Latest / QUESTION EVERYTHING / A New Era in Fashion: with Sami Miro (SM Vintage, Sustainable Fashion)

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A New Era in Fashion: with Sami Miro (SM Vintage, Sustainable Fashion) · QUESTION EVERYTHING

0:04
Speaker 1: Big things happen when you're pretty, pretty bold, pretty clever,
0:08
Speaker 1: pretty strong. I'm Danielle Robe, and each week my guests
0:12
Speaker 1: and I have conversations that.
0:13
Speaker 2: Put a new spin on pretty. This is pretty smart.
0:19
Speaker 1: I've always been drawn to people who live by the
0:21
Speaker 1: statement do well by doing good.
0:24
Speaker 2: Our guest today does just that.
0:29
Speaker 1: Sammy Muro is a sustainable fashion designer with her own line,
0:33
Speaker 1: Sammy Muro Vintage. Her designs have this unique, undone look.
0:37
Speaker 1: You'll often see her signature safety pins. It's almost like
0:41
Speaker 1: she took a scissor to your favorite shirt or blazer.
0:43
Speaker 1: And that's because she probably did. But let me back
0:47
Speaker 1: up for a second. Sammy's path to fashion was anything
0:50
Speaker 1: but traditional. Before she founded her label, the San Francisco
0:54
Speaker 1: native was making a name for herself in Silicon Valley
0:57
Speaker 1: at a successful tech startup.
1:00
Speaker 2: When she moved to La she realized she.
1:01
Speaker 1: Could turn her passion for vintage clothing into a career.
1:06
Speaker 1: She launched Sammy Murro Vintage in twenty sixteen. Soon after launching,
1:10
Speaker 1: she was enlisted by Selena Gomez to design her world
1:13
Speaker 1: tour wardrobe. Now Kendall Jenner, Belahadide, Hailey Bieber and Billie
1:19
Speaker 1: Eilish hit Sammy up for her unique designs. Leave Eyes
1:22
Speaker 1: even tapped Sammy Mirror Vintage for an exclusive up cycled
1:25
Speaker 1: collab collection. Last month, Sammy reimagined their Denham from an
1:29
Speaker 1: eco conscious standpoint. She's clearly doing well, but here comes
1:35
Speaker 1: the doing good part. It's no secret that our obsession
1:38
Speaker 1: with fashion, and in some cases fast fashion, is hurting
1:42
Speaker 1: the environment. The UN says the fashion industry accounts for
1:45
Speaker 1: up to ten percent of global carbon dioxide output, making
1:49
Speaker 1: it one of the most wasteful industries and most harmful
1:53
Speaker 1: to our climate. And more clothing is being produced now
1:56
Speaker 1: than ever. Some estimates from the World Economic Forums suggest
2:00
Speaker 1: the numbers of garments being produced each year has doubled
2:04
Speaker 1: since the year two thousand. Today, Sammy's telling us what
2:08
Speaker 1: sustainability and fashion really means, because, to be honest, I
2:11
Speaker 1: was kind of confused by it all. And she's sharing
2:15
Speaker 1: her vision for a cleaner, more resourceful, fashionable future and
2:19
Speaker 1: sharing some tips and how to give new life to
2:22
Speaker 1: the classics in our closet. So, Sammy, growing up, you
2:28
Speaker 1: said you had no connection to the fashion world, and
2:31
Speaker 1: I laughed when I heard that because I felt the
2:33
Speaker 1: same way coming from Chicago. How did you know this
2:37
Speaker 1: is something that you wanted and that you had this
2:39
Speaker 1: really unique perspective.
2:41
Speaker 3: I knew that this was something that I wanted once
2:44
Speaker 3: I found my first connection to the fashion world, and
2:50
Speaker 3: once I met people in creative industries who liked the
2:54
Speaker 3: weird way that I dressed. And then I just kind
2:58
Speaker 3: of decided to on the weekends intern and be like
3:01
Speaker 3: a coffee runner at a magazine photoshoot, just to experience fashion.
3:06
Speaker 3: And then I realized that there was something creative in
3:09
Speaker 3: me that was dormant being from San Francisco, and so
3:12
Speaker 3: I just quit my corporate life and gave it a go.
3:17
Speaker 1: So before we get into corporate life, because that's actually
3:20
Speaker 1: a big part of what kind of sprung you into action.
3:24
Speaker 1: But you were a kid in San Francisco. You had
3:27
Speaker 1: a brother, you were raised by your dad, and I
3:30
Speaker 1: heard that you went to a private school. And part
3:34
Speaker 1: of this whole vintage style that you came up with
3:37
Speaker 1: was that you weren't able to afford some of the clothes.
3:40
Speaker 2: That all the other kids had, and so you came
3:42
Speaker 2: up with your own. Yeah, exactly.
3:45
Speaker 3: It really at first it stemmed from insecurity because the
3:52
Speaker 3: students at my high school were very wealthy, and people
3:56
Speaker 3: were driving to school in range rovers and I was
3:58
Speaker 3: taking the bus. But I was always used to being
4:01
Speaker 3: the odd person out, whether it was because of my
4:05
Speaker 3: economic background, or if it was because I was the
4:09
Speaker 3: only person of color around, or I was the only
4:13
Speaker 3: girl in my household, you know. So I always found
4:16
Speaker 3: comfort and being different, which is an odd thing, but
4:20
Speaker 3: it's a really big motivator for me. So it stemmed
4:23
Speaker 3: from insecurity because I was the shyest girl in the
4:28
Speaker 3: world and everyone was wearing La Coste and Juicy and
4:32
Speaker 3: Uggs and you know, all these things that my dad
4:35
Speaker 3: was like, no, I'm not going to spend seventy dollars
4:39
Speaker 3: or however it was on a polo or one hundred something.
