Do you think it’s possible for kids -young ones- to be designers? By that I don’t mean the minutia of putting out a product line by themselves although the youngest one I ever worked with -she was 12- had a working operation, outsourcing the sewing to girls in her girl scout troop. I kid you not. They were making and selling sleeping bags -to order- for beanie babies.
Kids as designers is kind of a sore topic with me, call it outright rancor. The boy is rather talented artistically yet I’ve never been able to persuade him to follow some constraints and direction to produce a design with artwork to scale that I could work with. Off to the side is an example of what I mean. I think this tattoo design would be awesome on a leather jacket. I even thought of approaching the tattoo designer about licensing. Those style lines could be stitched down with a contrasting leather underneath and the top layer cut away to reveal the pattern (like this). but has the boy ever produced? No, he has not and I’ve offered him terms that any beginning designer would give their eye teeth for (hourly wage plus 10% of sales, 10%!). I suppose it’s just as well. Based on personal experience, none of the things I think are cool ever sell. It’s so much fun making these kinds of things. I never get work like this. Wah wah wah, all I do is whine.
Do you recall that bit of fun we had with design sketch analysis? Boy, that entry was snarky, I need to remember to go back and do some copious editing for sure. Anyway, at the very bottom of that entry was a sketch done by a six year old girl -and it was totally doable- and sale-able! The sketch was much better than sketches done by individuals much older than she. So, in my opinion, I think kids can design. Anyway, all of this was inspired by an email I got:
I have a ten year old daughter who lives, sleeps, and breathes fashion. I am interested in getting a clothing line started for her that is geared towards tween and teen girls. She has not learned how to sew, but has an incredible portfolio showcasing her insightful, and youthful designs. I am certain that she would need some type of formal training in designing, however I have never seen such talent in a young ten year old girl, that I feel very strongly about helping her make her dreams of becoming a fashion designer true.
Is there any avenue that you could direct us in to see if anyone would be willing to take a look at her designs and possibly get a clothing line developed? Would this even be possible given that my daughter is only ten years old with no sewing experience?
The obvious impression you’ll walk away with is that mom is smitten with her child and thinks she’s perfect but let me tell you, that support is never related to the child’s age. I’ve seen grandmothers wax eloquent about their 40+ year old daughter’s talent in similar terms so don’t deprecate it based on the child’s age. The only downside I see to this really happening is the perception of how fashion happens. As we all know, many people think designers just design and manufacturers buy it from them and make it happen. However, if mom were willing to pick up the drudge work and apply some constraints (talk about learning lessons of limitations), there really is no reason it couldn’t happen.
What do you think? This sort of thing always interests me. She could be a prodigy and I think we’re too quick to make assessments and write someone off based on their age.
Ok before I even read that post, my mind said “that tattoo is totally photoshopped.” You could probably get a tattoo artist to draw you up a tribal tattoo that is a sleeve and chest piece.
I would love to see her daughter’s drawings. I know I did sketches when I was little with “crayola fashion designer” It had stencils of 3 figures without clothes and also had clothes that you could trace, but I only traced the hair and faces and drew my own clothes. I was a lot more creative back then because I wasn’t worried if it could be done. I was also into a trend called “dollz” it was an online thing where you could take “bases” (unclothed figures) and draw clothes and hair on them. You could also make your own bases. I taught myself photoshop and paint shop pro at 10 or 11. I also taught myself html at this age because I wanted to post my creations for everyone to see. I wish I still had these files, but they were on a computer that has since been taken apart (as by now it would be 8-9 years old).
Pretty much, I would love to have a kid be my designer. I’m not that big on designing anymore, they are so much more creative, but I would be a little afraid if I rejected some designs because they couldn’t be made. I’d hate to hurt a kids feelings, although she’d probably be fine with it. I would also probably have to redraw technical flats from her sketches. Is there any child labor laws that I would need to worry about?
If they could get the production aspects & sourcing figured out I don’t see why not.
She would be closer to her target demographic than any normal “tween” designer (an adult designing for tweens), so I’m sure she would be quick at nailing down trends. Secondly, can you imagine how easy getting publicity would be? The world loves a child prodigy!
