\n<\/i>Edited by: Stephanie Farrell<\/em><\/p>\n
We met for coffee at Culture, a little caf\u00e9 on 38th<\/sup> street with a close, comfortable atmosphere and a line out the door. It is also a place that holds fond memories for Brooklyn-based designer and Parsons alum Giuliana Raggiani. She was in town for the afternoon and graciously spent an hour with me discussing the ins and outs of life post Parsons.<\/p>\n Originally from Maine and Boston, Giuliana moved to the New York City to attend Parsons in 2010 and delved into a variety of design areas. It was there that she discovered her knack for knits and decided to attend the world-renowned Central Saint Martins\u2019<\/a> knitwear program for her second year. In her words this only made things worse, because she fell in love with knitwear.\u00a0 \u201cI was just obsessed with the textile part of design, because you\u2019re literally growing something from scratch.\u201d\u00a0 Giuliana laughingly relates spending countless hours in front of an old 1980\u2019s knitting machine, staying up until 2 in the morning learning 2 years worth of classes in one.\u00a0 \u201cBut I ended up making my first sweater there,\u201d she says,\u00a0 \u201cwhich was the greatest accomplishment of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n All photos here were shot by good friend and giu giu photographer, Kara Kochalko<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the help of her business partner and close friend Christopher Newsome, that one sweater soon grew into an exciting new business and in late 2012, they launched Giu Giu<\/a>, a high-end unisex knitwear label. The line caters to \u201cpeople who aren\u2019t afraid to laugh at themselves; it has a certain androgyny, but in a lighthearted way.\u201d \u00a0The brilliance of Giu Giu is in the versatility of the clothing.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t want someone specific,\u201d Giuliana says.\u00a0 \u201cI can see an old lady wearing my sweaters and then a guy in his 20\u2019s wearing them too.\u00a0 I like the idea of passing it on, changing hands.\u00a0 I think the world right now is so versatile, and everything is becoming blurred lines between categories; I think fashion should follow that aspect too.\u201d<\/p>\n Giuliana manufactures all of her garments at a factory in LA, and \u201call of spring will be made in the USA,\u201d she says proudly.\u00a0 She found the factory with the help of her yarn supplier in Uruguay.\u00a0 Potential plans are in the works to purchase lighter cottons and summery textures from local manufacturer Keff<\/a> here in NYC.\u00a0 Giuliana prefers sustainable fabrics and believes that, \u201cfast fashion is dying down.\u00a0 I think of my sweaters as being high quality and long lasting so that potentially they could become vintage.\u00a0 Durability, especially in knitwear, is so important to me.\u00a0 Fast fashion just doesn\u2019t have that nostalgia to it. It\u2019s very temporary and very disposable, which is a little sad to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The process behind creating a Giu Giu sweater varies.\u00a0 Often Giuliana knits the original swatch on her personal knitting machine, which she has ingeniously redesigned to suit her needs.\u00a0 \u201cI found a way to hack into the computer and twist the wires so you can connect it to Photoshop, and take an image in Photoshop and put it into the machine,\u201d she says brightly, as though it was as simple as writing your name. \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t really have a set process,\u201d she continues. \u00a0\u201cIt happens organically.\u00a0 Sometimes I\u2019ll get inspired just from knitting. I\u2019ll sit at my machine for hours just knitting swatches and combining different textures.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes, if she has enough time, she makes the samples as well.\u00a0 When we begin getting into the technical side of design, it becomes clear very quickly that this part of the business takes up the most time.<\/p>\n Luckily Giuliana had a little help with preparation for her own line.\u00a0 While at Parson\u2019s she worked as a freelancer for the cofounder of Anthropologie<\/a>, Linda Trau, eventually creating the \u201cGiuliana Leila\u201d line for Trau\u2019s in-house brand Sparrow<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0After graduation Giuliana for worked at Sparrow, and it was with Trau\u2019s encouragement that Giuliana struck out on her own.\u00a0 She entered the race late in the fall 2012 season, too late to line up buyers, merchandizers, or money.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I took my suitcases full of sweaters, and started knocking on doors,\u201d says Giuliana. \u00a0\u201cI did price research to see which stores I could sell in, my price point and customer, and did it on a whim.\u00a0 I\u2019d say, \u201cHey, can I talk to your buyer?\u201d\u00a0 A lot of people said no, a few said yes, and I ended up getting into five stores for fall.