I have to admit that I mostly created Fossil’s Lucy Dress for myself. It was (and still is) an ideal shape for my body, a great length for my height and it also has my favorite neckline shape. On top of that, the prints that were chosen for this dress in production are some of my favorites from my tenure at the company. A tiny, repeating giraffe print and Fossil’s iconic key print turned out to both be best sellers in Spring 2012. The Lucy Dress is also very near and dear to my heart because the pattern was something I tinkered with until it was my version of perfect. (Nothing in the apparel industry can ever really be perfect. There is always one more detail that you could improve or plenty of customers who will dislike it. So “my version of perfect” is the best any one developer can do!) My very favorite patterns to work on are the ones that have princess seams. So much shaping can be put into a good princess seam, and this Lucy Dress pattern had an ideal placement for exactly that. We worked very hard to get the armhole to sit flat against the fit model’s body, with no gaping at all. Continuous manipulation of the front and back seams extending into the armhole are what allowed us to achieve that goal. I can rarely find a dress or top that hugs the body’s curves in a flattering way and also allows the garment to lay flat around the armhole and waist. I either feel like the garment is too tight in the chest circumference, or too loose and wrinkled around my shoulders. Learning how to fit this piece helped me to realize that anything can be accomplished in this industry. With a little time, persistence and willingness to experiment, fit issues that seemed impossible to fix can be a thing of the past.

I started a daily yoga practice back in 2011 while we were living in the Dallas, Texas area. I was one of the regular attendees of the 6:00am hot yoga crew who were dedicated to making their practice a part of their identity. Yoga helped me immensely during a transitional period in my life, and it became a dream of mine to someday travel overseas to extend my practice globally. In July of 2017, I checked that item off of my bucket list. As one of my first major trips managing a new team at my company, I’d arranged for my two team members and myself to do an extremely ambitious factory tour in Asia. We started in Shanghai, made our way to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and eventually on to Jakarta. Flying home to the States from Indonesia can be a very long trip, so we decided to tag on two extra days on Bali before heading back. The owner of our factory in Jakarta knew Indonesia extremely well, and one of his daughters lived on Bali as a resident. Through their amazing kindness and help, we were arranged to stay at the Desa Seni Village Resort. Sometimes, I think this place might have been a dream. Booked by yoga teachers all over the world as a training facility and daily class oasis, Desa Seni provided the rest, relaxation and rejuvenation I needed after two long weeks working with our factories. Starting with a yoga class every morning, followed by pool time, the BEST fish tacos I’ve ever eaten, fruit smoothies and spa treatments, we all fell in love with this place. I often think about going back to this exact spot to take more time to explore more of Bali and fill my heart with the joy it brought me.

If you’ve been thinking about designing your own apparel line, you’ve probably had your eye on a few brands that will ultimately become your “competition.” You’ve likely been wearing their clothes or admiring them, while also thinking that there’s something missing from the space that you can offer. For example, in the Women’s Running Apparel space alone, you can find full collections by big and small companies all over the world. You could target large companies like Athleta, lululemon, Brooks, Title Nine, Adidas and Nike. Or you could focus on smaller companies like Oiselle, Ciele, Tracksmith and Janji. In almost every category of apparel, there are many different brands to research and review. Understanding your niche among the other companies in your same space will help you with five major points: Market Gaps, Company Values, Target Customer, Branding and Pricing. We’ll go into more detail about each of these below. Market Gaps Is there an under-served consumer that could benefit from a different or unique product that you can offer? What products do you wish you could purchase, but can’t seem to find from any other brand? Define and list out what could set you apart from all the other companies in your market. Company Values Some brands put all of their focus on sustainability in materials and manufacturing. Others insist that performance is the most important feature of their apparel. What are your most important desires for your apparel line? How do you want to compare to the other companies in your space? Do you want to emulate some of their values, or do you want to be completely different? Target Customer How old is your target customer? A 20-year-old consumer purchases apparel differently than a 50-year-old consumer. Who do you primarily want to serve with your product? What size range are you going to offer in your apparel line? There is a huge need for more inclusive sizing in the apparel industry. Are you going to adopt that perspective, or keep your size range narrow to start out? Branding Are there key aspects to each of the brands in your space that you should consider adopting? Is there a consistent “look,” color scheme or naming method that can help you to define your own brand’s details? What kind of packaging do other companies use in this space that you can adopt, change or improve upon? Pricing What is the range of prices in which your competitors offer their products? If you’re planning to sell a $50.00 Tech Tee in your line, will you be over or under priced compared to other brands’ Tech Tees? Do you need to adjust your budget and line plan to accommodate more competitive pricing? Once you have a clear picture of the other brands in your space and how you can differentiate yourself, you can start to see how your apparel line will come to life. Knowing your “why” and “how” can provide so much confidence and motivation to keep moving forward with your idea. I recommend from here that you figure out if you can purchase some of your favorite garments you found during your research. Wear them, test them out and figure out how they’re great and how they can be improved. This will give you numerous ideas for your line, and will catapult you into the design phase.

