“I went to New York and I got a job decorating model rooms for a department store, and I realized after six months that wasn’t my thing. I didn’t care about the wallpaper,” laughs fashion designer Eileen Fisher while speaking about the moment she realized that interior design, which she studied in college after switching from majoring in math, wasn’t the path for her.
Fisher was speaking to hundreds of students at the SCADstyle Next In panel earlier this month, hosted and curated in partnership between Refinery29 and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). It’s the advice I wish I’d heard as a college student: that it’s okay to change it up and change it up and change it up again until you find what speaks to you, what you can’t live without creating.
For Fisher, that became simple wardrobe staples via her eponymous brand, which turned 40 last year. While on a trip to Japan as a graphic designer (another quick career pivot), she was inspired by the straight lines of the kimono. “That shape [was around]for 1,000 years, it was this idea of timelessness and simplicity.”
Soon after, Eileen Fisher was born. “The idea was simple clothing, natural fibers, comfort,” says the American designer, who created the concept of a capsule wardrobe long before your favorite influencers were touting the benefits, and pioneered sustainability long before it was an industry buzzword. “I like that idea of Legos. All the simple blocks are simple, and they all go together… My kids played with Legos. It was great, because every time they came together in a totally different way, and so interesting. So I was interested in this idea of simple shapes that made a system.”
Fisher started with four pieces: a top, a cropped pant, a shell, and a vest. To this day, she continues to refine her process and make tweaks big and small to get closer to her vision. From Eileen Fisher Renew, which allows people to bring back Eileen Fisher clothes to stores in the US to be resold or recycled into other designs, to HEY FASHION!, a digital platform she launched via her brand’s foundation to educate and inspire the industry to reduce waste, to now pioneering working with regenerative fabrics. “As designers, you have a lot of power and influence out there, and there are choices that you make — the materials, in particular… choose your materials wisely.”
Here are some excerpts from our conversation and interview.
The next generation will save fashion
“Young people, they can teach us a lot. They’re passionate, and they have a lot of great creative ideas. I don’t even know what they can teach us because it’s stuff that I don’t know — new stuff, creative stuff from where they are and what’s happening in their world. They care so much about the political environment, organizing, and making things better. They want to make a difference. They’re going to solve the problems of our industry, and I’m really excited about it.”
Don’t wait until your concept is perfect to start
“I think we got the logo perfect after 10 years. So you just keep trying, you know? You just keep trying things, and you just keep living and learning and doing your best. It’s important to not feel like it has to be perfect to just do things.”
Inspiration is everywhere
When Fisher was first starting out in design, she drew upon so many different sources of inspiration: “I was inspired by Japanese design — I love Issey Miyake. And I liked simple things — Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Zoran.”
How to avoid greenwashing
Fisher’s sustainability green flags include recycling old clothes (make sure you check where they’re actually going before you drop them off somewhere) and shopping for natural fibers like cotton and wool (though we also must consider how they’re grown and cultivated). Some red flags she calls out? Faux leather (but, she adds, sometimes it can be okay, depending on what it’s made of) and wide-sweeping brand sustainability claims because “most brands are claiming all kinds of stuff, feature one program, and the rest of the things they do aren’t so great.”
As for resale and rental platforms? “I would generally give [those platforms]a green flag, even though there are places we have to be careful of — like doing a lot of shipping back and forth,” she says. “I like them for occasions where you’re just going to wear a thing once. I’m generally a fan of wearing, buying, and consciously keeping what you buy and living with it longer.”
When in doubt, dance
Outside of fashion, Fisher loves music and dancing. “Who inspires me now? Taylor Swift… I just think she’s so positive and inspiring. I’m also into Chappell Roan these days. I like to dance — what can I say?”
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R29 & SCAD Partner On “Next In” At SCADstyle
