Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah Lindquist-vanatta
Hi Deborah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am an eco clothing designer with my own fashion brand, Deborah Lindquist Eco Lifestyle.
I’m also an educator, mentor, and speaker. I focus on teaching my artisan skillset to students, craftspeople, those who love fashion and love the environment. I mentored student interns from all over the world for about a decade, in the years before covid. These students traveled to work with me in my atelier to learn my eco-fashion design methods. During that time, I designed some workshops to help me determine the students’ basic skillset level. Some came with an abundance of design education, some with little to none. No matter where the student was starting out, it was my desire and mission to teach them how to take their ideas and create something real out of them.
I started to formulate my new business, “Creating Eco Conscious Fashion” during the covid lockdown. I was one of those people who were oddly deemed non-essential. This term didn’t apply to just me, it applied to the entire garment center in Los Angeles. The fabric stores, trim shops, contractors, designers, etc were shuttered for months. Stores canceled orders. It was a potential disaster for independent businesses. This terminology didn’t make sense to me, and as a small business owner with my own brand, I didn’t exactly accept it. Fortunately I have my own sample room, a well-developed artisan skillset, and a stash of beautiful fabrics, scraps of fabrics, and trims. So I pivoted and made what people needed and wanted but couldn’t readily find because of supply chain issues. Masks. Other designers did the same thing, and the Los Angeles Times published an article about us and our ability to pivot, stay in business, and thrive during a very challenging time.
This unusual time allowed me to see that my fashion design skills could also be seen as survival skills. I didn’t fall into depression or consider myself unimportant. I was actually too busy.. I also realized how healing art is. Staying connected to “source”, staying in positive love energy, and using my handcraft skill set helped me to develop the backbone of my new business and first online course “Introduction to Design and Fabric Embellishment”. I did some online zoom workshops as well, and now I also teach workshops in groups where we can work together face to face.
The online course is very detailed and includes skillsets I use every day, homework, terminology, eco fabric overview, and more. See https://creatingecoconsciousfashion.com
Consistently taking non-tangible ideas and turning them into reality is what I do daily in my business. I began to realize that my methods are a manifestation process. We all design our own lives, and all things showing up in our lives are something we called in, manifested, created. Good or bad.
A little history-I’m a classically trained fashion designer and studied at the University of Minnesota and Parsons School of Design in New York City. I was designing for brands in Manhattan before being inspired to create a belt out of a cast off but interesting material I found in a messy trim shop in the garment district. It was an “out of the blue” moment and my first design under my own label using upcycled materials. This was way before environmentally conscious fashion was even a term.
Last year I hosted an interview summit with 15 experts about their own “Out of the Blue” moments, and how they developed these ideas into tangible things and ultimately businesses. These interviews were incredibly inspiring to me and others, and will be an integral part of my You Tube Channel moving forward.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My design business has definitely had challenges in the 40+ years I’ve been in business and I have written about them.
This incarnation of my new business “Creating Eco Conscious Fashion” has had some challenges too, but mostly those challenges are about “What technology do I need to create an online course, how do I write it, who can help me film it? Can I do it all myself or do I need help? And, “Can I teach artisan handcrafting and my own methods of design manifestation to people in the midst of fast fashion influence, mass consumerism, and now AI?”
I think it’s much easier to show up and teach people face to face. I did that for years. So yes I got to work though a few things, mainly mindset and tools. And I did have some help.
Back when I started designing clothing for brands in the 80’s, we had an intact fashion industry in the USA. For instance, when I designed infant and toddler boys clothing for the brand Garanimals, our fabrics were made in the Carolinas, our pants were produced in Mississippi, and our shirts in Alabama. The designers traveled to the plants to work out new seasonal designs and sometimes mid-season. The conditions of the production plants were no mystery to any of us. Whether the workers were production cutters, sewers, or sample sewers, the working conditions were held to a high standard.