Before your team starts designing for a new set of product proposals, they should be aware of various costing requirements for each garment. I have used a few basic ratios to come up with target costs in my career, and I always work backwards. Start out with the retail price you plan to use for selling your garment to customers. You’ve done your Competitor Research already, so you should know at what price range other brands are selling similar pieces. From there, you can start to decide if your brand’s garment should be priced the same, higher or lower. For example, we’ll go back to our tech tee examples. If a brand you admire is selling their tech tee for $50, but you know that you want to use the latest technology in fabrics, trims and finishings, then you might decide to sell yours for $65. On the other hand, if your tech tee is going to be mostly the same as theirs, you might want to also consider selling for $50. Once you know your ideal selling price, you’re going to divide that number by 5. This is going to give you the Target Free-on-Board (FOB) cost. FOB costs are one of the more typical costing structures you’ll experience, working with a factory. It means that they are responsible to get your products made, packaged and trucked to the nearest shipping port (or airport). Once the boxed product makes it that far, then you are responsible for it. Your Target FOB is the cost you want your design team to consider when making the garment. In the example of our tech tee at $50, we want our Target FOB to be $10 for the entire shirt. That means that all fabric, trims, packaging, labor fees to sew the garment and the factory’s profit all need to fit into that $10 figure. Finally, you’ll also want to give your materials team (sometimes this is also your design team!) a Target fabric cost. For this, I like to simply divide my target FOB by 3. A third of the total garment cost should be coming from fabric. You’ll need to calculate your garment’s average fabric yield to come up with a price per yard though. If your tech tee average yield is one yard, that’s easy. Your fabric should be $3.33 per yard or less. If your tech tee average yield is 1.2 yards though, you should be looking for a fabric that’s closer to $2.78 per yard or less. This will give you a rough but solid starting point for design, fabric sourcing and trim sourcing steps. Determining your target costs up front will help you to better plan your business revenue, selling strategy and growth plan from year to year. Without understanding your monetary goals, it will be very easy to veer off track of your plan and spend too much money on the production of your garments. Knowing your numbers early on in the process will help you manage and maintain them more steadily throughout production.

