Beginning of Hope/Craigslist is a wonderful thing

A few months ago I got bored and started searching the creative gigs on craigslist.  This was certainly not the first time I've done so, and not the first time I wound up making great contacts as a result.

The first paid design job I ever had thanks to Dee.
A motorola campaign with Danica Patrick and "her dog"

The first time I found success, I found a listing by stylist Dee Anderson.  She turned out to be the stylist for one of my all time favorite bands, Green Day.  I cannot even begin to explain the many MANY things I learned in the several months I worked for Dee.  She's an amazingly talented stylist and was such a great influence on me.  So many of the great things I have done were a result of knowing Dee.

the poor Dresden Dolls
fan I had the pleasure of
dressing on set

The second time, I worked on a Dresden Dolls music video assisting Katie Kay as the stylist.  Not only was it just a super fun video, knowing Katie resulted in Linden being sold at her fantastic boutique Gather and her being my sales rep, getting the line out  into the world.  Yet another incredible contact via CL.






The third time, I found an internship with Park Showroom owner Kristen Aguilera, and without her I would never have gained enough knowledge of the fashion industry to start my own line.

Four and Five were within a week of each other.  I met up and coming stylist Corina Garcia through her CL ad where we teamed up to shoot the spring 2011 photos on www.Lindenca.com AND I found the Elite fashion academy posting that led to my very first Linden fashion show.  Just check the website and past posts to see the results of those efforts.

And now here I am, several months later with yet another successful contact made.  I replied to an ad early in the year regarding a charity fashion show event in San Diego.  Stacey Blanchet, of Blanchet Designs, has coordinated a wonderful event, titled "Beginning of Hope", benefiting two charities dedicated to foster youth.  The event will take place this coming Wednesday in San Diego (May 18th, 2011) and will feature 3 designers showing, some local artisans vending, wine tasting, food, a silent auction, and a raffle, all to benefit these charities.  I haven't shared the information about this show until now because I only finally met Stacey a day ago, and finally started to feel more involved in the whole thing.  I have cast my models, and cannot wait to be a part of this show.  I know most of you reading this are in Los Angeles, but should anyone find themselves in San Diego wednesday, here's how you can attend this wonderful event.  http://www.blanchetdesigns.com/news.html


Photos WILL be posted asap!

my niche?

I've designed 3 seasons now.  Each season I've learned more about the business, more about how to relate to my (or any) pattern maker, more about the types of fabrics I want to use, and more about what I do best. While I really do like this last collection, I think I got a little lost trying to fill several categories and be marketable in all of them.  The pieces do go together and work together, but somewhere along the line I lost my original intention, and now its time to regroup.

The interesting thing I learned post trade show is something I'd suspected after my second collection - my leggings have the potential to be my design niche in the fashion world.  I'm actually really amused by this because a few years back when leggings began to make their way back into mainstream fashion, I absolutely resisted.  I resisted skinny jeans too though, and I think it had to do with adjusting my mind set toward a new silhouette.  But now, here I am, hoping to finalize larger orders on leggings.  It's definitely made me start to rethink the direction I take the line in, or at least it gives me something to design around for the next couple of season.  Basically, expect less silk, more cotton, leather, and lace.

On a somewhat related note - Keri Hilson was the host of the official Grammy's after party this year, where she was wearing the original Linden moto leggings (pulled by her stylist from Gather, 630 S Main St Los Angeles CA 90014 - www.gatherla.com).  Here's the best photo I could find via google, but I'm working on getting a better one.