Coffee with Daniela: Fashion Insights that will change how you see the Industry

The title gave me away! This is an article from the series about The Fashion Standup community.

This week we get to know Daniela Stancheva - she studied Branding and Graphic Identity at Central Saint Martins. Daniela, despite not knowing me, believed in what was still just a vague idea of the digital platform you are now reading.

By giving me ideas and unprecedented creative encouragement, she made me believe again that the internet will never lose its primary purpose of creating valuable relationships between people.

Of course, not knowing much about branding and graphic identity or design, my curiosity grew for this digital coffee chat…

I confess I didn't expect to share so many perspectives and, above all, learn so much!

The girl with the easy smile and bright eyes I found on the other side of the screen told me her story worthy of a streaming series. She had begun studying Law in her native country - Bulgaria. Realizing it wouldn't make her happy, she decided to have the courage to change. She searched Google for almost the best design schools in the world, and the butterflies in her stomach led her to apply to the most famous school of UAL and beyond...

Throughout our conversation, my questions led to such pertinent and well-crafted answers that they not only made me reflect but also enjoy our creative encounter.

And since sharing is caring, here are 12 points for reflection, a coffee to take slowly, whether with sugar, sweetener, or neither. 

1- On Bulgarian fashion 

Bulgaria is not a Fashion Capital, you know. It's really not a huge scene when it comes to fashion.

However, I've seen some really interesting examples of people who decided to start their own fashion labels here. And they're putting a lot of effort and a lot of thoughtfulness and intention into their work.

Even though the market is not really huge, so it's not really, you know, profitable to rely on this only. But fashion is, that's the reality of fashion. It's really hard to rely on your fashion job, (as being) your only source of income and everything. It would be  great, but not really the reality.

The most interesting thing for me, as a graphic designer, is how they approach social media and how they are trying to promote themselves, and how they're getting people, especially in Bulgaria, where they're used to go to buy from the stores that they already know.

It's just this freedom. It's like breaking the rules of everything that you could expect from a fashion brand.

It's like mixing these other aspects like culture and food, maybe, and everything else into. So they're creating this whole story, like photographs, or mixing or mixed media content that's just taking little bits of other aspects, not clothing, not clothing necessarily, and bringing everything into one piece of content that's just unexpected and twisted.

Experimenting, a lot of experimenting,  and breaking the rules of what would you normally expect from a fashion brand.

2 - On branding and marketing

Well, branding is literally what makes your brand yours. It's the signs, the repetitive patterns that you show to people, the consistency.

It is why people are coming back to you and are looking for it or your product again and again, and it's like a promise that you make for your customers.

You're going to be showing up, and that you're going to deliver the quality that you are promising to them. While marketing is a little bit more creative, it’s more fluent, 

Branding is what sticks and what's unbreakable, and it's just it stays the same, and it's exactly what you know people are looking for your product.

So the branding is, it's not changing, it's what stays consistent and you need this consistency in your product and in your designs, in order to live up to this promise that you give to your customers. Um, and whatever it is that they like about you, they keep going back because of this. Marketing (...) it's not what could make you a long term.

3- On the design process 

When we're creating a brand, the method that we've been taught in UAL. We are using this double diamond method.

And the first diamond is the whole brand base. It has nothing to do with visuals, which means, whenever we start a project.

The 1st like, if a project lasts for 6 weeks, the 1st 3 weeks we are not designing anything. We are not going for visuals. We are not doing anything related to design (in terms of creating visuals).

We are only doing research. We are only  defining our brand tone of voice. Yeah, a target audience, the whole feeling, and the whole vibe of the brand, and that's like the half of the whole project.

And then afterwards, when you have all of this defined, the visuals are only how all of this translates into graphics. So it's like, it's a whole lot more than just a typeface or a color or anything else.

It's just, it's rooted in much more intention and thoughtfulness, and idea. It's branding is an idea that collects people into like a group of people who share the same idea. And then the visuals are only just a translation of that.

4 - On Pinterest 

Standing in front of their laptop and make anything, and just scrolling through Pinterest. (...) You know, that doesn't really need that much attention (having it as the only source of references and inspiration).

