Megan Cherewatenko
Bio:
Megan was born and raised in Seattle, WA and grew up with an attachment to clothes and sketching unlike any other.
She knew She wanted a career in the fashion industry from a very young age, which led me to attend The Art Institute of Seattle for a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design.
She enjoys designing sophisticated and whimsical women’s wear with bright colors, alluring prints, and feminine florals. An eye for detail, and design with a romantic flair, keeping the up most luxury in mind.
Her collections embody a glamorous and classy style with an exotic twist.
Visit www.megancherewatenko.com for contact information and portfolio.
1) Do you feel your formal fashion education at The Art Institute of Seattle helped prepare you for working in the industry if so what part?
Yes, without a doubt. Without my education from The Art Institute of Seattle there is no way I would’ve been able to be where I am at today. Even people who are self- taught still lack certain skills that I’ve learned through the Bachelor’s program at AIS. Each of the professors has worked- or still work out in the field for many years and they have a tremendous amount of “real world” experience that they pass onto all of us. Having this education has also created many mentors for me to go back to if I ever need advice or guidance in any way.
2) What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion, any do's and dont's?
I would start out by saying prepare yourself for long hours, brutal awakenings, and competition… and it’s the opposite of easy. Nothing in the fashion industry is sugar coated, and if your heart’s not in it, you won’t last very long. I have witnessed from experience. You have to be extremely determined, ambitious, driven, optimistic and confident all at the same time.
For advice, I would tell someone to be sure it’s the right career path for your before you start. If it’s not, it’ll be a waist of your time and money, as well as any other students. Less than 10% of the people I started my program with are still enrolled and on track to graduate today. In the school aspect of things, they say you get as much out of it as you’re willing to put in. I would suggest getting involved in anything and everything that you can handle. The more experience you have, the better. I’ve learned to squeeze as much opportunity out as possible, you’re learn so much more.
3) You start your internship in NYC starting in January what are you most excited about?
Yes, I’ll be interning with NYC based designer Nanette Lepore. I’m most excited to start interning there because Nanette is one of my all time favorite designers and I love everything about the company and its aesthetic. The rich colors and prints that she is known for, as well as the feminine and whimsical designs that are there season after season. It will be exciting to get hands on experience by working with fashion industry professionals at one of my favorite companies while learning more of what a textbook can’t teach me.
4) Where do you get your design inspiration? Where do you buy your fabric, buttons, etc.
I get design inspiration from many places. I use WGSN (Worth Global Style Network) primarily for trend researching, which is done at least a year in advance, sometimes up to 18 months in advance. From there you can research what things will be trending on the runways, colors, prints, styles etc. I get other inspiration by watching the high fashion runways, reading WWD (Women’s Wear Daily), drawing from old movies and TV shows. Prints are always an inspiration to me. I’m kind of known to do things out of order sometimes, where I think fabric speaks to me and I get an idea of what I want to make when I see it. I can also draw inspiration by architecture and nature types of things. There really in inspiration in almost anything, you just have to know where to look.
I like to buy my fabrics from NYC or LA, or I like to buy vintage fabrics more locally. This fall collection was mainly fabrics all from Mood Designer Fabrics in Los Angeles with some vintage fabrics that I got locally here in Seattle. I really wanted eclectic looking buttons for this collection, so I searched high and low and couldn’t find anything I liked until I found some online from the Czech Republic. So majorities of the buttons used in this fall collection are Czechoslovakian.
5) We know you are working at the next NYFW what do you expect to be a challenge or easy for you to do?
I’ve had a few years experience doing fashion shows, so I expect the craziness to be there and I’ll be used to that. I think the challenge will be that it’ll be a much larger show, and it’ll obviously be New York Fashion Week, which is a huge thing. I’ll be strictly helping with the Nanette Lepore show and usually the challenge in prepping for Fashion Week is just getting everything ready in the weeks prior to the show. Making sure all the samples are in, everything fits all the models perfectly, everything is styled, in order and accessorized and properly organized and ready to take to the Lincoln Park tents. From there but I’m sure there will be a tremendous amount of help on the day of the show for it run smoothly.
6) What is the best perk in being a designer?
From the outside, many people might think that being a designer is all about bright lights, limos, and sparkly things… at least that’s what someone told me one time. However, it’s really not as glamorous as you’d think. Being a designer is very hard work. There is a lot of research, planning, long hours, and continuous deadlines that is somehow within every fashion industry job. Every person has to start from the bottom and climb there way up the ladder. So as of right now, I don’t really see any “perks” in being a designer.
However, since designing is what I love to do, I would say the best perk about being a designer is that I get to be around what I love to do every day. I’ve loved fashion from a very young age, and to do well in the industry you really have to live it, love it, and breathe it every day. I think if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. And that is exactly what I intend to do!
7) What is the most difficult aspect of running your own label versus i.e. design, production, sales, finance, and advertising. Do you see yourself starting a large line in the future?
I don’t fully have my own line yet, since I’m not manufacturing or selling in stores or anything like that. Currently, I make individual “one of a kind” pieces and if someone wants to purchase one or some of them, I’m open to negotiate that. Since I am the one who does all the designing, patterning, samples, and production of each of the pieces I would say the most difficult part right now in creating a label of my own would be the time commitment it takes while being a full time student, as well as the investment.
It is a long-term goal of mine to eventually own my own line in the future and either sell at an independent store or do wholesaling (to department stores) after I have gained enough experience and financial backing by working in the industry. I have all the knowledge and contacts of what it would take for me to design and completely produce and manufacture a line, but the cost would be around $100K.
8) What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry?
I wish people would understand that fashion isn’t all the glitz and glamour that it is depicted to be. Like I said before, there is so much sweat and long hours that are put into making one fashion show happen that lasts around 60 minutes. The amount of work and creative efforts that it takes to make a sketched idea and put it on the runway or on a rack in the store is indescribable unless you know exactly how it happens. People who are unaware of the process just assume it’s a piece of cake career and an easy out and they have no idea. I wish people would better acknowledge every part of the process that makes it possible for them to walk into a store and buy something off the rack, not even knowing what it took to get it there.
9) What trends do you see being big for 2012?
In early 2012 seventies fashion remains high on the list. This is a carry over trend from last spring/summer. There are many seventies influences in silhouette and color choice in my fall line and those will be seen a lot in fashion early next year. Things like wide leg pants and flares. There will also be a “tough” trend playing on the biker and punk themes that will be apparent next season. Trending details that will be popular will include plunging necklines, pleating, fur, and sheer clothing. The women’s tuxedo, bell-bottoms and wide leg pants will also be popular.
As for next spring, there will be many 60s and 20s influences. The seventies fad from fall and winter will be replaced by sixties silhouettes. Extremely bright colors combined with neon’s will be popular. The twenties, with a Great Gatsby influence will be another popular style for next spring. It will have a roaring twenties feel with a modern 30s twist.