4:43
Speaker 2: For your ug boots.
4:45
Speaker 3: So I was one day I was walking around San
4:47
Speaker 3: Francisco and I found this boutique and in the very
4:50
Speaker 3: back of the boutique it was all vintage and it
4:53
Speaker 3: was all thrifted, and I found a La cost polo
4:56
Speaker 3: back there and it was five dollars or something, and
4:59
Speaker 3: it was at one point purple, and now it had
5:03
Speaker 3: become kind of like this weird sun damaged mob with
5:06
Speaker 3: holes in it, and it was five dollars and it
5:09
Speaker 3: had the alligator and that's all I needed.
5:11
Speaker 2: So I wore.
5:11
Speaker 3: It almost every single day. And then I just I
5:16
Speaker 3: realized that being the only person in the world with
5:20
Speaker 3: that exact polo that had the sun damage and the
5:23
Speaker 3: holes in it made me feel really special and unique,
5:27
Speaker 3: where everyone kind of looked at me, you know, what
5:29
Speaker 3: are those holes? You know, knew with tag was a
5:32
Speaker 3: thing back then it wasn't cool to wear some raty
5:35
Speaker 3: vintage stuff like it is today. So it really just
5:40
Speaker 3: boosted my creativity to want to be the only one
5:44
Speaker 3: in the world wearing whatever it was. And then from
5:46
Speaker 3: then on it was just you know, that just became
5:51
Speaker 3: me and I was that girl.
5:52
Speaker 2: Do you remember the first time it worked?
5:54
Speaker 1: Because I feel like it takes a little time to
5:57
Speaker 1: go thrifting and put stuff together.
6:00
Speaker 2: Well, it works when you feel that it works. Oh interesting.
6:05
Speaker 2: I think that's the whole thing about fashion. It's for me.
6:08
Speaker 3: It's not about trends, it's not about following what's cool
6:12
Speaker 3: at the moment. It's wearing something that's flattering that makes.
6:15
Speaker 2: You feel good.
6:16
Speaker 3: Because if you're wearing you know, whatever it is, the
6:18
Speaker 3: coolest trend at the time, but you feel uncomfortable in it,
6:23
Speaker 3: that's going to reek from you. And even if you're
6:28
Speaker 3: wearing the most simple, basic thing, but it gives you confidence,
6:32
Speaker 3: then that's the thing that matters most about fashion to me.
6:36
Speaker 3: But for me, I want to be the weirdest one,
6:38
Speaker 3: and were's something that's cut up and that's holds all
6:41
Speaker 3: over it, and that's what makes me feel comfortable.
6:44
Speaker 1: You mentioned that you didn't start in fashion, you actually
6:46
Speaker 1: started out in the corporate world. How did you decide
6:50
Speaker 1: this is not for me, I'm leaving, I don't want
6:54
Speaker 1: this life.
6:56
Speaker 3: Well, the funny thing was is that I knew that
6:59
Speaker 3: my goal at one point was to be an entrepreneur,
7:03
Speaker 3: but I had no idea that I would end up
7:05
Speaker 3: being in fashion. And when I was working for my
7:09
Speaker 3: corporate tech job, like I said, I was interning and
7:13
Speaker 3: doing you know, low level stuff just to experience. You know,
7:18
Speaker 3: I didn't know any designers, I didn't know any range
7:23
Speaker 3: of fashion and how intricate it could be. But when
7:27
Speaker 3: I when I quit, I just I was trying out
7:31
Speaker 3: all of these different things and whether it was my
7:34
Speaker 3: first time doing things in front of the camera, like
7:36
Speaker 3: modeling and doing a lot of styling, and then I
7:38
Speaker 3: just kind of realized that I wanted to push myself
7:43
Speaker 3: and combine my goal of being an entrepreneur and my
7:47
Speaker 3: business acumen that I had from school and from working
7:51
Speaker 3: at a startup with my new found realization of creativity
7:56
Speaker 3: that I had always had, but I just didn't know
7:58
Speaker 3: how to hone into it or to make get a business.
8:01
Speaker 1: I love that you mentioned the startup because tech is
8:05
Speaker 1: all about looking towards the future and vintage is all
8:08
Speaker 1: about relishing the past. And here you have these two
8:14
Speaker 1: really divergent interests. How do they come together for Sammy
8:18
Speaker 1: Merro Vintage.
8:19
Speaker 2: That is so interesting.
