We were lucky to catch up with Joean Montayre recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joean, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I had my first venture into serious business when I was 24 years old. Before that, I was working as a full-time designer in international companies while I do freelance illustration jobs on the side since I was 18. One day I just figured out I don’t like to work for anyone anymore. I want to work for myself, build my own signature styles and establish a name for myself. I knew my strengths and I was capable of finding a B2B/B2C network that allowed me to start. I launched my 6-piece collection on one of those sites, that time it was Alibaba. I did not have money but I was determined. I did not have a workshop of my own. I did my first collection working with a seamstress who barely knew sewing techniques. I remember going to her a small boutique in the neighborhood every day, training her along the way and the rest was history. I taught her the things I knew to make a good product and put it out there on the websites. I didn’t have a business background, and no one from my family influenced me but I my heart was into it. I studied the market of the manufacturing industry and thereon I was able to get buyers from different countries. It started first with 12 piece-design orders each from different buyers and then later they placed 500 pieces. Subsequently one of the buyers was interested to partner with me. I established the factory with them which was capable of producing 10,000 pieces a month.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in an artist/writer household. I was 18 when I started working as an illustrator and designer, fresh from high school, for a New York-based designer. I was not expecting to become a designer back then until a talent scout saw me doodling in class. I think I am an autodidact. I learned the skills on my own and I constantly learn new things and try to do my best at it. My inclinations were in science and history and I was hoping I would become a historian or a scientist one day but fate pulled me to the arts which I was truly grateful for. So when I started working in the creative field, I became interested and wanted to explore more. So after experiencing 4 years in haute couture fashion, I moved into designing furniture and home decor, then jewelry, footwear, evening bags, and then textiles. Apparently, I was interested in the business side of it as well so I build my own label and became an entrepreneur.

Right now, I have a namesake label “Iman Montayre” which is a modest, sustainable, convertible bridal wear brand. I am also giving fashion consultancies, specifically in modest fashion and sustainable fashion. I still do fashion illustrations on the sides.

With 25+ years of experience, I became a multidisciplinary designer which sets me apart from others. I have worked with multiple famous international brands and I have a good grip on what makes a design marketable, functional, and saleable because I am not just a creative mind, I look at designing from a business perspective as well.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Back then I wanted to author a book about human psychology or consciousness or become a historian. But since I diverted into the artistic field, I did not exactly know if I wanted to build something for myself until later, because other than that I was just interested in learning and exploring the depths of the industry back then. Then I had all the wonderful experiences and lessons I accumulated all the years, therefore I just wanted to culminate my career by sharing with the world what I know so that the future generation can inherit something from our time. I know that in their time, things will be different and artists may not dirty their hands anymore and spend hundreds of hours on a single canvas, I want to impart to them the joy of feeling and creating things with their hands. And as a sustainable fashion advocate and consultant, I wish to teach young minds how to find beauty and use from worn-out and discarded things, and how to make them beautiful and usable again. I wish to teach them a sense of responsibility, resilience, and resourcefulness. I wish for them to dedicate a part of their time to a cause bigger than themselves. That is why, just recently, I have launched a project called “ArtGenZ” for this purpose.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Looking at the creative process in a businessman’s eye is a challenge for most creatives because we are too focused on production than anything else. Most of the time we don’t see our brand from the customer’s perspective even. Therefore having business training or someone to guide you along the way such as a business consultant is a resource that I wish I knew or had in my journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.imanmontayre.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/joean_iman_montayre?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImanBridal?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imanmontayre

Image Credits
Portraits by Bukool Jeff Garban