SHAUN JAMES COX
Ahead of the final round of the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund selection process, Paul Smith invited the seven finalists to stop by his London studio to pick his brains on how best to prepare and what it takes to play the fashion long game. Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY, Grace Wales Bonner, Rosh Mahtani of Alighieri, A.W.A.K.E Mode’s Natalia Alaverdian, Neous and former Fashion Fund finalists Rejina Pyo and David Koma left Smith’s Covent Garden headquarters one step closer to taking home the grand prize of £200,000 and a year-long mentoring scheme dedicated to helping them build their brand. Here’s the crux of what he told them.
SHAUN JAMES COX
Life doesn’t have to be a business plan
When I started out I didn’t dream of having fashion shows or having a business that sells in over 70 countries. There was no five-year plan (and in fact there still isn’t!), I’ve always just wanted to do a job that I looked forward to waking up to do every day. I’m very lucky that I’ve managed to achieve that. I think a positive outlook and an open mind are as important as anything else when it comes to running a business.
It’s not always about rocket-style take-offs
When people ask me when my business “took-off” I never really know what to say. I never had a moment of sudden success, it’s always been a very organic and steady kind of growth and that’s meant the business has been able to evolve gradually and build solid foundations.
Read more: Molly Goddard Wins The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund
Remember, nobody needs another designer!
I often say “nobody needs another designer”. I don’t ever mean that in a discouraging way, it’s just the industry is becoming more and more over-supplied. When I first started out as a designer there was only a handful of other designers fishing from the pond, over time the pond hasn’t grown that much but the number of people fishing from it has increased enormously. That means if you’re going to be in this business you have to be prepared to commit 100 per cent, otherwise there will always be another fisher willing to work harder than you.