Burda Style For people who sew

Sarah Livingstone is a fashion designer based out of Los Angeles, California. She was kind enough to share with us her day to day experience working for the huge fashion house Bebe in LA.

Did you go to design school?

I went to FIDM here in Los Angeles. Instead of the normal 2-3 year program, it is an intensive 15 months. I would highly recommend this for prospective students who already have their degree and KNOW they want to be a fashion designer.

Can you describe a typical day at Bebe?



A typical day included usually involved: a million emails, putting garments through the computer system, designing, sourcing trims, zippers, and countless buttons (welcome to the world of Sportswear). We’re constantly communicating with vendors overseas about samples we’re having made, fabric meetings, fittings, following up on garments with the in-house sewers, and finally presentation (or “Nail It” as they call it at Bebe) which is held once month lasting a week from start to finish, working closely with the pattern makers on samples while we’re revising sketches and sometimes changing things from the top down at the last minute!



Do you have any career advice for young designers fresh out of school?



Don’t be discouraged when your first job is not how you envisioned it. Normally they are not. It is not as glamorous a profession as many may believe…There are 11-14 hour days and a lot of stress and work. However, most of us have to go through that to move to the next step and you learn A LOT! It is the part they can’t teach in design school. One of my favorite professors at FIDM said to me before I started my own line, “Go work for someone else first. Make your mistakes on someone else’s money, because you are going to make a lot of mistakes!”




I also think it is important that one is aware aware of how hard this industry is and how much work it requires and having one’s own line does not make that any easier. That being said, for all young designers fresh out of school who want to have their own line…get some experience, follow your dreams and go for it! There are plenty of designers who DO make it out there…you just need to work hard, be extra creative and think outside the box!





Sarah, as many of her co-workers, was recently laid off from Bebe because of the economic crisis. Sarah sees this as a blessing in disguise and is so thankful to have the opportunity to focus on her own line, Livingstone (pictured above with the designer), which is set to launch later this year. After 2 1/2 years of working in the corporate fashion industry, Sarah is excited and inspired to make her dreams come true. Cheers to you Sarah.



Pictured above are 2 t-shirts Sarah designed for Bebe’s “Art of the Tee” campaign where employees were asked to create a statement on a blank t-shirt. Her 2 designs were best sellers.