8:21
Speaker 3: I somehow have never thought about it like that, but
8:24
Speaker 3: that's a really beautiful thing. How it came together for
8:28
Speaker 3: Sammy Merrol Vintage was that everything that I do is
8:32
Speaker 3: extremely authentic to me, Like I'm not an actor. I
8:35
Speaker 3: can't lie, I can't say I love your outfit if
8:37
Speaker 3: I don't love your outfit, if I give somebody a compliment,
8:40
Speaker 3: it's very authentic and it's honest and it comes from
8:43
Speaker 3: the heart. So I knew that when I started my business,
8:47
Speaker 3: especially in fashion, I was this vintage girl that it
8:51
Speaker 3: had to remain true to that, and I also, growing
8:55
Speaker 3: up in San Francisco, caring about the planet is very
8:59
Speaker 3: important too. To be able to combine those two things
9:02
Speaker 3: that were very real to my life were essential. So
9:06
Speaker 3: I knew that by designing, and it actually took some
9:09
Speaker 3: time for me to figure out how to be a
9:12
Speaker 3: designer with using vintage fabrics, because back then, in twenty sixteen,
9:18
Speaker 3: it was it was, it didn't exist, like reworking vintage
9:23
Speaker 3: and upcycling wasn't a thing.
9:26
Speaker 2: So I had an epiphany.
9:28
Speaker 3: One day and realized, this is Samy Mirror vintage. And
9:32
Speaker 3: then from there it just you know, became a thing.
9:35
Speaker 3: And then I just worked endlessly to make it happen.
9:38
Speaker 3: It is just so crazy that you say what you
9:40
Speaker 3: just said when it's such an It seems like such
9:43
Speaker 3: an obvious thing. But I never thought about it like that.
9:46
Speaker 1: I always think it's hard to see your own journey,
9:48
Speaker 1: you know, it's way easier when people reflect back to you.
9:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I found that to be really unique.
9:54
Speaker 1: How do you describe Samy Mura vintage to somebody who
9:56
Speaker 1: hasn't seen the line yet.
9:59
Speaker 3: Well, it has evolved since the early days. How I
10:04
Speaker 3: really created the brand identity was by reworking vintage and
10:07
Speaker 3: creating one of ones. And I did that also because
10:11
Speaker 3: I had no experience one being an entrepreneur myself two
10:15
Speaker 3: doing it in fashion. Didn't know anything about the business
10:18
Speaker 3: side of fashion, so I was able to not spend
10:23
Speaker 3: as much.
10:23
Speaker 2: Money by doing it that way.
10:25
Speaker 3: And then since then, since twenty twenty, we've been doing
10:28
Speaker 3: both collections, cut and so as well as one of one's.
10:33
Speaker 3: How I would describe saving mer or vintage now is
10:38
Speaker 3: that well. Really, as a designer, what makes me happy
10:43
Speaker 3: and what excites me is to design things that every
10:48
Speaker 3: person needs and wants in their wardrobe, but to do
10:52
Speaker 3: it in a way that hasn't been done before.
10:54
Speaker 1: Hence all the paper clips and the cutting, yeah, and
10:58
Speaker 1: the things that make these like I think they're timeless
11:01
Speaker 1: pieces with a unique twist.
11:03
Speaker 3: Yes, thank you, And that really is the goal, because
11:07
Speaker 3: I want to make the perfect T shirt that every
11:10
Speaker 3: person wants in their wardrobe. But I also want to
11:15
Speaker 3: add really beautiful details into it, like our signature open
11:20
Speaker 3: seam lines that we have, and really amp up the
11:26
Speaker 3: value of it by focusing on those details. Because for me,
11:30
Speaker 3: I never want to be one of those brands that
11:32
Speaker 3: just has like my logo all over and the screenprint
11:35
Speaker 3: so that someone can see it a mile away. I'd
11:38
Speaker 3: rather have signatures to my brand that scream the brand,
11:44
Speaker 3: but there's no logo.
11:46
Speaker 2: Thank you for that. I really I'm not into logo
11:49
Speaker 2: clothing like that.
11:50
Speaker 1: This is gonna sound really dumb, so excuse I doubt it.
11:54
Speaker 2: It is. I don't understand.
11:56
Speaker 1: I researched it, I still don't understand what sustainable means inact,
12:01
Speaker 1: and I know that's a big pillar for your brand.
12:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, that's a great question, and I don't think
12:07
Speaker 3: that's stupid at all. I think that it's a question
12:11
Speaker 3: that probably a lot of people have. And I think
12:15
Speaker 3: nowadays the word sustainable has almost become more of a
12:20
Speaker 3: marketing term and allows a lot of greenwashing to come
12:26
Speaker 3: into the business because now it's this key thing that
12:30
Speaker 3: everybody needs to focus. Whether you're an existing brand or
12:33
Speaker 3: a new brand, it has to be something that is
12:37
Speaker 3: rooted inside of the business. Sustainability to me is there
12:43
Speaker 3: are a lot of ways to be sustainable, and we
12:46
Speaker 3: strive to be sustainable in every possible way. So one
12:51
Speaker 3: way could be with the fabrics that you use for SMV,
12:55
Speaker 3: we use vintage fabrics and Dad's stock fabrics, and both
13:01
Speaker 3: of those are pre existing materials, so it takes no
13:06
Speaker 3: additional manufacturing, no water usage, no dying, no production to
13:13
Speaker 3: create them, so they're already existing and that's really the
13:16
Speaker 3: best way to be sustainable. However, it is very difficult
13:20
Speaker 3: when you have to scale because if you're buying dead
13:23
Speaker 3: stock fabric, you only have X amount of roles that
13:26
Speaker 3: you buy from the fabric store that you can use,
13:29
Speaker 3: and once it sells out, then it sells out.
