OFF THE CUFF : A Word to the Wise Entrepreneur: Design Items Based on What <i> You</i> Like
A re you a clotheshorse thinking of tossing aside job security to enter the risky fashion business as a designer? Here’s one entrepreneur who’s made it, but not without a lot of work.
Gianna Majzler, of Gianna Rose in Fountain Valley, designs and manufactures aprons, scarves, smocks, pins and other items to fit her “romantic eclectic” style, which is a blend of Victorian and Americana folksy with Earth-conscious production.
After five years of struggling, she has a few regular employees and more than 2,000 accounts, mostly in the United States and Canada with growing interest in Japan. She also sells to Cheri in Newport Beach and Barbara Cheatly’s in Claremont.
Majzler travels to Europe twice a year to search for new fabrics and fashions ideas.
This is another in a series of first-person columns that allow people connected to the fashion industry to talk about their encounters.
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Having my own company has been hard work for five years. Originally, I started this business because I wanted to be home with my daughter, Alissandra, now 12, and she seems to have spent all her time with me . . . but in my office. It’s always been nonstop work. I’ve asked her whether she wants to take over my business when she gets older, but she says I work too hard. She does, however, want to be a model for my merchandise.
I never think, “What’s the next trend or theme?” When I travel, I go to museums and find myself inspired by Versailles (a palace build for Louis XIV in France). A silk scarf I have with a tableau silk screened on it was one inspiration from that trip. In the flea market in Paris, I pick up fabrics from the Louis XIV era and other periods. I also look to see what students are wearing on the streets in any city I’m in. What they are wearing always seems to end up being the next trend.
I have never designed an item based on consumer interest; rather, I create based on what I am interested in.
If I went by consumer interest, it would make this seem like a job, and it wouldn’t be creative. Fortunately, most of my ideas have come at the beginning of a trend, so consumers respond to them.
For example, gardening items are a big part of my line. I’ve been making a floral smock for the “romantic gardener” for five years now. I say it’s for the romantic gardener because people buy the smock more to wear as a jacket than to weed. A lot of artists and designers like that garment because of its usefulness and the colorful fabric. It’s not just a plain, generic smock.
The apron I have evolved out of the fabrics we designed. I just knew we had to make something out of them. The apron isn’t for just around the kitchen; you can put it over a dress and shirt and wear it out as a jumper. Items should be versatile.
If people are thinking of becoming entrepreneurs in the fashion business, they need to make sure they have enough money. There’s nothing more frustrating than realizing halfway through that you don’t have enough. If you get too many orders, you need enough to buy the raw materials to fulfill them.
I made the mistake of being underfinanced. I started on a shoestring and worked three jobs to start my business.
One by one, I let the other jobs go. I held on to the last one until it was just killing me to work it in addition to my business, but I couldn’t let go of the security.
People told me that I needed more financing when I started out five years ago, and I didn’t listen to them, but if I had, I wouldn’t have my own business now, so I’m glad I didn’t, really.
A person just starting out should also join a networking group that relates to his or her business. I joined Women’s Manufacturing Network, which is mostly Orange County women who meet once a month to share information (P.O. Box 567, Placentia, CA 92670). There is a guest speaker who talks about small manufacturing businesses, such as mine.
It’s important to talk to others, and if you’re working out of your home, it’s really important to get out and meet people.
