Get your floaties on

The painful irony of becoming a sought-after designer/label, is that you don't always make a lot of dough doing it-especially not in the first few years (well-established, century-old fashion houses excluded).  You might successfully achieve elitism, but you're not going to be able to actually make a lot of money if you only sell to the 3% (fictional stat to make point) that can dish out that kind of money and not have it affect their credit score.  So essentially, as a designer, you're literally selling your clothing to people who make more money than even YOU do, and you're often barely making ends meet after all the dust has settled.  Many of these designers have gone on to do "collections for the masses" after the economic crisis illuminated how the cause and effect phenomenon of "keeping up with the Joneses" inevitably hit a wall.  "Recession-chic" became a well-known term and designers like Vera Wang produced collections at a lower price point, which not only helped to stimulate the economy but also, quite likely, kept their businesses afloat as well.  These designers appear to live like they're rolling in the dough, and no doubt some are, but many live for years on a much smaller paycheque than those who are buying their gorgeous clothing.  These collections, usually done as a collaboration with Target, H&M or Zellers, have come full circle and in themselves have become the trendy thing to do even for design houses who don't have any personal need for the financial boost.

Now I enjoy myself some Louboutins and check Style.com every single day, sometimes more.  I am just as in love with the labels as anyone else, and wish that I could be one of the elite who can buy them.  I check ebay for the latest deals on the designers and STILL can't afford them.  The reason why we covet them is because they are so difficult to attain..it's a basic human mentality exhibited from early childhood and this psychological effect of "want/can't have/do it anyway?" continues to plague us well into adulthood.  So, I go to H&M, or Zara or a vintage shop and buy something cute there...and thank goodness for those stores because I have, all things considering, a pretty full wardrobe.  I also know that designers are inarguably artists.  And most artists will tell you that they don't define success by how much money they make (and most don't...until they die).  Many designers are just happy making their clothing and seeing people wear them and love them as much as they do.  Or, with haute couture designers, they don't even care if people wear them, because quite frankly nobody would unless they're Gaga.  So then I need to ask myself, as a designer who hopes to establish herself in some capacity...what is the trade off?  I hope to one day be selling my collections.  I want my friends to wear them and be able to afford to do so.  I also want other people to wear them, others with money to spend..and want to give it to me.  Is that wrong?  Is that against the artist code to wish for monetary success?  There is a certain juggling act that occurs in fashion that must be performed to make it out alive.  As a designer clamboring for exposure and success, you're at once both an artist and a business.  Two worlds must collide.  For that, I'm grateful to have such an amazing business partner, Marie.  She keeps my feet on the ground and the business moving forward despite my creative schizophrenia. 

Maybe one day there will be an Amber Watkins for H&M.  Ah, to dream....

xo Amber