News from ApparelMagic clients

“At the end of the day, no one needs more clothing. That’s the reality.”

It’s not what you expect a fashion designer to say, but Anaak designer Marissa Maximo is not your typical designer. Maximo, a recipient of The ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, is committed to creating a more equitable, ethical fashion system.

“It’s not about offering disposable or fast fashion,” Maximo says.

Indeed, the fashion industry has sped up to cycle through trends faster than we could have thought possible even twenty years ago. Labor standards are opaque and too often ignored by customers, and the pollution caused by apparel production and distribution is nearly unparalleled.

Encouraging customers to take a hard look at their shopping, Maximo asks them to ask themselves, “How did it get made? How did it get the trim? How did it employ people? How did it ship?”

“It’s all these hidden costs that people don’t realize,” she says.

“I work with nonprofit organizations with artisans in rural India, so I have to do a lot of preplanning and a lot of cost analysis to make that happen because we pay a fair wage and want to ensure they have ample time to work on the handwork they do.”

What if, Anaak seems to ask, the clothing we bought was a net positive? What if for every garment you purchased, someone’s life was improved on the other side of the world? That’s the vision Anaak customers see in the fitting room.

“They’re contributing. They’re helping by buying our product,” Maximo says. “I’m hoping that they feel that they’re part of the brand themselves.”

This business plan didn’t come out of thin air. Maximo went to school for fine art before spending almost two decades rising to the top of the corporate fashion retail ladder, only to then reevaluate her impact on the world at large.

“With a large corporation, as much support as they have and as great as it is, you become more and more removed from the product and the customer,” she says.

Since then, she’s used Anaak to rebuild from the ground up.

“I had to detox and relearn,” Maximo says. “I’m still relearning.”

Relearning here means taking time, often months on end, to visit artisans, working with them to design and manufacture Anaak’s line of ethereal, easy separates.

“Prior to COVID I traveled a lot,” Maximo says. “I spent half the year in India. I would spend months at a time working with artisans, and I honestly miss that.”

With such a hands-on approach, Maximo is able to fine-tune her design and her supply chains in order to be kinder to her collaborators the world over.

“With the artisans I work with,” she says, “often times, I don’t put upon them what I want, but I want to see what they can do, and I try to work with what they know.”

While it’s nothing like how a corporate fashion retailer would operate, this back-and-forth process works for Anaak.

“I try to show their work to the world in a way that might be more palatable or understandable for the western customer. I often feel like I’m more of a vehicle for their work than the other way around. It’s a way to give a voice to their work.”

Even outside of the production side, when it comes to identity in the fashion machine, representation has long been on Maximo’s radar.

“When I think about twenty years back when I started in the industry at the corporate level, I was one of the few women of color working in the company,” she says.

On the product side too, she remembers designers taking only one skin color into consideration, neglecting to see how colors and fabrics appeared across a more inclusive spectrum.

Maximo, like other women of color in the fashion industry, notes there have been additional uphill battles when it comes to career growth into the highest levels of leadership or negotiating with lenders and factories. Even with this against her, however, she works everyday to use her platform to lift up the women she works with:

“When you go more into the rural regions, women don’t even have access to independent income. They literally can’t work. They have to take care of the families, and they’re very beholden to their husbands. So this was an opportunity to train them and an opportunity for them to have their own earnings.”

For more information on the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the winners, and other resources for fashion businesses, please click here.

Lendrell Martin, a recipient of the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, hasn’t let quarantine go to waste. On the contrary, these past months have boosted a made-to-measure business into an ecommerce brand.

It all started for Martin with custom clothing, all luxuriously done up in fine wools, furs, and exotic leathers. With careful attention to fit and finish, he created a client base that appreciated clothing of the highest quality.

“I always love for things to fit people correctly,” Martin says. “As someone who’s five-three, that’s really important to me because I have to alter all my clothes or get them made to fit properly.”

