Laquan Smith tells aspiring fashion designers, ‘Don’t take on too much at once.’

Laquan Smith They gave important advice to the next fashion designers, encouraging them not to spread themselves too thin before getting their brands off the ground.

Luxury fashion designer and founder of womenswear brand LaQuan Smith, LLC sat down for an in-depth panel discussion as part of SHEIN’s inaugural Design Summit. The global e-retailer of fashion, beauty and lifestyle products is seeking 500 more aspiring artists and designers to onboard its growing SHEIN X Incubator program.

The conference allowed hundreds of artists and designers to rub shoulders with industry leaders and be encouraged to take their brands to the next level through SHEIN’s flagship incubator program. Since the program’s inception, 1,500 designers from the US have been empowered and added. Now, the company has It’s looking to have 500 more on board in the U.S. by 2023.

To help inspire artists and designers, the day-long summit featured designer-specific programming and networking opportunities, including a keynote address with Smith, who shared four key pieces of advice for upcoming fashion designers.

“I think it’s important as designers and creators not to take on too much at once,” says Smith.

“I’m a firm believer in winning the race slowly and steadily. Grow with grace, understand the ins and outs of what works and what doesn’t. And ultimately, I think over time, you know, give people a little bit at a time. You can’t give them too much.

When it comes to preparing for fashion success, Smith says it’s best to know who your target audience is.

“I think it’s really important to understand where you want to be positioned in fashion,” he explains. “Extract the brand DNA.

“Know what your brand’s ethos stands for. What does it represent? What does it mean if a woman wears your item or piece? What is taken? where do you live? what does she smell how old is she? Does she have children? What kind of car do you drive? Where are you going?”

“I think all of these things help a designer really understand who their target audience is, what they’re designing for, who they’re designing for,” he added.

A native of Queens, New York, he explains the importance of keeping your loves and secrets close to help them flow through you when sharing your art with the world.

“You definitely have to surround yourself with people who believe in you,” Smith says. That’s number one.”

“Surround yourself with people who enjoy what you’re doing,” he continued. “Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.”

As for how to find your creative flow, the womenswear designer shares the secrets of traveling and visiting museums as sources of inspiration.

“I mean, you can travel. Travel is always good,” Smith said. “Go to museums. Met is always beautiful. Sign up if you’re not a Met member. It’s good to just go and dive into the history of things. Apparently the New York Public Library is a real, great library.

“I think it’s about exposing yourself as much as you can,” he added.

“Like I said, take a trip, watch some movies, get into it. Go back and go back in time. Pull up old references. That’s how I do things.”