\u201d<\/p>\n Giuliana found that one of the upsides to showing at Capsule was the ability to discover what your potential international consumer prefers compared to local NYC consumers.\u00a0 \u201cThe favorite piece from fall in NY was the black and white plaid one<\/a>,\u201d she says, \u201cand then in Paris it was more of the colorful, eclectic pieces, which was really refreshing.\u201d\u00a0 She hopes to expand internationally thanks to the great response they received at Capsule.<\/p>\n Giuliana also cites social media as one of the most important outlets for free advertising.\u00a0 \u201cIt gets the word out and everyone\u2019s online.\u00a0 There are so many applications for social media, whether it\u2019s Facebook or Twitter or Instagram.\u00a0 Posting a sweater every day is extremely important because I also need to market the stores that I\u2019m in.\u00a0 Personally I love Instagram<\/a> because it has more of an artistic feel to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Giuliana also shared with me what she wishes she had known before starting her business. \u00a0When talking about the design side of things she advises, \u201cLearn how to edit.\u00a0 Even though your creativity might be screaming for it, and you really just want to spit out as much as you can at once, you have to be a little hesitant towards exploding everything into one collection.\u201d<\/p>\n The business side is a little trickier, \u201ctake what people say in the business world with a grain of salt.\u00a0 A lot of people can seem like great people at first, but you have to do your research because you might find yourself in a situation that you didn\u2019t expect to be in, based off of one person\u2019s opinion.\u201d\u00a0 She also speaks volumes of praise for her partner Christopher.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think I would be where I am today without him.\u00a0 His knowledge is so necessary – cost to import and export, duties, taxes\u2026and without that you can\u2019t move forward.\u00a0 Every day he teaches me something new, which is very important – don\u2019t just get caught up in the design process.\u00a0 You can\u2019t go into a buying or sales meeting and not know what you\u2019re talking about it, especially if the company is your baby.\u00a0 You have to learn how everything works.\u201d<\/p>\n So everything really IS all about the money?<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely.\u00a0 A lot of people can mean well and really believe in you, but at the end of the day even the biggest dreamers have to make a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the incredible accomplishments of Giu Giu, enduring the pressures of running a business and exciting plans to expand into a lifestyle brand, this Parsons alum remains down to earth, warm and friendly. Because she is constantly on the go, she rarely has time to sit down and reflect.\u00a0 \u201cYou keep wanting more and more,\u201d she says with a smile, \u201dbut you have to remind yourself that you started at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n **Love knitwear? Want to see how a business works from the ground up?\u00a0 Giu Giu is looking for interns!\u00a0 Contact Giuliana at giuliana@giugiu.us<\/a> with your resume and cover letter to apply!**<\/p>\n![\"G1\"](\"http:\/\/fashion.parsons.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/G1.png\")
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<\/a> \u201cExplaining to another person how to make the item, spec measurements, layout, and then contacting the factory, figuring out which yarns to use, figuring out the pricing of the yarns, having a budget for everything\u2026.\u201d Giuliana trails off with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cCommunication [with factories] has to be a daily thing.\u00a0 Sometimes you can run into the wrong people and you feel really desperate, because no one is responding to you, and you\u2019re depending on this person to create something for you; you\u2019re not just depending on yourself anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"G4\"](\"http:\/\/fashion.parsons.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/G4.png\")
<\/a>That can-do attitude and resilient nature led to Giu Giu showing at the Capsule Paris<\/a> tradeshow this past September.\u00a0 She hopped on a plane with the third and newest member of the Giu Giu team, social-media-master Brady Smith<\/a>, with no clothes except for the sweaters. At Capsule, \u201cyou get a booth to showcase your collection, a clothing rack and table.\u00a0 Buyers, merchandisers, sourcers, showrooms, yarn people\u2026everyone comes together.\u201d\u00a0 She explains that most buyers show up already knowing which companies they want to see, which made it especially flattering when one Japanese showroom representative did a double take as he walked by Giu Giu\u2019s booth.<\/p>\n![\"G6\"](\"http:\/\/fashion.parsons.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/G6.png\")
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