhouettes. I've approached it from the same angle that I usually reserve for my winter collections; adding textured knits and layered detailing. So far it looks like my least summery collection, yet I’m more enthusiastic about it than I've ever been for a summer collection. I feel like designing and experimenting, playing with new techniques and generally having fun...strange how it shows in my work when I’m passionate or when I've lost the love...oh well! Here’s to creating from a happy place.

May 2014 rock your socks off  xx 

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    Isabelle Lotter

    Isabelle Lotter; clothing designer with a passion for sharing ideas

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