UGA’s fashion week continues strong, switching things up Wednesday night by hosting guest speaker, Christy Redd. Redd is a fourth generation creative director, owner/partner of her family’s American Tanning & Leather Company.
Known as America’s oldest and largest exotic leather tannery, Christy’s company specializes in supplying the global luxury market with the very finest alligator and crocodile skins used primarily garments, but also handbags, accessories, and shoes.
Christy firmly believes that although, “fashion’s not always about luxury, but it starts at luxury.”
Having worked with designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Alexander Wang, Donna Karen, and Vera Wang, Christy’s quite experienced with networking with fashion’s crème de la crème and had quite a lot of wisdom to offer to fashion students at UGA when it comes to the industry.
Christy is also an alumna of the University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business, making her an appropriate person to offer advice to the numerous UGA students hoping to follow in her footsteps.
When one collegiette asked what she her secret to networking was, Christy said, “use your southern warmness to your advantage.”
She also touched on the importance of knowledge. Christy suggests that students who plan on working in the fashion field one day should know all about up & coming designers, who celebrities are wearing on red carpets, and utilize resources like Style.com alongside various fashion magazines to stay updated on fashion news and trends .
“It really impresses buyers and designers,” she stressed. Christy also advised that a future fashion industry prospective should commence networking through social media such as LinkedIn.
In response to one question about her five year plan, Christy talked about continuing to grow her company, perhaps partnering with a big named brand, however NOT selling, and expanding products to include specialized luxury goods for men.
Christy claims that her secret to success so far has been getting to know her customers and designer and becoming familiar with their tastes and what works for their brand. She concluded the session reiterating the importance of learning one’s craft and being knowledgeable about the industry, “cause at the end of the day, that’s what lands you the client.”