Q&A With Breanne Gatien, Design Assistant @ Gentle Fawn

I had the pleasure of meeting Breanne through my manager at work. He first introduced us when we ran into each other at the beach and I immediately got cool chick vibes from her. The next time Breanne came in to sit at my bar and that's when we got the chance to connect. When she told me she works as a Design Assistant for one of my favourite local labels, Gentle Fawn, I knew right away this was the Universe working its magic... I needed her IG! We need to be friends! This gal is actually the coolest! As someone segueing out of school and hoping to get my foot in the door of Vancouver's teeny-tiny fashion industry, Breanne was the perfect person to talk to as someone who, like myself, didn't take the most conventional path into the field of fashion. We both took a few detours, had hospitality side gigs, etc., but at the end of the day, felt a calling towards doing something with fashion. I couldn't have been luckier when she agreed to let me interview her:

How'd you get your start in the industry? Did you always know you wanted to work in fashion or was it something you stumbled upon? 

I’ve always been drawn to the arts.  I was a child model and fell in love with doing fashion shows, it was so glamorous to me. I would break into my mom’s sewing kit and hand-sew Barbie clothes from fabric scraps we had around the house (my mom was an interior decorator and always had re-upholstering materials around the house).  From there I took countless sewing lessons over the years, made a ton of projects, both wearable and not. It was a hobby and I loved the ability to create whatever I could dream up.

Originally I went into university for Classical History and Archaeology, but 2 years in, I was miserable because there was no artistic component. The next year I left for college to take Fashion Design (3 year program). I worked at Fabricland all three years and learned so much from the women there, I think it really excelled my knowledge of fabrics/trims and construction.

Through a photographer I worked with from school, I found an internship as a stylist with Global Media working on shoots for local news papers and morning television. From there, myself and three other women formed an artist collective. We worked on countless photoshoots and developed each others portfolios immensely. Looking back this was the most rewarding group I’ve been a part of so far. Still not able to break into the Toronto fashion scene, I worked part time for a seamstress doing alterations, eventually I left her and started my own small custom business online and out of a room in my parents house running my own small Pin Up inspired collections, custom bridesmaids dresses and special event pieces. I was also working in hospitality at the time which slowly took over so I could save money.  

Three years later I wanted to get back to pursuing fashion as a career. I moved to Vancouver and enrolled in Kwantlen to upgrade my College Diploma to a Bachelors Degree in Design and Technology.  I landed an internship as a raw materials assistant with Kit and Ace and stayed on through school. 

How would you describe your role with Gentle Fawn?

I’m a Design Assistant, so I support in the execution of styles from concept to production. This includes (but not limited to) research, sample purchasing, sketching, technical illustration, technical development, mock ups, fittings, vendor communication, managing in house inventory (samples/proto types/reference garments) line plan communication, colour management, and fabric and trim development.

How did you first get involved with the company and how long have you been there for?

I’ve been here for 7 months. After 2.5 years at Lululemon was looking to move into a contemporary category. I knew I wanted to be in a more contemporary market and grow my experience before getting pigeonholed into exclusively activewear. While Gentle Fawn was looking for a Sr Designe, I applied anyways. Tara the Design Director and I had worked together previously at Kit and Ace, and was excited to bring me on to their team. She was brought into the company to help expand their business, which was a big draw for me to make a big move career-wise.

What does a day at work typically look like for you?

Our business goes in 6 month cycles from concept to production with considerable overlap between season.  For example, currently we just finished passing off all our (207) FW20 Style Specs (blueprints to make a garment) to our factories. This week we started FW20 Proto Type 1 fittings  (first attempt to get the style right). We have research to prep and present next week for SS21, are ongoing fitting and evaluating FW19, while analysing feedback from SS20 initial sale reports from our retailers to see if we need to make changes to FW20 and take learnings into SS21. So overall it’s handling troubleshooting, active work and research based on timeline priority. One or two nights I'll work late, but to be honest, that’s pretty low for most offices.  

I'll go through emails in the morning to get my day straight. Replying to what I can answer right away, and if not, sending out emails to get confirmation or meeting invites if we need to have a more thorough discussion about the topic at hand. Afterwards I jump into supporting work, mostly I do technical development though tech packs and data management (believe it or not our jobs are at best 2 weeks worth of designing per season). I check in with our Sr Designer and Sourcing Manager on if they have any high priority tasks they need extra people on. 90% they have work to delegate (it’s the fastest way to get into short or long term projects that are great for career development). Then the rest of the day is managing time and work flow to accommodate the inevitable things that come up which need immediate attention.

"The research process could go on forever, but is endlessly fun, especially when you can build on each others work to create a really co-operative environment."

