Art & Life with Damaris Bailey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Damaris Bailey.

Damaris, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
The decision to study fashion design after high school was an easy one for me to make. I have always loved fashion. In junior high my best friend and I would shop the local neighborhood thrift stores. We would buy anything that looked interesting and take them back home to alter them.

My plan was always to graduate and work in the industry for a bit. But my end goal was to always have my own clothing line. However, life happens and plans get altered. After graduating from design school, I decided to attend the University of California Los Angeles and study art history. By the time I graduated from UCLA I was married and in route to have my first baby. We were both so happy to start a family. I decided after having Valentina that I would stay at home and pursue my ambitions of starting a clothing line for later. Two years later we get pregnant with our second child Luciana. Our lives changed completely after her birth. Luciana was born with a rare genetic disorder. My husband I were in shock and scared after hearing the news. I thought quietly to myself that the dream of starting a clothing line would be on hold indefinitely. Life didn’t look the same after Luciana’s birth we now had a daughter with very special needs but we managed and thrived as a family. After much thought we decided to have another child and Rose was born. Rose’s birth was a rebirth for me in so many ways. I felt a sense of freedom. I felt free from my fear of failure. I felt courageous. I figured if I was able to take this leap of faith and have a third child. I can do anything! A couple months later I started my clothing line.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I design romantic and feminine pieces for the modern women. In my upcoming Spring/ Summer collection I have designed more casual separates. I want to make clothes women feel comfortable in and luxurious in. I, like many women, wear my work out gear to run errands because it’s easy and comfortable to wear. In my Spring/ Summer collection I have designed polished alternatives to work out gear.
I am mostly inspired by other confident women who own who they are and it shows in how they dress. I am also very much inspired by different cultures. For example, for my first collection much of my inspiration came from the traditional dress of Mexican women which happens to be my ethnicity. For my upcoming collection Morocco is my source of inspiration. I like to picture the confidant women that inspire me traveling to these regions and designing what they would wear while on their travels.

I really hope people read my story and see my clothes and feel empowered. I want them to be inspired by my story and realize that they too can follow whatever it is they feel called to. I also want them to put on something I design and feel powerful. I also design and produce everything in Los Angeles. I made an early conscious decision to produce everything in LA. Although I knew it would be costlier to produce everything locally I still chose to do so. I did this for a number of reasons first is that I grew up and love LA! Second, I can check on the quality of the garment without traveling to far from home. Lastly, being this close I can make sure everyone involved in the production of the garment is getting paid a fair wage.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
My advice for any future fashion designers is to be conservative in how much inventory you order your first season. I would also say to not be afraid to shop around for pattern makers and seamstresses if you’re not happy with the quality of the work they are doing. I made that mistake my first collection and it was costly.

Contact Info:

• Address: 17513 S Broadway Gardena, CA 90248
• Website: https://damarisbailey.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damarisbaileyshop/

Image Credit:
The photographs with the floral dresses and white cotton gauze blouse were photographed by Sara weir
The photographs of the rust dress and black dress were taken by Grey and Elle.

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