see many aspects of the business. Her job at DVF included a long list of many typical design aspects, but also organizing style books, preparing for runway shows and market research, or as she calls it, shopping! Some design aspects included: inspiration research, sketching, fabric and trim sourcing, and working with patternmakers, cutters and sewers to make samples. “I especially learned to design things that make women look and feel sexy. Women, even strong, powerful women, want to feel beautiful,” Harlan says. She adds that she also learned simplicity in design explaining that a complex design doesn’t necessarily make it a better design. This is something that she took over when she got the job at RRR. Though her role there is rather different from her role at DVF, she had to learn how to work with more inexpensive fabrics that had great value and feel more expensive than they are. Being the Creative Director of RRR was something she really wanted and her job is to set the mood for each season. She also manages 11 people that are the design team. Part of the difficulty though, is that the price point of RRR is much lower than DVF; paying close attention to the cost of each garment was very new to her. Harlan was asked by the parent company of Rachel Roy to interview so in preparation she looked at all of Rachel’s past shows and ended up liking her work a lot. She describes the line as “a mix of sexy and strong, masculine and feminine, interesting designs.” She said she could imagine creating a “little sister line” to what Rachel had already accomplished. Five years later, and that’s what she’s doing. Like to know a day in the life of a creative director? Harlan says that the days vary depending on the design process taking place that day. “A typical day might include a design team meeting to run through our collective to-do lists, a couple hours of fittings, some time spent on…gathering inspiration and materials for the next season, maybe a costing meeting, maybe putting some looks together for a photo shoot,” she explains. Once prototypes came back from development in China, the design team would spend the entire day trying them on the models to fit and rework the product. Once the prototypes are perfect, the team has to photograph clothes for the website and spend the day at the shoot location putting all the looks together. Harlan describes the best part of the job as the many typical days that include shopping. Harlan says there are some advantages of being a fashion designer, such as working with amazing, intelligent, talented, inspiring people and international travel. However, she adds, there are some disadvantages to the career. There can be
really long hours and of course, some of the “really big talents” can be extremely difficult to work with. Does “The Devil Wears Prada” ring a bell? Like mentioned before, Harlan already has many accomplishments including the few times that one of her dresses opened a DVF runway show, starting RRR from scratch and success in selling RRR in the stores. She also says that one of the most satisfying things is that she has an awesome design team, “I have a team that really loves to work for me. I love collaborating and always try to foster a fun, family-like environment.” As for some favorite designers, Harlan loves Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Raf Simons for Dior, Stella McCartney, Isabel Marant, and Phoebe Philo for Celine. She says that she was “quite
“
I love collaborating and always try to foster a fun, family-like environment.
”
ignorant about the design world,” but as she got older and more experienced, she started to pay more attention to designers, in history and today. Harlan wants to continue to watch RRR grow more, but there’s always a possibility of creating her own line. “I’ve also realized that whether it’s for me or for someone else, the design process, the work that I so love, will be the same,” says Harlan. This was one of the most humbling things I’ve read from anyone in the fashion industry. She stresses that it’s not about the name on the line; it’s about doing what you love most. Along with that, her advice includes being patient, willing to work long hours, intern for free and be positive; that goes a long way! FASHION | 11