"The trip to Vietnam when working for the UN made me realize the seriousness of #overproduction​ in the fashion industry, and I want to change that."   

Rifò is a sustainable fashion company in Italy. Starting from crowdfunding, Niccolò founded Rifò after seeing the overproduction of garment factory in Vietnam and deciding to do something different in the world.

Rifò | Circular Fashion (@rifolab) • Instagram photos and videos

For our recent #AUtalk, we have the pleasure to invite Judy to talk about her career journey. Judy owns a BA in fashion design in London College of Fashion (LCF) and a MA in fashion design in Institut Français de la Mode (IFM). Here is a summary of the talk. 

Video recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGRIWoukuE8

[Question 1. What is the differences between big design houses vs small ones]

Small design houses: Learn a lot from small companies and have the chance to experience all fields from pattern to weaving.

Big design houses: More specialized in one sector e.g. 3D

[Question 2. What have you learnt respectively in LCF as a BA and IFM as a MA?]

LCF BA: No boundaries; very creative; teaching you to learn to bring your own identity to your own creatives and present yourself. 

IFM MA: A school that prepares you to be industry-ready. IFM markets themselves as a career-driven school vs design school and teaches you to work in “industry”. E.g. They will have a lot of projects in collaboration with brands. It’s valuable with industry feedback.You can learn how to adapt to the creative universe, know your design and merge in harmony with other brand’s identities. 

[Question 3. What you have learnt in maison margiela?]

Watching the whole team injecting their own creatives and harmonizing into a brand as a team is very helpful.

[Question 4. What do you need to achieve to get into big houses?]

Attend schools: Schools teach you to present yourself. Being in those name brand schools you can meet with like minded creatives to guide you in the direction.

Digital portfolio: There are also chances for you to present your work in a digital portfolio to show yourself.

Internship: The people you meet along your way in internship would be able to network and introduce you to people.

Awards

More questions were answered in the video. Watch the video recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGRIWoukuE8

"Factory mentality is completely different from a brand standpoint. For WEAVISM we wanted to start niche and have a group of people that really like our stuff instead of promoting to everyone."

"It always starts with your friends, your friends of friends, and then strangers."

Open days:

"What's the worst thing that can happen?" When starting Hint Inc., Kara had four kids under the age of six, left her tech executive role with good pay, and entered the beverage industry where she had no experience in at all.   She eventually turned #Hint​ water from a concept in her kitchen to a $150+ million dollar business. Hint is the largest independently-owned non-alcoholic beverage company in the US now and one of the largest beverage suppliers in Silicon Valley for tech companies like #Google​ and #Facebook​.   Goldin has received numerous accolades, including EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Northern California and among  InStyle’s 2019 Badass 50.  Previously, Kara served as  Vice President  of Shopping Partnerships at AOL. Her first book, Undaunted:  Overcoming Doubts and Doubters, was released in October 2020 and is now a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Best Seller.    We are very honored to have the chance to talk to her about her "daunting" journey and how her "undaunted" mindset led her along the way.   

Hi AUMARCHE lovers!   

[AUMARCHE]