Part 2 of my successful friends…
My next fav person to brag about is… Monique Lynch is brilliant, and an inspiration to me. She is a fully trained accountant, and discovered her passion for fashion after working as an accountant for a few years.
Monique has always had a flare, style and what’s up with the play in fashion since I’ve known her for the past few years.
Whenever I want fashion advice, she’s my go to friend for tips and what’s not working.
Check out below is her latest fashion success, being a part of making the winning garment for New Zealand’s Next Top Models, aprox 16.40mins in…
Also I’ve interviewed her on the same questions as Tawa last time. This is one to learn from all you budding fashion admires.
I have had only a limited time of experience with this but from what I experienced it took a lot of work and being organised. Although on the flip side it was really satisfying and to know people love what you make it also really great.
2\) How did you get started?
I really just started, first I just thought about what I could make realistically, then just started making and selling, talking to heaps of people and seeing what opportunities were out there. I started selling at the Auckland city markets which was great to get connections for other market opportunities.
3\) What would you do differently if you could start again?
I am in a way starting again, after selling clothes for a bit, I put in on hold to do other things and also to get more organised, I found that there came to a point where I didn’t have enough stock. The main issue I came up with was having enough stock, then finding someone to make the items for me , then finding the money to fund it all. I suppose it all comes down to the financing. Every day you do learn though about what not to do and which things work the best, its an ongoing learning experience, and I expect that even established designers find this as well. I would probably do a collaboration with others so that there was a share of the work load and more support, as they say two heads are better than one.
4) What do you think of N.Z Fashion Week
I think that fashion week is great in terms of showcasing NZ fashion, however in terms of up and coming designers there is not a lot of coverage, I mean there is some coverage for winners of competitions where the prize is to show at fashion week, but apart from that it has really become for the established designer, which does make sense really, it is expensive to put on a show and to fill orders you get from the coverage.
5\) What do you think of online shopping?
Online shopping is definitely where more people are buying from, I myself have made pretty much all my last shoe and clothes purchases from online. It is definitely important to have an online presence these days as this is where most young people today go to find out information. Having a website or even taking advantage of blogs, facebook etc to get your name out there are all great things to do, once again however all of this takes time and effort so it can be a lot of work.
6\) What advice do you have for up and coming new designers?
Being still an up and coming designer myself, I would encourage people to get out there and give it a go and take the good with the bad, learn from every experience and talk to a lot of people, make contacts. Focus on your target market and what they would want and differentiate yourself from other, offer something new.
Keep an eye out for Monique she is a hot, fresh up and coming designer, that is really getting her name out there… Much Love. x
Congratulations Monique, very exciting!
Xx