13:31
Speaker 2: And I was able to.
13:34
Speaker 3: Have my business with using only those fabrics until twenty
13:38
Speaker 3: twenty when we really started growth, and now our fabrics
13:43
Speaker 3: our best selling fabrics. We've developed sustainably by using ecofabrics
13:48
Speaker 3: and processes like less water chemicals. We use one of
13:53
Speaker 3: our fabrics from like our rib fabric is a really soft,
13:58
Speaker 3: stretchy fabric and that's made for ten Sell, which is
14:01
Speaker 3: made from eucalyptus. Another one of our fabrics is organic
14:05
Speaker 3: hemp and cotton. So materials is one way. I could
14:09
Speaker 3: go on and on, so I'll just give you the
14:11
Speaker 3: shorter version.
14:12
Speaker 2: No, it's helpful to understand.
14:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, another way that is I would say the least
14:18
Speaker 3: known way of being sustainable is just in general thinking
14:23
Speaker 3: about the people in the process, within the supply chain
14:29
Speaker 3: and when you let's give an example, think about a
14:32
Speaker 3: fast fashion brand. So you get a dress and it's
14:37
Speaker 3: eight dollars. Okay, So if you have a product, obviously
14:42
Speaker 3: the company has to make money, so imagine what that
14:44
Speaker 3: margin is. So let's say it's a four dollars cost
14:48
Speaker 3: to make it, and then you keep backtracking. Okay, so
14:51
Speaker 3: how much did that sew or get paid? Okay, well
14:54
Speaker 3: it's made in another country, then backtracking the shipping, the
15:00
Speaker 3: materials being developed, and so everything is done as cheaply
15:04
Speaker 3: as possible. And then when you think about the people,
15:07
Speaker 3: you know, one, how much did they get paid to
15:10
Speaker 3: what is the environment that they're working in, Because if
15:13
Speaker 3: you have to make something that cheaply, you're not gonna
15:15
Speaker 3: have ac and you know, all the water and the
15:17
Speaker 3: snacks and a good a positive environment for people. It's
15:20
Speaker 3: really about how quickly you can make it and how
15:23
Speaker 3: cheaply you can make it. So what's what that has
15:26
Speaker 3: done now is you know, it really gives kind of
15:29
Speaker 3: just like how McDonald's and these fast food chains they
15:33
Speaker 3: have all of the power. When it comes to farming.
15:36
Speaker 3: The same thing happens with fast fashion brands. They are
15:40
Speaker 3: the ones paying the most and dustly they have all
15:44
Speaker 3: of the power. So it's a really slippery, scary, scary
15:49
Speaker 3: slow Caring about the people and their wages is a
15:53
Speaker 3: really huge thing that doesn't really get discussed.
15:57
Speaker 1: Thank you for describing it. I was looking up some
16:02
Speaker 1: stats when I was trying to understand what it meant.
16:05
Speaker 1: In the last fifteen years of the fashion industry has
16:08
Speaker 1: doubled in production, which is.
16:10
Speaker 2: Wild and I didn't know this.
16:12
Speaker 1: So I would hear people talk about how like designer
16:15
Speaker 1: brands would burn a ton of their excess clothing materials, bags, whatever,
16:20
Speaker 1: because they didn't want the price to go down. But
16:23
Speaker 1: the fashion industry accounted for eight to ten percent of
16:26
Speaker 1: global carbon dioxide output and twenty percent of the world's
16:30
Speaker 1: plastic production.
16:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, so.
16:34
Speaker 1: You are this independent brand that is trying to make
16:40
Speaker 1: a huge wave in this fast fashion world.
16:44
Speaker 2: There are like really bad players there.
16:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, really bad. We don't care, don't care, steal your designs.
16:53
Speaker 2: That's another thing about that. That's a tangent. I just
16:56
Speaker 2: saw that for the first time, and it's been happening
16:59
Speaker 2: for years. Yeah, and there's no recall, like, there's nothing there.
17:04
Speaker 3: No, there's nothing you can do because you can't trademark
17:07
Speaker 3: a design and if you do try and trademark a design,
17:10
Speaker 3: the process takes years and years and costs so much money,
17:16
Speaker 3: and you know, there's a zillion loopholes regardless. So it's
17:21
Speaker 3: just something that us smaller designers have to deal with.
17:26
Speaker 3: I don't let it get to me anymore, and I
17:28
Speaker 3: just it just comes with the territory.
17:30
Speaker 2: So you've seen it happen.
17:32
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, every fast fashion company, literally every single
17:37
Speaker 3: one has copied me.
17:39
Speaker 1: Really yeah, and there's.
17:42
Speaker 3: Nothing you can do.
17:45
Speaker 2: What it really comes down.
17:46
Speaker 3: To, though, is okay, they've completely to the t have
17:51
Speaker 3: stolen my designs. But the difference is it takes a
17:55
Speaker 3: certain customer to want to support a small business who's
18:00
Speaker 3: doing better in terms of our intention. Our fabrics are
18:05
Speaker 3: so so so nice, and I'm sure a few compared
18:10
Speaker 3: one Fast Fashion brands copy to Sammy Murou Vintage. I mean,
18:16
Speaker 3: it's just like a night and day experience in terms
18:19
Speaker 3: of the touch and the and the sewing and.