I really believe that if more parents recognized innate abilities in their children form an early age, more people would end up making a living doing something they love…
If it’s just a temporary interest they’ll grow out of it, but if it is genuine talent and affinity then every bit of guidance the parents can provide will be priceless!
When I was 3 my dad noticed my fascination with colour, so he always made sure I had enough crayons and coloring books around…. at age 7 my mum noticed how I was always trying to “make” bags by hand and got me a toy sewing machine…
By age 12 I was using my mum’s sewing machine and in High School I was making a pretty decent living making stuff for the popular girls…. Got my first job in the Fashion Industry at 17 and 20 years later I’m still passionate about my career and in the same industry :-)
So my stepdaughter, who will be 12 on the 12th, had a list of all the electives for middle school and I was looking at it with her. If she gets picked to audition for concert choir, she’ll be in that class, but if not, she’ll take regular choir. She is really a good singer. But she might take art as well and thought Family & Consumer Science (the new name for home ec) looked cool. The last 4 weeks of class is basic sewing. She said, “But you can teach me how to do that.” I was tickled. I told her if she was serious about sewing (and learning Italian), we’d have to do some every time she is here with me and her dad.
I do have to perfect my zipper insertion first, though. Speaking of, I just made a mockup of a Burda pants pattern and the instructions for inserting a fly zipper seemed really easy. I’m not sure if it’s the industrial way, but it was easy.
Anyway, it would be cool to see this girl’s designs to see if she really is all that and a box of rocks.
I agree with Rocio; a child should be encouraged to explore all kinds of things that interest them in a professional manner, so long as their parents don’t get caught up in the fantasy of their child making it big. It not only teaches a child about an industry, it also shows them how important professionalism is. The message it sends is “anything worth doing is worth doing well.”
Since we’re pulling out the brag photo albums, my 11 year old daughter is a budding scientist and entrepreneur. She has her very own microscope and looks at everything with it. She figured out how to outsource her chores to a neighborhood kid, has lent out her savings at interest, and has a little business selling sachets. Am I proud of her? You bet! Do I have fantasies about her becoming a doctor someday, or making it big in the world of finance? Nope. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. It’s not up to me to decide the course of her life. All I can do is make sure that she knows what it’ll entail if she chooses this road or that one, so that she can make an informed choice.
Hey, maybe we can mold their impressionable young minds to do away with really awful things, like that whole mono-butt thing. Just think, if we were really diligent and innoculated all of them, we could get rid of that in the same way we got rid of smallpox. Mono-butt does seem to be equally virulent! We could keep a sample in a lab, in a pressurized glass case.
That tattoo reminds me of a friend’s North Beach Leather catalog of years ago. The stuff was pure drool material. Anyone else remember them?
LOL, what a small world. I used the same graphic as my inspiration for my collection in fashion college (here in Australia) last year. I too fell in love with those lines, and hey, it may be photoshopped but it sure hit the right buttons for me. My collection was, as is the business I am in the process of starting at the moment, based on designing and producing a range of casual clothing for young men in wheelchairs.
Thank you all for such wonderful input! This really is all for my daughter, she has been designing since second grade. I too, thought that it was just a hobby and she would soon re-direct her interests elsewhere but that NEVER happened. She comes up with designs and gets her classmates to “rate” the designs. (how funny) Needless to say how honest kids are, and she gets nothing but positive feedback from her friends. I even had a parent come up to me at a recent birthday party and tell me how her daughter comes home telling her what my daughter had on that day and how her daughter has to have what my daughter has! (My daughter attends private school and has to wear a uniform!) Somehow she adds her own flaire to the uniform without risking being out of dress code. I have been very careful not to get caught up in taking this over for her, but since this is “really” what she’s interested in I just want to help her see it through. Far too often, we allow ourselves to let go of our dreams and just fall into the trap of going to work everyday to provide for our families without loving or even liking what we do. Where is it written that is how it should be? Thanks again for the advice, hopefully we will figure out how to make this happen for her.
Hi Kathleen,
Haven’t commented for awhile but this one fascinated me. First age means nothing, but sewing is critical. I began sewing at a very early age and had to sneak to use the machine! By age 14 I had a business making and selling dolls clothes in gift shops and fairs. By 16 (in the 1940s) I started working as a production stitcher, like you Kathleen. It became the most important base for my successful high fashion design and manufacturing business, for 20 years in the 1960s to 1980, when I sold it – to go after and win engineering design grants on patterns and production from National Science Foundation. All because I started with a love of and success with sewing.
