Monse Designer Shares The Most Important Thing For Anyone Interested In Pursuing A Career In Fashion
Brands are not built overnight, especially flourishing ones like Monse. Luxury designer Brooke has had a front-row seat at Monse since the very beginning. Read as Brooke shows us the ins and outs of designing for a luxury brand, covering everything from teamwork to tech packs. This is an inside look at how she landed her dream job and uses all of her experiences to manage the brand’s intricate design process. You’ve got to read this:
Hi Brooke! Please tell us about your role at the luxury brand, Monse and what a typical work day looks like for you.
My role as a Designer at Monse starts with concept development. I begin by researching and sketching out my ideas. Once I have a general idea as to what I would like to develop for the season, I then get to work by draping and sewing my designs. I work on all categories including, knitwear, tailoring, activewear, evening, accessories, etc.
What sparked your interest in fashion and when did you realize you could make a career out of it?
I began sewing clothes for my dolls and making dance costumes and Halloween costumes for myself at age 7. It was always part of my plan to move to New York for school and design for a large brand and hopefully work my way up in the fashion Industry.
Did you go to school for fashion? If so, what is the most important thing fashion school taught you?
I went to Pratt Institute, where I majored in fashion design. One of the things that I learned during my time at Pratt was the importance of a designer’s process. The way you solve problems and how resourceful you can be directly impacts the outcome of your overall designs and whether you’re able to fully realize those ideas or not. Getting to know your own individual process is extremely important in order to accurately illustrate your ideas and work in an efficient manner, especially when working with a team.
The professors at Pratt also helped me meet a lot of really influential people that allowed me to get my foot in the industry. It is those types of relationships that got me the amazing job that I have at Monse.
What is something you learned on the job that school didn’t teach you?
One thing in particular that school never could have prepared me for is the importance of communicating your ideas clearly and in utmost detail to a large team of people. It’s all about teamwork and you’re only as strong as your partners.
While schools do their best to prepare you for the incredibly fast pace environment that is found in the world of design, I think that real work experience is the most important thing for anyone interested in pursuing a career in fashion. I started working with the founders/ creative directors at Monse before the release of our first Spring 2016 collection.
Working with a brand from the beginning allowed me to work very closely with the two founders and creative directors. During my first couple of weeks at Monse I worked out of Mr. Garcia’s apartment with a home sewing machine on a foldable plastic table. The brand has grown incredibly fast since then and has allowed me to get a good idea of all of the different aspects of running a company from sales to Public relations, growing up and learning amongst the small family that we have built here at Monse has really allowed me to get my hands dirty in all aspects of the brand.
What is the least glamorous part of your job?
Fashion is not as glamorous as people think it is- there are a lot of non-glamorous moments, but I cherish them all there are a lot of parts of my job that most people often don’t take into consideration…
For example, the more technical parts of making a garment include developing what is called a tech pack. A tech pack is like a blueprint that helps the factory know exactly what I want my design to look like. It will include information like the fit of the garment (whether it is oversized or more fitted to the body. We often give exact specs or measurements for every detail of the garment so that there is no room for error) the tech pack will also include information on the fabric, trims, and hardware used and all finishing details such as pocket, zippers, or buttons.
I manage about 14 factories both located in New York as well as overseas and part of my day to day job includes running around frantically between the 14 different factories that we work with checking in and making sure that they have all of the materials that they need and that everything is running smoothly.
Maybe you’ve heard people say that fashion never sleeps. working at a small brand with a startup mentality, this has never been truer. You do not sleep until the job is done and in the midst of a deadline or in preparation for a big fashion show we often go days at a time without sleep!
What is the most glamorous part of your job?
I don’t know if I’d consider it glamorous, but the most fulfilling part of my job is seeing pieces that I’ve worked on (sometimes for up to 6 months for one style) being able to see those designs come to fruition. Often people think that fashion shows are the moment that we all work so hard for. I remember my very first fashion week. It was many months of hard work and stress and many sleepless nights of tailoring, hand beading, and pattern making that lead up to 15 minutes of runway time and then it was over. It was the least rewarding, most stressful day of my life and I went home crying to my dog for hours after that. I realized that this was what I decided that I want to do four times a year for the rest of my life. Later on, I realized that it is not about the runways shows (though those have gotten more rewarding overtime) The more fulfilling moment comes when you see the designs that you’ve worked on for so many months and put every bit of yourself into. seeing those designs hanging in stores (or often sold out!) Or on celebrities, running into people on the street wearing the clothing that I worked so hard on for so many long months is really the most rewarding part of it all.
Is there any moment you look back on that you now consider a key component to your success today?
You learn from all of your mistakes and if you’re smart you grow from them. I am really really grateful for my prof Adrienne Jones who Believed in my creativity and my work ethic and introduced me to Laura Kim who upon seeing my portfolio hired me on the spot to work at her new Brand Monse. Having followed very closely in her footsteps, Laura Kim (also a Pratt alumnus) really became a mentor to me. She taught me so much about the design process and the hard work and dedication that it takes to start a successful brand like Monse.
What advice would you give to anyone just starting their career in fashion?
Trust your instincts and always persist.
The fashion industry is a very difficult industry to be a part of. Everyone has their own agendas and its a much tighter-knit community than everyone realizes. Everyone knows each other and brands change so quickly. It is so important that you keep yourself open to building new relationships and new connections with everyone that you meet. Your team will always change and shift in new directions and it is pertinent that you keep yourself open and malleable to the constantly changing environment.
Hands-on experience is invaluable and it is so important that you get as much as you possibly can. You never know when the small things that you learn will come up again and you might be the only person that knows how to do that particular thing, making your expertise extra valuable!
Something that I am really grateful to have learned while working at Monse is the importance of relatability. Your customer is much more likely to gravitate towards items that feel familiar to them. While many designers are taught to come up with shapes from scratch, Monse has taught me that sometimes starting with a basic item of clothing like a button-down shirt or men’s suit jacket can really help the design process. Whether you’re twisting it, chopping it up, or just referencing the collar shape, keeping the integrity of a classic garment will result in a much more realistic design that feels familiar to your viewer but with a new twist to it.
Check out Brooke and her team’s latest designs on their official site https://monse.com/ !