18:22
Speaker 2: All of that.
18:23
Speaker 3: So it's for a specific person who wants to support
18:28
Speaker 3: an eco brand.
18:29
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, So much of success in life hinges on
18:37
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18:40
Speaker 1: I launched Pretty Smart.
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18:55
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19:02
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Speaker 1: to save ten percent off your first purchase of a
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Speaker 1: website or domain. You said, being in LA and meeting
20:10
Speaker 1: people from different creative backgrounds made me realize I had
20:13
Speaker 1: something within me that was dormant that I wasn't able
20:16
Speaker 1: to express in San Francisco. I think that dormant feeling
20:21
Speaker 1: that you so poignantly discussed is in so many people. Yeah,
20:28
Speaker 1: I actually hear it a lot of our listeners and
20:30
Speaker 1: viewers will message me like, I've had this business idea,
20:34
Speaker 1: I have this thing I want to do.
20:36
Speaker 2: How did you make it not dormant? How did you
20:38
Speaker 2: get it out of you?
20:40
Speaker 3: I realized that, you know, I was still in my
20:43
Speaker 3: twenties when I started saving rare a vintage, and I
20:46
Speaker 3: realized that I'm the kind of person that if I
20:51
Speaker 3: want something, I have to make it happen, otherwise I
20:54
Speaker 3: will regret it forever. Yeah, and I think that that
20:57
Speaker 3: also resonates with a lot of people. But there's so
20:59
Speaker 3: much much fear and so much unknown. You know. I
21:02
Speaker 3: quit my corporate job. I had a four to oh
21:04
Speaker 3: one k, I had insurance, I had security in terms
21:09
Speaker 3: of getting you know, a salary, and I just knew
21:15
Speaker 3: that if all failed, I at least had at that
21:18
Speaker 3: point enough education and enough experience to be able to
21:23
Speaker 3: go back to that. So it was the perfect timing
21:26
Speaker 3: for me. I actually really applaud people who just kind
21:29
Speaker 3: of do it from the jump because they don't necessarily
21:35
Speaker 3: have something to fall back on, and to me that
21:37
Speaker 3: I commend that. But for me, I had something to
21:40
Speaker 3: fall back on, and I just had to give it
21:43
Speaker 3: a try. My family thought I was absolutely insane. My
21:46
Speaker 3: dad is a you know, a professor, and my brother
21:49
Speaker 3: is is he was working on Wall Street and he
21:55
Speaker 3: is a lawyer now. And so the idea of quitting
21:58
Speaker 3: something without having a job already lined up.
22:02
Speaker 2: Was just nuts.
22:03
Speaker 3: But I just had to go with my gut and
22:05
Speaker 3: it was definitely hard. Yeah, but I wouldn't have done
22:08
Speaker 3: it any other way.
22:11
Speaker 1: I think part of being creative is there's just always
22:14
Speaker 1: self doubt. How do you quiet that voice, because I'm
22:18
Speaker 1: sure you still even get it.
22:20
Speaker 3: That's a great question. I don't know that I ever
22:23
Speaker 3: quiet that voice.
22:24
Speaker 1: It is.
22:26
Speaker 3: It's loud, but it motivates me because I have always
22:35
Speaker 3: had people doubt me, whether it was people I went
22:38
Speaker 3: to school with, or a teacher or a family member,
22:42
Speaker 3: And I think that I am who I am because
22:48
Speaker 3: I had people who doubted me. And forever it's been
22:51
Speaker 3: this thing where you know, I want to do my
22:54
Speaker 3: best and I want to do something different and create
22:57
Speaker 3: something special to show the people that they're wrong.
23:01
Speaker 2: That's such a strong place to come from.
23:05
Speaker 3: Yes, I think the most interesting people are those who
23:10
Speaker 3: have dealt with a lot of hardship and trauma and
23:13
Speaker 3: have had a difficult childhood or you know, whatever it is,
23:19
Speaker 3: because if you're able to come back from that, then
23:24
Speaker 3: it shows a lot of strength and it also shows
23:27
Speaker 3: a range in capabilities and the range in experience in
23:36
Speaker 3: terms of you know, you weren't just handed what you
23:39
Speaker 3: were given. You had to work so much harder to
23:42
Speaker 3: get there. And for me as a black woman, for
23:48
Speaker 3: me as a person who just who always went to
23:53
Speaker 3: schools with super rich people everywhere and mostly white people everywhere,
23:58
Speaker 3: and then being in tech and being also the only woman,
24:01
Speaker 3: and then also being two decades younger than everybody, I
24:07
Speaker 3: always had to kind of prove myself and that's kind
24:11
Speaker 3: of a shitty thing to have to do, but it
24:14
Speaker 3: has made all of those different elements has just made
24:17
Speaker 3: me work a zillion times harder than the average person.
24:21
Speaker 3: And also I had a huge learning disability too, so
24:26
Speaker 3: that really taught me how I had to work ten
24:28
Speaker 3: times harder because a homework assignment that would take a
24:32
Speaker 3: normal person thirty minutes to do would take me six
24:36
Speaker 3: hours to do.
24:37
Speaker 2: So.
24:37
Speaker 3: So resilience that you've built up, mm hmm, yeah, that's
24:41
Speaker 3: a really good point.
24:42
Speaker 1: You have to be resilient in life, especially in fashion.