Over the past 25 years I have seen hundreds of beginning designers. The ones who make it are the ones who sew, who then also can understand pattern making, which is critical – as you so often say, Kathleen. Design ideas are a dime a dozen unless you find a rich sugar daddy or celebrity designer. Thanks much Kathleen for your great web site.
She actually sounds like she might be better at merchandising. Probably won’t get into that just yet, but here in my fashion program I am intimidated by how well the merchandisers dress and I am just here sewing away in a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of converse. Merchandisers know how to put a look together and know how to accessorize, designers tend to be better at focusing on one piece of the puzzle. Although, I did like to change about 3 times a day as a kid.
I also demanded my mom buy my skin color crayons because that orange in the 12 pack just wasn’t cutting it to draw people. Get some books about fashion sketching and encourage her to draw, but also encourage her to look into other options than just a designer. I fear that designing is more glamorized than when I was a kid with project runway and stuff like that.
If you don’t already have it, I would definitely get the book and start reading it to see how business is really done on the design side. There may be other options that interest her too, such as fashion forecasting and fashion journalism.
Stacy,
I firmly believe that children solidify their interests at a very early age and as parents, we just need to nurture them. I say go for it and help her any way you can. Usually they change up the little details, but the core interest stays pretty constant. I’m doing now what I’ve always wanted to do since I was a child, so had my mom had the resources, and know how, to nurture that, who knows…
My older two are really solid with their interests, and children have the capacity to become really absorbed into something, if we let them. Now, with the internet, they have the ability to break down the barriers to obtaining the knowledge and opportunity they need to make their dreams a reality. I think one of the most important gifts I can give my children is the resources, knowledge and skill set to make a goof living without *needing* a 9 to 5. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are so many who ONLY know, go to school, get a job, when there are other ways to live.
Yes to the North Beach Leather memories — but I always wondered home much the Seinfeld episode where they all made fun of Putty for his eight ball jacket from NBL, hahaha!!!
I believe kids are the very best designers for other kids. If just the designs were needed, though, we would all be rich. So someone else has to pick up where the designer leaves off and edit the line and then make it a reality through production, quality control, selling, merchandising and on and on.
I think it is a very good idea to encourage kids to do what they love.
Too bad I only “half proof read” my post…. let me try that again.
Yes to the North Beach Leather memories — but I always wondered how much the Seinfeld episode where they all made fun of Putty for his eight ball jacket from NBL hurt the company’s image and sales. Do you remember that Seinfelf episode?
I would definitely teach your daughter how to sew, Stacy, or get her into sewing classes. But also have her read the book and books on all aspects of fashion, from design to merchandising to production. It sounds like she’s really into the design part, but she might like the other stuff, too, and if she understands patterns and how garments are put together, it will help her tons. And she might find out that some aspect is definitely not her thing, that she’d hire someone else to do that part. We’d like to see some of her designs if you can scan them or take photos of them.
I’m glad I held off commenting until I’d read Stacy’s comment. I felt very concerned about whose needs were being met here, but Stacy does seem quite level headed. Even so, adults often forget that childhood is a time to dream and plan who you are going to become, and to play-act those possibilities. It’s too easy for adults to introduce a kid into adulthood too soon, even with the best intentions in the world. This pushed some buttons for me, to do with the fine line between encouragement and hothousing. One builds a kid up, the other breaks them down. I know this from experience. (I can’t even find my flute nowadays, but apparently I was going to be huge.) Even though the daughter is showing a lot of promise, turning it into a business runs the risk of burning her out with too much too soon. Life is long, and childhood short. I’d recommend a sewing machine and lessons, a decent patterncutting textbook and lots of fabric. She’ll be streaks ahead by the time she’s ready to be an adult for real, and if she’s sold her gear to friends along the way, of her own volition, that’s part of the role playing.
Hello all!
