Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Marshall.
Christy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Sartorial Splendor is an inventive fashion brand established in 2012 by a former athlete, Founder and Creative Director C.MARS (Christy Marshall). Growing up in the urban communities within Savannah, Georgia, C. Mars was inspired by her edgy cultural lifestyle and wanted to express that, by all means, necessary through her way of fashion. Her edgy and distinctive sense of style brings something new, fresh, and innovated to the fashion market breaking barriers of the standard urban attire.
I thrive on perfecting comfortability and innovation in each of our designs. Having our own in-house manufacturer in the United States, we take pride in creating every design and pattern.
Sartorial Splendor is the expression of individualism and a place where no rules exist. My goal is to break barriers in the fashion industry and raise the standard.
Has it been a smooth road?
This journey has not been smooth, but it has been worth it. It all begins in 2012 after I graduated from college and could not land a career job. I graduated with a degree in Fashion Merchandising but had no idea I would be a fashion designer at the time. I actually played for the University of Georgia Women’s Basketball team and had hoped to making it to the WNBA until my senior year of college, I tore my ACL and decided not to compete my 5th year due to depression. I was forced to find myself, being that basketball was my life for the first 22 years. I turned to a hobby that eventually turned into my business and brand. That hobby was revamping clothing. I always was crafty and stylish since a kid, later to realize I was an artist/designer. I would go to thrift stores to get old blazers, denim jackets, and add patches and different fabrics to them. They were one of a kind pieces. This was the beginning of the Instagram era, so I was able to put my creations online and receive instant feedback. The feedback was so overwhelming, I started my first website selling my pieces. I did well for two years, and it came to a pause because I didn’t understand business and how it suppose to operate. I eventually lost my first business and was devastated. I felt like I let my family, myself, and God down. I was back at square one. I didn’t know how I was going to come back from this one. It took me a year to recovery and gain my faith again. 2015, I got the courage to start over and rebuild. I took everything that I learned from the first business and applied it to a new beginning with new vision, new strategy, and purpose. No journey worth fighting for comes without struggles and trials. The true test is in your perseverance and how badly do you want it. Every struggle I have encountered has been a stepping-stone to my destination. I struggle every day, and I have learned without struggle, there is no progress. You actually need your failures to gain wisdom on your road to success. I will build one of the largest clothing manufacturers in U.S.A. soil. I will give thousands of job opportunities. I will be a vessel of hope and inspiration. That is worth every struggle.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My clothing brand is a unisex high-fashion streetwear brand. Everything is hand-made with specialty fabrics. I, the designer C.Mars make ALL samples first treating them as Limited Edition pieces which appreciate in value over time because they are considered as one of a kind art pieces. I then pass them on to my team of seamstress, where we make a limited amount to keep the exclusivity. Who doesn’t love exclusivity?
I am most proud of our ingenuity skills. Being that I’m building my company from the ground up, I’m able to take out all middlemen. We source our fabrics, we make our own patterns, we do our own screen-printing, and we do our own embroidery. This is what sets me apart from a lot of other designers. I do not need a factory to do my work. I am my work.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is an excellent place for a business like Sartorial Splendor. If someone was starting out, I would tell them to move west to Los Angeles. Everything you need is there at the fashion district. You just have to get out and connect with your resources. They are there.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5507 N. Figueroa St
Los Angeles, Ca
90042 - Website: www.sartorialsplendorclothing.com
- Phone: 3234819385
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @sartorial_splendor
- Facebook: Sartorial Splendor Clothing
- Twitter: Sartorial Splendor Clothing
Image Credit:
Khalid
@lord_faruq
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