Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Susar.
Melissa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in northern New Jersey right outside Manhattan. My parents were in the fashion industry (shoe design) so I grew up around it, at the shows, knew designers as a kid, hung out at my parent’s store, would help my dad go through all this Europe shopping/inspiration trip photos (back then they were on real film), etc. always loved it.
They wanted me to be a lawyer or something and avoid fashion (but obviously that didn’t happen) Went to school for Business Marketing at Boston University and found a passion for marketing, but I graduated in 2008 when the economy crashed so zero ad/marketing agencies were hiring (in fact doing layoffs left and right) same for all the big brands & their in-house marketing departments, so I took what I could get and accepted a job as a visual merchandiser for the Kenneth Cole corporate office. (I had worked retail throughout college at Ralph Lauren & Club Monaco which is like mecca for merchandising, store windows, styling, etc. so had the skills). It was a great first job as I visited stores and accounts across the entire Northeast managing their shop spaces, etc. — fun but also grueling — talk about paying your dues. But people above me that I respected all pointed out that I had “an eye” and now I realize they were right and am so thankful as it’s not really something that can be taught.
I was promoted to brand manager for the women’s division where I worked under the VP of the Wholesale Women’s division, She quickly became my mentor and taught me everything, saw my strengths, encouraged me to follow my passion which was product & design, she had me trend shopping for all the various departments, and a few of the things I bought got the attention of Kenneth himself, so they moved me into the design department where I spent about two years as the concept designer for all men’s & women’s accessories. Would be on set for look-book, national ad shoots, assist in styling and shoot/runway planning and there was nothing more thrilling to me, I was hooked.
I went on to work in product development for Rebecca Minkoff footwear at Schwartz & Benjamin a luxury footwear licensing house which I loved and learned a lot. During that time, I met my husband who was living in Miami so we started going back & forth between NY > MIA. I left my job in NY to move to Miami and we started a family.
I stopped working for a bit and when my first daughter was about 15 months old, I started working with a small women’s brand here in Miami in Little River District where I oversaw all E-commerce merchandising and saw that their photography was a bit lackluster all over the place which makes it hard to drive sales online so I started handling the art direction, model casting, and styling, etc. It was there that I met a fashion photographer named JD Forte and we developed an amazing friendship and chemistry on-set working together.
In the production world, it’s really rare and amazing to have a set with no egos or drama….just fun and creativity. He is truly a master of his trade and is so talented and inspiring. He encouraged me to pursue my dream of editorial styling and to leave my job where I felt under-appreciated and chained to a desk, so to speak…. and go out and work for myself. I did it and It was the BEST decision I ever made. Since then, I’ve styled several editorials published in Vulkan and L’Officiel and do E-commerce & Marketing/Creative Direction consulting for various clients.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not… but all those struggles (as cliche as it sounds) make you evolve and grow in the best way.
In NY working for big brands there’s a lot of ego’s, big personalities, and politics which is challenging to navigate when you’re young, ambitious, talented and headstrong. A lot of people will try to cut you down and throw you under the bus if they realize you’re a threat, but also there’s a lot of really amazing supportive people. Look for them — find your mentor and LEARN all you can.
I remember once when we were in a crunch for our runway show at Kenneth Cole, the snakeskin belts got pulled by Fish & Wildlife/customs and were not going to make it for the show. My creative director LOST it and sent me out in a blizzard in February to find belts. My foot was broken at the time (skateboarding accident)– so there I was hobbling around 5th avenue in the snow weaving in and out of Bergdorf and Sak’s with no such luck of finding belts that resembled ours to walk down the runway, and I literally just threw my head back and started balling on the street in front of the Plaza Hotel fountain…it was definitely a Devil Wears Prada moment 🙂
The biggest struggle in my career was definitely navigating having children and working in an industry that frankly, doesn’t care. Even though fashion is a female-dominated industry, there is still such a lack of awareness and support for maternity leave.
With my first daughter, it was fine because I chose to quit/re-locate and stay with her, but when I had my second daughter I was in house at the brand in Miami and they were not pleased. I had to work up until two days before giving birth. I was actually on set a week prior and the photographer was joking about having a baby on-set..haha
I was only given two paid weeks which was challenging and then shortly after was very hard pressed by the company to start working– even went in for a shoot with my three weeks old baby in a wrap carrier and did the whole shoot with her strapped to my body. Shortly after I realized there was no way I was going back to that office full time, and thankfully found my way in the freelance world (which is SO much more rewarding and flexible)
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a freelance marketing consultant and stylist. The majority of my clients are for digital management & branding (Shopify merchandising, graphic design, art direction and email marketing/campaign generation) Styling and creative direction is my real passion and thankfully that overlaps a good amount with the digital work I do.
I’m known for an extremely sharp eye and vision.. and for being tough. I like to push and get the best results possible but still with a chill fun atmosphere. My strength is helping brands with cohesiveness and elevating their image as well as creating stunning looks on set.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Good question. In hindsight, I feel like all the twists and turns were all valuable so I don’t know if I would have done things differently, so to say, but if I could I wish I went to Parsons or design school after graduating university. Since I ended up in fashion so many of my co-workers in design all had learned those skills in school while I was 100% self-taught and had to hustle and play catch-up in a sense learning on the job while in my roles in design.
Also, wish I had stressed less in my twenties about being “successful” because like you get there eventually with hard work, dedication and talent. I was so worried about not “making it” and couldn’t see that I was doing it all along.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissa_susar
Image Credit:
Photos taken by: JD Forte, Samantha Spencer; Publications: Vulkan, L’Officiel Lithuania, LaPalme Magazine
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