After a decade of designing and tailoring for private clients, he has recently expanded into ready to wear you can purchase straight from his website.

“I’ve always been kind of known for these pillars of tailoring, texture, and craftsmanship,” he says. “Within the last year or two, I’ve been just focusing on what I can offer individuals for their everyday lives that would make some of my items more accessible, price-point-wise.”

It hasn’t been a straightforward business move, however. With life turned upside down, his clients have fewer occasions to dress up, and that in turn meant that Martin had to pivot.

“With the pandemic, I’m obviously thinking about what people can actually use in this time when events aren’t necessarily happening,” Martin says. “People are thinking about comfort, but also still wanting to feel slightly more elevated than athleisure, but not necessarily putting on a suit or gown.”

The big question is, what do people wear in 2020? And the answer, simply enough, was two unlikely products. People are at home more than ever before, and they’re demanding comfort, so what better than to serve them robes that can go from bedroom to beach with a chic sense of ease? And when those same customers are in public, why not give them stylish face masks with matching patterns, textures, and colors?

“I had quite a bit of time to myself for a while in these months,” Martin says, “and I just started working on some things that I loved, and I thought, ‘Alright, I’ll just put it on my website. If people like it, I may produce it.’”

And like it they did. Martin was pleasantly surprised to see orders roll in from across the country. With little PR accompanying his product launch, his only question was how so many customers found him.

“I was really surprised at the amount of interest I got just from testing these few items,” Martin says. “Particularly during a pandemic, when people aren’t working.”

Martin’s spur-of-the-moment inspiration turned out to be right on the money, proving that being quick on one’s feet is key to getting through this uncertain time.

“It was a great awakening for me as a business owner to say, ‘That idea you thought of that other weekend? Put it up. See what happens.’”

Rather than developing full collections months ahead of time and selling them through a set lookbook, Martin’s strategy is closer to the modern drop, where new products in limited quantities appear instantly and are bought up just as fast.

“This time has definitely taught me how to really focus in on testing and reacting, which is a term that we all hear,” he says, “but this pandemic has really taught me that.”

And with that knowledge, his business has a quick, inexpensive snapshot of what customers are looking for, with little danger of unsold inventory or stagnant sales.

“With allowing the market to inform my next step, it’s a slow and steady process,” Martin says. “Developing things on an as-needed basis, we’re not overspending.”

Products that gain traction give him an opportunity to go farther down that path, and ones that don’t can be quickly moved on from.

“It’s just another way of thinking in times like this,” Martin says. “The world is just operating in a different pattern and a different flow. It forces you to think about all those factors when you do certain things.”

For more information on the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the winners, and other resources for fashion businesses, please click here.

Fashion manufacturing might not be dead in the USA after all, at least when it comes to home sewing. Properwear, a recipient of the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, is taking the industry back to basics, and that begins with putting together one garment at a time.

Recognizing that one size definitely doesn’t fit all, Catherine Jean Bell, who founded Properwear with her mother two years ago, is running a successful custom apparel business in the most unlikely of place, Kansas, in the most unlikely of times, 2020.

With ecological awareness growing in customer’s minds, the most sustainable clothes might be the ones that are made just for you. Properwear creates bespoke clothing tailored to their customer’s exact demands and body type. It’s the fashion system made perfect, where supply and demand are in perfect harmony.

“Properwear represents just being able to have clothing that fits you, properly,” Bell says.

Her success depends on a business plan that uniquely positions Properwear in the industry. Rather than relying entirely on retail sales, the brand works in tandem with their community education initiative, Sew Simple Sewing, where they teach sewing skills to children in the Lawrence, Kansas area.

“One of our clients asked if we could teach her granddaughter how to sew,” Bell says. “At first, I was like ‘I am not a teacher, I am just trying to be a designer! No thank you.’”

But after getting to know the girl, Bell couldn’t say no. That kickstarted their educational platform from the beginning.

