Captains of the Fashion Industry Lecture

On Monday, April 27th, I attended the Captains of the Fashion Industry Lecture where we heard from two idols in the fashion industry, Adriano Goldschimed and Jerome Dahan. Adriano Goldschimed is best-known as the CEO of Diesel and AG jeans. Jerome Dahan is best-known for creating Citizens of Humanity and 7 For All Mankind. Each designer began by introducing themselves and giving us a brief background of how they got started. Adriano explained how he learned the most during the first 30 days of working in the fashion industry, in comparison to the estimated 30 years he has been a fashion designer. When he first started, jeans were just blue jeans; they were nothing. He found himself as one of the first designer to try and change the image of jeans. He then gave us an overview of how long he worked with each company and how he went about starting new ones. But what I remember most from Adriano speaking and find to be the most important, were his words of inspiration. He told us to put all your energy and focus into the things you believe in. Presentation is key; even if your not thrilled with how the product came out, make it look like its your best. In order to be successful, you need both strong ideas and a strong business structure. However his biggest advice to any young aspiring fashion designers was to be ready for change. Communication changes over time and you have to be prepared. Because of the new economy, new and young designers have to produce in appropriate ways that relate to that specific period in time. After Adriano was done speaking, Jerome spoke about his history as a fashion designer. His main goal was to find jeans with the perfect fit. Jerome's main advice was to focus on inspiration and evolving. Inspiration is everything in Jerome's eyes. However, we also need to take advantage of every job we have and learn from it. He said, "Fix your weakness rather than repeating your strengths." I really thought about it and that is an excellent way to improve. Overall, I very much enjoyed this lecture. Both Adriano and Jerome offered wonderful advice and it was interesting to hear their stories.