II. A NEED TO CREATE

Over the past 25 years since I sold my high fashion design & manufacturing business, I taught occasionally some evening classes in fashion, one called “Fashion As A Business”, & another “Fashion/Pattern Design”, Most students were women in their 30s & 40s, who had gone to work after college in fields such as real estate, computers, administration, education, biology & health – none of which tapped their human ability & NEED TO CREATE. Fashion clothing & crafts offered them this opportunity, not only to create and build something with their hands, but also – they believed – to continue to make a good income. Some were satisfied to keep their fashion creativity as a part-time hobby, while many others dreamed of starting a fashion business.

Unfortunately, most would fail they did not accept the necessity today for developing pattern & production engineering skills, nor for learning business concepts in marketing & production. No fashion school in the country truly teaches these important skills. Many are still coming to see me today, almost demanding that I should find them the pattern & production engineers, & even salespeople to do everything for them, so they can JUST CREATE! There are so very few that have learned these skills in engineering, or that want to sell for any beginners’ fashions. However, a few over the years have been persistent and realized they can learn & CREATE the technical & engineering solutions for their own creative designs. Some of these have become my protégés, and I’m very proud of them.