Name: Ashly Priest
Age: 26
Job Title and Description: Associate Lingerie Designer, Private Label Victoria’s Secret
- The design process from concept to sketching, CAD and review, sampling through execution and revisions, and finally production and completion.
- Working closely with buyer teams in NYC and production teams in China to stay on a timeline for design projects and creative problem solving for either aesthetic or production issues.
- Overseeing and delegating tasks and responsibilities to the design team either with or without Senior Designer and Design Director guidance.
- Presenting new concepts and trends in design, through R&D trips to Europe, local stores, national brands and “on the street” sightings.
- Selection of fabrics, prints, graphics and trims that keep the brand cohesive in appearance and aesthetics.
College/Major: Parsons School of Design; 4-year BFA in Fashion Design
Websites:
www.shesthefirst.org
Twitter Handle: @AListExpert
Her Campus: What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
Ashly Priest: There is such a thing as a typical day, usually starting with checking email first thing in the morning to address any issues coming from the sampling process in China. That would be following-up with China team on outstanding sample issues, reviewing current projects, and starting new ones. There is a weekly deadline for new concepts that include sketching presentation boards for buyer review meetings as well as print development and color selection for that delivery period. Not daily, but on a weekly basis there is a “rush” item that needs to be sketched or sent out for sample request as the fashion world moves so quickly and can change on a daily basis. A typical day would consist of sketching presentation boards, preparing sample requests either in CAD or draping/pinning on the dress form, responding to China team emails, reviewing newly arrived samples and developing concepts for the next project.
HC: What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
AP: Senior Technical Designer for Gelmart Industries, a licensee of Wal-Mart that specialized in foundations bras. My alma mater has an amazing career services department for current and past graduates that really facilitates the job search with either resume help, job postings, and good ol’ fashioned “who you know” connections.
HC: What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
AP: That not everyone gets to design. There are very few positions in the fashion industry where you can put pencil to paper and draw something that will eventually turn into a garment. There are many more steps to it than that and so many more people involved than anyone could imagine. From buyers to directors, production teams with seamstresses, pattern and sample makers, fabric teams, brand consistency oversight, and merchants and technical design, it takes an army to bring a global fashion company into being. I feel very fortunate that my position allows me to actually design and sketch something that I can then go into a store and see on a hanger.
HC: Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
AP: My senior year of high school the director of the art department was Mrs. McComb. Without her guidance, I don’t know if I would be in New York today. She pooled together with the other art teachers to make a list of the top 10 art and design schools in the country to share with the students. On that list was Parsons School of Design, and I had never heard of it before. With her help I devoted my entire senior year to developing my portfolio to get into Parsons. As the result, here I am today.
HC: What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
AP: Be true to yourself. In spite of all the individuality there is in fashion and some of the characters of the fashion world, there is a lot of pressure to fit in, look a certain way and buy certain brands. The one thing that I always say, my own personal mantra, “It’s not where you bought it, it’s how you wear it.”
HC: What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
AP: If you don’t like the people you work with, no matter how great it is, you will hate your job. After college your life can quickly become your work world; you will spend so much more time with your co-workers than your friends, your family, or your spouse. Having a supportive and constructive job environment is so important to your career longevity.
HC: What is the best part of your job?
AP: Walking into a store and seeing something I’ve designed right there on the hanger. It’s almost unreal: I have made this and people like it and they are buying it! It’s an indescribable feeling to see a customer react to my design, love the garment, and purchase it. The minute the novelty of that wears off it’s time for me to switch careers.
HC: What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
AP: Design is not just about creativity, it’s also about dedication to the task and timeliness. A lot of people working in artistic fields are not so adept at time management. We always have very tight deadlines and production schedules, it’s very important that any job applicant is capable of sticking to a strict timeline. Another essential is computer skills. Our world is becoming increasingly digital and technological. Almost all design is done on the computer nowadays; hardly any company sketches concepts by hand any more. Hand sketching is great skill to have and it looks wonderful in a portfolio, but the computer skills with get you the job if you are adept at Adobe software like Photoshop and Illustrator.
HC: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
AP: That the fashion world is not what you see in TV and movies. You cannot go into it thinking, “Oh, I am going to make pretty dresses,” it is nothing like watching Project Runway. There is so much more to it than that! There is a rich history in fashion design, and just like every other work field out there, there are degrees to obtain and things to learn. Just because you can draw or sew, does not mean that you can do both, but it doesn’t mean you can’t learn how. Fashion should be more than just a hobby; it’s a real career.