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Welcome back to part 2 of our team introduction blog series! This week, we are thrilled to introduce you to Jasmine Stroud, our fabulous, super-talented designer. 🎉
Jasmine's journey with us started unexpectedly when her NYC summer co-op was canceled due to Covid. Luckily for us, she joined our team as our very first design intern. Her endless creativity, attention to detail, and innate understanding of trends were quickly recognized, and she advanced from intern to designer in no time.
As part of our team, Jasmine plays a leading role in designing collections for all our clients. We had the pleasure of interviewing her to learn more about her background, creative process, and how she creates beautiful and thoughtful designs for our clients. Keep reading to discover more about Jasmine and her remarkable work!
BACKGROUND:
What did you study in college?
"I studied Fashion Design in college."
How long have you been in the fashion industry?
"I've been a part of the fashion industry for about 3 years now."
KRSTN NDRSN:
What’s your job title?
"Designer"
How did you come to join the KRSTN NDRSN team?
"I was a junior in college when the pandemic started and my internship in New York was put on pause. I still wanted to gain experience in the industry and had just taken a lingerie/swim course in school, so when I saw Kristen’s listing for a lingerie and swim design internship, I got in contact. I continued working as a designer part-time as I finished off my junior and senior years of college
and transitioned into full-time shortly before graduating."
What’s it like working with a fully remote team?
"It’s definitely interesting, but it’s also all I’ve ever known while working in this industry! My favorite parts of design school were physically making patterns and garments, but I’ve transitioned these skills to be used virtually (I’m still able to make personal garments the “old way”, and also use a blend of the two for creating prototypes for clients)."
You & Kristen have met a few times in person; what was that like?
"I see her and the team on Zoom every day, so although I feel like I know everyone well, it’s always amusing to have a height reveal irl."
What are your favorite parts of working with the team?
"I love seeing the team’s excitement while fitting the first round of samples from a new collection."
What tasks do you spend most of your time doing?
"It really depends on the day/week- sometimes it’s more initial design-related tasks, and sometimes it’s getting existing designs to the finish line through more fit-related tasks."
What’s your workspace like?
"I work from home in my NYC apartment- so small, but it has great light!"
JOB-RELATED:
How would you describe your design style/aesthetic?
"My personal style is feminine, classic, and heavily vintage-inspired."
What are your favorite brands or designers?
"Simone Rocha, Erdem, Danielle Frankel, and Alexander McQueen."
Where do you find inspiration?
"A majority of my closet is thrifted/vintage so I definitely gather design inspiration while I’m shopping, as well as at costume and fashion exhibits, (both in person and virtual)! One of my favorite virtual collections to look at is the Underpinnings Museum. I’m also influenced by luxury RTW and eveningwear brands and enjoy gathering inspiration from current collection releases and archival pieces."
What is your design process like for developing new lingerie and swimwear collections?
"First, I’ll do trend and market research and gather inspiration. Next, I’ll sketch designs and edit down the collection before presenting it to the client. After the final selections are made, I create tech packs and share them with our manufacturers. Throughout the fit process, I will spec the garments, attend fittings (to ensure design intent is followed and to see the product come to life :)), and edit patterns in CLO."
What is your favorite part of the apparel design process?
"The initial brainstorming! I could sketch iterations off one idea forever, so I’ve learned to do a rough brain dump with quick sketches in Procreate. Once I see what works there, I will move to Illustrator to do polished flat sketches."
What is your least favorite part of the apparel design process?
"My least favorite might be making the initial tech packs- only because this step isn’t usually allotted a ton of time to execute. When our timeline allows, I enjoy creating the initial proto-garment patterns in CLO so that these initial tech pack’s specs are as accurate as possible."
What’s the first step you take when starting to design a new collection?
"It’s important to understand the brand and their customer, so initially, I’ll create a mood board for how the collection should feel. Then I
will gather inspiration for design details, silhouettes,
and materials, based on trend and market research."
What websites do you use for trend research?
"Trend reports from fashion-specific resources like WGSN or Fashion Snoops, department stores, and individual brand sites. Instagram is also very important to me- I follow many brands, both big and small, in the lingerie/swim space, but also womenswear brands in general. Social media is an easy way to be constantly updated on the current happenings in our industry and allows you to have all the information needed to verify the accuracy of trend forecasting reports."
How do you stay creative and motivated when designing new collections?
"Working on several clients’ collections at one time helps design work feel new and exciting because their customers and brand aesthetics are all so different. I think creating mood boards helps differentiate collections from each other too- for example; one may be dark and moody, which inspires strappy styles and eyelash lace, while the next may be cheerful and home-craft inspired, which lends itself to an emphasis on fun trims and prints. If you understand the customer well, it’s also very motivating during the design process because you’re excited to see how the collection will be received on social media and through reviews."
Do you have a favorite collection that you’ve designed?
"My current favorite collection is Mentionable’s 2023 bridal collection! My “guilty pleasure” is bridalwear design, so I love combining my love for bridal design with lingerie design."
What software/applications do you use?
"I use Procreate and Illustrator for sketching initial designs, flats/CADs, and print design. I also use Photoshop to edit print designs, create mood boards, and design social media content. I’ve also been using CLO3D to create and edit garment patterns."
What are you looking forward to learning next?
"Trudy, featured last week, just created an online CLO3D course that I’m excited to learn more from about applying lace fabric texture maps and rendering final images."
Overall, Jasmine’s design process is one of a kind, and her passion for vintage-inspired pieces truly shines through in her work. It's clear she has an eye for detail when it comes to creating successful lingerie and swimwear collections.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about Jasmine's creative journey as much as we did! If you want even more insight into how she works, follow us on Instagram where we post reels with behind-the-scenes footage from our projects together!
And stay tuned for next week’s spotlight feature on Monika Harris, our talented Technical Designer.