24:45
Speaker 3: Especially in fashion, in any industry really. But yeah, you
24:51
Speaker 3: can't let the external environment bring you down. You have
24:55
Speaker 3: to just you have to be able to empower yourself.
24:59
Speaker 1: This shocked within the first month of starting your brand.
25:02
Speaker 1: Selena Gomez hired you to redesign her world tour in Asia,
25:06
Speaker 1: and you.
25:07
Speaker 2: Had forty eight hours to prepare. Is that true? It's
25:10
Speaker 2: very true.
25:12
Speaker 1: How and also a better question is how did that
25:17
Speaker 1: challenge set you up for the rest of your career?
25:20
Speaker 2: Because what an initiation?
25:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was quite an initiation, not to toot my
25:25
Speaker 3: own horn, but also my therapist would be really proud
25:28
Speaker 3: of me for tooting my own horn because I am
25:31
Speaker 3: too apparently I have imposter since true, but you know,
25:35
Speaker 3: at this point, I've had enough major experiences like that
25:40
Speaker 3: where I surprise myself. But at this point, I'm like,
25:44
Speaker 3: I truly can do anything. Give me any project, give
25:47
Speaker 3: me any deadline, and I will tackle it with excellence.
25:53
Speaker 2: And although it is the.
25:54
Speaker 3: Most stressful situation and twenty four hours of working for
25:59
Speaker 3: however long, I'm so dedicated and just want to do
26:03
Speaker 3: everything as best as possible. So for that situation I
26:08
Speaker 3: had forty eight hours, I had a huge opportunity. I
26:10
Speaker 3: never did anything like that before or even still have
26:14
Speaker 3: done anything like that, and I had to just be like, well,
26:18
Speaker 3: if this person is trusting me, then I must have
26:20
Speaker 3: something good. And I just packed up everything and headed
26:27
Speaker 3: to Asia and didn't also really know what I was
26:29
Speaker 3: walking into. But it was.
26:33
Speaker 2: A game changer for me.
26:36
Speaker 3: Also really in the industry of world tours at that point,
26:43
Speaker 3: if you are on a world tour, you were the
26:45
Speaker 3: same five outfits every single night for the entire year.
26:49
Speaker 3: And what we did for the first time ever was
26:52
Speaker 3: we created new outfits every night, and that was the
26:56
Speaker 3: first time anybody had ever done that. And so it
26:58
Speaker 3: was really amazing for her to trust me because we
27:02
Speaker 3: stopped outside of her fashion box and we did made
27:07
Speaker 3: really fun looks and reworked so much vintage and it
27:11
Speaker 3: was an experience so cool.
27:14
Speaker 1: To do that for a world tour because everything, especially
27:16
Speaker 1: for like a pop sensation, is like new now next,
27:20
Speaker 1: and for you to again bring the vintage vibe is
27:23
Speaker 1: really is unique.
27:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was really awesome.
27:27
Speaker 1: You've said that your brand's ethos has founded on uplifting
27:30
Speaker 1: voices that are often silenced. I think black representation has
27:34
Speaker 1: been pretty rare in the fashion world. I think a
27:37
Speaker 1: lot of people credit Virgil with opening it up a
27:39
Speaker 1: little bit, It's still not where it needs to be.
27:43
Speaker 1: How are you most proud of how you've used your voice?
27:47
Speaker 1: I would say that I am most proud of how
27:49
Speaker 1: I use my voice by continuously educating and continuously showing
27:57
Speaker 1: that it's okay to be different and that you don't
28:03
Speaker 1: have to be on a traditional path to get what
28:05
Speaker 1: you want unless you want to be a doctor or
28:08
Speaker 1: something of the sort, where I hope you have that
28:10
Speaker 1: proper education. Yes, we very much would like you to
28:13
Speaker 1: take a tradition around.
28:15
Speaker 3: The traditional rounds. I would say that I'm most proud because,
28:20
Speaker 3: above anything else, what I care about is showing the
28:25
Speaker 3: world and the people that you should be doing better
28:28
Speaker 3: for the planet, better for yourself, better for the people.
28:32
Speaker 3: And what excites me a lot is to.
28:36
Speaker 2: When you look at.
28:37
Speaker 3: Sandy Merri Vintage, it is we make really cool stuff.
28:41
Speaker 3: We are fashionable, and it is very cool and it
28:44
Speaker 3: is very different. But our ethos is what holds us together,
28:49
Speaker 3: and our ethos is being eco conscious and it is
28:54
Speaker 3: about representing the underdog.
28:57
Speaker 2: And having that.
29:01
Speaker 3: Having that I don't even want to say juxtaposition because
29:04
Speaker 3: it shouldn't be a juxtaposition, which I guess is my
29:06
Speaker 3: point of being cool with education in doing better shows
29:16
Speaker 3: that that is also cool, yeah, and that people can
29:20
Speaker 3: combine the two and that standing for something bigger than
29:25
Speaker 3: what looks cool.
29:27
Speaker 2: Is the coolest thing that you can do? That's a bar.
29:31
Speaker 1: Yes, how do you think that we can retool our
29:35
Speaker 1: own wardrobes to make them sustainable? Like for people that
29:40
Speaker 1: don't have your eye like me, like, how can I
29:43
Speaker 1: go into my closet and start to see things differently?