What are the highlights of your job?

Getting out of the office to do retail research as a team is one of my favourites.  It's good for team building and jumpstarts the creative process going into a new season. The research process could go on forever, but is endlessly fun, especially when you can build on each others work to create a really co-operative environment. In addition to that, seeing your creative work come to life can be pretty cool, although when it goes south, it can be the worst.

One of Breanne's commercialized designs for Lululemon, "Its A Wash Long Sleeve" top

And on the flip-side, what can be frustrating about your job? Any downsides?

We work about 16 months ahead of retailing trends.  However our sales team and retailers operate off of reports from 12 months prior and presales which are 6 months out from shipping.  With what can be over a year gap in style trends it can be a huge challenge to pass through styles which may feel too ahead of their time to a team who operates strictly on numbers. It’s even more upsetting when you see competing brands succeed on taking risks that you may not have been able to. Even with proven concept, styles are 12-26 months away from hitting stores, and so at that moment you’re already behind the trends. As a creative professional, it’s a tough spot to be in. On one hand you have the validation for seeing a profitable trend, but on the other, someone else is making the actual money off it.  

As a creative, where do you go for inspiration?

Now that it’s my occupation and not a passion I have to make objective use of my time and resources.  I’ll go to Luxury Center, Secret Location, Nordstrom, and Anthropologie for physical retail shopping. I follow competing and aspirational brands on Instagram. We also use WGSN for industry forecasting and Vogue for current news and all the Fashion Week coverage. Pinterest is a huge tool as well where we can curate all the inspiration that goes into seasonal research. Everyone’s on their phone throughout the day, so the incoming information is pretty nonstop but in an organic way.

So altogether, how many years have you been working in fashion for now and where do you envision yourself being in the next few years? 

I’ve been in the corporate side of fashion design for 3 years. I’d love to stay maximum another 3 so I can check being a legit designer off my bucket list.  However the nature of design is changing rapidly.  In 3 years I hope to leave for a personal project that I’ve just felt confident enough to begin planning and saving for. ;)

"Vancouver is a big-small town which is perfect when you’re just starting out. There are so many ways to get involved at whatever level you want..."

Have you worked in fashion in any other cities? If so, what's that like compared to Vancouver?

I tried to get into the corporate fashion game in Toronto,  it was cut throat.  Out of the 24 girls I graduated with in Ontario none work in the fashion industry.  Toronto doesn’t have the same fashion landscape though and the population is so much bigger than Van. There are very few places doing actual design, it’s mostly retailing and merchandising.  However companies based in the Midwest United States like A&F will come up to Toronto to hire new grads. So there is better opportunity to transition in the US from there. I was never too keen on living and working in T.O to begin with, I purposely moved out to Vancouver because of 1) lifestyle 2) actual career opportunities.

That's really interesting - and encouraging to hear! What advice would you give to someone looking to launch a career in fashion? And more specifically, do you have any tips for someone wanting to getting started in the local Vancouver fashion industry? 

Vancouver is a big-small town which is perfect when you’re just starting out. There are so many ways to get involved at whatever level you want, it doesn’t take much effort to do some digging online to find job postings, internships, markets, shops, fairs, VFW.  It’s surprisingly accessible, and once you make a couple key relationships, you’ll be surprised how organically things line up. In that same vein, Insta is your best promotional tool when networking.  I’d highly recommend setting up a professional account that you can use as an extension of your portfolio, with links to your proper online portfolio that potential employers can check out. Mostly be yourself, pursue a career path that feels right for you, and I guarantee you’ll find a company/community that you’ll flourish in.

"Fashion is largely research and highly calculated execution..."

Last question: out of curiosity, what is the work culture like in a startup company? 

Startups are a labour of love. It’s a lot of hustle, but it can be incredibly rewarding. It takes time and money to leave a full time salaried job safely in the city, but with the right concept and contacts it’s 100% do-able. There’s a lot of people in the corporate side of fashion that have their own side business that they’re incredibly passionate about. One guy is a quality assurance manager and runs his own umbrella company. Another bra designer I know has her own hip hop clothing line. A design assistant owns and operates Reign Movement, a graphic designer started his own hammock company. Another one has a swimwear line.  Even one of our fit models runs her own modelling agency after so many years in the biz. There are endless stories like that. Fashion is largely research and highly calculated execution, there is no doubt in my mind a creative professional ready to take on the industry could slay any venture they had in mind.

Give Bre a follow on IG @ bre.m.g

Check out more of Breanne's design work on her site: https://www.breannegatiendesign.com and go shop some of her creations at Gentle Fawn!