A guide to starting a fashion design club.
Disclaimer: First of all, this is not a guide. This is not advice. And if you are still reading it like advice, I would highly advise against that.
1. Have an identity crisis
CSE 142. Also known as where dreams go to die.
It was freshman year. I was taking my first computer science class. I hated it. But, then I got into the informatics major. And at the time, that was what I wanted, or at least so I thought. Instead, I was spending hours researching fashion programs and sketching concept designs when I should’ve been attending lectures and coding away. I became obsessed with learning about designers, their inspirations, their design processes, and their stories. And, it took me a while to realize: why couldn’t that be me?
2. Make your own solution
I decided it could not in fact be me because:
1. I lacked discipline
2. I lacked skill
But, in reality both of these restrictions are self-induced. Something, I failed to realize and instead decided to curb my fashion aspirations.
I have always struggled with putting my ideas into action. But as cliche as it sounds, it really is about getting started. Skill definitely takes both motivation and practice to develop. But in the realm of fashion design, it’s more than that. It’s about having the right equipment and the right network; neither of which I had.
The onslaught of Zoom university suddenly opened up an abundance of free time for me to revisit my creative passions. I got a sewing machine. Only to be repeatedly frustrated by tension issues, broken needles, and constant seam ripping.
I looked into resources offered at UW for fashion design. But guess what, there are none. (Or, there were none). I started to wonder if there were others at UW struggling with how to begin their fashion design journey. In a school with 50,000 students there had to be— I just didn’t know how to find them. After that, I started brainstorming a platform to bring together aspiring fashion creatives based in Seattle. I didn’t know it then but this was the initial beginnings of MESH, est 2021.
3. Just do it (Ya ya I know. Cliches on cliches baby).
Summer ended. I moved back to Seattle. A week went by, and then two.
I started telling people that I was going to start this club, but with nothing ready to back up my intentions. I woke up everyday feeling insanely guilty. I had all these plans and ideas written up from several months ago, but I just couldn’t get myself to execute them.
I wanted every little detail to be perfect. Which was a major flaw. For context, I must’ve worked on the logo for at least 2 months and went through like 5 different name changes before landing upon MESH.
I have an insanely hard time making decisions. But seriously, don’t overthink it. (extremely ironic coming from me). Flip a coin, make a pro-cons chart, let the fates decide, whatever. Sometimes, you just have to get your ideas out there. Perfect or not.
4. Become a robot zombie. (This is really just a euphemism for workaholism).
I think the key to making something work is being a little bit obsessed with it. I straight up did not think about anything but MESH for weeks. So much of my brain was filled with interviews, planning, scheduling, etc etc that I was a literal MESH zombie. I was completely neglecting school, my friends, and my own mental health. Add not sleeping onto the zero social interaction mix and you get a full on breakdown in the middle of class. So embarrassing.
5. Co-parenting
After that, I decided If I wanted MESH to have any potential of working, I needed an actual team, like ASAP. Up until this point, I felt like MESH was my baby and wasn’t ready to share it with anyone else. But, you really can’t do it all. Even if you think you can.
Finding the right people to work with is hard. I don’t think there is one right way of forming a dream team. But one thing I can say for certain is there are always people out there who are as passionate as you are. You just have to find them.
There is no way I can properly articulate the formation of the MESH team. It was a series of crazy coincidences that I can only link to fate. I ended up throwing a group of strangers into a team 2 days before our first informational meeting, and ever since they’ve been my second family. MESH would not exist today if it weren’t for Dan Nguyen, Justin Totaan, Amy Sun, Archie Sugiyama, and Tianna Andresen.
6. Maintain a Balance
This is more of a self reminder, and I think immortalizing it in writing may help. I’ve always liked the feeling of being extremely back-to-back busy. But consequently I am also very lazy. A bit of a paradox, no? But once I got on the MESH train, I didn’t know how to get off.
Even as I write this, I straight up have zero school-work-life balance. My mom might disagree with this whole abandoning school thing but.. uhh too late. I literally had to write 11 essays in one week because of my idiotic tendencies. So ya, don’t try this at home kids.
7. Take every opportunity that comes your way
So ya, this is actual advice advice, shocking. BUT, I am not an expert. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing 99% of the time. The only thing I can say for certain is if you’re passionate about something make sure you do everything you possibly can to work towards it. And hopefully with enough motivation and confidence you get there.
I hope in some twisted way this non-guide guide helped inspire you to get out there and do what you’ve been thinking about. And again, please do NOT follow the steps outlined above. Thanks for reading my story.
Xoxo Manya