Employed By Design - fashion designers

Black Enterprise, July, 2000 by Monique R. Brown

Today's climate dictates that high-end black designers choose employment over entrepreneurship

YOU'RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH GIORGIO ARMANI. HE WAS ARGUABLY THE BEST-SELLING designer in the world in the 1980s and a household name by the early 1990s. The Italian designer distinguished himself from the competition by producing high-quality tailored apparel for the mainstream and becoming the brand of choice for celebrities--a winning combination.

But did you know that black designer Patrick Robinson contributed to his success? Back then, the brother was in Italy serving as Giorgio Armani's design director and earning over $100,000 annually. He started with the company in 1991 when he was 24 years old. "I was there for five years," Robinson recalls. "[By the time] I left, the sales of the company had quadrupled."

Later, Robinson spent a year and a half at Anne Klein before the company closed its high-end division. Now, nearly 10 years after his entrance into the fashion business, Robinson is heading up his own firm and showcasing his own line. But he hasn't yet received critical acclaim. In fact, most new, small designers won't reach this plateau either. Why? The barriers to entry into the industry are high and the payoff is low.

Experts say designers need at least $50,000 to develop the samples for their lines, and that doesn't include the money they'll need to produce the line should they make a sale. Plus, many need to redesign their tailored apparel or expand their product lines to address the casual dress trend. According to the NPD Group Inc., a marketing information provider, sales of men's tailored apparel dropped by 0.5% in 1999, while sales of women's tailored apparel were up only 1.9% for the same period.

So what's a black designer to do to survive in today's climate? Get a job with an established label and develop designs that reflect the current trends, say experts. "The real issue is that you do have to work for other people first, because the learning curve is tremendous and one mistake could put you out of business," explains Gary Williams, vice president of Fashion Outreach, a nonprofit organization, and owner of the Gary Williams Showroom, a sales and marketing company for men's apparel. "Most people succeed because they have experience," he says. Opting for employment over entrepreneurship as a means to mainstream appeal may be a hard choice for some black designers. Most prefer going solo. But unless they begin to take an honest look at the industry, many will suffer the fate of the dinosaur--extinction.

HOW ARE BLACK DESIGNERS FARING?

In 1999, total U.S. apparel sales were $184 billion, according to the NPD. Unfortunately, black designers didn't capture many of those dollars. According to Mark-Evan Blackman, chairman of the men's wear design program at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, only a small percentage of the industry's designers are African American. "The issue for [black] designers is pretty stunning. when you look in the high-fashion field, there are no successful black designers," comments Constance C.R. White, former fashion director of Talk magazine and author of Stylenoir: The First How-to Guide to Fashion Written With Black Women in Mind (Perigee, $15). "We have a lot of talent out there, but they need money to support their businesses."

The majority of black designers run small, independent shops that don't reach the general public. "You can't make it doing custom goods. To make money you need to be mass marketed," states Audrey Smaltz, owner of the Ground Crew, a company that handles backstage production for major fashion shows all over the world. Traditionally, designers were able to bring-their labels to the masses by developing partnerships with retailers or by getting large firms as investors. However, high-end fashions are declining in popularity among consumers, making these designers less attractive to investors. "That's why these young black designers are starving," Smaltz contends.

Racism also keeps black designers from making the cut. "When you pick up Vogue, Elle or Bazaar, they're always citing the designers to watch, but they're never black. The African American phenomenon never happens. We've gone through the '70s, '80s and '90s, and there is not one black designer that has made a lasting statement," insists designer Mikel Kilgour. He and his wife, Sweet, design the women's collection for Dion Scott, a company owned by Dion Lattimore and Scott Torrellas. He also serves as the firm's creative director in a consulting partnership. "The [high-end] market does not embrace talent from African American designers because people associate a certain lifestyle with the garments they purchase, and black designers aren't considered status symbols by the population at large," he proclaims. "So you might as well work for somebody else because the industry isn't going to make a black designer a star."

CHANGING RETAIL CLIMATE

The fashion arena wasn't always hostile to newcomers. In the past, department stores were willing to try out smaller companies, designers, manufacturers and other professionals. That's how Patrick Kelly, Willie Smith and Stephen Burrows--high profile African American designers--made their marks. However, increase competition from specialty stores and discount retailers and a change in consumer preference have forced department stores to change their strategy.