I am one of those travelers who believes that everything I need can and should fit into my carry-on bags. Avoiding the lines to check a larger bag and then also avoiding the baggage carousels upon arrival at my destination always feels worth it. Understandably, this isn’t always feasible. But I’ve done a pretty good job throughout my career and personal adventures to accomplish this goal whenever I can. Here are my tips and tricks to fitting an entire vacation’s worth of items in your carry-on bag: Choose your bags wisely: Each passenger on the airplane is allowed a carry-on bag and a personal item. Maximizing the use of both bags is essential to eliminating the need for a checked bag. For my carry-on suitcase, I travel with a hard case roller bag, similar to this one from Samsonite . For my personal item, I always choose a backpack with ample storage space, including a specific and separate compartment for my laptop. There are so many options out there, so I recommend finding one that feels good on your body when you’re carrying it, one that has a back strap that can attach to your roller bag’s handle and one that holds all your essentials. Plan to wear your bulkiest clothes on the plane: Wear your big walking or hiking shoes on the plane. Don’t try to fit them into your carry-on. Wearing your coat, jacket or sweater on the plane will also save a ton of room in your luggage. Plus, it’ll keep you warm and cozy during the flight, which can often be chilly. Scrap the liquids: Pulling out your laptop, tablet and phone while taking off your shoes, sweater and getting everything up on the security area conveyor belt is annoying enough without also having to find all of your toiletries to add to the mix. I prefer to no longer travel with liquids, as this also tends to be the number one reason I’m flagged and pulled aside for further “assistance.” Forgetting that my toothpaste is in a different section than my shampoo and having that raise a red flag on my bag’s x-ray view is just ridiculous to me. Another reason I like to skip bringing my own toiletries is that most hotels you plan to visit are going to supply you with soap and shampoo in your bathroom. I understand you might like your own brand of personal care products, but I don’t feel it’s worth the hassle anymore. Not for one or two weeks. Maybe you’re not staying in a hotel though! If you’re adventure traveling, camping or staying at hostels, with friends or renting an apartment, you might not have those available amenities. If you don’t like to use hotel options for your personal care or you don’t have them available to you, then consider bringing non-liquid toiletries like these: Solid Shampoo and Conditioner Solid Body Wash Bars Facial Cleansing Cloths Antibacterial Wipes Toothpaste Tablets Mouthwash Tablets Solid Perfume or Cologne Sticks Solid Sunscreen Solid Deodorant Non-Liquid Bug Repellent The exception to the rule here is contact solution. My husband wears contacts and I have yet to find a suitable solution for this necessary toiletry when we travel together. In this case we either: Pack a travel-sized Contact Solution in our clear plastic bag for security checking, OR Purchase Contact Solution when we arrive at our destination If you know of any liquid-free contact solution options, please let me know! Pack your personal item first: My laptop goes into its own, separate pocket in my backpack. Ideally, when going through security at the airport, pulling my laptop out of my bag is quick and easy. If you pack too many other items in with your laptop, you might end up like I did once where all of my papers and notebooks ended up on the floor of the security area because my laptop edge caught on another item and pulled everything out. In another compartment, use the pockets and separators to pack all of the items you’re going to want to use on the plane: headphones, travel pillow, eye mask, antibacterial wipes, book, magazine, tablet, phone charger, snacks and wallet. Make sure this section of your bag is easy to reach during the flight or is easy to unpack into your seat’s pocket before you take off. In a small pocket, pack your Passport (if you need it), itinerary, any other important documents you need, along with your phone. Make these all accessible with a single open and grab for checking into your flight, getting onto the plane and for getting through customs. If you are concerned about these important items being in a pocket that someone could easily get into without you knowing, these items also usually fit perfectly into a coat, jacket or sweater pocket so you can keep them on your body. From here, I like to pack as many of my other items as I can into my backpack. One or two changes of clothes, including underwear, socks and a pair of sandals or the smallest pair of shoes I plan to bring. I always bring a black ink pen, a sharpie marker and a pencil. Small first aid kit, including headache medicine, sleeping aids, indigestion medicine and a few bandaids. If you require regular vitamins or prescriptions, be sure to put them in this small kit as well. Keep going until you feel that the backpack is full, but not too heavy to carry or too large to fit under the seat in front of you on the plane or in the overhead compartment. Leave the side pockets open for a water bottle. I always bring my own water bottle, as most airports now have filtered water fountains. It’s so much more sustainable than buying endless amounts of disposable water bottles. Now pack your remaining items in your carry-on sized roller bag: My first trick here is to roll all of my clothes. Tightly. I feel like this is an old wives’ tale that I picked up somewhere, but it works for me! Make sure your clothes are laying as flat as possible, and try not to create creases or wrinkles as you’re rolling. This can be a tedious process, but is worth it. If you’re traveling with just a carry-on and a personal item, you’re also going to have to be thoughtful about how much you want to bring in the way of clothes. My general rules are: One shirt and one pair of underwear (please) for each day abroad. 