ARTrepreneur of the Month–March 2014
Lisa Elstun
Lisa Ramfjord Elstun is revolutionizing the Colorado fashion industry with her new Fashion Design Center (FDC), which focuses on “small brands with big plans” who are looking to take that next step to New York and beyond. Lisa was recently honored as Westword’s 2014 Mastermind of Fashion/Design, and is the March 2014 ARTrepreneur of the Month.
CREATE: Tell us your story. When and why did you get into fashion?
Lisa: My grandmother taught me to sew around age 6 or 7. Growing up, we didn’t have extra for new clothes so it became apparent that if I wanted something new to wear, it was handcrafted.
In 7th grade, my Home Economics teacher must have seen something in my work. Now with fond memories, I remember her insisting that my work must have perfect straight stitches in the French seams on a cotton voile nightgown! It was probably then that my mantra became “As you sew, so shall you rip!”
Three weeks of retirement compelled a reflection on “this is the rest of your life!” so I made the commitment to do one creative thing every day to minimize boredom. On frustrating teaching days, I would shake it off with “one of these days, I’ll get my sewing business going full-time.” By the beginning of the 4th week, LRE Couture & Design, LLC. was a reality.
CREATE: Give us your thoughts on Denver’s exploding fashion scene.
Lisa: Fashion is exploding all over the state. There are many events centered around fashion as arts and entertainment, as well as a part of sports with the SnowSports Industries America show and numerous outdoor and action wear companies based in Colorado. In addition, there are 4 post-secondary design and merchandising education programs with many graduates not wanting to transfer to either coast to find work.
CREATE: Tell us about how the Fashion Design Center came about.
Lisa: Four years ago, I was looking for the resources to build my fashion business to produce 6 different brands. I attended an Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program and many seminars to create the requisite business plan to take to the bank for financing. All were useful from the generic perspective; however, the concepts needed complete transformation to apply to the business of fashion. Membership in Fashion Group International provides a huge network of fashion professionals, yet there wasn’t a single resource to go to for answers and guidance.
After much research and modification of information, one morning while grumbling, the cloud of frustration was lifted when I realized that I had become the resource I was seeking. My years of experience as CEO in diverse leadership roles, advancing technical education through the active learning process with critical and abstract thinking, along with the skills of a couture designer, are rarely possessed by one passionate innovator. My epiphany was “Stop looking for someone else. Just do it yourself!”
With that clarity, the Fashion Design Center (FDC) vision became my passion. Given that couture gowns were not sought after by brides during the past few years, I focused my energy during this period to formulate the “revolutionary garment district” in Denver. Revolutionary, because garment districts typically are spread out and one must make several stops to get the answers. The FDC is the hub of the industry in Denver with everything a designer needs to create, produce and sell their brand in one place. Evolution is in bold typeface because the fashion industry needs to evolve to meet changing consumer habits in a global marketplace and italicized to emphasize forward thinking.
After many discussions with other entrepreneurs, the primary clientele for the FDC is designers and artists like me, who:
• Are prepared to take their fashion business, apparel and accessories, to the next level with brand development and marketing opportunities.
• Require a professional workroom capable of fulfilling orders at high end industry standard manufacturing and embrace detailed design construction and exquisite fabrics.
• Prefer prescreened business development and management with accountability.
• Thrive in a collaborative work space.
• Will rarely leave Denver or Colorado to pursue these goals.
CREATE: Tell us about your involvement with CREATE MSU Denver.
Lisa: As an educator who believes in creating a career options map, I share a vision of the variety of opportunities for emerging designers and graduates as well as for aspiring novices.
As a founding board member of the Denver Design Incubator (DDI) powered by Ralph’s, mentoring someone through start-up fundamentals was an infrequent topic for courses, but invariably the most asked questions. Unless a student minors in Business, Design and Merchandising majors rarely learn about setting up and running their own business.
As the DDI Education committee chair, I met with CREATE’s Assistant Director Cindy Busch, who asked about collaborating with DDI to provide the business aspect to their program. The DDI board agreed, and the program will be recommended to designers visiting the FDC if they wish to educate themselves about running a business.
Other involvement includes my LRE Couture collection being moved from the Denver Art Museum’s Yves St. Laurent exhibit to the CREATE Showroom. The collection included bridal and special occasion gowns that have been on the runway, and are back into the Showroom. I had a blast emceeing the fall 2014 OWN IT Fashion Show, and was recently asked to be a fashion business advisor for CREATE clients.
CREATE: What are some challenges in the business of being a fashion designer today?
Lisa: Being a business owner as well as a creative director is probably the most challenging job for designers. Second, the lack of access to traditional funding sources for start-ups as well as qualifying for enough funding to span the 18 month process of design, produce, deliver and sell before getting paid by vendors requires working another job that pays the bills but limits design time or creative financing.
Third, competing with “fast fashion” where conspicuous consumption by consumer demands for new inventory, sometimes on a daily basis, which in turn drives production and transport without regard to the environmental impact of waste, Third World labor practices and actual long term costs.
Fourth, re-educating the consumer to understand that “slow fashion” created locally with durable goods, cost efficient business practices, albeit at a higher price, provides a huge return on their investment both in their own pockets as well as the local economy and the environment.
CREATE: What advice would you give to beginners or other fashion designers?
Lisa:
• STAND OUT!
• Figure out what differentiates you from the rest of the design industry. Craft one, yes, just one sentence that relays that message. For example: “The FDC is a revolutionary garment district for “small brands with big plans™” or “LRE Couture creates Real Clothes for Real Women with Real Curves and we all have them in different sizes and places!”
• Know what brand you personally stand for and how that translates into a connection with your target market psychographics.
You can find Lisa and the Fashion Design Center in the heart of RiNo (Denver’s River North Art District) at 3301 Lawrence Street #3. For more information, visit facebook.com/ Fashion-Design-Center-Denver.
Category: ARTrepreneurship
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