I
first met Cassandra Hobbins working on a cute sportswear collection called
Priorities. She made it look great, and
as a technical design director, I made it fit.
A few years later, I saw her design and sell her way through to first
runner-up on NBC’s Fashion Star.
Mentored by menswear icon John Varvatos, her chic aesthetic and designs
made her a judge and fan favorite.
What
many people don’t know is that Cassandra started her career in psychology in
Canada. She soon found her calling in
fashion and found an internship at a menswear company on the West Coast. A shoe company discovered her talents and
flew her to New York to run operations.
Soon, she was hired as a senior designer for many top labels.
Cassandra
sat down with Ms. Fabulous editor Mariana Leung to chat about her working style
and upcoming plans:
Ms. Fabulous: Prior
to the show, you had a fast trajectory when you first started out in as an
intern in menswear on the West Coast, then flying out to NYC when you were
hired to head up operations for a shoe label. Soon, your work led to a
prestigious position as head designer at Elie Tahari. What specific
things do you think you did differently from your peers that led to your quick
advancement?
Cassandra Hobbins: Well, I am
still not as far along as I want to be! However, I am doing pretty well considering
I am self-taught and didn't go to school for fashion design. I always felt
really fortunate to be given the opportunity at Orthodox to pretty much learn
as I went along and run a company for someone despite having no previous
experience. So, I just poured all my time, energy, effort, and passion into
that first position and worked my way up very fast. That is the beauty of
working at a small start-up - you get to wear many hats, learn all roles, how
they function together, and move up the ladder faster, with a well-rounded set
of skills under your belt, as well as having to become a manager of any new
people who come on board.
For me, I always go into every job thinking this may
start out as one thing, but I am going to make sure I go above and beyond to
make it even more. I'd accept a job as a janitor somewhere if I saw opportunity
to turn that janitor position into CEO. I am a sponge, love to learn,
love to have fun, love my job so much and work very hard - It's good to know
that there are employers out there that will actually reward you on those
merits alone, even in this cut throat industry.
Ms. F: It
was a big risk leaving an established position at Tahari for a shot to compete
on television. What were the pros and cons you had to weigh in making
that decision? Would you advise someone else to follow in your path?
CH:
Leaving Tahari was the easiest decision I've ever made, there was
absolutely nothing on the "cons" side to leaving Tahari. The pro's
side to leaving Tahari was about 7 pages long, I'll leave it at that ....
haha.
Ms. F: What
was the typical process week to week in designing for each challenge on Fashion
Star? How many hours and how many people did you work with?
CH: We were given the
challenge let's say on a Monday at 10 am. The garments then had to be
completed by 10 pm the next day. So about a day and a half once you
throw in all the fabric shopping, meetings, making a tv show stuff. We
had a pattern maker to work with. There was a sewing and cutting room that was
assigned / communal at crunch time.
Ms. F: Your
mentor on the show was John Varvatos. What was the most valuable thing
you learned from him and other mentors you have had in the past?
CH: John Varvatos was
amazing. He was always very supportive of me even in times when
everyone didn't understand why. I definitely learned the importance of
having confidence from him - a thing I often lack because I don't want people
to think I am being arrogant or delusional about myself.
I have had the
extreme fortune of having several mentors in life , the most important one
being Jon Levine in Los Angeles, who owns a consulting firm called Apparel
Advisors . He has consulted Wild Fox, Rock N Republic, has several brands
himself , was COO of James Perse - he taught me the importance of everyone and
everything being transparent in the structure of your company. You can't keep
everything in your own head and at some point you need to delegate because
trying to do everything will only hurt you and the growth of the business.
Doing "the most" work doesn't define your worth at a company,
it's the quality of your work that does.
Ms. F: What
are you working on now after the show has ended? Where can fans find your
work?
CH: I am working at a
company called Jump Apparel. I am doing a dress line there , my first
season for the brand being Spring 2014. I am excited to be working under the
creative director of Isaac Mizrahi (which is one of approximately 20
brands under the companies umbrella) . I am also hoping to launch a line
under my own brand name that will be an extension of the styles I did for
Express and Macy's on the show.
I am also in talks to do some guest writing for
an amazing Canadian fashion magazine called, Niche Magazine.
Finally, I am also
honored to be part of an amazing project created by a great friend and former
colleague of my first brand Prose IV , Casey Cleveland. It's a fashion
lifestyle project targeting the Health and Medical industry that will work to
provide healthcare services to the under privileged through the sales
of the product. We are expecting to launch later this year. In the meantime you
can follow us at S.A.L.T on social media with the handle
"saveanotherlifetoday" - on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.....
Ms. F: For
designers hoping to compete on the next season, what tips can you give for
being cast and the actual competition?
CH: I really hope there
will be a next season! The Friday night time slot this year was hard,
so I hope they come back with season 3 and on a different night. People need to
know that this format for designing product is literally how fast designing
works in the fashion industry. We have serious time constraints to pump out
tons of product with the help of a manufacturing team.
If in fact, the show
does come back next year, I would tell the cast members to enjoy the process of
making a TV show. Interact with your other cast mates, have fun, and get
to know all the production crew and people who make the show happen. If you are
working as a designer, you will likely always be a designer, but this may be
the only time in your life you get to film a TV show so make the best of it and
don't take yourself so seriously (the public will do that for you, haha!)
Ms. F: Thanks Cassandra and good luck!
Photos from NBC Fashion Star, Saks and Cassandrahobbins.com
: This book has all the basic skills and directions for almost any sewing skill you need to create samples for your first collection. The copy I had was an earlier version of this one. This edition is updated with better graphics and handy as ever. You can't be a fashion designer if you don't know how to build an actual collection.
and its sister series Pattern Magic
were originally published in Japanese, now available in English. If you mastered basic sewing skills, these books offer a deep dive into creative silhouettes for the true designer.
is written by PR maven Kelly Cutrone of People's Revolution, a top firm in the industry for many years. You might also remember this agency from reality shows The Hills and Kell on Earth. The book offers tough love and blunt talk about taking responsibility for yourself in the fashion industry.
is written by Barney's creative director Simon Doonan. He has written a bunch of memoirs, but this was his first and my favorite. His wit and colorful accounts of characters and fashion remind me of the passion you have for what you do when all else seems ridiculous.
I own a ton of fashion and art books for inspiration. It's my weakness. If I had to choose one, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's tome from the Alexander McQueen exhibit is my favorite. The fashion is already breathtaking, but the photography and art direction only enhances it.
If you ever needed a textbook for everything school didn't teach you, this would be it. The original edition was written by Mary Gelhar, a fairy Godmother of sorts behind the Gen Art organization that launched the careers of many a hot designer in the 1990s and 2000s. The updated edition has current production sources, advice from top designers and guidance for producing a business plan and fashion show.