I still appreciate all of the wonder comments and advice you all are giving me in reference to my daughter’s dream of designing children’s clothes. I just want to state that I really am not one of those mom’s who tries to live out my dreams through my children. Actually my “dream” is publishing series books for children. I am actually working on that now! Anyway, this is really something that my daughter wants to do, and I will do everything within my power to help her. Too often, we talk ourselves out of pursuing our dreams. I am divorced mother of three children and looking back I realize that I gave up on my dreams to work, and take care of my family. I don’t want my children to do the same so I plan to encourage each of them to pursue their dreams within reason. My other two children have not yet expressed an interest in one particular thing yet so I am allowing them to try a variety of things before they decide on what it is they would like to pursue. I want to also share that my daughter is was diagnosed earlier this year with ADD. She is truly “artistic” and very eclectic. I am very proud of how far she has come in school and her social skills have really improved. I read a comment that I should just allow her to have fun with this and that there is plenty of time for her to enjoy her childhood before she gets to far into this. I do agree that children are responsible for “just being children” and I would never allow her to be rushed into becoming an adult before it’s time. Heck I still can’t believe my baby is already 10 years old!!! So that aspect is not an option. My daughter will remain a healthy, normal, growing child. I just believe that I should encourage to have fun with this, but at the same time if she truly wants to de a designer, she has to start NOW while she is young and can absorb knowledge about the industry. Please understand that my daughter will probably not attend “college” because of how very, very hard she has to work to maintain passing grades and how easily frustrated she becomes with school. I encourage her daily to do her best, and she really has come a long way. I say that to say that She loves, loves, loves, the world of fashion, and while I tell her that she has to go to school and graduate from high school she says that she wants to become a designer. So I want her to begin the sewing lessons now, aquire knowledge about the skill, the industry, patterns, and fabrics NOW. I am not forcing her to do this, but I truly believe that “this” will be her life and if that is the case, I want her to be at the top of her game. Why can’t she have her name in labels someday? I will take the advice that many of you have shared with me about getting her into sewing lessons and reading up on the industry. We will statr with that, but I really do wish I could have a designer look at her sketches and tell us where to go from there. I just know that if someone saw them, they too would believe that if someone could make them, my daughter would have clothes on the racks of many boutiques and possibly some department stores…..(okay that may be a stretch). All input is certainly welcomed and appreciated. Thanks to all!!!
Perhaps it would be most efficient if you fixed the pants after you make the leather jacket.
Ok, my brother and I were diagnosed with ADD and even prescribed meds for it. In all actuality he has Aspergers, which explains the inability to pay attention without hyper activity and his poor social skills. While it sounds like your daughter has fine social skills, you might want to read up on it. Katleen talks about it, but hers is much more severe. I don’t think I have ADD and I could have a milder Aspergers, but I think it had more to do with my environment, where there wasn’t a big deal made about making friends and developing social skills. Growing up around him did make me better able to translate between people like him and more social oriented people.
I hate to say that you should encourage her to go to school since Kathleen didn’t finish school, but you should explain to her the importance of school. She might be more interested in school if she understands the impact it has on her career. Also, college is totally more fun than regular school because you actually get to learn what you are interested in. She doesn’t even have to go to a fancy schmancy art school. El Paso Community College always wins all the competitions, but you might be able to find somewhere closer to home. I currently attend a state funded university and I’m on an academic scholarship, but my teachers are so great, and they have worked in industry.
But school is very helpful because she might want to explore what there is to fashion more than just being a designer. A designer is what can be seen of the fashion industry from the outside, but there are a lot of jobs in between cloth to store. Such as Pattern making requires math. So does merchandising. Science is also good, even though she won’t understand why it is good, but it helps the mind recognize patterns and develops logical skills. Encourage her to explore as much art as possible. Everyone has room for improvement, but 3-d design in college helped me see proportion in a way that I had never thought of before. And in the end fashion is 3-d. English is good for communication. People take other people more seriously if they can communicate properly both in writing and in speech. History? Eh, never really cared for it much, I wasn’t big on names and dates, but historical fashion was fun because fashion tends to repeat itself and you can pull little things from different time periods. Am I missing any of the core subjects?
