FABRIC EXPLOSION...(in a good way)

ok ok ok...I know I seem excited 24-7, but I swear that's not the case...this is GENUINE EXCITEMENT Y'ALL...trust me, most of the time I'm pulling my hair out in distress, but in this instance no hair has been lost...yet...WE GOT OUR FABRICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is most definitely extended Christmas like feeling when we receive fabrics over here, but when it's a custom design that you've slaved over and waited forever for, it's like Christmas on crack or something...hard to describe, but in a good way (and let it be known we are not condoning the use of crack, especially on Christmas, but I digress, WE'RE EXCITED)!!

We had planned on using local printer, Blissett Textiles for our entire order, but she's been having some issues with her machine, and while we'd love to stay local (New Orleans local) we ended up outsourcing to North Carolina, and we couldn't be happier with our Spoonflower creations (and glad to stay domestic)!  While they weren't our first choice, they were AMAZINGLY helpful throughout the entire process, GREAT customer service, and a good fabric selection for such short notice (we were able to remain organic and eco-friendly, which we were very happy about).  Special shout out to Emma over there at Spoonflower, I know I was one annoying customer ;) thanks for putting up with me

We still plan on having some fabrics locally printed, just not all of them, unfortunately we needed to get started ASAP, so we had to do a majority through Spoonflower, but we're still so happy to use Camilla and Blissett Textiles also :)

Loving our new tech!

So I know I've already raved about the Dell Inspiron 23, but it's just making design life SO much easier and so much more FUN...

When dealing with incorporating custom prints into a collection, there's A LOT of unseen work...using Adobe Illustrator is a key tool that has helped us to narrow down print selection and placement for specific pattern pieces.  Once again, I hope I'm not giving too much away with our images below...but we're having a lot of fun with this collection...just hoping we can get it all done in about 3-4 weeks (insert crazy face)...enjoy some preliminary roughs/thoughts below

Truly Domestic...

Admiring our peers...

An Oakland-based label, Voices of Industry, is one of the rare few to use fiber farmed and spun in the US, then handwoven into true cotton shirts

This company puts us to shame, but really there aint no shame in our game...we're doing our best to stay as socially responsible as possible through our production processes, and we're very proud of our efforts!  Anyway, we discovered a great article about, Voices of Industry, by CoolHunting about products "made in the USA," they make a very good point, this disclaimer "can be misleading: Even if the labor is domestic, fabrics might have been dyed, woven or cut in foreign countries and there's also the question of where materials such as threads or zippers are sourced."  97.5% of apparel sold in the United States is made internationally. 

With all of the controversy over international production (especially with the garment factory collapse and wage discrepancies in Asia), we're proud to be producing domestically on the labor side of things.  As well as focusing efforts in socially responsible fabric sourcing (staying organic, vegan leathers and suedes etc) as well as creating custom prints and having those produced domestically as well!
Stay tuned, our new fabrics come in Wednesday and we're STOKED and ready to post!

Voices of Industry designs.

the SACRED collection - Sneak Preview....

We're so excited here at theDesignLab to launch our Prefall 2014 "Sacred" Collection.  We still have A LOT of work to do in order to actually show during New Orleans Fashion Week, BUT, we feel confident we can pull it off (despite a LOT of obstacles that are presenting themselves...but as fellow designer and friend Lisa Iacono recently told me, "that's the story of our lives in this biz!" so I guess I better get used to setbacks, it's not just me!)

Waiting for our fabrics to come back from the printer and we're super excited, so we decided to share a few previews...these aren't to scale, and they're kinda lackluster viewed so small, but we didn't want to give away TOO much, so here goes nothing (or everything)...fingers crossed they come back from the printer and we love them...excited to share and hope you enjoy...going from illustrator on to a body is always a huge guessing game, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.  Anyway, enjoy your sneak peak of a few SACRED prints from our 2014 Prefall Sacred Collection by the Design Lab...

Prepping Marcella

deep thoughts...by Marcella Perino ;)

Piggy-backing off one of my last posts, we're so excited to launch Marcella Perino's first capsule collection under the Design Lab label!  Pictured above is a small glimpse into some runway collection preparation - from sketch, to fabric swatch selection, to print selection, to required yardage, and much more thought and time that goes into runway prep!  Marcella has come such a long way here at the Design Lab...below are some progress pics of her learnings and progress toward her first capsule collection which can be seen during New Orleans Fashion Week in March 2014!

drafting her first trouser pattern!

first attempt at a trouser, not too shabby...this pic is PRE-edits

Torso drafting and sew-up

a Marcella Perino original, from sketch to dress form :)

So Excited, and We Just Can't Hide It...

Ok, I was going to wait until the end of the week to do an official unveiling, but I'm just TOO EXCITED...we are prepping for fashion week, which is our main focus, but we also have a few other things in the works for development/training/future business goals...and we're not gonna try to hide it, they're huge for anyone in or around the fashion industry...

