SPUN |
Meet local designer, Sara Seumae of SPUN,
our featured designer for October.
What kind of products do you create and where can people find them? I try to bring wearable yet fashionable clothing which happen to be affordable, to women who care about our beautiful planet and the people who live on it.
What inspired you to start doing what you do? You can find the full story on the SPUN website. The short version….”necessity is the mother of invention”. I was looking for affordable organic clothing and, at the time, wasn’t able to locate any that was in line with how I like to dress. I wanted styles that were classic and easily incorporated into my wardrobe. |
What's your background and have you always been creative? Are there other artistic endeavors you're involved in? My background consists of mostly business and real estate. I did work in retail for a few years when I was younger which I think really helped me learn about the business side of fashion. I also learned to listen to what customers want rather than create pieces that I like. SPUN is currently my only artistic outlet. As a wife and mother of two, I’m a busy bee!
Where do you get your ideas for your designs? Believe it or not, I get most of my ideas from my customers. I listen to women I meet at shows, in the street, magazines, and even the boutiques and bloggers I have a personal relationship with. I think these are all great ways to learn what the public wants. For example, I introduced plus sizing (XL) in my last collection. This was mainly due to customer requests and as a recommendation from my fashion blogger friend Grechen Cohen (greengrechen.com). I wanted to offer that size anyway but hearing that so many women wanted it, made me feel more comfortable.
What type of equipment do you use? Do you make all of your pieces yourself? I am fully involved in the sampling and designing stage but as soon as a style has been confirmed, I pass it on to a little sewing house in LA. I find that it’s less expensive for me to take this route and it offers more consistent quality. I want to continue to offer affordable organics so it’s imperative for me to be able to find ways to make this possible for my customers.
How do you see expanding your line in the near future? I really enjoyed making dresses last season and hope to offer more dresses in the future. I’m also very interested in moving towards bottoms. Slacks, comfy pants, shorts… I’ve got some great ideas and hope to make them into a reality very soon.
Whose work do you admire? There really isn’t one particular person whom I feel has it all figured out. But as I meet more and more women, I can’t help but be in complete awe over the sheer number of creative and successful women here in Seattle. I seem to be surrounded by women who, like me, have that entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t know how they do it but just being around them all gives me the charge I need to get back out there.
What advice would you offer new designers entering the market? Absolutely 100%, listen to your inner voice. Lots of different opportunities might come your way. You will get “advice” from hundreds of people, most of them unwarranted. But at the end of the day, it’s your name on that label and you know what’s best for your business. I promised this to myself when I first started and have only gone against it twice (which is pretty good). It hurt in the end but I will know better next time.
What is your vision for your business and where would you like to be in five years? I envision SPUN as having more classic styles for women. I would love to be able to open my own store or partner with a local boutique, which would allow me to make all the pieces available to the public. I enjoy meeting women who love SPUN and would love to be in a location where this could be a daily occurrence.
What current trend would you like to see go away? There really isn’t any particular style that I would like to see go away. The fun part about fashion is that it’s a form of expression. I think if you don’t like how a person is dressed or a particular outfit they have chosen to wear, you should keep it to yourself. We’re all unique and none of us have the right to judge one another, especially not with fashion. Just because I choose not to wear something, doesn’t mean I want to see it go away completely.
If you could have one item, new or vintage, what would it be? I would love to have my mother’s wedding dress. My parents were on a tight budget when they got married. My mom ended up borrowing her wedding dress from someone so she didn’t get a chance to keep it. I wish I could go back in time and buy the dress for her so she could have it today. It was beautiful and I wish I could have worn it on my wedding day.
What item did you wear to shreds growing up? I used to own a “WHAM” t-shirt that had a picture of George Michael and the other guy on it. It didn’t say anything other than WHAM but I remember it being very comfortable. I have no idea where it even came from or why I loved it, but you can see me wearing it a lot in pictures from 1988-1992. No idea what happened to it.
FUN
FACTS:
What's your favorite color?
My favorite colors are black and green. I love wearing black and I feel more comfortable when I do. Green is my go to color with everything else. My nursery was green when I was a baby, my parents bought me a green car when I turned 16, my bed sheets were always green, my wedding colors were white and green, and all the little nick-knacks in my house are mostly green. I find it to be soothing and lovely.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
I have given this question a lot of thought over the years. I sort of have it planned just in case! I plan on using it to pay off all of our debt (which is huge thanks to SPUN) as well as my parents and my sister’s debt. I would also use some of it to help pay for my sister’s wedding which is currently being planned for next year. I would also put some away for my daughter’s college funds and put away a little in a savings for them to use as they see fit. I also would like to donate a large chunk to a handful of charities. I was raised believing that charity will bring happiness and wealth. Not financial wealth but that feeling of contentment that you feel when you get that perfect gift for someone and they love it.
Pet of choice?
To be honest, I really like a clean house. This is hard enough to maintain given 2 kids, so the idea of any sort of pet to take care of or clean up after, makes me stress. How about a picture of a cute Persian cat?
What makes you laugh every time?
I’m sure there are lots of things that make me laugh every time, but the first thing that came to mind was “Friends”. Back when we were dating, and the show was on tv on Thursdays, my husband couldn’t stand watching it with me. He said that I had an obnoxious laugh when I watched it. I can’t help it, it’s a well written show!
What are you embarrassed to admit you can't live without?
My tweezers. Enough said.
What do you listen to over and over again on your iPod?
Ummm…I don’t have an iPod. Sorry but I can’t afford to spend the time downloading music, etc. I was a mess when Napster came around. I don’t miss that Sara.
Paper, plastic or re-useable shopping bag?
Re-usable shopping bags 99% of the time. The other 1% is paper bags for the times when I forget to bring my own bag. I keep them in my trunk now which seems to help.
What's your favorite movie of all time?
My favorite movie of all time is a tie between “Pretty Woman” and “Sleepless in Seattle”. I know all the words to both movies by heart and actually say them all when I’m watching them. I have probably watched both movies at least a hundred times, each. And I cry at the end of both each and every time no matter what.
Who/what are you currently obsessed with?
Unfortunately, I will have to answer TWITTER for this one. I don’t know how it happened but I find myself needing my daily twitter fix. I have even started using hashtags in emails and text messages. #nerd
Favorite food?
I love Persian food because it’s feel good home cooking that is pretty much my everyday as well as my go to comfort food. I also love pizza and sushi as my “treat” food.
What was your favorite band growing up?
Is this when I’m supposed to name a cool band that makes me sound awesome? Because the truth is that I was (is?) obsessed with New Kids on the Block. I loved them and dreamt about marrying Jordan. I finally saw them in concert last year and pretty much had a heart attack. They still got it! The right stuff that is! ;) |
|
Archive
of Past Featured Designers:
|
