Designer Details: Cynthia Rowley

I was amazed by Cynthia Rowley's down to earth nature and personable, open attitude. It was a great surprise to meet a designer as sucessful as Cynthia be so humble and friendly. During the seminar, Cynthia revealed embarrasing stories about how she got to where she did. She had the whole room laughing with her. Cynthia chuckled, "I used to make clothes for my friends so they would write my term papers. Design has always been an obsession of mine."

Cynthia sold her first collection as a senior at the Art Institute of Chicago. She was on the subway and a woman asked her where she got her jacket. Cynthia replied that she has her own collection and the woman (a buyer for a department store) arranged for them to meet two days later. Cynthia had far from her own collection, but spent the whole weekend sewing. Two days later the woman asked Cynthia for her style numbers and product information and it was soon obvious that these were Cynthia's first real garments. While this was slightly embarrassing, it got her started. She has always been open minded and free spirited with her designers. In high school, she sketched bizarre items such as swimsuits with wings thinking about ideas outside of the box. Cynthia's greatest advice is not to be afraid to ask questions. Before her first fashion show, she saw Andy Warhol at Starbucks and shyly gave him an invitation for her show. Small efforts can go a long way.

Cynthia has collections for Target called Swell and Whim. She is also in the works of making a new collection called Hooray for a major chain store. Cynthia is a jack of all trades - a designer, a writer and a tv show guest judge. She wrote a book called Swell: A Girl's Guide to the Good Life and this inspired her collection entitled Swell. She has been a guest judge for several shows including First Design and Project Runway. Cynthia discussed the possibility of a Project Runway show with actual designers, including Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger (who both were in support of this idea).

What stuck out the most from Cynthia's story is her vision of fashion. "Each season you are telling a new story."