However, when it comes to, you know, really serious and like quality work. The half of the process. Research and definition and inspiration, and everything else.

So, yeah, brand base is extremely important. That's where you need this in order to start working on the visual part. If you wanna really create a quality work in terms of graphic design.

5 - On independent designers financial sustainability

We can see this in the graduate shows. You know, they're everywhere. They are awesome. They work on social media, and it's incredible, incredible work with so much thoughtfulness.

But how? How do you maintain a successful brand that's operating and bringing in money and cash flow? So that you can keep doing what you're doing. And you're actually passionate about it.

6 - On creative genius of many fashion designers

When you're so genius, you want to focus on your craft, you don't really want to go to  social media, because it's a full time job.

Keeping up with social media algorithm is a full time job, and it's very consuming and it keeps you apart from why you actually started the whole fashion, startup, thing.

But it's absolutely necessary, how do you actually sell what you wanna, what you've created. Um, so yeah, really important.

7 - On fashion content creation

(...) Style Not Com, @ideservecouture. So they all started as a passion. They all started with (...) this pure desire to be connected with like-minded people, who also share this interest in fashion an, you want to share your opinion, and you believe that you have something more, something different to add to.

8 - On getting paid as a creative 

Especially in creative work, the boundaries are so blurred when it comes to creative work, because like, there is not really a definition on what you count as work, and what should be count as paid work.

But it's still work. It's creative work, but it's still work. It takes time. It takes expertise. It takes your unique perspective as a creative, which means that's work that still needs to be paid. So  yeah, it’s really hard, but still , keep doing what you're doing.

What I really like about your work is the research. This was the message that you sent me in the beginning, and it was that that you want deep content, that you want something that goes beyond the, you know the regular scrolling, and like, wow! 

There a lot of “viral moments” in fashion. We've all seen that, my feed is flooded with this type of content, but when it comes to something that is more thoughtful and well researched, and so it's great, I think. I think you have something different to propose to.

9 - On boldness

I decided to do a virtual reality experience (at CSM). it was for the brand Tiffany. And I actually invited Tiffany to come to my graduation to see it, nobody answered. Of course they didn't answer it.

But I was brave enough to do that. I've created a virtual reality experience where it was this like a starry night. Where each star is Tiffany diamond.

And the whole idea was that you have like paper, folded planes. And you could just throw them and strive for the diamonds which are the stars - the starry night.

And it's like a promise that you make for yourself like "I'm reading this, writing down this dream that I have, folding it into a paper airplane, and I'm throwing it away. So whenever I achieve it, I'm going to treat myself to a Tiffany diamond." That was like the whole concept of it.

10- On presenting your work

I remember there was an advice that we got in UAL, s while we were preparing to graduate and to go out for interviews, actual interviews for a job, and our tutors gave us this advice - always bring something printed with you.

Something that is tangible, and something that the other person could be able to touch and like, have a look at it. Because it always speaks a lot more about your work rather than just showing, you know, digital mock ups. It's not really the same.

I mean sending something printed like having something on paper. It's just, there is romance in this. So it definitely could be used to your advantage, you know, for any written idea that you have. If you want somebody to make sure that they're going to read it. If it's in their emails it might stay there. It might stay unopened. But if it's printed it's something else.

11 -On social and historical context

Yes, we've been influenced by Communism. But it's just we're playing around with it. And yes, we're so far away from where we need to be. Um, but people are kind of using it as a sarcasm and kind of incorporating it into their arts and crafts and even fashion.

12- On consumerism 

I've taken the decision that I'm not going to include another piece of clothing in my wardrobe that I'm not adoring with my whole heart, and it's absolutely “me”.

So now I have one handbag. It's “affordable luxury” bag. It's not like "designer designer" pack. Um, but it's, I love it so much. I overuse it. It's always with me, and I'm not ashamed to be with the same handbag over and over again.

What would you have liked us to talk about? On what topic would you have liked to have Daniela's perspective? Which member of the TFS community would you like to meet - from any specific area? Do you have an idea you'd like me to develop?

Shall we have another coffee next week? I'll be waiting for you! 

After so much to food for thought, breathe, rest - enjoy your weekend! 

See you soon! 

With love, 

Vera Lúcia