“Once we started advertising, pretty much the whole community jumped on it,” Bell says about the company’s early success. “We went from one student in a year to thirty five or so.”

Sew Simple Sewing provides a place not only for the next generation of designers to make their first stitches, but it’s also a free advertising vehicle for Properwear’s custom business.

Kids come home to their parents with a new hobby and skills they can use for the rest of their life, and the parents are exposed to the possibilities of custom clothing.

Whether it’s getting a perfect fit or it’s creating the clothing they can’t find in retail stores—Properwear specializes in modest styles and plus-size dressing—customers become repeat clients who choose Properwear because it fills a niche few other businesses are focusing on.

“People want it,” Bell says. “People want to see something different. I can tell in this community.”

Going forward, Bell plans to expand Properwear. With a prime display and sales area in a new location, she intends to start producing ready-to-wear her clients can purchase and wear right away.

“We promote quality over quantity,” Bell says. “We want to make sure every single client walks away happy and feels good about themselves and the clothing that we make for them.”

For more information on the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the winners, and other resources for fashion businesses, please click here.

It doesn’t have to be all about the bikini. In fact, swimwear can play a supporting role, and even revel in it.

For too long, designers have used swimwear as statement pieces, look-at-me tops and bottoms that hit every trend of the summer so perfectly that they’re passé by the time the next beach weather comes along. It’s a real tragedy when that means their designs age past their prime long before the swimwear gets to its second season.

Jade Swim, a recipient of the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, is countering this with every new suit they put out.

For every garish print or quick-to-be-dated tassel a competitor is selling, Jade has a chic, minimalist take.

Jade Swim founder Brittany Kozerski, a former fashion editor and stylist, is one of the few to recognize this gap in the market.

After working at many of the country’s top fashion magazines, she saw that what was missing was high quality swimwear in solid colors that could be worn year-round.

The tops, bottoms, and one pieces are bold enough on their own, but they can also slip effortlessly under layers as bodysuits. Never screaming for attention, they offer a subtler, timeless look.

Kozerski’s business, designed in New York City and manufactured out of Los Angeles, is run as modernly as the swimwear looks, with Kozerski operating with collaborators around the globe.

From fashion designers to factory owners, the world of Jade Swim is run by women, every step of the way, a rarity in an industry where the top decision-makers are too often men.

Sustainability is another primary concern of the brand’s. All fabric is OEKO-TEX certified, and some is even made of 100% regenerated nylon. By manufacturing in relatively nearby L.A., product life cycles are analyzed with greater accuracy than what could be done in Asia, and everything from fabric rolls to finished swimwear has to be flown around fewer miles before reaching its final customer, making for a lower carbon footprint. Beyond that, Jade Swim works with nonprofits like Oceana to make a further impact.

With high-profile stockists and prime placement in every fashion magazine, we have reason to say that Jade Swim is just getting started. We can’t wait to see what’s next.

For more information on the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the winners, and other resources for fashion businesses, please click here.

Where does an up-and-coming fashion designer go after Project Runway? For Renee Hill, a winner of the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the answer is right back to the studio.

Hill, a recipient of the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, is no stranger to fresh starts and getting back to work.

After beginning her fashion career only in her late forties, Hill had a faltering start, but is pleasantly irreverent about the mistakes she made along the way.

“I made so many mistakes, lost a whole lot of money,” she says.

It wasn’t the designing that was the issue. In fact, the creativity and spotlight came naturally to her. It was the backend business elements that were the real struggle.

“I was jumping around and just didn’t know,” Hill says. “I’m doing shows but I’m not ready for production. I’m doing New York Fashion Week, but I don’t have a lot of sourcing. I didn’t have a stable manufacturer. I didn’t have my ecommerce set up. There were a lot of things I didn’t have in place.”

The things designers miss in design school—the finances, the contracts, the software, the schedules—are the invisible ingredients in a healthy company, and that is where businesses are most likely to fail.

