A Day In The Life Of A New York Fashion Designer
It is deadline day at the Rachel Roy office, where all six designers are constructing their very best sketches to present to Rachel Roy. According to Amanda Schiller, this means escaping from her desk where emails and phone calls distract her and relocating in the back corner. There she can get "in-the-zone", while listening to a playlist of some of the hottest R&B artists in the game. Schiller said she ignores the world for at least three hours and begins to transfer the vibrant colors and dimensions of the dresses and blouses in her head to her sketchbook before deadline hits.
Walking into her office at 9:00 a.m., Schiller said she is greeted with a list of missed calls, Post-It notes stuck to her computer screen and emails all screaming "Answer Me". Schiller said her desk is taken over by “organized chaos”. She has piles of magazines waiting to be flipped through, pencils and pens covering every open space on her desk, sketches that need to be filed away and most importantly linesheets, which are lists of styles that are being developed for a specific season. According to Schiller, linesheets are the bible of the fashion world and constantly need to be an arm’s length away.
Every season, Schiller said she is given concepts from her creative director, Heather Harlan. Those concepts come from a wall presentation presented by her creative director. The presentation includes the colors and prints Roy wants included in that season’s line.
Once they are presented to Schiller, she said she goes through a very intense process where she has two to three days to complete her first set of sketches. Throughout this process, she is guided in what to continue working on and what to veto. After the first preview or the first reveal of her ideas to Roy, Schiller said she has another two to three days to improve her sketches then it is all over and they wait until the next project. Although Schiller is given a vision with set colors and patterns, she has no boundaries when it comes to making those designs come to life. “The possibilities are endless, which is why it’s so fun!” Schiller said. However, sometimes that can be tricky.
During Schiller’s internship with Marc Jacobs and Diane Von Fürstenberg, she got a taste of what it takes to get your design on the mannequins in the windows of big stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Schiller works extremely hard at getting her designs approved by Rachel Roy. There have been many nights where Schiller has stayed at the office until 9 or 10 p.m. to make sure she has the best version of whatever she is sketching. If Schiller does not feel confident in what she is sketching she will tell Roy and will usually have until the morning to fix it.
Schiller said not only do you have to design items that you know will go with the concept but, you also have to design items that go with the other designers items as well. Schiller said the sketches from all designers “have to look like a collection together” or it will not be successful.
Schiller said she has just finished the fall 2013 line and will start working on the holiday line in about two-weeks. The last thing Schiller has designed that will be hitting stores in fall 2013, is a chiffon print and stripped dress. She normally has two to three items that appear in magazines such as Teen Vogue, Glamour, Lucky, People and InStyle a month.
Schiller said there is a lot of stress that comes with being a designer. With having approximately a week to make 20 designs, Schiller says you have to be “creative on demand” causing her to work later than most 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. jobs. When Schiller started working at Rachel Roy, she used to put in 12–hour shifts. However, due to the growth in the company, on non-deadline days, she is able to leave work at the earliest 6:00 p.m. and at the latest 9:00 p.m. This leaves her just enough time to relax and enjoy her social life.
Eloise Jacobs, Schillers roommate and a publicist working with lifestyle consumer products, said you can always tell when a deadline is approaching because “Obviously Amanda stays up late and may be slightly more tired than usual, but Amanda is always dedicated and gets the job done, and beautifully may I add.” Jacobs said it is great living with a designer. She said that it is helpful to have someone that is handy and creative around.
Schiller finds inspiration for her designs in fashion and art magazines, vintage samples, street style blogs, people watching in the streets of the Lower East Side, close friends or from designs used in the past that she wants to update. One item that will be coming out in March is a piece Schiller designed after seeing a girl walking on the street wearing a romper with a buckle piece on the back. Schiller went back to the office sketched a jacket out of it and it is now being pieced with a dress.
