Cynthia Rowley: How to Make it in Fashion in NYC
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders the Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined by Cynthia Rowley. Cynthia was just honored by the CFDA with the Founders Award. So she is the perfect example of a fashion founder for the podcast, and it was just amazing to get advice from her on so many different subjects. We talk about her advice on how to break into the fashion industry, what she's seen work, what she looks for when hiring. Inspiring, do you need to study fashion in order to work in fashion? How to build and sustain a successful fashion business? And some really fun New York Fashion Week stories. This episode was so much fun, and I was wearing one of her pieces, the pinstripe blazer that I absolutely love.
If you've always had that dream of working in fashion in New York, so did she, and she did it. And I can't recommend this episode enough. And Cynthia talks about The importance of an internship to work in the fashion industry. And if you're wondering, okay, but how do I do this? I've created a five part fashion career playbook specifically on how to break in and the different types of internships there are. And of course, I always post my job boards that include fashion internships to exec roles. The first part is live on Substack and I'll be posting The next parts of it week by week, but I really tried to put into this things that I wish I knew before starting out. And what I've learned from the over 70 podcast guests I've had, and actually now being in the industry, what actually works, what actually gets you an opportunity, what actually gets you hired.
I'm also including resume builders, email templates, and tips for getting into New York Fashion Week and things I have done to actually attend. And work at Fashion Weeks. If there's anything specific that you want to see in this, please let me know. But I really wanted this to be as helpful as possible. And it would really, really help me and the podcast grow if you can leave a rating, a review, as well as following the podcast is the easiest way to stay updated with everything. Thank you guys so much for listening and let's get into it. And this week's highlight is Rent the Runway. And I have a Pretty major discount to share with podcast listeners. It's actually the biggest discount they have going on right now.
You can get 50% off your first month. So that could be less than $50 for over $3,000 worth of clothes. You can use code in all caps, RTRXV Smith50. I absolutely love using my subscription. It just makes getting dressed easier, better, more fun. I'm saving money. I get to dress with the seasons for events. Like this month, I rented out a dress I wore for a holiday party, a bag I had been thinking about purchasing, but it was like $400 and I got to rent it instead. You get that feeling that shopping gives you, but in a way that's way better for your wallet, your closet. I've talked about how much I love using Rent the Runway before on the podcast and on Substack. And I shared my hack of how use it when I travel where I'll have it ship to where I'm going and then ship it back from that location so that I'm packing way lighter.
I'll put the link and the code in the show notes, but you can use in all caps RTRX V Smith50 for 50% off your first month. And I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do. Oh thank you so much for being here, Cynthia. I'm so
excited to be here.
I would love to hear how you first got into fashion because rumor has it you w made your first dress at seven years old and I wasn't doing that at seven. So I would love to know how you got started.
That is true. I did start sewing when I was seven, but it wasn't for design purposes. It was just as like an arts and crafts project. And I grew up in a small town and my mom was is very artistic and she would give my brother and I projects just to keep us busy. So I started sewing. I laid the fabric on the ground, laid down on top of it, traced around myself. Like a crime scene victim and cut it out and sewed it together and wore it all the time.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–8:48
2
How did Cynthia Rowley first get into fashion and what sparked her love for sewing?
8:48–15:02
3
What advice does Cynthia give about breaking into the fashion industry without a traditional background?
15:02–20:11
4
Why does Cynthia emphasize small wins, consistency, and taking risks over chasing instant success?
20:11–28:02
5
What are the biggest challenges and behind‑the‑scenes realities of putting on a runway show?
28:02–40:30
6
How has the global fashion industry changed and how does Cynthia adapt her designs to new trends and technology?
40:30–41:52
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Fashion & Founders The Podcast
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