How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

How Fitting® is the podcast that explores how slow fashion brands make clothes – and businesses – that fit. In each biweekly episode, meet a relatable fashion designer or entrepreneur (the kind of indie brands who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) and hear how the people, performance, purpose, and production shaped the fit of one of their garments. Because fit is relational before it is technical. Host Alison Hoenes (a fit expert & women’s apparel patternmaker) and her guests look at the things all slow fashion business owners experience in pursuit of fit. Things like the empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the vulnerability of launching something you deeply care about, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the honest conversations with suppliers and factories, the late-night reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewa

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits is a arts podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 139 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits, a arts show with 139 episodes published.

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  How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

  What Fair Trade Actually Means for the Brand, Products, and Production Relationships with Taylor McCleneghan of Mata Traders

  Oct 6, 20261h 4m

  If we’re talking about how values show up in the creation of specific clothing styles, you won’t find a better example of this than fair trade fashion. For fair trade fashion brands, the process is just as important as the product. Collections don’t begin with design inspiration, they stem from family-owned production partners, long-term boutique relationships, cross-cultural collaborations, and a commitment to each person involved. This is the foundation that Mata Traders is built on. In episode 139, Mata Traders Owner & Director Taylor McCleneghan shares what it means to be fair trade and just how those values, strengths, and limitations came together in their Rosy Snakes Lucielle Dress. Taylor and I get nerdy about the details and, as Taylor sums up so well in this episode: “I continue to just be amazed at what people can create together.” Early exposure to building costumes for school plays could very well be what sparked Taylor's curiosity for garment construction! With a deep appreciation for how all things are made and a joy in creating with our producer partners, Taylor’s passion for products that support an equitable system grows every day at Mata. What we learn about fit in this episode: Fitting the people How Mata Traders prioritizes the people in their supply chain just as much as the people who are their customers Why relationships are so important to fair trade production Fitting the performance How Mata uses customer and store feedback into their design process How Mata’s customer-favorite style – the Lucielle Dress – has evolved over the last 7 years Fitting the purpose What fair trade actually means at the brand and product level The difference between fair trade product versus brand certifications and memberships Transparently telling the story behind the clothes to customers and buyers while protecting the privacy and relationships with production people Fitting the production Why Mata designs each piece with a particular manufacturing partner in mind The nuances of different printing and production processes that Mata’s partner’s use and how Mata’s team designs with strengths and limitations in mind People and resources mentioned in this episode: Mata Traders website (code WELCOME10 will give new customers 10% off!) Mata Traders Instagram Mata Traders LinkedIn Mata Traders email Do you want daily advice and explorations on creating clothes that fit your customers and your business sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes and more.

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  How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

  A Good Product Is Not Enough – Fashion Brands Need a Story and Lifestyle with Ann Simmons of Annie Ozark

  Sep 22, 202653 min

  A good product is not enough. As much as we’d like to pour our creative time and resources into creating the most beautiful design and exquisitely crafted product and then let it sell itself, it just doesn’t. In fashion business, the job doesn’t stop when the garment is produced. Marketing it is just as important. And that job actually starts before the product even exists. For some designers, it might seem counterintuitive to think about the marketing and business first, but for Ann Simmons, it came naturally. After working in merchandising and brand marketing at iconic heritage lifestyle brands, she founded her own label – Annie Ozark. Before designing anything, Ann thought about the lifestyle and marketing concept of her brand. In episode 138 of How Fitting®, she shares how this brand story is woven throughout each aspect of her collection’s design and development – including that of the Mulberry Denim Overalls. Annie Ozark founder Ann Simmons was raised in the Arkansas Ozarks with a bent toward design, Americana, and all things vintage. Her mother and grandmother taught her the difference between a garment made for the season and one crafted to be passed down – a distinction that now shapes every piece she makes. After studying Fashion Merchandising in college, she built a career in apparel and retail. Her time at two iconic heritage brands, Ralph Lauren and Wrangler, inspired her to be the architect of her own label, Annie Ozark. The brand was born where the American South meets the Midwest, in the folds of the Ozark Mountains. It offers women’s pieces for everyday living: overalls, work shirts, and bandanas, all designed with equal parts femininity and sturdiness, and built to outlast a single season. What we learn about fit in this episode: Fitting the people How the Ozarks lifestyle influences every part of Annie Ozark How Ann balances fitting herself versus fitting other women in her target market Referencing vintage clothing when designing for the modern woman Fitting the performance The unexpected ways that longevity plays a role in Ann’s design choices How Ann responds to trends in her brand and designs Fitting the purpose Why Ann created the story and world for Annie Ozark before she designed any clothing The Americana niche that Ann found was missing in fashion Fitting the production What Ann learned from producing her first collection that she is bringing into the development of future seasons Balancing cost and quality in production People and resources mentioned in this episode: Annie Ozark website Annie Ozark Instagram Annie Ozark LinkedIn Do you want daily advice and explorations on creating clothes that fit your customers and your business sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes and more.

