Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessy Burris.
Jessy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
You could say I started my apparel journey watching grandma’s feet tap, tap, tap the beast of a Singer sewing machine as she prepared the perfectly mitered squares for her community quilting club. “Now you try” was never such an intimidating initiation into the sewing world, and without fail I blundered up the bobbin of the big machine into knots. “Well now, how did you do that?” And she would fix it seamlessly with her neatly organized tools. “I always wanted to go to fashion school, but the farm called me here.” Years later, she was so proud to have a granddaughter go to design school, and fashion was a spark of joy we talked about in her last days.
After attending Portland Fashion Institute, I started working freelance gigs until breaking into work as a designer at Nike and Adidas. Adidas was a dream, getting to work for three years as a designer with Kanye West and the Yeezy team. Adidas transferred me to Los Angeles, and the City of Angels has embraced me ever since. I love the comradery of the makers in this city, and the women entrepreneurs I’ve met have been my angels helping establish me here.
My specialty is 3D apparel design; prototyping the architecture of garments into digital renders. So much of the work with Yeezy was grasping the visionary ideas behind a hand sketch and making them into the digital nuts and bolts it takes to make the garment.
I see a lot of momentum growing for platforms like CLO 3D to take garment creation into the 3D space. This allows companies to reassess the usual costs of doing business shipping production samples to and from overseas factories. Taking it all digital is a huge time and budget saver. With the right company infrastructure, 3D garment visualization is a way of the future in expediting production across the globe. As 3D progresses as a tool, you’ll see more of these virtual garments in marketing campaigns, merchandising, and even integrated into video games!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Growing is always a learning process! The bumps along the way are all a part of the journey. Some of the harder things I’ve had to learn are balancing all the spinning plates of an entrepreneur; industrial sewing techniques, web development, social media, sourcing, manufacturing, photography – you have to be a Jill of all trades. My sisters are also great digital artists and we three have made a good team to support and round out each other’s skills in these areas to help build out Candy Lagoon.
I have balanced growing in my career as I have been creating apparel and accessories for Candy Lagoon. I think I’ve done it the right way, but there are always areas that one has nagging in the back of their head of having missed an opportunity, like “I should have launched a campaign this way” or “I could have bought that domain name I wanted 20+ years ago!” Looking back, I would say just go at your pace and remember to keep in touch with your customers and mentors. The highlight of many of my pop up shop events is seeing former clients back to say hi and see what is new in store.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I founded Candy Lagoon Apparel in 2012. Candy Lagoon curates a colorful, rustic outdoor look with a vibe of cozy cabin blankets, cute outdoor ponchos, and relaxed style by a fireplace.
The collections are all limited edition, handmade pieces featuring jackets, hats and accessories with a Pendleton-inspired aesthetic. My personal favorite are the luxurious faux fur blankets, perfect for snowy or desert cabins. I source extremely soft, 100% cruelty-free faux fur that is a cut above what you typically find at a corporate retail store. Snuggle softness matters!
Taking inspiration from nature, I’ve created headdresses for Portland Fashion Week, featuring 3D modeled antlers, fur & feathers. When time allows, I also love taking on that special one-of-a-kind project, being it reupholstering an airstream or creating a magical costume for Coachella. We are I am launching new jackets and blankets on our website and invite the readers to check out www.candylagoon.com.
I’ve been on a personal quest to know my Cherokee heritage, and my journey has brought me beautiful mentors and elders from Cherokee, Lakota and Athabaskan tribes. Reverence for stewardship of the earth and maintaining the circle of care for elders has never been more important than in times like these, and part of my contribution in giving back has been sending blankets to elders in need. Despite the pandemic and its hurdles, I love having this goodwill as a way to give back.
I’m excited to be expanding Candy Lagoon Apparel to more shops on the West Coast outside of the PNW. No matter the changes coming to the apparel industry, people still value the warmth of a good weighted blanket and classic jackets, and I enjoy bringing a unique niche of guilt-free faux fur and colors to customers.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in the Pacific NW with forests of fir trees and rivers out the back door. I’ve always been fascinated with making things, often scaring my folks with the power tools as a young girl.
I embraced art, music and business classes in college. Being a bassist in many bands has been a key outlet for my creativity as well. Understanding the world through the freedom and syncopated cadence of beats has helped me navigate working with celebrity designers like Yeezy and Beyonce with alot of team VUCA (volatile, uncertainty, changing, ambiguous) for so many years. I love the rollercoaster.
That linear creativity helps me navigate owning and operating my apparel line too, taking risks that others might not brave through. You wear so many hats. I learned a lot about that entrepreneurial drive from my father who also owns his business. Lots of sweat equity and big leaps of faith to shoot for your north star, but the wonderful reward is that joy on your customer’s faces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.candylagoon.com
- Email: candylagoon@gmail.com
- Instagram: @candylagoonadventures
Image Credit:
GFO Girls, Hunter Gimbel
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