How I Became Interested in Fashion Design
Firstly, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to visit my website and reading my very first article. I'm Ricardo Barasa, an 18 year old male from Trinidad and Tobago and I am extremely passionate about becoming a fashion designer. This blog's main purpose is to share my growth with you all and to also share what I learn with other individuals that want to learn about the fashion industry.
Ironically, while growing up, I wasn't really into fashion or as an extension of brand name stuff, as I found myself more interested in video games growing up like most boys my age. I actually grew up in what would be considered lower middle-class so my parents couldn't afford to buy expensive clothing. I took whatever clothing my mother could afford and never felt deprived or anything like that.
I personally started to gain interest in fashion around the age of 14 when I started associating myself with girls and becoming more social. I think most teenage boys go through a stage in their lives where they do things to impress people they are attracted too and my thing was dressing up. It started off with my friends and I just going to one of our local malls and checking out this place on the third floor called The Hideout Clothing Store. They had a lot of awesome clothes, shoes, bags and accessories but my friends and I couldn't really afford to buy clothes from there often. We would save up our lunch money from school and go to the store on a Friday afternoon and buy one T-Shirt or sweatshirt or maybe a shoe if we saved enough. There was one time where I managed to save a total of $2500 and I spent all on clothes and shoes which may seem like a little bit to some people but that took me a couple of months to save and I was actually able to buy my very first Air Jordan.
My love for fashion and style just continued to grow more and more and I started shopping online and whenever I got the opportunity to go away I would buy new clothes and shoes there as well. Some of my friends didn't understand why anybody would want to spend so much money on clothing but I genuinely developed a love for style and clothes and shopping as well.
Initially I wanted to open a store that sold clothing just like The Hideout, so my best friend, Xavier Simms, and I decided to start a Facebook page called RX Supply. RX Supply stood for Ricardo & Xavier Supply and we decided to buy clothes online and then resell them here in Trinidad. The first thing I bought was a mystery box from Booger Kids and the rest of stuff we got from Zumiez. We got Pink Dolphin bomber jackets and hoodies, Staple Pigeon shirts and a few other things.
I was really positive about starting the page and I began sharing the page with friends and family. Friends started to comment on pictures asking for my prices and lots of people started getting interested in our little store so my friend and I got excited. The excitement died down when I realized that no one was actually willing to buy once I told them my prices. I didn't think that I was overcharging or anything. I just realized that I was dealing with individuals who preferred to buy cheaper knockoffs and opposed to spending $700 on an original Pink Dolphin jacket.
We started to lose hope till some friends asked to buy some stuff and business felt like it was finally picking up. The excitement returned and I was ready to buy our second batch of clothing but the money was managed poorly and we were unable to. The interest we had in running a store completely died and I deleted the page and kept the rest of clothes.
We ended up losing a good bit of money but we learnt from our mistakes at the end of the day and it was a great learning experience. After giving myself some time to think I realized that instead of selling other people's clothing I could make my own. I wanted to one day be able to have my very own fashion label and produce clothing on a global scale
I started researching everything possible about fashion design and started following a whole lot of brands like Gucci and Supreme. I also started doing research on fashion designers such as Olivier Rousteing to further increase my knowledge about fashion designers and the industry itself. I initially doubted myself because i wasn't doing anything art related and had no ability with sewing but I started talking things out with Xavier, my grandfather and Xavier's dad and they all gave me amazing advice. I'm extremely passionate about fashion design and I know one day I will be sitting among the greats.
When I graduated from Queen's Royal College I was not sure about my next step but I eventually decided to go ahead and do form 6 but in no time I began to get fed up and felt like I was just wasting my time while at form 6. I wasn't doing anything that was gonna help me to achieve my dream of becoming a fashion designer so I decided to talk to my accounts teacher, communication studies and literature teachers about how I was feeling. I told my communication studies teacher that I was really passionate about fashion and she told me that her two daughters also love fashion and that she herself wanted to pursue a career in fashion design but wasn't allowed to do so. She encouraged me to follow my dream and told me that I should speak with my dean and my other teachers and stop wasting time doing something that contradicts my dream. She also allowed me to take a look at her daughter' fashion portfolio and mentioned the name of a young designer that attended Queen's Royal College and is now living in New York City and has his own brand.
I eventually decided to drop out of form 6 so I talked to my family about it and they all supported my decision to follow my dreams. At the moment I'm currently doing art classes and I'm going to start a sewing course and begin preparing my portfolio for a fashion design school. I'm currently looking at The Savannah College of Art and Design, The Art Institute in Fort Lauderdale and Parsons New York.
My advice to everyone reading would be to always follow your dreams. You as an individual need to know what you're passionate about because it's gonna make pursuing it that much easier. You cannot let money, fame, sex or any of those things decide what you want to do with your life and you also cannot let anybody else make that decision for you.
When I say nobody I mean nobody else but you can decide what you want to do with your life, not even your parents. Your parents may think that getting a bank job or being a teacher is the best thing for you because they deem it safe and secure but if you know you wouldn't enjoy those jobs don't pursue it because you will never have a good time at work. If you follow your dreams trust me you will never feel like you worked a day in your life.
This is honestly my very first article so I know it wouldn't be top-tier but with time it will only get better, as with everything else in life. I hope I can continue to share my growth with you guys and get the love and support necessary to grow positively.