Becoming a Designer of Supply Chains with Emily Harris of Mrs. Emily
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fitsShow Notes
Emily Harris started out as a designer of clothes, but recently, she says she’s become more of a designer of supply chains. Over the fifteen years since starting her brand Mrs. Emily, Emily has produced her signature elastic-waist skirts in different ways – sewing them herself to order, working with a seamstress to stock a retail location, and now working with a fair trade mill and sewing studio to produce inventory. Her product has gotten even more beautifully simple, but the logistics have gotten far more complex.
In episode 122, Emily candidly shares how her target customer has grown as she and her business have, how her change in lifestyle required a change in manufacturing, and why play and personal style are necessities in her work and business.
Emily is a fashion designer, wife, and mom based in Champaign, Illinois. She studied fashion design at Southern Illinois University as a newlywed, and after graduating, she and her husband moved to New York City, where she worked for bridal designer Amsale Aberra. In 2010, Emily launched her own brand as a way to grow her design career while staying present with her young family.
After years of creating custom garments made to clients’ measurements, Emily developed a proprietary size chart and began manufacturing with small, family-run workshops in India and Bangladesh—workshops where she has personal relationships and deep trust. These teams produce extraordinary work and provide fair wages, healthcare, and childcare to their employees.
Now, 15 years into her brand and 14 years into motherhood, Emily continues to design every piece from her home studio. Her business has been shaped by a desire to live fully in all her roles: as a mother, a wife, and a designer.
This episode explores:
Fitting the customer
How her target customer has grown as Emily and her business have
How Emily decides what skirts to offer each season
How Emily balances the technical, quantitative feedback with personal, qualitative feedback as she designs
The ways that Mrs. Emily products have been simplified – and the work that has gone into doing so
Fitting the lifestyle
The lifestyle that inspired her signature elastic-waist skirts
How Mrs. Emily has changed as Emily’s daily lifestyle has changed over the years
Why Emily describes her role as being a designer of supply chains, not just a designer of clothes
What kept Emily going when everything in her business felt heavy and stressful
Fitting the values
What made Emily look at her product more seriously
The thing that really fuels inspiration
Why fair trade manufacturing is so important to Emily
Why play and personal style are necessities in Emily’s work and business
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
Mrs. Emily website
Mrs. Emily Instagram
Emily’s email
Mrs. Emily LinkedIn
Emily on How Fitting episode 9
Jackie of Motif Handmade on How Fitting episode 120
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