Battling Burnout in the Fashion Industry

There has been a lot of discussion among fashion industry types of burnout. With many years in the fashion industry, I can confirm burnout is a real experience. I designed or worked on the same basic product for nearly 20 years. I reached a point in which there was not much left in the well to draw from creatively. It was at my least creative moments that I did some of my best work because my employer threw me some projects that kept me motivated. After that opportunity closed, I just did not have it in me to go after freelancing jobs in the same market segment. I was burned out.

Designers new to the business quickly burn out for various reasons. Fashion production has a much smaller time scale than in years past. Producing three to four new lines a year is extremely difficult. There are fast turn times on samples and sourcing. The sales cycles are short. Designers are under constant pressure to produce something new, fresh, exciting and on budget. This means long hours for days and weeks on end.

Some trade groups have taken notice and start to advocate for better pay and hours. I don't know if anything will change, but these are some of the things I did to help battle burnout.

Schedule time off

This may be difficult depending on your job situation. But we all need time away from the grind. I had at least one day off a week to focus on other things. Attending church and focusing on family provided a weekly boost that kept me going. Plan vacations. The point is to be intentional with your time off and do something else other than work.

Turn off social media

It is tempting to troll Pinterest or Instagram for new ideas all the time. Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media platform can bombard you and your mental health with unrealistic expectations. It is as true in the fashion industry as anywhere, but there is an expectation to stay on top of trends by following trendsetters. Designers not only have to create a new look, they are expected to also live it. Save your mental health by not looking at social media outside of work time or responsibilities so you can be yourself.

Explore new hobbies or interests

As a designer, many of my hobbies and interests were related to my occupation. This meant I was surrounded by work related supplies and tools at work and at home. Try to find a hobby that is different to help re-energize you mentally and physically.

Take care of yourself

One of the primary causes of burnout is a lack of rest, either mentally or physically. There are only so many 12 hour days you can do before you just don't perform well on the job or at home. Prioritize sleep, healthy eating, and exercise. If there are health issues, then address them. If these things are allowed to persist, your job performance and over-all well-being will suffer. This can be difficult in certain job situations, but do the best you can.

Learn to say no

If you are a freelancer there are some things you can do to improve high pressure situations. The first is to have clear policies about job completion and deadlines. This means you can add a few extra days for job completion even if you don't necessarily need it. The client may pressure you for fast deadlines, but if you can't meet the deadline or don't want to, you can decline the job. It's better to be honest up front about the work you can and cannot do so that the pressure to complete is balanced with reality.

This is more difficult as an employee but sometimes employers have unrealistic expectations. If it is impossible to complete a project on time, do your best to communicate with your employer. Try to have a plan or new timeline for project completion. This may mean asking for help from other employees. I once had an impossible deadline and after I explained the situation to my employer, he generously gave me more time. He just didn't know the work involved.

Start a side hustle, plan a transition or exit

We can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform when we feel like we don't have a choice. This is why I always suggest having a side hustle or plan in place in case of a layoff or exit. A choice frees us to make a job transition if the current situation becomes intolerable. Knowing we can do something else without meeting financial ruin can relieve a lot of stress. A side hustle does not have to take much of our time as long as you have a smart plan in place. It could be something as small as monetizing a blog or creating some small gigs on Fiverr.

Job transitions and layoffs happen frequently in the fashion industry. Have a plan in place with where you might go or do next if this happens. This may include having an emergency fund to pay rent while you sort things out and paying off debt.

Experts and craftsmanship : who do you trust in the era of slick packaging and presentation?

The age of the Internet has fundamentally changed how we access information. It has changed the way we learn and share. In the sewing community we share projects, ideas, techniques. Some have even found ways to make money doing what they love.

There is a phrase I learned from someone, "You don't know what you don't know."

If you don't know what you don't know, how do you learn what you need to know? How do you even ask the right questions?

Perhaps I'm a bit thoughtful as I struggle to write my book on grading. How do I present a technical skill in an easy to understand, accessible way? The writing process is dragging on because I want to get the instructional information just right. In addition, I recently ran across a mommy blogger who is now teaching others how to grade patterns using patched together measurement charts* cribbed from various sources. I won't link to this particular person, but it gave me pause. Her past experience does not support her current endeavors, but she is perceived as an expert because of slick packaging and presentation. It's not that she can't gain skills and teach others, but where is the dividing line between what you don't know and where you know enough?

An expert is someone who has gained mastery, skills and experience of a particular subject. At what point does someone migrate from a beginner to an intermediate and then expert sewist or master pattern maker? I believe it is a journey of a lifetime. And for many, you only become an expert at one aspect because the overarching subject is too vast. In the industry you specialize, influenced by the first employment opportunity that guides your future.

More thoughts on this topic in the future....

*I've studied these charts and compared them to ASTM charts. Her charts contain proportion problems which may create fit issues.

Where do you get your inspiration?"

Over the last few years, I have given a few speeches to high school classes. The inevitable question you hear is, "Where do you get your inspiration?" I wish I could nail down a specific thing that inspires me, but it is not as simple as one thing. Many designers have a specific thing that motivated or inspired them to start. The more difficult thing is maintaining that inspiration.

My first job, right out of college, was with a children's design company. I will never know why they hired me - I was so green to the business. I had assumed that I would work with this company for a few years and then move onto a category that I truly wanted to design. I knew nothing about children's clothing and really didn't like it. Little did I know how important that first job would be. None of the advisors in college advise you to look for a job in the category you want right from the start. My advisors were more concerned with making sure their graduates had ANY job in the fashion industry - a topic for another blog.

Over time, I grew to like children's clothing and then to be inspired. Now, I can say I love designing children's clothing. I can't even imagine working in any other category. (In fact, it would be difficult for me to move to another category based on my skill set and experience - again another blog entry). Inspiration came to me through exposure to the category and hard work.

I have been surrounded by children's clothing and products for years now. If a new idea comes to me, I can immediately apply it to various children's products. Part of the exposure to the category came simply because of my physical work environment. Past clothing lines hung on the walls, fabric swatches hung in the design library, and more. One of my job requirements was to shop the market. Meaning, I was literally paid to shop. I went to the mall and boutiques every two weeks. I got to learn how frequently stores changed their displays, what things were selling, what was discounted, when sales occurred. I not only shopped the children's departments, but others too. Sometimes, categories that were completely unrelated. I would come home with sketches in my notebook of things I had seen or ideas to try.

Another important job requirement was to walk trade shows. It is difficult as a designer to attend retail trade shows because salesmen know why you are there (your tag usually says designer). This is probably the best way to check out the competition before their products hit the retail floors. You can spot which booths are busy and which are not. You can identify trends that are hot. Fabric trade shows is another way to pick up on color and print trends.

Eventually, you get to the point as a designer where you can predict what is coming next. It is in your blood. I can remember when a co-worker/designer and I both showed up at work wearing the exact same shade of lilac top. We had both sensed that color would be important next season and had made personal purchases accordingly.

So, my original inspiration was the need for a job - and to succeed in it. Today, it is so much a part of me, that I can't imagine doing anything else.