Schiller loves to pull her color palette from both art and gang graffiti she sees while walking around New York. However, the most inspirational scenes are her dreams. Schiller said there are some nights where she has vivid dreams of sketching a piece and immediately sketches them when she wakes up. She also loves going to her favorite fabric stores, Mood and M&J, to find fabric, buttons, zippers or grosgrain tape that she thinks might look good on an upcoming piece.
Susan Schiller, Amanda’s mother, said that when Amanda Schiller was in high school she would go to local thrift stores and buy different blouses then take the sleeves off and make new sleeves to put back on. According to Susan Schiller, Amanda did a lot of reconstruction with the clothes she had and it paid off. Due to her creativeness, Amanda Schiller was awarded best dressed in her High School.
Amanda Schiller took her first sewing class as a senior in high school and fell in love with it. By the time she got to college, she knew she wanted to major in fashion design at the University of Texas at Austin, the number one fashion school in Texas according to hackcollege.com.
“Amanda wanted to be different than everyone else.” Susan Schiller said. Through that attitude, along with determination, Susan Schiller had no doubt that Amanda was going to be successful in her future career.
Susan Schiller said that Amanda Schiller is very directional and has been since she was born. “She has always strived to be the best in everything.” Susan Schiller said.
To cope with the hustle and bustle of the fashion world, three days out of the week Schiller wakes up early with the choice of running along the East River or a yoga session at her favorite yoga studios, Yoga to the People or Prana Yoga. Getting up is the hardest part for Schiller due to the fact that the morning is not her favorite part of the day. Thankfully she visits her favorite coffee spot, La Colombe, where she can get her black iced coffee to give her a boost during her thirty-minute commute from her East village apartment to Garment District. Not to mention the smile she is greeted with every morning from the good-looking fireman, Doug, from Station 117.
Not only does Schiller design clothes, she also makes her own jewelry. Schiller makes necklaces and earrings using mixed metals, pyrites, stones, crystals and chains. Schiller said she likes to make them for her friends when she has the time. No matter if she is in the office or in her apartment, Schiller is always designing something to benefit her design portfolio.
Due to her hard work, Schiller was presented with a job opportunity that had an extensive application process where she had to design a collection and complete five interviews successfully. Schiller was successful and will move to Ann Taylor Loft on October 29, 2012. Here she will continue to gain skill that will help her make her own line come to life in the future.
- Kieran Overstreet, Fall 2012
Walking into her office at 9:00 a.m., Schiller said she is greeted with a list of missed calls, Post-It notes stuck to her computer screen and emails all screaming "Answer Me". Schiller said her desk is taken over by “organized chaos”. She has piles of magazines waiting to be flipped through, pencils and pens covering every open space on her desk, sketches that need to be filed away and most importantly linesheets, which are lists of styles that are being developed for a specific season. According to Schiller, linesheets are the bible of the fashion world and constantly need to be an arm’s length away.
Every season, Schiller said she is given concepts from her creative director, Heather Harlan. Those concepts come from a wall presentation presented by her creative director. The presentation includes the colors and prints Roy wants included in that season’s line.
Once they are presented to Schiller, she said she goes through a very intense process where she has two to three days to complete her first set of sketches. Throughout this process, she is guided in what to continue working on and what to veto. After the first preview or the first reveal of her ideas to Roy, Schiller said she has another two to three days to improve her sketches then it is all over and they wait until the next project. Although Schiller is given a vision with set colors and patterns, she has no boundaries when it comes to making those designs come to life. “The possibilities are endless, which is why it’s so fun!” Schiller said. However, sometimes that can be tricky.
During Schiller’s internship with Marc Jacobs and Diane Von Fürstenberg, she got a taste of what it takes to get your design on the mannequins in the windows of big stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Schiller works extremely hard at getting her designs approved by Rachel Roy. There have been many nights where Schiller has stayed at the office until 9 or 10 p.m. to make sure she has the best version of whatever she is sketching. If Schiller does not feel confident in what she is sketching she will tell Roy and will usually have until the morning to fix it.
Schiller said not only do you have to design items that you know will go with the concept but, you also have to design items that go with the other designers items as well. Schiller said the sketches from all designers “have to look like a collection together” or it will not be successful.