10 of each item for a 10 day trip. If you’re planning on doing a lot of walking or hiking, I suggest packing one pair of socks for each day abroad as well. This may not apply if you’re going on a beach vacation (barefoot in the sand!) or if you’re not going to wear out a pair of socks every day. One pair of pants for every two days abroad. So if I’m going for a 10-day trip, I pack 5 pairs of pants. This may seem excessive to some people, but you never know how hot and sweaty your destination spots are going to be. Sweaty pants can dry and be reused once, several days later. More than that, and I find that pants tend to stretch out and be uncomfortable to wear for a third day. One pair of casual flat shoes or sandals (this went into my backpack though), one pair of heels or dress shoes for nice evenings out and possibly one more pair of dressy flats should get you through every possible situation. (Remember, you’re already wearing your bulky walking shoes on the plane). Choose shoes that will match and go with all of your clothes, so that you don’t have to pack multiples of these! Stuff your shoes with socks and underwear. This utilizes all of that space that your shoes are going to take up in the bag, which you’re going to want! Charging cables and international adaptors now get stuffed into remaining open areas. You’ll need them once you land, but not on the airplane. Last but not least, don’t forget your toothbrush, a small makeup case (if you wear makeup), your hairbrush, glasses case and any jewelry you choose to bring. I’ve made my way through 10-15 day trips through Italy for work and for personal vacation with just these two pieces of luggage several times before. It is absolutely doable if you’re smart about how much you’re packing. Be discerning and picky about the outfits you think you’ll need. Plan out your itinerary ahead of time if you need to, so that you know what kinds of events, meals or activities you’ll be doing. That can really help you to hone in on the exact wardrobe requirements, so you can eliminate the rest. Happy packing and traveling! See you out there.

In September of 2017, my husband and I took our first trip to Rome. It had been a lifelong dream of mine to visit this city, and although I’d been to Italy a few times for work, I was never far enough South to hit this amazing city on my itinerary. I’ll admit that we debated quite a bit between Paris or Rome for our first big trip together to Europe, but I’m so glad that we chose Rome! Throughout the city, we found the locals to be friendly and easy-going. We did not run into a single situation where our English was not accepted and returned with a smile. The sites throughout the city are as massive and impressive as we hoped they would be, not a single one turning out to disappoint. We stayed at the Boutique Hotel Campo De’ Fiori, and it was the perfect spot for us. Steps away from the daily outdoor farmer’s market, bustling with tourists, vendors and shoppers, we had chosen an idyllic location. The concierge at the hotel was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and he kept trying to teach us more and more Italian whenever we came through the lobby. He sent coffee or drinks up to the rooftop terrace for us whenever we wanted, and was genuinely enthusiastic about showing us which restaurants, shops and tourist spots to visit. From our hotel doorstep, we were able to walk to all of our chosen destinations, and only had to hail a taxi on the morning we were heading to the train station with our bags. Whenever we head back to Rome next, we will be staying there again. Our itinerary started with a long flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, where we had a short layover before hopping on our flight to Rome. Landing at 11am local time, I’d arranged for a car to pick us up. Standing there with our name on a placard as we exited the terminal, our driver helped us with our bags and drove us into the city. As our heads bobbed in the back seat and the cobblestones rattled around below us, we tried to battle our jet lag while he pointed out all of the amazing landmarks we were passing. It was as if we’d booked ourselves an immediate tour guide! He was wonderful and extremely friendly. I always recommend booking a car for your arrival transportation. Hailing a taxi, uber or figuring out the local transportation when you’re tired from the flight can be frustrating and intimidating. After we pulled up to the Hotel and checked in, we immediately took a nap in our room. We spent the rest of the afternoon on a short walk, visiting the closest churches, museums, statues and monuments. We stopped on our way back to the hotel for an early dinner, where I ordered my first Roman Pasta Carbonara. I literally cried in my bowl of pasta, it was so good. I kid you not! (Ok, I was maybe a little tired still, but I’m serious about this food being so amazing