Behind The Seams with Lincole Tsui

Coco Chanel once said, ”A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” For an aspiring fashion designer like grade 12 student Lincole Tsui, it shouldn’t be too hard to attain these two traits. The moment Lincole walks down the school hallway, people immediately turn their heads and stare - completely transfixed. The hallway is like a catwalk, with Lincole modeling her outfit for that day and barely noticing all the attention on her. People watch her silently in awe and with a hint of jealousy as she makes her way down – and for good reason. At our school, everyone knows her as the fashion designer and though we are limited to dress-down days, Lincole uses this opportunity to showcase her designs and classy style. “I wouldn’t define myself as having a specific style but I like to try new things. I like dressing classy - like Blair Waldorf (laughs).”

How It All Started

At the young age of 10, when girls were playing with each other’s hair and gossiping about their latest crush, Lincole was interested in only one thing – clothes. She was constantly encouraged by her teacher to pursue fashion and her life changed the day she received her first copy of Vogue, and the rest as they say, is history. So what exactly inspired Lincole to get into fashion? “I really liked clothes.” she replies, “That’s what it was and I wanted to be the one to make the gowns on the models because they’re so pretty. I wanted to be in fashion – I can’t be a model, and… I just always thought clothes were what it was. I guess it all goes back to elementary school when I first got that copy of Vogue.”

Gaining Experience

Fast-forward six years, Lincole decides to get a job at Urban Outfitters as part of a school requirement to gain 40 hours of work experience. She embarrassingly admits, however, that she “didn’t even know what Urban Outfitters was.” However, she was hired and continues to work there today. In addition to working at the popular store, Lincole has volunteered for many established and fund-raising fashion shows.

“My friend’s a model and she was putting on a show called Fashion Entertainment. She and her best friend were working on this and they asked me if I would like to showcase my stuff. And, of course, I jumped at that opportunity, and said ‘Yeah.’ From then on, I just brought in whatever I had – dresses that I had done with different designs. There’s one that I had painted, which was pretty cool, and a cocktail dress that I had absolutely deconstructed.” With a huge grin on her face, she recalls how amazing the experience was and how much fun she had working backstage with the models. “I remember walking out to the crowd and taking my bow – first time I did it [and] it was insane. I had friends in the audience and they were just applauding me and it just felt really good. I had the biggest smile on my face.”

From then on, Lincole did another fashion show and this was what caught the eye of fashion designer and owner of JC Studios, RozeMerie Cuevas. It started off when she tagged along with her friend for Take Your Kids to Work Day to see what RozeMerie’s studio was like. Then, two years later, RozeMerie came to our school for Careers Day and she remembered Lincole as “the girl who asked a lot of questions.” “I did background research on her,” she explains, “which is a key thing and I asked her about her business – on her special selling strategies. She was very impressed with that and I think that’s what stuck with her – that I knew about her company. I emailed her my résumé and though she does take a lot of interns, I don’t think she takes many high school interns. She told me that she has never seen anyone like me in awhile – how I have the drive.”

Lincole landed an internship with her and upon gaining this opportunity, RozeMerie offered to be her mentor. It’s simply amazing that in a span of a few years, Lincole was able to accomplish so much, which is impressive for a girl who is still in high school. Although the internship may sound glamorous, Lincole reveals that she only “serves coffee, and that it’s not as glamorous as people think it is. I help around the store; I size clothes and help with marketing. I help out at her fashion shows which are at the Fortune Sound Club, so I’ve seen the hectic and glamorous side of it.” Recently, Lincole was asked to design some clothes for RozeMerie’s new spring collection and if she likes it, her designs will be part of the collection.

Fashion Inspiration

When it comes to creating her designs, Lincole draws her inspiration from observing the things around her. “It could be the clothes you see in stores,” she explains, “magazines, of course, and even people-watching is fun. You see people from different cultures… they can be from architecture – It really depends for me. If I see anything I like – it could be any piece of art – I just incorporate that in.”

The process of making her garment begins with imagining her clothes on a mannequin. She pictures how it would fit as well as where the placement of the garment would be. From there, she’ll see how a piece is actually constructed and that’s when a basic of sewing goes in. “You have to know how things work and how it’s done. I always picture the finished product and then think, ‘How can I do it?’”

The Reality of the Fashion Industry

In the cutthroat world of fashion today, the media depicts a misconception of the fashion industry. It can be seen through the “reality series” The Hills, for instance, that the fashion industry is misrepresented as a glamorous career. Even with some of the good that can come out of a career in fashion, “[There’s] a lot of work involved and [it] takes time to get to the glamorous side – you need connections.”

Fashion is a difficult career to pursue and there is much more to it then attending extravagant runway shows - you must have the drive, determination, as well as connections in order to achieve success. As for Lincole, does she ever worry about her future as a fashion designer? “Definitely. It’s the fact that you work so hard at something and if they don’t like it, it’s tough. But, I mean, it’s competitive, right? And there’s always going to be people who don’t like your things, and there’s going to be people who do like your things. And there’s also the doubt of not making it because everyone’s just had such high hopes for me since the beginning and I’ve worked so hard towards it that if I don’t make it… it would be the ultimate disappointment, really.”

Achieving Success

The skills that are required to become a fashion designer not only require talent or creativity but it is also based on luck – a lot of luck. Perseverance and patience are essential. “Work hard – harder than the person you’re competing against and you have to ‘never burn your bridges’ because you never know what that person can do for you. It’s all about networking and really staying in touch with people – that’s a big one. Leave a lasting impression.” It can be disappointing when your designs are criticized or even rejected. So how does Lincole feel about it?

“It obviously doesn’t feel good,” she says matter-of-factly, “but you learn how to take constructive criticism well and learn from someone who knows what they’re talking about. Having a tough skin is really important. You know, there’s always going to be people who don’t agree with you and you just have to stand by your idea and be confident with what you have because you know what’s best.”

Needless to say, achieving success in the fashion industry requires determination, a natural ability, and most importantly a true passion; however, you can learn how to get started in this career with a few pieces of advice from Lincole: “Learn how to sew – take sewing classes outside of school because school classes are not enough. Learn how to draw, take initiative, put yourself out there [and] ask people if they need help – they probably don’t – but if you sound like you know what you’re talking about, and you know what you want, they’ll take you on it. Just talk to as many people as you can. Keep in contact. Even send an email every few months; check up on these people, and through these contacts you never know what will come your way.”

The Future

As for Lincole, where does she see herself ten years from now? Smiling, she replies, “Married and have kids at 25? (Laughs) Ten years from now, hopefully I’ll have an established design house but it’s a lot to ask for at 28. But maybe I’ll be working for a company - that’d be nice.”

For a girl who is still in high school, Lincole has achieved massive success at such a young age, so it’s natural that she is proud of her accomplishments. “I sometimes feel like I haven’t done enough but I think compared to other people I know that want to do fashion, I’ve done a lot. But you always see that intern, who has parents with all these connections, and I don’t have those opportunities since I don’t know that many people and I don’t live in New York. I know that I’ve accomplished a lot for an 18-year old compared to a lot of different people, but there’s just always that person who’s better than me... and that kind of sucks, (laughs) to know that. You know what I mean? You never have to be the best at something. It’s whatever luck strikes.”

Despite that fact, Lincole has definitely come a long way from that little girl with the big dream. In a span of a few years, she has established for herself an amazing career. With her strong ambition and undeniable talent, Lincole is taking the world by storm, one design at a time.