Meet Ciara Bell of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ciara Bell.

Hi Ciara, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been obsessed with fashion and art for as long as I can remember. My mom served as the biggest inspiration for me because she was obsessed with fashion too. I remember her getting dressed for work every morning and having on the most beautiful pieces. She always used to read all the latest fashion magazines and was always finding ways to reinvent her style. At first, I wanted to be a fashion designer but after realizing I wasn’t the best at drawing clothes, I decided I wanted to do something else in fashion. When I was in high school, I discovered there was a job that existed in fashion called trend forecasting. From there I was enthralled in learning everything I could know about it and became obsessed. It was everything I could imagine in a job- the perfect blend of creativity and analysis. I knew from then on out, that was the thing I wanted to do.

Unfortunately, right as I entered college, my mom and grandma passed away. It was absolutely devastating and took such a major toll on myself and my family. But I knew both of them were so thrilled that I got into college and immensely proud of me and knowing that, kept me going all throughout my college career and even to this day.

In college, I majored in Apparel Merchandising & Management with a Retail Emphasis, which helped me learn all about the business side of fashion; buying, marketing, supply chain management, etc. I was also very involved in my school’s fashion club. It was there where I helped plan the school’s annual fashion show and helped foster great industry connections.

After college, I started out being a Buyer Assistant for Men’s & Women’s Footwear at an athletic retailer. From there, I was promoted to a Merchandiser for Men’s Apparel, then an Assortment Planner, and now my latest position is Fashion Buyer.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. With the passing of my mom and grandma happening right as I entered college, I had to deal with all the grief as well as the transition of being a college student, moving, making new friends, and just entering adulthood. I was dealing with everything all at once and a lot of times, it got extremely overwhelming. I was so grateful that the friends I made were so supportive and comforting. It also helped that I loved school and was so happy I got to learn about fashion more and more everyday. It was a nice balance of routine and escapism. Plus, acknowledging I needed help dealing with everything and going to therapy to help cope, really made me feel better.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
On the corporate side, I’m a Fashion Buyer, and that in and of itself has been really cool. I get to look at trends and talk to vendors and really get to hone in on my skills in building an assortment for each season and analyzing sales and inventory. It’s a perfect blend of art and science, plus with the retail landscape being so agile, the job always keeps me on my toes and I find that really exciting. I also work-stretch with my parent company and conduct trend and consumer insight research for our apparel team, which is a passion of mine.

As far as what I specialize in and what I’m known for, that definitely would be trend forecasting and reporting. I love researching current trends and predicting future trends and turning them into actionable insights. This year, I really want to focus on that and develop trend forecasts and insights and have them be accessible to small designers, consulting firms, etc.

Outside of that, I’m also a painter and writer, both things I’m extremely proud of. I’ve been painting for majority of my life and it brings me so much joy. I would say my aesthetic is very whimsical, surreal, and Afro-centric and I love translating my feelings and thoughts onto a canvas. When it comes to writing, I’m working on writing my own tv show I hope becomes real one day! Writing and telling stories has always been such a cathartic experience for me and such a core part of my being and just another way I can express my creativity.

I think what sets me apart from others is my perspective, because it’s uniquely mine. The way I see the world through trends and insights, the way I create dreamlike, escapist paintings, and the way I craft such memorable stories all come from my point of view and I think that’s really special.

What’s next?
In the future, I would love to be a Director of Trends for a black-owned fashion brand or maybe even have my own trend forecasting and reporting firm. I want to be immersed in fashion and trend forecasting in a way that makes trends accessible, affordable and supported by Black people and POC.

I also would love to sell some of my paintings, make prints of them, or even do commissions. I love creating my art and am so eager to share it with people.

And of course once my TV show is all written, going through the process to get it bought and into production!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ccbell0.wixsite.com/ciarabell
• Instagram: @_xoxociara
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciara-bell-062567/

Image Credits
Isaiah Thomas Courtney Davila