it made me emotional). To this day, I am determined to make a carbonara even close to that dish, but I’m still not quite there. On Sunday, we ventured to the Colosseum and then made our way back toward the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It’s amazing how easy it is to walk throughout Rome. We originally looked at the maps and worried that we would be trying to do too much in a single day. But instead, it felt like we saw a new feature of the city every time we turned a corner. Our Vatican City tour on Monday was honestly too stressful. I’d pre-booked tickets (which was definitely the right move to avoid the ridiculous lines!), but it meant that we had to arrive at a specific time. The walk took us a bit longer than we’d expected, so we ended up feeling rushed. On top of that, we didn’t realize that there is nowhere to eat inside Vatican City! So an all-day tour is not really feasible. After our guided tour of the museum, a visit to the Sistine Chapel and then St. Peter’s Basilica, we were famished. We wanted to climb the stairs to the top of the church, but had to cut our time short so we could go find something to eat. Since our tickets would become invalid once we left the grounds, we ended up just walking the city for the rest of the day. If I were to go back to Vatican City, I would probably tour the museum on my own and make more time to visit the church. I would also remember to bring my Grandfather's rosary with me, so that I could get it blessed. (Boneheaded move on my part, forgetting to bring that on this trip). The only other major task on our list in Rome was to do some designer shopping. (Never designer BUYING, mind you, just shopping and browsing). So we made our way toward the Spanish Steps and some of the high-end shops nearby. Someday, I’ll be able to walk into Chanel and purchase something substantial. #lifegoals On Monday morning, we asked our amazing concierge to help us with transportation to the train station so we could head toward Naples and eventually on to Capri. Shouting “Arrivederci!” to each other as we packed into the cab, we wished we were spending another day or two in the city. I honestly did not get enough of Rome, and look forward to the day we decide to head back.

The women’s Trench Coat that I helped to create for Abercrombie & Fitch in 2009 was my first introduction to creative pattern engineering. In school and through traditional pattern making, we were taught that sleeve cap shapes are only balanced when the ratio of the sleeve cap to the bicep is maintained during manipulation of the pattern. In easier terms, this means that the bicep circumference needs to get smaller if you increase your sleeve cap height or larger if you decrease your sleeve cap height. Here is a diagram of this principle, as drawn in my favorite pattern making textbook: Injoo Kim and Mykyung Uh’s Apparel Making in Fashion Design. For this Trench Coat pattern, we were challenged to break these rules. At the time, the company’s fit guidelines were to make each garment fit the model as tightly as possible. If she could raise her arms just enough to drive a car or hold a martini at a party, then the fit could be approved. (Not joking). Each Outerwear fitting we held was pushing this procedure to the limit. Over time, we were able to achieve this objective on faux fur lined parkas, puffy down-filled coats and work blazers. But it all started with this Trench Coat for me. We first manipulated the traditional ratios of across front to back, pulling the chest panels as tight and flat as possible, while extending the back shoulders to allow for some allowance of movement. We ordered new armhole curves to create deeper cut-outs, and these are now the only curves I’ll use to work on armholes. From there, because we wanted to keep the front as flat, tight and wrinkle-free as possible, we started shaving off the front sleeve cap curve from the pattern. We also decreased the sleeve cap height to pull the sleeve and armhole circumference up into the model’s armpit as close as we could without making her feel uncomfortable. The real magic started to happen though when we moved all of our fullness to the back sleeve cap curve. We had this amazingly fitted jacket with bicep, chest and shoulder areas painted onto the model’s body. She felt like she was in a straight jacket until we gave that back sleeve cap curve some extra width. All of a sudden, not only could she raise her arms enough to hold the bottom of her car’s steering wheel, but she could actually raise her arms above her head! As a big breakthrough for our small team, we took these pattern manipulations and worked them into all of our outerwear patterns from then on. If we had stuck to the traditional pattern making methods, her bicep circumference would have been huge, and we would not have been successful. These armhole, sleeve cap and general fitting techniques have been brought to all of my other roles throughout my career. I learned that manipulating garments, fabrics and pattern shapes can create any kind of garment you want. You just need to have the patience to experiment with prototypes and a pattern maker that’s open to breaking the traditional rules. Understanding that “outside the box” pattern revisions can make anything possible in apparel manufacturing has helped me to achieve some very unique and highly acclaimed garments at different companies. But this Trench Coat will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my very first one.

