In episode 47, Morgan Shapero shares how after over 20 years working as a designer in NYC, she relaunched her own brand Shapero in 2021 – and how that experience provides both freedom to design and do business her own way as well as new skills that help her in her day job.
Morgan Shapero is an industry veteran, working as a fashion designer for over 16 years in New York. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Morgan learned to sew at a young age from her late grandmother.
Upon graduating high school, she enrolled in a local fashion college, then transitioned to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. While earning her BS at FIT, Morgan won several industry awards including Women’s Wear designer of the future from FGI (Fashion Group International), presented to her by Michael Kors.
Morgan has worked for labels such as Jones New York, Rocawear and Calvin Klein.
Before her career began in NYC, she launched her namesake line of cut and sew tops, sold in several Vancouver boutiques. After 22 years, Morgan has reignited that passion for sewing and creating with her own hands, re-launching SHAPERO in 2021.
This new line is all about functional, feminine, comfortable pieces for all aspects of life. Morgan has also included childrenswear as part of her brand, using leftover scraps to create mini versions of her visions.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why Morgan chose outerwear as her specialty
- The way Morgan approaches design at her fashion designer day job versus how she approaches design for her own brand Shapero
- How Shapero designs to make use of waste materials
- How Morgan captures design ideas and inspiration
- What Morgan’s design process looks like
- How Morgan turns sourcing constraints into design features
- What prompted Morgan to restart Shapero in 2021
- Why Shapero is mostly one-of-a-kind pieces
- Why patternmaking is such an important part of the process
- The things Morgan’s learned from her day job as a designer over the last 20 years that has helped her in running Shapero
- How running her own brand has changed how Morgan approaches her day job work
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
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Ruby Marie Fanning
1:37 pm July 5, 2022This was a really great interview.