Have her learn photoshop and illustrator. Oh and foreign languages. I’d suggest chinese, but with this economy we may be moving around on the manufacturing. Also, if she wants to do high fashion, have her learn the romantic languages. You could take her to a fashion show at a career day to show her what cool stuff people do in college and maybe it would encourage her to do better in school so she can get to that point. I suggest Dallas Career Day, but I don’t know where you are located. I am 400 miles away from Dallas, but I go every year. Usually guests are allowed to come to the fashion show, but you might have to pay to get in. Or maybe even a local college is putting on a fashion show you could take her to. My college has one in the spring and one in the fall.
I actually worry about her peaking too soon. I also wonder what she thinks of the fashion industry as. Does she think of it as all glitz and glam where she gets to design clothes for celebrities or does she see that it will be hardwork and wants to design for regular people and wants her stuff in Target? Personally the regular people at Target has been my focus for a long time. Which “regular” people don’t understand why I don’t want to be the next Betsey Johnson. I do agree though that someone that age knows her target market better. I always wondered as a kid why only Limited too had cute clothes for people that age. Although I rarely got anything from that store because we couldn’t afford it. Just save all the stuff very neatly in a file cabinet until you can get someone to look at them. I remember most of my designs were in margins and on little scraps of paper, so I ended up throwing them out. I also drew my designs multiple times trying to figure them out.
But yeah, encourage her to do well in school. I don’t want her to use design as an excuse not to finish school. Even child actors still go to school even though they have jobs. I just imagine having the mentality “I’m already in the biz, why do I need to go to school?”
Hi, I am a long time reader but have never replied to a post. I found this one very interesting. I am a fashion school graduate and have opened a workshop where I teach fashion illustration, sewing, patternmaking to students of all ages. I have been overwhelmed by the talent that the younger students show! We start off slow, talking and learning about illustration and the basics of sewing. Once they have worked from a commercial pattern and understand the basics of putting together a garment, I show them how to create their own croquis book. Once they have a whole season of their designs we choose an outfit and create the patterns, muslin, and final garments. The kids seem to really enjoy learning how to make slopers and foundation patterns as much as they enjoy design and sewing. It is so much fun and so inspiring to see young people excited about the entire process. Obviously, my approach to teaching them about fashion design is aimed at keeping them interested and motivated to push themselves. It is not meant to teach them the ins and outs of the entire industry. Children and teens are so creative. I am constantly amazed at their achievements!
OK as the parent of a kid who is very much into her life right now and she is only 8 I have to ask does she like the art part of the fashion or is she really interested in the industry part-the sewing, pattern making, etc. etc. that is discussed on the blog for example? I personally would let her draw, draw, draw-gather fabrics, play around with stuff…learn to sew…it might be that she likes just to draw and the art part rather than all the rest! And this is absolutely not a discouragement in any way but I have found myself misunderstanding what my kids want currently-yes they all have dreams of grandeur and I am totally behind who they are who they will be-but trying to let them figure out what they want. I know it is a hard line to toe. I do love to hear their dreams of the future (well any kids not just my own) and I do not want to discourage by saying how hard something is but make sure they understand and if they are into something they will usually dimiss or throw themselves into the work part without realizing it is work. I would love love love love to see more people in this world doing their dreams instead of drudge but the drudge sometimes comes with the dreams and if she gets frustrated with her school stuff the many discouragements she will face in the fashion industry could be overwhelming.
OK so here is my example and why I am writing a book I can speak from experience–my daughter has wanted to play the violin since she was a toddler-we all know how hard the violin is, how hard it is for kids to make them sound like they expect them to –well my daughter started lessons before she turned 5 and is now playing with a local folk band, has played on a just released CD and has played solo and before large audiences without qualms. Do I encourage her YES and I and other members of the band (she is the youngest by 20+ years) tell her how much work it is and how hard it is to actually live the musician life…..we can not all be related to Billy Ray Cyrus ya know and have lots of money to play with. We discuss the realities of drugs, alcohol (she has played at some bars locally), fame, fortune, repetitive motion injuries, hearing loss, doing things that you would not normally do off stage, the realities of making a living, what she would have to do to supplement or keep it as a hobby—yes yes she is 8 but she is being thrown into this life rather quickly with her talents-people are coming up to her wanting autographs and pictures-we have to discuss weirdos with her yet being polite to her fans. Despite all this-the practicing, the late night gigs, the practicing FOR NOW at least she is ok with the lifestyle with her future. She knows what she wants to do travel and study violin with other folk musicians. She is writing her own songs, teaching herself piano and guitar. She is completely immersed. She has also not hit puberty and all of this could shift at any time but I can wait for puberty I also have a 10 yr old who is both jekyll and hyde. As a parent of a kid who is focused I have to ask myself would I be ok if she one day said she wanted to stop and do a 180? Yes I would, yes I would…and we discuss this all the time. Failure-frustration-knowing when it was a fun ride but time to move on not because of failure but because it is what you were meant to do. We homeschool so this has made a difference because she can be immersed in her world…BUT I make sure she is still a rugrat bouncing around the park, eating (YUCK) McD’s, movie night with her friends in fact most of her friends have never heard her play or even seen her with her violin this is HUGELY important that they still get to be kids.