“Many designers don’t know the backend. Many designers don’t know the business part,” Hill says. “As a creative, those are the things that stagnate your business in addition to hindering you.”

After hitting her business’s lowest lows, however, Hill and her line Harx4 had a change of fortune that most in fashion could only dream of.

“I had shut down and said I was going to revamp and start all over again,” Hill says, “and then I went on Project Runway! So this is the process of me starting over, trying to get things done the right way and not make so many poor decisions.”

Starting back over, Hill has made an effort to get behind the steering wheel when it comes to the business aspects of her brand.

“I don’t have to master these things, but I also need to know them because this is my business,” she says. “I’ve lived and I’ve learned.”

But don’t let the renewed focus on the right-brain part of Harx4 fool you. Hill will continue to surprise and impress with the same strong, chic clothes she has been known for since her Project Runway stardom.

In her upcoming collection, Hill will be exploring new elements like tailoring and strong color like she’s never done before. Experimenting in texture, her preferred medium, she’ll debut new styles that make a big statement.

And those statement pieces won’t come as a shock to her longtime fans. Strength is an intrinsic part of the Harx4 identity.

“That is a part of my character of being a strong person, being a person who is really comfortable in her own skin,” she says. “I’m 53, and a lot of people don’t think I should wear flame Vans sneakers or Jordan 1s or anything like that. But I feel comfortable in that. That’s who I am. And I want people to feel comfortable in their own skin when they wear my pieces.”

It’s that message of power, fearlessness, and individuality that attracts her fans and customers.

“A lot of women do want to start a new career or start over at this age, and it’s scary to want to take that leap of faith,” Hill says, “I really had to accept that I was a role model for a lot of people.”

Hill plans to continue to share her own story with that of Harx4, aiming to inspire people through her own hard work and the beautiful clothing she creates.

“Your story is very important. And people should not be afraid to tell their story.”

Hill, who also works as a consultant on diversity and inclusion, sees our current circumstances as a way to move forward when it comes to race.

“In this climate, designers and businesses need to reflect on this time,” Hill says. “Take this time—this pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter movement, and what happened to George Floyd and that triggering so many things—take a moment to reflect. Just reflect on what’s going on, and see how you can grow as a person, as a city, as a society, as a world. We just need to continue to try to grow. This stuff is not going to be eradicated in the next year, ten minutes, whatever. We just have to be patient in this process. It’s a process. And you have to be willing to start the process. You have to be willing to fight the fight. It is going to be challenging because you’ve never done it before.”

That said, Hill is inspired by this movement and the positive repercussions it has already had and will have in the future.

“Young people are out here marching and risking their lives for a cause. That’s passion: People fighting to see things change. I have such a level of passion for what I’m doing. That is what drives me.” Hill says. “You have good days, and you have bad days, but I just push through with my passion.”

For more information on the ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color, the winners, and other resources for fashion businesses, please click here.

Starting on August 10, 2020, ApparelMagic invites designers and professionals leading fashion brands to apply for a new grant.

The ApparelMagic Grant for Emerging Designers of Color aims to promote equality within the fashion industry through cash grants of up to $1,000.

In addition to the cash grant, winners new to ApparelMagic will receive one year of complimentary ApparelMagic service on the Professional plan as well as consulting and training. All winners will receive promotion and publicity to ApparelMagic’s thousands-strong community.

Targeting brands with five or fewer years in business, this grant seeks to uplift underrepresented groups in the fashion industry, specifically designers and professionals of color.

All US-based brands meeting this criteria are invited to apply by the deadline, September 25, 2020.

Interested candidates can apply for the ApparelMagic Grant here.

Applicants’ contact information will not be shared. It will be used exclusively for matters pertaining to the ApparelMagic Grant unless otherwise requested.

Winners of the grant will be notified by September 30, 2020.

Earlier this year, ApparelMagic has stepped up to do their part in fighting systemic racism through donations to nonprofits promoting equality.

Read more about our initiatives in this space.