Image: David Szeto at his home in Brussels, 2018.
From Vancouver to Paris.
Fashion designer and entrepreneur, David Szeto, tells the amazing story of how he came to establish his fashion house in Paris. He grew up in Vancouver. At the age of 12 his older sister paid him to do her home economics projects and he developed a keen interest in sewing and fashion.
His knowledge and skill as a designer continued to grow as he experienced more of the fashion industry, studying at FIT in New York, and later moving to London and then Paris. David’s story is one of incredible determination and creativity!
David has a very loyal following of clients and fans around the world, who treasure his poetic and beautifully crafted clothes. He also has a lot of wisdom and humour to share with young designers today.
In this episode:
- Growing up in Vancouver. David taught himself to sew at age 12.
- His first job in fashion at age 13, assisting a local designer. He learnt about fabric, ironing, cutting samples and patternmaking.
- Began making clothes for private clients while at high school.
- Attended Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.
- Learnt draping at FIT and was inspired by the work of Comme des Garçons and Madeleine Vionnet.
- Living in New York was very inspiring and motivating. The energy of the city pushes you to go as far as you can.
- Decided to go to London after being inspired by the work of John Galliano.
- David took patternmaking jobs to save money in New York. One memorable adventure was working for Trash and Vaudeville.
- Flew to Europe – one way ticket.
- Decided to do a fashion show in Paris. Creating minimal fashion in an era of power dressing.
- Went door-to-door in London trying to sell his first collection. Received an order for his accessories.
- Slowly grew his business, cold calling stores and fashion press.
- One of his first retail clients was Lucienne Phillips in London.
- A landmark moment – British Vogue photographed a dress on Helena Christensen.
- Decided to move to Paris where there was more industry and more international buyers.
- Sold his collection to Paris boutique, Victoire. His garments was displayed in the window and caught the attention of Bergdorf Goodman.
- Met his fashion agent, Florence Deschamps, and got a PR agent.
- Growth was very quick with lots of demand from the press.
- Built a team of patternmakers and drapers from the big Paris houses.
- Learnt about sell-through reports and how buyers buy.
- David’s advice for designers:
- It’s important to get experience working for another fashion brand or house before you launch your own collection.
- It’s important to create something new.
See more from David >> david-szeto.com
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Image: David Szeto AW05/06