If you are a member of an apparel team or company, you may not be doing all of the design work on your own. Most apparel companies will separate out the responsibilities for a design team and a development team. Bigger companies will even have materials and trim management teams, production management teams, color trend teams and product line management (or merchandising) teams, too. In these scenarios, each person is dedicated to a specific portion of the apparel manufacturing process, unlike smaller startup companies who are learning how to take on those same roles among much fewer people. Within mid-sized and larger companies, a key document that is created at the design stage is called the Design Brief. This document is typically the responsibility of the Product Line Manager for the category. It is within their job scope to research competitors, price points and features that they feel are important for the product. The Design Brief then helps them to communicate those details to the rest of the teams around them. Here are the top 5 items that every Design Brief should include: Target Consumer Giving the designers an idea of who will be purchasing and wearing the garment will help them to visualize its potential. By defining your customer, this should indicate trends that the designers can use in their creative process, so that the end user finds it to be relevant within the product’s eventual selling season. Target Product Cost A talented and knowledgeable designer will know how to work backwards from a target cost to create their vision for the product. Using trims, sewing features and construction techniques that are less expensive at the factory level can help to keep costs low. On the other hand, a Product Line Manager may want the garment to be top of the line on latest sewing techniques, high-end trims and fabrics. They will be able to relay this to the team through this portion of the brief. Target Fabric Cost Once a product cost is determined, a target fabric cost can be estimated for the product. A general ratio I use is: Total garment cost at the factory divided by three will equal the target total fabric cost of your garment. From here, the Product Line Manager should work with a Pattern Engineer or Technical Designer to estimate the garment’s fabric yield. That will give the team a good idea of what their fabric’s price per yard should be. Key Details or Features Does the garment need to include a zippered pocket that will fit the latest smartphone with ease? Or maybe the center front zipper needs to have a guard at the top to protect the wearer’s neck from touching the zipper during use. Any features and construction details that the Product Line Manager requires to be on the garment like this need to be included in the Brief. Designers can then make sure to include these must-have features in their initial designs. Intention for Fit The Product Line Manager (PLM) should indicate whether they want the garment to fit similarly to another product within the Design Brief. This can be done one of three ways: 1) They can refer to a previous product in the company’s garment line for the designers and developers to start from. This is one of the most common ways that fit is started at larger companies. 2) The PLM can purchase a competitor sample that they like for fit. If they don’t believe the current apparel line at the company has something that can work for this new product, then finding a similar piece out in the market that has a comfortable fit on the body can be the next best place to start. 3) They can refer to a “block” pattern that the company has set in place for initial garment creation. This method can work well for companies that have massive teams managing patterns and fittings, but a block pattern system is often scrapped by smaller or mid-sized companies quickly, as they evolve much too quickly to truly serve their purpose long-term. (More to come on block pattern systems in the coming months - we’ll get into this more!) While there are many other factors that can go into a Design Brief, these are the most essential details to include for companies of every size. Some designers want to see more information on a design brief. If they’re versed in these areas, they want to see projected sales volumes, previous revenue of like-styles or planned marketing assets. Other designers can become distracted by too much information and would prefer to just know the basics so that they can put more of their own perspective into the design. Knowing the level and preferences of your design team is also important to creating your Design Brief. If you understand what information they do and do not want to have at this stage, you’ll be a great partner to this key team and help to grow that relationship as you work through the design phases.