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  How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

  Considering What Slow Fashion Means For A Brand’s Present and Future with Arianna Levesque of Triplicity

  Aug 18, 202657 min

  If you run a slow fashion brand, you’ve probably experienced this. You saw how wasteful the fashion industry can be and vowed to run your brand differently. You want to pursue quality over quantity, sustainable materials and practices, fair labor, and avoid over-production. But how does this slow fashion intent meet the reality of factory MOQs, wash tests, and production costs for a new brand? Plus, as the brand grows, is there a scale where a slow fashion brand is no longer slow fashion? These are all questions Arianna Levesque considers for her brand Triplicity. Arianna and her triplet sisters create versatile, chic pieces meant for a long-lasting capsule wardrobe. In episode 137, hear what slow fashion values Arianna prioritized as Triplicity started out, how she’s planning for the brand’s future growth, and how these goals impacted decisions for the Adelaide Adjustable Drawstring Pant. Triplicity was founded by Arianna Levesque, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology. Arianna began her career designing for a fast fashion company and eventually realized she wanted to do things differently. She saw hundreds of styles produced each month in poor fabrics and likely unethical conditions, in trendy designs that would not carry over to the next year. It felt wasteful, and she wanted to offer styles that were higher quality, and could help people build a capsule wardrobe that they could wear for years to come, which would reduce waste, save people money in the long run, and make deciding what to wear easier. Inspired by growing up as an identical triplet and sharing clothes with her two sisters, Arianna developed a passion for designing basics with extra functional details that make her designs versatile, with flexible sizing on many of the styles. These features turn timeless basics into unique, adaptable pieces. What we learn about fit in this episode: Fitting the people How sharing clothes with her sisters growing up helps Arianna design capsule wardrobe pieces How Arianna incorporates adjustable features in each piece without cluttering the simplicity of the designs Fitting the performance The debate between natural and synthetic fibers and where Triplicity landed on their materials How the flexible designs are made for the lifestyle of the Triplicity customer Fitting the purpose How Triplicity follows a slow fashion approach Why sustainability probably isn’t the biggest selling point for your product Fitting the production Why Triplicity doesn’t follow a traditional fashion production calendar What Arianna envisions for Triplicity’s production model to scale the brand without giving up slow fashion values People and resources mentioned in this episode: Triplicity website Triplicity Instagram Triplicity TikTok Do you want daily advice and explorations on creating clothes that fit your customers and your business sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes and more.

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  How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

  Creative Confidence, Control, and Content-Product Offer Alignment with Ceilidh of BillyNou