29:48
Speaker 3: Well, before you said people who don't have my eye,
29:52
Speaker 3: what I was going to say was what I do
29:57
Speaker 3: is when I'm kind of over something that I have,
29:59
Speaker 3: instead of giving it away, I will first try to
30:04
Speaker 3: just rework it. So whether it's new or whether it's vintage,
30:08
Speaker 3: that's always the thing that I do. If I've worn it,
30:11
Speaker 3: like I'm over it and I'm with my scissors and
30:15
Speaker 3: my safety pins and I am reworking the whole entire thing,
30:19
Speaker 3: and it's not gonna look anything like what I was
30:22
Speaker 3: wearing before, just because my eyes, Like, I don't like
30:26
Speaker 3: anything to be the way it's supposed to be, and
30:29
Speaker 3: now it's like it's just a bad thing. Like when
30:32
Speaker 3: I go out, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna get ready.
30:35
Speaker 3: It takes me five seconds to do my hair and makeup,
30:37
Speaker 3: but then I'm like, so then I'll wait and I'll
30:40
Speaker 3: dilly dally and then and then I have to leave
30:43
Speaker 3: in twenty minutes. I'm like, okay, great, now time to
30:45
Speaker 3: get dressed, which what am I ever thinking? And then
30:49
Speaker 3: I start reworking ten outfits and there's a zillion scraps
30:55
Speaker 3: all over my floor and then it takes me an
30:58
Speaker 3: hour and a half, you know.
30:59
Speaker 2: So it's just it's just a mess.
31:01
Speaker 1: One of the things I'm learning from you in this
31:03
Speaker 1: interview is to just have more fun with fashion, Like,
31:07
Speaker 1: don't be so concerned about is this cool?
31:11
Speaker 2: Does this look right?
31:12
Speaker 3: And just.
31:14
Speaker 2: Enjoy mess around.
31:15
Speaker 3: Easier said than done, for sure, and yes and no, because,
31:18
Speaker 3: like I was saying earlier, if your style is a
31:22
Speaker 3: simple white T shirt and jeans, great, that's perfect for
31:26
Speaker 3: you because if that makes you feel good, then you're
31:29
Speaker 3: not going to be thinking about your outfa. You're going
31:31
Speaker 3: to be like pulling your shirt up and you know,
31:34
Speaker 3: feeling uncomfortable, and then you can focus on what's in
31:36
Speaker 3: front of you and have a real conversation and not
31:40
Speaker 3: feel insecure about what you're wearing. So at the end
31:43
Speaker 3: of the day, if you are comfortable, that's literally all
31:46
Speaker 3: that matters. Not everybody has to be weird and cut
31:49
Speaker 3: everything up. You know, it's just it's not for everybody,
31:53
Speaker 3: and that's okay, and you should feel okay and confident
31:58
Speaker 3: because you are gorgeous and you're intelligent, and if you
32:02
Speaker 3: like more simple things, or if you like a specific
32:06
Speaker 3: range of things, but that's okay.
32:08
Speaker 2: Okay, So I won't start cutting up my whole closet.
32:10
Speaker 3: We're doing and you might love it, and you might
32:12
Speaker 3: be the next thing mirror of vint I won't. There's
32:15
Speaker 3: only one Danielle Marrovinti.
32:19
Speaker 2: We can do a club. I love it, okay.
32:23
Speaker 1: So one of the biggest mistakes I made in my twenties,
32:26
Speaker 1: and I tell this to people and it's it sounds ridiculous.
32:29
Speaker 2: But I didn't know what my style was. And one
32:32
Speaker 2: of the.
32:32
Speaker 1: Biggest mistakes was I would buy pieces that were kind
32:37
Speaker 1: of expensive and now I look at them and I've
32:40
Speaker 1: either given them away or I get angry looking at
32:43
Speaker 1: the yellow heels I bought it for closet, Like, why
32:46
Speaker 1: did I buy those? If you could give a piece
32:49
Speaker 1: of advice to women in their twenties who are still
32:54
Speaker 1: cultivating their style, what would it be.
32:57
Speaker 3: I would say, outside of the whole where what makes
33:01
Speaker 3: you comfortable. Thing, I would say to buy things that
33:05
Speaker 3: are more timeless, and especially if it's expensive, and especially
33:10
Speaker 3: if you're saving up for it, think about, am I
33:13
Speaker 3: gonna want to wear.
33:13
Speaker 2: This next year?
33:15
Speaker 3: Am I going to want to wear this after the
33:16
Speaker 3: one time I wear it? And to think like that,
33:20
Speaker 3: because that the ultimate thing is to be able to
33:24
Speaker 3: rewar something. So if you can have your wardrobe last
33:29
Speaker 3: for longer, that's also eco conscious and better for our
33:32
Speaker 3: planet and fewer things go to the landfill. So to really,
33:35
Speaker 3: I think, just in general, just be conscious of what
33:39
Speaker 3: you do, whether it's shopping and thinking about the result
33:44
Speaker 3: and what happens from there and how long you're going
33:47
Speaker 3: to have it, and you know, it's just an important
33:50
Speaker 3: thing to make conscious decisions and not just rash.
33:54
Speaker 2: I like this, I'm gonna buy it now, you know. Yes?
33:58
Speaker 2: I love the video on Instagram of you cutting stuff up.