OK so what am I trying to say to Stacie mom to mom because I know you have put lots of thought into your kids…..follow her and see what your kid has to say. Be honest with the realities but be uplifting with the ways she can reach her dream through those things and be rewarded! I say go for it! She will never know until she has tried and who knows she might want to go a different direction within the field itself! Locally we had a homeschool tweenie ask other kids to design their own clothes and then she organized a fashion show it was pretty cool!! It was totally kid friendly–kids do know their own tastes even if we would not wear it I think that is most likely their point (what would I NOT see mom in lol).
As an aside my musician girl regularly designs her own outfits for her gigs and I create them working through what is not going to work what will work within a particular design/pattern-arguing about why a certain fabric is not going to do what she wants and why and she does know how to sew. In fact she designed her outfit that she wore this past Sat night!
Kathleen if you like folk music and if you are ever in Albuquerque let me know we would love to have you at a show…Fiddler on the Roof movie and folk music in a couple of weeks!
Hello all. I am one of those young fashion designers out there, and it’s really great to see some people take a 13 year old, or younger, seriously. I do often dream of starting my own fashion line, and I sketch everyday in my notebook, and am only getting better. I’ll be learning to sew over the summer, but it will be a long time before I am adept at it. If anyone knows something I can do to nurture my skills, input would be appreciated. I read about the history of fashion, designer biographies, and attend a fashion academy, but if there is anyone I could speak to, to help me get my skills of the ground, and work on my drawings, please let me know. Thank you.
Hi. I am also a young designer with very good designs, my parents are even considering trying to get some one to see my designs and pay for a full scolorship for designers. It is great to know that people believe young designers can do it because i believe too. I think not everything should be based on older people because ther are many young designers out there that are better than any of the older designers and i think it is great to finnally get talked about. If there are any designers reading please leave me a messege! Thanks!!!!!!
I am not exactly sure how to describe my style of design, I like unique, retro, rocker, colorful clothing. I use allot of combinations of color in one outfit, but somehow, well at least according to me, it works lol. I have allot of designs that I’ve done by hand and some also by computer. I don’t want to sound arrogant but I am 100 percent sure that I am talented, even though I don’t have the industry experience. I am also sure that Gods plans for me is fame, and he will open doors, and when one door closes, 5 more open. I just need help on how to start, how to get the media, buyers interested. Like getting sponsors etc. Also finding a less expensive way to get my designs made, like sewn. Any information or help would be greatly appreciated
God Bless!
Hope
To Hope and all the other young designers… talent means nothing. That is the truth of the grown up world. What matters is following through on your natural gifts -plenty of people with no talent make it because they work hard in a focused way. When you’re young, parents and teachers pave the path for you but if you want to participate in adult affairs such as clothing design, you’ll have to assume the responsibility that adults do. This means working, learning and reading all you can.
I would add that, you need to be aware that your actions may have long term consequences. In this world of “instant everything” it is easy to be swept away by the moment. If you want to be preceived as a talented artist in the adult world remember to do your “due diligence”. Keep in mind everything that you put out on the internet is a reflection of who you are and can be seen by anyone. The information, comments and even the spelling that is seen on social media can come back to help or hinder you. If you want to learn about the fashion world, you might start by getting a job in retail. Though not the most glamorous, you learn alot about what it takes to make things sell. It is alot more than the design.