Fashion Reverie Exclusive: 13-Year Old Teen Sensation Shows during NYFW

What were you doing when you were 13?  Hanging out at the Mall, talking endlessly on your cell phone, or just goofing off. Well, thirteen-year-old Isabella Rose Taylor will be showing her spring line during New York Fashion Week (NYFW). The Sept. 9 show will be presented at the Style 360 Lounge

This isn’t kid’s play. Taylor already has a 13-piece fall line for juniors being carried in Nordstrom stores across the country.

A MENSA-candidate, Taylor has been painting since she was 3 and took her first sewing class at age 9 when she wanted to start incorporating textiles into her artwork. She has been selling her designs through her website that she runs out of a home office. Her line regularly sells out at trunk shows held at local boutiques.

According to a CNBC.com story, Nordstrom heard about Taylor through one of the teen’s television appearances and liked the fact that Taylor was the age of her customer but also had a fashion-forward approach to her work.

Jennifer Jackson Brown, a corporate merchandise manager for Nordstrom, said Nordstrom officials also liked that Taylor had a vision for how the pieces in her collection should be in sync.

“She’s actually quite a visionary at the age of 13,”  Jennifer Jackson Brown said in the CNBC.com story.

Here, Taylor answers questions from Fashion Reverie about her career in fashion.

Fashion Reverie: Your line debuted this month in Nordstrom. Congratulations. What has working with Nordstrom been like? Did you have complete control? What did they tell you they wanted from you?

Isabella Rose Taylor: It has been great being able to work with Nordstrom.  It has always been a dream of mine to be in Nordstrom and I’ve been a long-time fan and shopper. It is surreal to actually be there this fall.  Nordstrom is carrying my clothing line that I developed. They did not tell me that they wanted a certain look or vibe. In fact, they encouraged me to just be myself. I presented them with my lookbook and tech packs, and from the complete collection, they chose the pieces they wanted to carry, then we started production of those pieces. The whole experience has been an amazing learning experience, from finding the right factory to making sure the product was delivered as expected.

FR: Is there another line for Nordstrom in the works?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I have nothing concrete right now. My next collection, spring 2015 will be showcased September 9th during NYFW, and we’ll be talking to potential buyers.

FR: Why fashion? What is it about fashion that appeals to you?

Isabella Rose Taylor: Well, who doesn’t love fashion? Why do we love chocolate? I’ve always loved dressing up, but for me, as a designer it also serves as a means of expression and a way to bring to life my artistic interests. I see fashion as art transformed from 2D to 3D and the fabrics/textiles that you can work with. Painting remains my other passion and I try to paint several days a week. Ultimately, I see them as being linked to one another.

FR: What is the biggest misconception/mistake that the fashion world makes when it comes to fashion for Tweens and Juniors?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I think that there is a balance of too young and too mature that is difficult.  Many Tweens do not want to dress like a younger sister, but the clothes her older sister might be wearing are not for her either.

FR: What is the biggest misconception about you?

Isabella Rose Taylor: The biggest misconception people have about me is that my life is perfect, but no one’s life’s is perfect.  Many times girls reach out to me through social media and they make comments like: “I want to be you” and things like that. One of the things that I’m really interested in is encouraging other girls to have dreams and work really hard to make those dreams a reality, but at the same time, they need to find their own dreams. What do they want to do? Maybe another misconception is that everything comes easy. I work really hard and try to do the best I can, but inevitably not everything works out perfectly.  I think it is very important to do things that challenge us. That’s how we keep improving.

FR:  Where do you draw inspiration? Where do you get your ideas?

Isabella Rose Taylor: There are a few sources: I see what the trends are in my market, and I am my own demographic. I stay on top of what’s hot by reading blogs, magazines, movies, and staying on top of what happening in our current culture. I also have been lucky to travel a lot with my family and I think that also helps create my vision. Finally, and maybe most importantly, I am an artist. I have been painting for years and I have a well- developed sense of what my aesthetic is. In most of my collections I somehow end up incorporating some of my art, either directly my printing, my painting onto the fabric and designing my own textiles or more indirectly. Most of the time it’s a gut feeling that incorporates all of my experiences.

FR: Tell us a little about your process. Do you sketch all the time?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I do sketch and paint a lot, but usually I come up with a mood board that narrows what my color palate and “vibe” will be. These are usually images I collect and put together in a sort of collage. Then I decide what pieces, tops, bottoms, etc., I want the collection to have. Some are practical decisions: What does a collection need to have in order to be a complete collection and sell well? Some are more artistic decisions like what pieces are necessary to tell the story I want to convey with that collection. Then I sketch the individual pieces. Fabric sourcing for the correct fabric is a big challenge and many times I design my own. However that biggest challenge happens when I have to edit the final collection. That’s when pieces are dropped or added to make sure it all fits together.

FR: What is your life like? Do you still go to a regular school? How do you juggle all of this?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I think my life is just like that of any girl my age. There’s school and schoolwork and then there’s what you do after school, including extracurricular activities and social life and family. It just so happens that for me school means community college, and extracurricular actives means painting, designing and learning as much as I can about running and growing a fashion business. I don’t think I am any busier than my friends who are in high school. They usually have to practice piano, dancing, cheerleading, etc for many hrs a day, and usually they are the ones who are busy when we can’t get together to go to a movie. I do have to travel a little more but it’s all about balancing.

FR: You’ve had a lot of big moments, met a lot of famous people. What’s been the best so far?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I have been lucky enough to meet so many wonderful people who have believed in me.  It is very hard to say who or what has been the best so far because I have met amazing designers like Norma Kamali, Cesar Galindo, and Charlotte Ronson. They have been generous with their time and advice.  I have met people like Steve Harvey who was so funny and world-class news anchors including Mara Schiavocampo, and Katie Couric, who are very, very nice people.  I had the amazing privilege to speak at TEDxHollywood and the Dell’s Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN), and it was there I was able to meet inspirational and very wise people who now advise and mentor me.  Honestly, the best part so far is being able to meet so many different people who show me what is possible and what I can aspire to.

FR: Will your NYFW show be your current collection for Nordstrom or something different?

Isabella Rose Taylor: Nordstrom is carrying my fall 2014 collection. During NYFW, I will present my next collection, spring 2015.

FR: Who in fashion do you look at and say, “I want my business to be like his or hers”?

Isabella Rose Taylor: I would love my business to be like several people—Donna Karan for one, she has been such a great businesswoman with excellent style.    I admire Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal for being able to grow her business to such a large scale in a relatively short time with the benefit of technology and the ability to reach her consumer directly.  I see myself combining a digital strategy with a traditional one to grow my business and my reach.

—Karyn D. Collins