How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

Argaman&Defiance creates everything from apparel to bedding to bridal by hand in their studio located in St. Charles, MO. They use a variety of surface designed techniques such as fabric dyeing, print making, and fabric painting to create the Argaman&Defiance collection. Lydia Crespo attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) graduating in 2010. She received the James Nelso...

Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. With twenty years in the fashion industry, Nasheli’s design experience includes working as technical designer, draper, tailor and seamstress in couture sewing techniques for designers based in New York, Dominican Republic, Italy and Puerto Rico. She currently performs as Chair and Associate Professor in the Fashion Design Department at Moore College of Art & Design...

Emily challenges traditional fashion culture and encourages women to discover and protect the truest version of themselves… By constructing wardrobes thoughtfully and responsibly over a long period of time By dressing in ways appropriate to their roles to increase productivity By working through image insecurities as a method of facing larger self-esteem issues  Emily creates comfortable, was...

Crystal Cave is a celebrity stylist turned style educator and fashion designer. She is the Founder + Creative Director of Poppy Row, a size-inclusive, eco-conscious clothing line.  Following her employment in branding + marketing, Crystal decided to follow her dream of becoming a celebrity stylist and worked between NY and Los Angeles on the teams behind many major brands including Taylor Swi...

Having lost a family member at a young age to melanoma, Christie is passionate about elevating the importance sun safe practices and annual skin checks. After an extensive career as a marketing executive with national and international brands, she decided to co-create a brand with more direct impact and personal meaning. Ultimately, the Sun50 company goal is to reduce the incidence of skin cancer...

Shanna Britta Mellnick is a small business owner who designs and constructs contemporary women’s wear, specializing in customer-focused fit and style. A graduate of the apparel design programs at both Purdue University and the Fashion Institute of Technology at New York University, Shanna also gained exposure to a variety of designers, working with Michael Faircloth, Versace, and Tommy Hilfiger du...

Mary Ruppert-Stroescu is an Associate Professor in the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a Ph. D. in Human Environmental Sciences and a MS in Textile and Apparel Management. With nearly 10 years of prior experience working in fashion design and manufacturing in Europe and North Africa, Mary links industry practices and standards with academic...

Katrina Bennett is a Fiber Artist, Fashion Designer, and the owner of Katrina Z'Chori - a brand of handmade wearable art. With over 18 combined years of sewing and pattern making experience, Katrina conceptualizes, designs and produces hand knotted and hand-dyed wearables from natural fibers such as cotton and hemp twine, string or rope and cotton and linen textiles. She’s inspired by natural fibe...

Taylor is the co-founder and lead designer at Taylor Tall. For tall women seeking clothing thoughtfully sized to fit them, Taylor Tall is a consciously crafted clothing line that designs and produces timeless basics, customized for a true fit. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she chose such a narrow niche for her target market and why that was initially a scary decision The reason why a niche ta...

Daphne Benzaquen is the creative designer, CEO and founder of daph., a St. Louis-based fashion and lifestyle brand inspired by her Peruvian heritage. She was inspired to start daph. while pursuing her M.B.A. at Washington University’s Olin School of Business. After having trouble finding a backpack that was functional, high quality, and fashionable, she decided to design her own bag, incorporating...

After watching the fashion documentary "The True Cost", Jessica couldn't "un-see" the facts about the impact of the fashion industry on the world. That began her journey to examine her own relationship with fashion and eventually start her brand, Mount Indigo, to spread awareness and advocate for a more sustainable fashion future. Jessica currently splits her time between a corporate job in fashio...

Hello and welcome to the How Fitting podcast. I’m Alison Hoenes. On this podcast, you’ll get to hear from independent fashion designers and entrepreneurs about how they grow their business making clothes that fit their customer and values.  I’ll be your host for this show, but I’m also a freelance patternmaker who helps independent womenswear brands keep control of product development without...