  Jun 30, 202658 min

  As entrepreneurs, we didn’t start businesses to create a job that we hate. In fact, for most of us, it is quite the opposite. We want our work to be fulfilling. But we also want it to pay the bills and not burn us out. So how do we build a business that is both fun and financially stable? That offers both creative confidence and commercial control? Where the day-to-day process feels magical, but also manageable? These are the kinds of questions that underlie all of our businesses and impact how sustainable running the business actually is. Ceilidh has experienced this first hand over the ten years she’s been running her brand BillyNou. What started as a natural dyeing hobby, became a maker business. As the brand grew, she realized both the strengths of her creative process and the limitations of her business model. In episode 136, Ceilidh shares how she’s aligning her product offering with the content she already loves to share and how the Original Overalls she started with still embody the magic she wants the BillyNou community to experience. Ceilidh Chaplin is a British designer and the founder of BillyNou, a slow fashion brand based in Provence in the south of France, focusing on unique, simple, statement pieces coloured with natural pigments and flowers. Born out of a desire for comfort and sustainability, BillyNou clothing is low impact and easy to wear. There is a strong focus on low impact fibers and using natural dyes to colour garments made with vintage and antique French linen. Most pieces are made slowly, from start to finish in her small atelier bridging the gap between fashion and craft. Ceilidh describes the natural dyes she works with as “living colours” having a charm and personality very unlike chemical dyes and offers natural dye workshops and tutorials in person and on line. She communicates her story and showcases her brand in collaboration with her partner, through high quality and visually beautiful content, encouraging people to consider their relationship to fast fashion and over consumption whilst also feeling they have stepped into a magical floral universe. What we learn about fit in this episode: Fitting the people What surprises Ceilidh about the women who buy BillyNou Why listening to her audience led Ceilidh to start teaching workshops Fitting the performance What makes some styles staples that sell for years or decades Fitting the purpose How BillyNou’s Original Overalls embody the brand’s values Why natural dyeing is a big part of the BillyNou brand and a big reason why customers buy from BillyNou How the new natural dyeing course that Ceilidh teaches is making her business more sustainable Fitting the production How Ceilidh balances control and consistency with creativity in production The moment Ceilidh realized that the content she was sharing online and what she was selling weren’t aligned People and resources mentioned in this episode: BillyNou website BillyNou Instagram BillyNou Youtube BillyNou email Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits.

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  How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits

  Why This Circular Fashion Brand Doesn’t Gatekeep Their Patterns with Megan McCullough of The Sample Room

  Jun 16, 202656 min

  We’re told in fashion business that your brand’s patterns are your IP, don’t let anyone else have access to them. It is true that your patterns are one of the most legally protectable aspects of your brand’s unique fit and design aesthetic, but is gatekeeping patterns really necessary for fashion business success? Today’s guest, Megan McCullough took the opposite approach for her brand The Sample Room. 100% of styles are available as both the finished garment and the sewing pattern. Not only that, but Meg designs each pattern and style to be upcycled so that the final garment is not its final form. The unique business model means The Sample Room operates half way between an apparel company and an indie pattern company. In episode 135, we talk about the reasoning behind her decision to sell her patterns and ask the question: ‘Is there any financial benefit to working with upcycled materials?’. It’s an interesting conversation about business, fit, circular design, and more. Hear how this all fits together in her signature Workwear Jacket. Meg McCullough is a clothing designer and the founder of The Sample Room, a circular fashion brand focused on designing garments that can be remade, repaired, and eventually returned to the earth. She also runs Studio M, a freelance apparel design studio where she helps small brands design and tech pack clothing. With over a decade in the fashion industry, her work focuses on better design, natural materials, and clothing made to last. What we learn about fit in this episode: Fitting the people The Sample Room customers’ response when she designed the Workwear Jacket to be upcycled Why Megan shifted from using GOTS certified cotton to upcycling garments in her fashion brand What The Sample Room’s fit testing process looks like given that they sell both garments and patterns How Megan balances fitting each individual fit model versus fitting her customer across the board How Megan keeps the fit and sizing consistent across her fashion brand while working with a variety of fit testers Fitting the performance The regional lifestyle that influenced the amount of ease in the Workwear Jacket How The Sample Room’s different income streams fit together in the business Fitting the purpose Why Megan sells The Sample Room patterns as well as finished garments How Megan designs her patterns so that the garment can be upcycled Fitting the production The production costs of using upcycled versus production using virgin materials How Megan handled conversations with her factory when there was pushback on the sustainable way she wanted her apparel manufactured People and resources mentioned in this episode: The Sample Room website The Sample Room Instagram The Sample Room Youtube Meg’s email Meg’s LinkedIn Circular Factory biodegradable trims Clo3D fashion design software Optitex patternmaking software Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.

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