We recently connected with Cristian Suarez and have shared our conversation below.
Cristian, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.
Fast fashion and the idea that clothing has an expiration date. I don’t believe in making people feel inadequate for owning “past season” clothing. It’s that same business model that has encouraged us to discard the old, buy the new, and ignore the landfill of pollution that aggressively accumulates. ADH is meant to be timeless, relevant, and available year-round; because unlike food, clothing does not have an expiration date.
Cristian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Professionally, I’m a copywriter for national fashion retailer. So I naturally am very much interested in what makes a garment so special. At the same time, I’m also a pattern maker, because it’s not enough to know about great clothes, I also feel the need to make them from scratch. I abide by a very simple model where I create patterns from scratch, cut and sew the pieces, live in it, post it online, and make it available year around to everyone. And while I don’t do custom pieces, I do offer the ability change fabric types at my clients’ requests. Some prefer cotton, some love wool/leather, and some prefer not to use any fabric that comes from animals.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
“Give the people what they want”. When you’re doing something as personal as making clothes, it’s important that you’re designing it for yourself and the world that you want to live in. Chasing trends and trying to “keep up” is the quickest way to make you irrelevant. Have a solid concept and stick to it.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Because my business is based off of the clothes I make for myself, I managed to create a model that has little to no overhead. So rather than going out every weekend, I saved enough money (from my regular job) to buy a Juki, sewing supplies, and pattern paper. I make every piece to order, which helps me avoid having to keep so much product on hand and only have to worry about storing my patterns. And as a result, nothing goes to waste.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://attentiondeficithyperactivity.com/
- Instagram: @adhincorporated
Image Credits
Cristian Suarez