Alumni Spotlight: Emma Rubinson on Life in the Fashion Industry

Can you talk a bit about your background and how you got to where you are now?

I have always been into fashion since I was really young. I first started getting into it while I was at summer camp. Growing up as a kid, I would always be braiding everyone’s hair, making friendship bracelets, painting nails and things like that. Then I started doing t-shirts. I would cut up t-shirts and figure out different ways to style a t-shirt, just using cuts, knots, weaving and textile manipulation. After that I just started up-cycling clothes and taking after school sewing classes. The sewing classes became a pretty intensive program and I was able to make my own portfolio there. Then during my senior year at The Masters School, I created a three-room interactive exhibit. Finally, I studied fashion at Washington University in St. Louis, and after graduating moved to New York City where I now work in fashion full-time. 

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

My mission, which has evolved over time, is wanting to invite people into a space where they can be their most authentic selves. I use a lot of bright colors and a lot of interactive methods to facilitate that experience. For example, my Senior Capstone project in college was about lucid dreaming and blending the dream world with the real world. I feel like who we are in our dreams is one of our purest forms, because it’s completely uninhibited. Then more recently, my collection for New York Fashion Week was about finding my way in my twenties, that collection was called Emergence. Overall, I spend a lot of time, almost in the HMI headspace, being very aware of my surroundings and analyzing the people and places around me. 

What does the designing process look like for you?

It involves a lot of sketching, and researching other designs, but at the end of the day I will often just turn the lights off and blast a playlist in my headphones. This is when I will start to conceptualize what I want to design, and see things morphing and coming together. I really just put my feelings into fashion, and it can be a very emotional process. 

What has been your proudest moment in your career so far?

My high school project. I have done so much since then, but I am proud of everything it took to pull that together and how I made the most of what I had at the time. Also, getting people involved in my work is what matters to me. I want people to come to my shows for their own experience, not for me. This project provided that experience for people, and hopefully I get to do that in my next big project. 

What would you say to anyone interested in fashion?

I think a lot of people are worried you have to be your own designer or you won’t be successful in the industry, which actually isn’t true. I work a full-time job as a colorist at Ann Taylor, where I help build color palettes and make sure colors are consistent on our prints. There are so many jobs in fashion that you can do and be successful in. There are so many different facets of the industry and I think a lot of people can get deterred if they aren’t starting their own brand. If you do want to design, I encourage people to just go for it with whatever they can find. You don’t need a fancy sewing machine or mannequins. When I didn’t have a mannequin, I stuffed my sister in a trash bag and duct taped her in it, cut her out of it, and then stuffed it. There’s always a way to make it work!

You can find Emma’s work on her website, or her social media.