Last week I was on “workcation” with my family in Croatia. And one day, while we were driving on the winding island roads of Hvar, I saw a sign for a restaurant that caught my eye. (This isn’t the first time that’s happened.) The sign for the restaurant said: “Mostly homemade food.” I looked at […]
A few weeks ago, while I was talking with new designers at TexWorld, someone said something that stuck with me: “I’m feeling overwhelmed by information overload. I’ve been doing research for months and months, but at what point is it enough? At what point do I stop researching and start ‘doing’?” You’ve probably heard the […]
Yesterday I spent 36 hours in New York City, talking to fashion startups about ways to finance their brands. Needless to say, crowdfunding (specifically Kickstarter) has been on my mind. If you’re one of those entrepreneurs currently weighing your options about how to launch your company or new collection, keep reading. Today I want to […]
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that I’ve been rolling out a new project in collaboration with Boston photographer Joyelle West. Each month I’m featuring a series of sustainable fashion brands — some that were past Factory45’ers — and others that I wear, use and love. This is all in an effort […]
July is here… which means TexWorld USA — one of the largest fabric sourcing trade shows — is quickly approaching! And registration is now open HERE. This is a free opportunity for designers like you to not only see hundreds of different fabrics in person, but to also take advantage of the free fashion education […]
The other night I was watching an interview with comedian and screenwriter Tina Fey. She was talking about the highs and lows of her career, the missteps and the slip-ups and then she said started telling a story about her early days in stand-up comedy. She was recalling the multiple times that she performed a […]
Something funny happened to me last week. Not funny “ha ha” but funny like, “Whoa, universe.” I had been planning on writing this email to you about how you can still be a designer even if you can’t draw. And then, as I was cleaning out old files on my computer, I came across photos […]
“I have my designs on paper, but I have no idea what type of fabric I need.” The world of fabric sourcing can feel like a black hole. Maybe you’ve started searching for fabric suppliers on Google. Maybe you’re lucky enough to live in a design hub like NYC or Paris where you can see […]
“I don’t even know where to start,” I thought to myself. It was three weeks before my maternity leave was ending, and I was looking at a calendar next to my to-do list. Pack for Cape Town, finish the baby’s daycare applications, schedule a photoshoot, hire someone to run digital ads, get a haircut for […]
December is one of my favorite months of the year as a business owner. And it’s not because of the holiday shopping or smells of pine and cinnamon or waking up to the first snowfall. We’re getting to that time of year when many of us stop to reflect on how we’re running our businesses, […]