Schiller said she has just finished the fall 2013 line and will start working on the holiday line in about two-weeks. The last thing Schiller has designed that will be hitting stores in fall 2013, is a chiffon print and stripped dress. She normally has two to three items that appear in magazines such as Teen Vogue, Glamour, Lucky, People and InStyle a month.
Schiller said there is a lot of stress that comes with being a designer. With having approximately a week to make 20 designs, Schiller says you have to be “creative on demand” causing her to work later than most 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. jobs. When Schiller started working at Rachel Roy, she used to put in 12–hour shifts. However, due to the growth in the company, on non-deadline days, she is able to leave work at the earliest 6:00 p.m. and at the latest 9:00 p.m. This leaves her just enough time to relax and enjoy her social life.
Eloise Jacobs, Schillers roommate and a publicist working with lifestyle consumer products, said you can always tell when a deadline is approaching because “Obviously Amanda stays up late and may be slightly more tired than usual, but Amanda is always dedicated and gets the job done, and beautifully may I add.” Jacobs said it is great living with a designer. She said that it is helpful to have someone that is handy and creative around.
Schiller finds inspiration for her designs in fashion and art magazines, vintage samples, street style blogs, people watching in the streets of the Lower East Side, close friends or from designs used in the past that she wants to update. One item that will be coming out in March is a piece Schiller designed after seeing a girl walking on the street wearing a romper with a buckle piece on the back. Schiller went back to the office sketched a jacket out of it and it is now being pieced with a dress.
Schiller loves to pull her color palette from both art and gang graffiti she sees while walking around New York. However, the most inspirational scenes are her dreams. Schiller said there are some nights where she has vivid dreams of sketching a piece and immediately sketches them when she wakes up. She also loves going to her favorite fabric stores, Mood and M&J, to find fabric, buttons, zippers or grosgrain tape that she thinks might look good on an upcoming piece.
Susan Schiller, Amanda’s mother, said that when Amanda Schiller was in high school she would go to local thrift stores and buy different blouses then take the sleeves off and make new sleeves to put back on. According to Susan Schiller, Amanda did a lot of reconstruction with the clothes she had and it paid off. Due to her creativeness, Amanda Schiller was awarded best dressed in her High School.
Amanda Schiller took her first sewing class as a senior in high school and fell in love with it. By the time she got to college, she knew she wanted to major in fashion design at the University of Texas at Austin, the number one fashion school in Texas according to hackcollege.com.
“Amanda wanted to be different than everyone else.” Susan Schiller said. Through that attitude, along with determination, Susan Schiller had no doubt that Amanda was going to be successful in her future career.
Susan Schiller said that Amanda Schiller is very directional and has been since she was born. “She has always strived to be the best in everything.” Susan Schiller said.
To cope with the hustle and bustle of the fashion world, three days out of the week Schiller wakes up early with the choice of running along the East River or a yoga session at her favorite yoga studios, Yoga to the People or Prana Yoga. Getting up is the hardest part for Schiller due to the fact that the morning is not her favorite part of the day. Thankfully she visits her favorite coffee spot, La Colombe, where she can get her black iced coffee to give her a boost during her thirty-minute commute from her East village apartment to Garment District. Not to mention the smile she is greeted with every morning from the good-looking fireman, Doug, from Station 117.
Not only does Schiller design clothes, she also makes her own jewelry. Schiller makes necklaces and earrings using mixed metals, pyrites, stones, crystals and chains. Schiller said she likes to make them for her friends when she has the time. No matter if she is in the office or in her apartment, Schiller is always designing something to benefit her design portfolio.
Due to her hard work, Schiller was presented with a job opportunity that had an extensive application process where she had to design a collection and complete five interviews successfully. Schiller was successful and will move to Ann Taylor Loft on October 29, 2012. Here she will continue to gain skill that will help her make her own line come to life in the future.
- Kieran Overstreet, Fall 2012