DESIGNER PROFILE – Julia Griffel
What is your employment status?
JG: Freelance
What is your official job title?
JG: Designer
Please summarize your professional career in 1 to 3 sentences; what should everyone know about you?
JG: I am a NYC-based fashion and textile designer specializing in infant and children’s prints.
Describe what you do?
JG: I create original and unique prints for infant and children’s wear.
Why did you choose to be a designer?
JG: I have always been an artist and very into fashion. Prints are art translated into repeats.
What steps did you take to become a designer?
JG: I went to FIT for toy design, and my first job was a mix of toy and fashion design. I designed dress up clothing for little girls along with the accessories to go with them, tiaras, wands etc.
What is the best/most challenging part of your job?
JG: The most challenging isn’t necessarily the “best” for me, it’s dumb-ing down my designs for mass market appeal.
If you weren’t a designer what would you be?
JG: An artist, which I am. Nothing can curb a creative spirit!
How did you get started in design?
JG: I interned at fashion companies during college breaks.
What do you like about what you do?
JG: It allows me to translate my passion for drawing to apparel which can be enjoyed widespread.
What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?
JG: That talent alone is enough to land a dream job.
How has your work evolved since you began your career?
JG: Constantly drawing, paying attention to trends and creating new prints evolves my skills naturally. Experience in different offices also taught me a lot about the industry and what the atmosphere of working in fashion is like… for better and for worse.
Are there any types of clothing/footwear/accessories that you avoid wearing?
JG: A ton. A designer most likely has strong opinions on fashion so a lot of things to me are hideous.
What are you fascinated by at the moment and how does it feed into your work?
JG: I am fascinated by children’s wear companies such as Mini Rodini that push the boundaries of what children’s prints can look like. I find that very inspiring.
What is the biggest lesson that you have learned since you started your career?
JG: Stay true to who you are, don’t let people push you around and make sure the ladder you are trying to climb is on the right building. Meaning, some places won’t allow you to grow and flourish, toxic people do exist and should be avoided.
What advice would you give to young designers?
JG: Keep their love for design and art alive and thriving as best they can. Always return to their creative and artistic roots. That can mean painting or drawing outside of daily job responsibilities, but don’t dim your artistic sensibility by translating all creative thoughts into business.
What’s your motto?
JG: Leap and the net will appear.
Julia Griffel is a textile designer specializing in infant and children’s prints. A native New Yorker, Julia graduated FIT’s elite toy design program and went on to work as a toy, apparel and textile designer. She has eight years industry experience designing for labels such as Cuddl Duds, Flora Nikrooz, Ellen by Ellen Degeneres, Xcessory International, among others. A true and passionate creative, Julia currently works as a fine artist and freelance textile designer.