We GLADLY welcome Optitex Software into our hearts, hands, and workplace...if you don't know it, it's one of the leading softwares for pattern-making in apparel design, and we're BLESSED to have it...no more of this archaic paper wasting during the drafting stage!!!  Seriously, the amount of time (and sanity) we are going to save by using this software is indescribable...expect MANY more posts with me shouting my love for this software program from a mountain top.

And what would a new software program be without an amazing device to perform said software upon?!??!  We also welcome the Dell Inspiron 23 into our open arms (picture us running towards eachother, slow-mo, baywatch style...ok maybe not baywatch...)!  I himmed and Hawed for WEEKS trying to decide what unit would best serve the design lab; seriously, I drove my friends, family, and husband INSANE over this purchase (same with the software, over a MONTH of deciding what would best suit our needs, and then price negotiations...)...needless to say, spreadsheets were created, sleep was lost, BUT at the end of the day (or month) we have an amazing set-up, and I feel like I made the most educated decision possible.
We are MOVING ON UP and excited to do so!!!

Oh and one more thing...if you're a granola bar eater, go out and purchase these "Chocolate Almond & Sea Salt" Kashi Bars...they are life-changing...I am aware this is in no way related to this post, but as far as excitement about new things goes, this is high up there on the list...no joke!

Fashion week is rapidly approaching...

Trying to remain calm...but we've got so much going on over here it's hard to keep our heads on straight!  First things first, let's get organized and get some fabrics printed so we can clothe some models...keeping true to our socially responsible roots, all our fabrics are organic and eco-friendly, so we start there; then we make sure they're PFD (prepared for dyeing - which organics and eco-friendly fabrics usually are).
I've been working on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on and off since August/September to create prints for this season - I know that seems like a long time, but there has been a lot of work that has interrupted progress, so it hasn't been as consistent as it should've been, but now we're putting finishing touches on the PDFs so they're ready to go on the fabrics.
In attempts to be as efficient as possible (without higher level software to do the leg work for me...stay tuned cause it won't be that way for long...) I then have to figure out what print goes on which fabric, and exactly how much should be printed of each...spreadsheets help with the organization of this...it can get a bit crazy with 20 looks (over 30 styles to organize fabric, print, and yardage for each)
ANYWAY...I digress, we're getting fabrics printed this week and I'm EXCITED!!!!
Theme of our show and prints to follow soon...stay tuned...

It might look like a mess, but it's MY mess! Got my essentials: swatches, prints, sketches...let's make some magic?

Working Walls

We can't be the only ones working over here...we gotta make our surroundings pick up a little slack ;)
In order to get inspired and not want to kill ourselves in the workplace, we find it useful to make our space visually stimulating and appealing; specifically when we're in development phases for Fashion Week...
We put this wall up while we underwent some other renovations, and then stumbled across this great article on "How Working Walls Unlock Creative Insight" and we figured we had to share.  We love ours and we're even taking tips to improve upon our work area and idea process from the article.
Anyway, check out our renovations below and get inspired!

the Design Lab before...so boring!

progress... 

...et VOILA!

 

 

Now put that wall to work and get sketching!

Fellow Designer, Christian Siriano and his Working Wall

Interior Design Working Wall

Quality of Life

We strive to think about the quality of life of each individual that comes through the Design Lab program.

We stumbled across this great article by Rachel Monroe from Inc. about 4 Ways to Make Your Employees Love Working for You; and in honor of the New Year, we thought it fitting to share some of our goals and motivations here at the Design Lab.

4 Ways to Make Your Employees Love Working for You

1. Think about their Career

The article focuses on retention - which is important here at the Design Lab, but we also strive to focus on job placement outside of the Design Lab as well.  Once the training program is completed, we realize that the Design Lab might not be the perfect fit or industry for the trainee.  We want each trainee to find their dream job, even if it doesn't involve staying on with us.

2. Encourage Learning.

This one is a no-brainer :) we're ALL about learning here!

3. Promote Wellness.

The article talks about a company who gave out Fitbits; we love that idea!  We definitely encourage and promote health and wellness here, and it's a daily discussion amongst all employees.  We talk about and join the same health apps to encourage eachother (ie Loseit and MapMyRun).  We also have long term goals of starting a meal program and partnering with local community gardens to start our own work garden that can provide for employees work and home life.

4. Help them Give Back.

We hope to inspire our employees to give back, especially considering our mission here at the Design Lab, we'd like to think our trainees are like-minded as well.

Recently we volunteered at a local grammar school, St Pius, and we explained how vital math is to apparel design.  We had so much fun, and surprisingly to us, the kids were really intrigued and engaged!

This will definitely be an area that we expand upon at the Design Lab; more community outreach!

Here's to hoping the smiles continue in 2014 :)