34:01
Speaker 2: Yeah in your mirror.
34:02
Speaker 3: Oh right, yeah, my backwards my signature backwards cut. I
34:05
Speaker 3: mean that's also funny too, because because I didn't go
34:08
Speaker 3: to fashion school and I just do things.
34:11
Speaker 2: The way that I want to do it.
34:13
Speaker 3: I don't like necessarily put things on the body form
34:16
Speaker 3: and pin things like you're supposed to. I literally just
34:19
Speaker 3: design things while I'm wearing them. And that's how I
34:22
Speaker 3: kind of my weird like zig zaggy cuts ended up
34:28
Speaker 3: happening because I was cutting it on myself and just
34:31
Speaker 3: kind of like on a whim and not like me,
34:34
Speaker 3: you know, making sure I had a pattern and like
34:36
Speaker 3: drawing the line first and then making sure the cut
34:38
Speaker 3: was perfect. I would just like cut everything on myself,
34:41
Speaker 3: and then you know, that just kind of became my
34:43
Speaker 3: my thing, and so you know, there's beauty that comes
34:47
Speaker 3: from just doing things the way you want to do it,
34:49
Speaker 3: unless it's.
34:50
Speaker 2: Surgery, unless you're a doctor. Thank you very much.
34:54
Speaker 1: Okay, Rapid Fire, you ready a celeb that you'd love
34:58
Speaker 1: to see rocking SMV Georgia Smith. What piece of clothing
35:02
Speaker 1: in your own closet do you wear the most?
35:04
Speaker 3: My Porterhouse jeans.
35:07
Speaker 2: For people like me who don't know what Porterhouse.
35:09
Speaker 3: Is, they're just there are saying mirror of vintage jeans.
35:12
Speaker 3: They're all reworked from quality vintage.
35:14
Speaker 2: Dunem That's dope.
35:17
Speaker 1: Do you have any rituals or things you say or
35:19
Speaker 1: do before a big moment in your life?
35:21
Speaker 3: Yes, I would say that the biggest thing for me
35:26
Speaker 3: that really applies to every single person is a lot
35:29
Speaker 3: of us have self doubt. Let's say you're going to
35:33
Speaker 3: a networking event or a fashion event or a job interview,
35:39
Speaker 3: and you're at this event and you see the CEO
35:44
Speaker 3: of a tech company or you see Belahadid, and then
35:49
Speaker 3: you're like, well, what am I doing here if that
35:51
Speaker 3: person is here? And everybody has self doubt and thinking
35:56
Speaker 3: that they're not good enough to be in the situation
35:59
Speaker 3: that they're in. But what you have to remind yourself
36:02
Speaker 3: is you were invited there for a reason, and you
36:04
Speaker 3: bring something very special to whatever the scenario is, and
36:09
Speaker 3: you have to remember that, and you can't. You can't
36:12
Speaker 3: shrivel up into nothing because that's not why you're there.
36:17
Speaker 2: That's really powerful coming from you.
36:19
Speaker 3: I think, thank you.
36:21
Speaker 2: Is there a book that's changed your life that you
36:22
Speaker 2: think everybody should read?
36:24
Speaker 3: I don't know why. The first thing that came to
36:26
Speaker 3: mind was the shel silver Stein Where the Sidewalk In.
36:30
Speaker 2: Where the Sidewalk? I love that book. Let's let that
36:34
Speaker 2: be my answer. I love that.
36:37
Speaker 1: Okay, pretty smart card deck fifty two questions.
36:40
Speaker 2: I just listened to this one. Whichever one you feel
36:43
Speaker 2: connected to. I'm going to take a hidden one. Okay,
36:46
Speaker 2: I like that.
36:49
Speaker 1: So a mistake you've made along the way that you'd
36:52
Speaker 1: like to save other people from.
36:54
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I think.
36:55
Speaker 3: This would apply to many entrepreneurs. It's very scary to
37:01
Speaker 3: put out a product, or to put out something that
37:05
Speaker 3: has your name on it.
37:07
Speaker 2: And I've come.
37:07
Speaker 3: Across a lot of people who have these ideas, who
37:10
Speaker 3: are afraid to put out let's say, their first collection
37:14
Speaker 3: or their first design.
37:15
Speaker 2: And I was this way too.
37:17
Speaker 3: And I wouldn't put anything out because I was so afraid.
37:21
Speaker 3: But once you put it out there, regardless of how
37:26
Speaker 3: many customers you have, doing that thing of just launching
37:32
Speaker 3: it is a huge release, and then you realize it's
37:36
Speaker 3: not that hard, it's not that scary, and it allows
37:40
Speaker 3: you to keep going.
37:42
Speaker 2: So just don't be afraid, just do just do it. Yeah,
37:46
Speaker 2: what do you have to lose if you don't do
37:49
Speaker 2: it? It's way worse. If you don't do it.
37:51
Speaker 3: You'll never know if you should have done it, if
37:53
Speaker 3: it was a million billion dollar idea.
37:56
Speaker 2: My last question, the smartest decision you've ever made?
38:00
Speaker 3: Quitting my corporate job to pursue my creative instincts.
38:06
Speaker 2: Thank you, Sammy Merol, thank you all right. Today is
38:36
Speaker 2: a good day to have a good day. I'll see
38:37
Speaker 2: you next week.