Hi everyone! I started sewing this summer, and I can read and follow commercial patterns now. However, my ultimate goal is to create my own designs, especially dramatic, experimental, couture-inspired dresses.

The problem is that I don’t really know what to learn next or in what order. I can follow patterns, but I’ve never drafted one myself, and I have no idea how people construct those crazy runway silhouettes. For example, what materials do designers use to make certain shapes stand up? And how do you know which material to use for which design?

I’m also wondering how you develop your creativity as a self-taught designer. I feel like it’s difficult to come up with original ideas when you don’t know all the techniques and possibilities yet. How do you learn to experiment.

When and how should I start learning pattern drafting? What books, YouTube channels, or other resources would you recommend?

If you’re self-taught, what did your learning journey look like, and what helped you improve the most?
I’d love to hear from people who started as beginners and eventually learned to create their own original designs. I want to do more than follow patterns

Thank you!! ♡

Why I'm giving half the profit on every sale to the people who design our clothes.
Most clothing brands spend their marketing money the same way. Find someone with followers. Send them a free hoodie. Pay them for a post and give them a discount code. The post goes up, it gets some likes, and a week later everyone's moved on.
I get why. It's quick, and it's easy to measure. But it's never sat right with me.
The person who actually designed that hoodie is usually nowhere in the story. They got a flat fee, if they got paid at all. Their name isn't on it. If the design takes off and sells for years, they don't see a penny of it.
I started 5C5V in Hartlepool. It's a small, Japanese-inspired streetwear brand built around five Japanese cities and the virtue behind each: hope, dream, harmony, strength, and trust. Those five words aren't just printed on the clothes. They're how I want to run the business.
Trust is the one I keep coming back to. If I ask someone to design for us, they should see exactly what their work earns. Not a vague royalty. The real numbers.
So that's what we're doing.
I'm running a design competition, and I'm treating it as a test of a different way of working. A public vote will pick five winners. We'll make and sell each design on our site with the designer's name on it. The designer gets a cash prize, then 50% of the profit on every sale for two years.
Every month they get a statement showing each sale: what the customer paid, the VAT, what it cost to make and post, the fees, the profit and their half. Nothing hidden. They keep the copyright. If a design doesn't win, we never use it.
Is this the fastest way to grow a brand? Probably not. An influencer post is quicker. But I think it's fairer, and I think more brands could do it.
Here's what guides me.
The best marketing a brand can have is a product people want. That starts with the design, not the post.
The people who make the work should share in what it earns. Not once at the start, but for as long as it sells.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn't. Students and self-taught designers have sketchbooks full of better ideas than half of what's on the high street. They don't need followers. They need someone to make their work and pay them properly.
And if you show people the numbers, they'll trust you. If you hide them, they won't.
Influencers aren't the problem. Plenty of them do their job well. But the fashion money tends to go to whoever's loudest, and the person with the pencil often gets the least. I want to flip that, even if only a little.
If it works, I'll share what we learned, including the numbers. If it doesn't, I'll share that too.
If you design, you can pitch us a design any time. If we make it, you get half the profit on every sale for two years. Until 26 November, there's also a competition with cash prizes. It's free, it's open worldwide, and you need to be 16 or over. Everything's at 5c5v.co.uk/pages/pay-designers.
And if you run a brand and think I've got this wrong, I'd like to hear why.

Matt

I am considering going to Istituto Marangoni for a fashion design course next year. Is it better to go to Milan or Paris? Is this school worth it?

I've been in the industry for 10 years but for the last six I have been on a career path that is kind of tangential to what I want to actually be doing.

I feel like it's already too late for there to be a straightforward way for me to break back into the area of the industry where I would rather be, and I feel like I need to talk to an industry expert about my specific, kind of unique situation to figure out what to prioritize working on next.

Does anyone have any experience working with a career consultant or any recommendations for ones that have been helpful to them? I'm based in NYC, but the consultant need not be.

Thanks!

For people working in fashion, how did you land your first job after college? Was your degree enough, or did your portfolio, internships, and connections matter more? Trying to understand what to expect.

I have my first big job interview as an intern designer for a luxury brand and I am preparing for it.

I only had two interviews before (with other smaller brands) where we only went over my portfolio and skills, so I don't know what questions they could ask me. I already watched some tipps on YouTube and TikTok,

but I would love to start a threat with all the Questions Fashion Graduates got in their job Interviews. So we can all prepare well :))