FIDM Students Get a Fashion Primer From Sue Wong
Los Angeles designer Sue Wong gave students at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising a quick Reality 101 class during an Aug. 18 talk at the design school’s downtown Los Angeles campus.
The designer, who currently heads a growing empire of eveningwear and daywear along with a fledgling licensedgoods division, wanted to convey to the next generation of designers that the fashion industry isn’t all about glam.
“It’s anything but glamorous,” Wong said during the event, presented by the school’s alumni association. “It’s about hard work and sacrifices. You have to live, breath and eat fashion to make it.”
Wong spent only one month in fashion school. Dropping out was a decision she regretted, and she warned students about making the same mistake. The designer gave students a short version of her rags-to-riches-torags story, of how she started out in a small store in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach neighborhood and grew into a rising star, only to lose everything by her 30th birthday by making the wrong business decisions. “Don’t leave school. Learn the technical aspects of patternmaking, grading and specifications. You have to be well-rounded,” she advised.
Wong said she didn’t know a lot of those skills when it counted. She got by with her design and visual skills but had to work harder than others because of her lack of in-school education.
“I had a single focus to succeed, but I had to learn the hard way,” she said. “I learned on the job, and I thought I could do it all on my own, but you really can’t without the necessary skills.”
Once Wong picked up a strong business sense through the school of hard knocks, she began to establish her business for the long run.
Wong shifted her sourcing offshore, set up a corporate showroom and hired the best people she could find. She found her niche in romantic eveningwear embellished with beading and other detailing. With more than 150 pieces per line, Wong still does her own designs for Sue Wong Nocturne eveningwear and the Sue Wong Collection.
Now that she has some national brand power, the designer is getting into licensing. Wong has licensed Sue Wong Footwear to Omni Footwear Inc. and is looking at a Spring ’05 debut. She said she is exploring additional licensing deals for other products.
Wong’s business racked up $35 million in revenues in 2003, and the designer projects sales of $35 million to $40 million for 2004.
“It’s a great business to be in. I can’t think of any other career to be in,” Wong told students. “Every season you start naked before a palette. This keeps your creativity alive. I’ve never gotten bored in this business.” —Robert McAllister
