Things you [maybe] didn't know about me.

My story doesn't read like your traditional fashion story although, there are some similarities. 

We have the classic Hallmark start of the quirky artistic girl who gets accepted to fashion school in the "big city", we had the internships, the teachers that kind of make you want to cry, but that's where the similarities ended. There was no whirlwind romantic affair, now glow up, no fashion closet to steal from (not that anything in there would fit) but I like my story and over my years in the industry, I've learned a lot.

Here are a few things about me, how I started designing, what I do now, and a few tidbits in between. 

1. I knew that fashion was going to be my job from the time I was a child. No joke, I was walking with my mum through Zellers (giving away my age here), and I asked where are the clothes came from. When she responded with, "it's someone's job to make those." 6 years old me was like, "SOLD."
   
   
2. I came from a fine arts background, not a styling/cool girl background. I studied fine art all throughout high school and when entering fashion school I was often told that "your girls are fat" -in reference to my fashion sketching. 
   
   
3. I have been 6ft tall since I was 14-15 which is what got me into physically making clothes although I never felt the urge to make a Tall Girl line. Probably because I was always able to work around my height through wearing menswear and maternity clothes. 
   
   
4. I worked in hospitality for almost 10years throughout university, college, and starting my own brand. I always say that out of everything learning to multitask and handle stress from that environment was the best thing that could have happened. 
   
   
5. I studied Fashion Design at both Pratt Institute and ESMOD Paris and I would never move back to either location permanently. 
   
   
   
   
6. I did my internship(s) in Paris and London. Paris I worked with a Scandinavian Designer who encouraged us to drink wine after work and showed me how to work with leather. In London, I worked with an American eveningwear designer preparing for fashion week and helped on my first ever photo shoot. 
   
   
7. I took a break from fashion right after school when I started working full time in the restaurant industry, which ironically is when I found I really enjoy movement and exercise.
   
   
8. I have made menswear before but it was always hard for me because the men in my life are all athletes as well so it never fit.
   
   
9. I believe in having a plan but taking things day by day because tbh plans never work out anyway. 
   
   
10. The Athlete is my 3rd attempt at business. 
    
    
    

Some other fun facts are that jelly beans are the best candy ever. Don't even try to fight me. I drink coffee as its own food group, and I don't think you can ever doing anything alone. Which is something else I learned in hospitality. Life is a team sport.