One of my favorite cities in the world is Hong Kong. I’ve traveled through this global hub many times throughout my career, and have come to think of it as one of my “home bases.” I’ve stayed in several different hotels around the city, but my very favorite is The Prince Hotel by Marco Polo Hotels. It’s easy to walk there from the China Ferry Terminal and their rooms are comfortable and inviting. They always have an cheeseburger waiting for me after multiple weeks of being away from home, along with a nice cold beer. Best of all, from their location, it’s easy to walk throughout the city and explore anything you could ever wish to do. From gardens to high end shopping and some of the best restaurants in the world, Hong Kong is a diverse and amazing city to visit. Some of my favorite spots in Hong Kong, in no particular order:   Kowloon Park Chinese Gardens As soon as you enter the gardens, you immediately feel like you’re in a different place. The surrounding city sounds and concrete greys are replaced with bird calls and lush greenery all around you. Their aviary is spectacular to visit and they often have amazing sculptures and art throughout the area. Lane Crawford Department Store There is something about this beautifully merchandised department store that draws me inside every single time I pass it. From designer shoes to clothes and home furnishings, it seems to hold all of your high end shopping needs in a single location. While I am often too intimidated to walk into designer stores with security guards all over the place and lines around the block, Lane Crawford always makes me feel comfortable and welcomed. I’ve spent more time and a bit more money there than I’d like to admit. It is also spectacular at Christmas, with its elaborate decorations.   Harbour City Shopping Mall For a different kind of shopping, the Harbour City Shopping Mall has some of the most eclectic stores throughout its vast corridors. Where else would you find a travel bag that has bunny and elephant shaped cupcakes on it? My favorite purchase here was a small zippered pouch keychain that holds my work flash drives. The front has a drawing of a cat dressed as a banana on it. Amazing. Temple Street Market If you’re looking to search the jade market for a good luck charm or for small souvenirs for your friends and family, head to the Temple Street Market for thousands of choices. If you’re up for it, this is where you can practice your negotiation skills and barter a bit with the local merchants. Make sure you remain respectful and fair if you choose to do this though, as bartering too much for a good luck charm may remove all of its power.   Urban Coffee Roasters This place is hard to find every time I go to Hong Kong, but it’s worth the search. The location on Bristol Avenue is very unassuming, and I walk past it once or twice every time I head their way. Their eggs benedict dishes are something I refuse to miss whenever I visit the city, and their coffee is outstanding. Breakfast or lunch at this location is highly recommended.   The InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong Hotel I’ve never stayed at this InterCon Hotel in Hong Kong, but this is a spot I’ve frequented with coworkers for pre-dinner drinks many times. Their bar serves some of the best drinks in the city (that I’ve experienced at least!) and we’ve celebrated many successful work trips with a clinking of glasses in this location. Beautiful views from the high rise windows at night make it a must see spot. The Symphony of Lights Every night at 8:00pm, the city of Hong Kong turns on all of its lights and a spectacular show begins. From either side of the harbor, you can watch the skyscrapers project color throughout the dark sky as if they were at a dance party. Something not to be missed if you’ve never been to the city before.   The Big Buddha Last but not least, my most favorite experience I’ve ever had in Hong Kong was when we visited the Big Buddha statue. Made entirely out of bronze, the enormous statue weighs 250 tons and sits 112 feet tall (while he’s sitting down!) A small museum is there to explore, and the journey to the location alone is an adventure to treasure forever. Photos don’t do it justice, so I highly recommend a visit to this spot in person to really feel its enormity. Every single step is worth the climb!! There are 268 of them.

I first learned to sew when I was seven years old. My mom took us to the art store, where my little sister and I picked out these Precious Moments pillows to make at home. The idea was simple, and it would be a new craft to learn (which I of course loved!) After showing us how to thread the sewing machine, my mom helped us to follow the tracing line to stitch together the outlines of the pillows, leaving a small opening at the feet. Then, we stuffed the pillows with the filling and closed them up by hand. I didn’t know it then, but this would be my first try at something I was going to absolutely love for the rest of my life. Years passed, and my mom continued to teach my sister and me how to do all different types of sewing projects. By the time I reached high school, I had taken over our dining room, setting it up as my pattern and fabric cutting space. I had our sewing machine permanently installed at the head of the table and I started sewing some of my own clothes. One of the days that I was pinning a skirt together, sitting on the floor of that dining room, my mom came in to chat with me about college applications. Since almost my entire family is somehow associated with the medical field, I had been researching ways to join them in my own way. I wanted to be an Art and Music Therapist at the time, and we talked a lot about whether or not that path was right for me. It was no surprise that on one of these occasions we finally just looked at each other, surrounded by fabrics, pins, zippers and threads and wondered why I wasn’t considering Fashion Design school. And then it clicked! From that day, I never looked back. At the school of DAAP, your first year is entirely focused on design theory. We learned about the science of drawing, painting, color theory, digital design, 3D rendering and so much more. It wasn’t until our second year of college that we broke out into our specific disciplines. As sophomores, many of my classmates were learning how to sew for the first time. It gave me a bit of an advantage, as I took my time in those classes to really refine my skills. For example, while others were learning how to sew zippers for the first time, I was figuring out how to sew in a perfect zipper. Admittedly, this isn’t something that gave me much of an advantage at the time. Our garments were judged by our design and the execution against an original idea, so the sewing quality mattered less. But these skills have served me extremely well throughout my career. In that sophomore year, some of my favorite projects were simple garments that taught me something I hadn’t known before. Gathering and pleating, hidden front plackets, welt pockets, covered buttons and topstitching are just a few of the skills I mastered. It’s so fun to look back on them today. It honestly makes me want to go sew something right now!