Much unlike the offshore sweatshop production of fast fashion today. See the the documentary films “The True Cost” and “River Blue” to see what you support when you buy fast fashion.
While it has seemed that in the past no one cared about so many businesses being forced to close due to offshore production price competition, I see that more people today are paying more attention to the myriad of issues that come from fast fashion, including why clothing today falls apart so quickly, doesn’t fit, and even causes health issues due to the chemical dyes, fixatives, etc. Fast fashion is built to fall apart so you can buy it again. It’s a disaster.
Today there is a growing trend toward eco-conscious artisan skills, handcrafting, using art as a method for healing, and working toward rebuilding community and the fashion industry in this country. I am very happy to be a mentor.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an eco clothing designer with my own brand Deborah Lindquist Eco Lifestyle, I specialize in creating handcrafted fashion from a blend of organic, sustainable, deadstock, and upcycled materials. I produce everything in LA and sell through brick-and-mortar retailers, online retailers, and on my own website. My reincarnated cashmere sweaters designed with appliqués became a huge hit in 2004 and are still today a top category. My rescued/upcycled military parachute collection has been popular since its beginning. I even make custom wedding dresses out of parachutes.
In the sustainable category I love working with hemp, which I believe is the best sustainable fiber on the planet. It is not only an incredible fiber for textiles, it is healing to the environment. I have written several articles on hemp.
I’ve been featured in the press worldwide, dressed the most amazing people and have sold to the best stores.
What sets me apart from others is my ability to pivot through the changes in the industry (and the world), stay true to my vision and not give up, and now to be willing to share my talents and insights with others.
It’s been a while since I was a young woman in NYC with an idea. I actually didn’t have a lot of support when I started but learned how to find it through building community with other indie designers, retailers and even the media. I developed relationships with my retailers and traveled for trunk shows, trade shows in the USA and internationally. I got to know the people who bought my work through these experiences and I developed my business around what I could see my customer related to.
Today you may hear alot about your “avatar”, or ideal client. I spent years meeting my ideal client face to face, all over the world. While my new business as a mentor, teacher, speaker is a bit different, it’s because of all of these experiences-good, bad, and otherwise that I am an expert at what I do.
During one of the most difficult times in world history, I started to consider my legacy project- the lasting impact and values my brand could leave behind. Beyond the trends or seasonal collections, it’s a story I would like to see continue to resonate and inspire creative people as well as those who think they aren’t creative.
We are all creative-remember we design our own lives! May as well make our lives beautiful. That is why I’m sharing my process, talking about it, mentoring, teaching, and hopefully inspiring people.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I have learned that I get what I focus on. As I mentioned previously, I believe this falls into the category of manifestation.
For instance:
I wanted to study at the best fashion design school and was fortunate to study at Parsons. It wasn’t easy at all. It was a tough school, but through it all I developed technical skills and very importantly the fashion illustration skills necessary to present my work and get hired as a fashion designer. I was hired in the first 30 days after finishing school.
When I started my business, I wanted to blend my love for nature with my fashion expertise to create something unique. I wanted to sell to the best stores, the best people, and see my work on my own runway and in magazines. I have always focused on handcrafted, high-end fashion and with the right teams made all that happen.
On the flip side of happy things, I learned that through navigating economic chaos, world events, bounced checks and orders, and other things beyond my control, everything can get worse when I focus on what isn’t working and forget to celebrate the wins.
I get to learn to stay out of fear, stay in faith, and stay connected to what I want rather than what I don’t want.
Pricing:
- My premiere online course “Introduction to Eco Design and Fabric Embellishment” is on a holiday special. $147
- The 9 week mentored version of this course is also on holiday special and is $497.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://creatingecoconsciousfashion.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatingecoconsciousfashion/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/creatingecoconsciousfashion
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/deblindquist
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EcoDeborah/videos
Image Credits
Brian Van der Brug/Los Angeles Times
