Introduction to Me: Jhirae

My goal is to influence people and make a global impact on the world. Encouraging people to be their best selves and have fun along the way. This isn't particularly an "about me", this is a more detailed background of my life and how I got to where I am now with my life and career. I was born in Philadelphia and currently on the heels of my 31st birthday (Libra!!!). I grew up in a household with 2 siblings and I was the baby of the family. Growing up in the late 80's and the best decade the 90's, I was heavily influenced by music and hip hop culture. Everything that is vibes now and considered today's most iconic style inspiration such as Lil Kim, Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah, 2Pac and plenty others...I actually lived those times, which was so awesome to witness. Now that I'm older, I appreciate it so much more today. I say this because that culture and those icons heavily influenced me and was the soundtrack to my life growing up. Music is such a huge part of my life, and what else attracted me to those icons was their dope style. Music was a gateway to my love for style and fashion. It played a huge part in my love for fashion and style and of course along with my mother's influence as well. When you're a kid, you have in your mind what you want to be when you grow up. At 2 years old, I wanted to be a singer just like Whitney Houston! I would pretend I was her reacting "Greatest Love of All" music video. I used to have the moves from that video down to the T. Fast-forward years later, as a teen you start to develop your own personal style, you know how you want to dress and you become more aware of your persona and how you want to be perceived. Around 14 years-old I was into Bazaar, Elle and Seventeen Magazine heavy. I would see the lifestyle of the fashion industry, falling in love with people such as Kimora Lee Simmons and what she did with Baby Phat was so iconic, finishing every runway show with her 2 beautiful girls. I loved how she always involved her family with her business, it doesn't get any better than that. I'm so versatile when it comes to my aesthetic of myself, I can hold deep conversations about anything ranging for Lavender Tea to Biggie Smalls to the finest labels.

CAREER MOVES

As a young girl, I was always very career-driven. My first job was working part time at an orthodontist office after school and summer break during my high school years. It was pretty cool that I knew how to apply braces and take dental impressions at the age of 16. After graduation, I had my mind set on becoming a doctor, because I thought that would be a good career move. Once I attended college, I terribly struggled with my major as a Biology/ Pre- Dentistry student. I wasn't into the process at all and I wasn't into science. I was very unhappy at the time because I was so frustrated by my grades, so I started to look into new opportunities. I was still very heavily into fashion and by that time I knew how to sketch and design - it was my only outlet of sanity. I started applying to new schools to transfer, deep down I knew that I really wanted to have a career in fashion and I was willing to take any method to get there. I applied to FIDM and got accepted into the Fashion Design Program, I was so excited that I was finally going to be able to get on my dream path. I had it all planned out, I was going to major in fashion design, work my way up as an intern and work as a designer in NYC and travel to all the fashion shows in Paris, London and Milan. I was dreaming really big and I was so excited about the possibility of my future. I told my parents and they did not like the idea of me going and I was so distraught. Being the youngest child, the first to attend college out of state and the possibility of me moving across the country wasn't working in my favor at all. My parents were not feeling me going to school in California. So, that year I left the University of Maryland and moved back to Philadelphia.

Being home was pretty upsetting because I thought it would put a road block in my career journey. But I made good use of my time, I managed to get an internship with Fifty Two Showroom in New York. It was my first official taste of working in the fashion industry and it was incredible. It was my first time seeing and touching lookbooks and it was even cooler to see the brands in person. I would research retailers within the east coast and invite them to the showroom for fashion week. My time there was short lived since I commuted there from Philly, but it was my first real opportunity I was surely proud of.

Once that ended, things started to get real at home, I managed to land a job through a temp agency. With this position, I didn't know what I was going to be doing, but I just knew the name of the company was "Olive Juice". It turned out to be a children's clothing line that was based online and the owner once worked as a designer for Ralph Lauren. I was mainly working in their shipping department packing orders and helped with organizing their warehouse sales. Although it was just a temp job, I was introduced to so much about running a small apparel business. I was working with them for about 9 months.

I did some soul searching during that time and knew for sure that I wanted to work in fashion and that there were so many key roles that played a huge part. I then decided to go back to my previous college, after taking an entire year off. I went back with a new outlook, and majored in Business. After graduation I moved back home and was determined to get a job working for URBN, Inc (since they are headquartered in my hometown) working with Free People. I must have applied for over a hundred positions even internships and never got one call. After months of job searching, I managed to settle with a position working at a call center within the healthcare industry. It was my first job offer straight out of school, so I was thankful just to have something. Even though I didn't get my dream job, I still kept up with the fashion business by volunteering for various fashion events . In 2013, I applied to volunteer with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) during New York Fashion Week, during the application process I was so nervous because this was the hub to all the American designers that I looked up to and it was a big deal for me to get this opportunity. Once I received the notice that I was accepted into the program, I was so happy. My first day volunteering I was assigned to the work with the brand Adeam, it was their first time showing in New York. Being backstage at the Lincoln Center was a dream come true, I was in my element working alongside the designer and her team was a turning point in my career. It was like something clicked and at that particular moment I said to myself that I could really do this. I went on to volunteer with the CFDA for 3 seasons working with some of my favorite brands such as Milly, Mara Hoffman and Lacoste just to name a few. At the time, I was still working at the call center and thank God that my job was so flexible with my schedule.

With all the endless inspiration that was surrounding me, I was so inspired to start my own brand. While working at the call center, I had the most difficult time finding work clothes that followed the dress code and also complimented my personal style. I went on a search to find work attire that I liked and was unsuccessful. Either pants weren't long enough, the silhouette was outdated or they just didn't fit right. I'm infatuated with wide leg pants and how they make women's legs look long and slender especially paired with heels. I started the process of brainstorming and coming up with branding concepts. Then the name came to me, TROUSER9, it had such a nice ring to it. Trouser, sounded more classier than pants and the 9 symbolized my birth month. I was excited and so ready to get started on my new journey. I managed to find a local design school called Made Institute that offers sewing and design courses a la carte. Since I didn't have any official design training, I only knew what I taught my self from sketching and researching. I wanted the hands on experience, so I took the Design 101 course. I was introduced to developing mood boards, D.G. Fabric Expo and great reference books such as 9 Heads. I learned so much and I was able to design my first full collection, I hired a technical designer to develop my technical sketches so I could communicate with the sample makers I found in the NY Garment District.

Since I wanted to start focusing on the brand full time, I left the call center after 2 1/2 years. I wanted to focus more time on development and launching Trouser9. By then, I incorporated the company and was ready to embark on my new journey. I worked part time as a nanny and ran an e-commerce site with my sister, to help with seed money for Trouser9. I realized to reach my full potential in being a successful designer, a shift had to occur to take Trouser9 to the next level in being a profitable real deal fashion company that I always envisioned. In the future, I plan to manage Trouser9’s business operations as a small business however function as a well-structured corporation. Currently, I'm spending a lot of time getting Trouser9 up and running. I have my first set of samples created and I am currently working with a sample maker, perfecting the fit, quality control, developing the brand story and communicating with fabric mills to source fabrics.

My plan is to grow Trouser9 into a successful contemporary line that’s sold in over 150+ retailers and make a global impact by reshaping the way society sees sizing. I aspire to land as an influence in the industry, a business woman, investing and developing multiple businesses.

With this blog, I plan to have this as a centralized hub for everything Jhirae: Design, Style, Decor, Music, Career & Entrepreneurship, Travel and Health & Wellness + more.

I pray that this blog brings value to your life!

Thank you for reading,

Love Rae