When I arrived at Specialized in 2016, it was a huge priority to improve the fit of their cycling apparel line. At the time, being hired as their Technical Design Manager, that meant diving into fittings as quickly as possible, making pattern adjustments with a brand new digital system, and challenging the status quo of their line. They had been relying on the same fit blocks for three years, and while they served the team well at first launch, they quickly became outdated as the cycling industry trends evolved. At this point in time, their jerseys in particular felt oversized and slouchy, and since my previous experience at Pearl Izumi had me focusing on men’s cycling tops, this was a perfect first project for me to tackle. Quickly, I moved out of the Technical Design Manager role and was promoted to be the team’s Development Manager. This allowed me to hire two more experts in the area of cycling jersey fit, and we were off to the races to make the best jerseys in the industry. Our pièce de résistance of the line was the SL Race Jersey, which was born out of the extremely fast S-Works Evade Skin Suit that the company launched in 2015. We started with the top portion of that pattern and re-worked it to become our new jersey. This was no easy task. The fabrics in the Skin Suit were quite different from the fabrics we wanted to use for the SL Race line. We went through countless fittings to make the new garments fit and feel the way we wanted while the rider was on their bike. We purposely worked with the sleeve and shoulder areas to pull the rider’s arms forward into the optimal racing position. Our Product Manager also wanted this jersey to feel painted onto the body. It was to be marketed to the traditional “roadie” and racing cyclist, which meant that it had to be not just form fit to the body, but compressive. It was intended to be something that the riders in the pro peloton would wear at the Tour de France, so we made it extremely tight. The garment came out perfectly, according to its brief: compressive all around with a longer sleeve length that articulated the rider’s body for them. The problem was that we didn’t do a great job of marketing it that way. So the jersey started to receive some really poor reviews. People were buying it to be their “every day” jersey, and we started to experience a great deal of returns. Notes over and over again told us that the jersey was vastly undersized or was too “Italian” of a fit. The Specialized SL Race Jersey project is one of the most contradictory projects in my portfolio. The team that I worked with to achieve the fit on this jersey was outstanding, and we delivered exactly what we hoped to create with this piece. It is one of the garments I am genuinely most proud of from my entire career. But at the same time, I learned an enormous amount about the power of marketing throughout this project. Without the right message and information about the garment getting to the consumer, its impeccable fit and construction were lost. It became one of our worst sellers in the line, and to this day I continue to receive complaints about it from friends or family who try it out. The part that always makes me smile though is their reaction once I explain its purpose. I tell them why it should never fit you while you’re standing up straight and how to use the locking zipper head to keep it from pulling open while you’re off the bike. Once they try it and wear it like it’s meant to be worn, it all of a sudden becomes their favorite racing piece in their closet.

Not a ton new to report this week, although I'm excited that items are finally starting to arrive at my house for my designing phase! I received fabric swatches from Italy this week, and have started to order some "inspiration" samples for fit and fabric comparison. I have several key garments in my mind that I feel are really close to where I want to start for functionality. They were easy to pick out, as they're the same garments that I always wear when I fly anywhere around the world! While I wait for them to arrive, I'll be organizing my fabric options and evaluating their prices. I also need to follow up on a few straggling options that I'd love to review along-side the ones I've already received. Little by little, this is going to come together... Before you know it, we'll be wear testing and ready for production!