We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Olivia Colley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Being a fashion designer brings me the most joy out of life completely. Im always asked if I wasn’t a fashion designer what career path I would choose for myself and always the answer is “I don’t know.” When I think of any other job even in another creative fields still don’t think it would provide me the same amount of happiness that creating clothes does for me.

I believe everybody is born with a purpose in life or a certain calling that they’re driven to, and I think for me it’s truly fashion design. There isn’t anything that im more passionate about than that, I love cutting and creating a pattern and then carefully turning into something completely different. If anything that I love more than that is seeing people wear my designs and them falling in love with it.

Olivia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Olivia Colley and im a fashion designer for my self titled high fashion label Colley. Colley is all about merging asethics that you wouldn’t think could be merged with high fashion. I think in today’s society a lot of fashion is either black and white and never really a greyscale or middle ground and as a designer I try to become that middle ground. There isn’t technically a face associated with Colley,moreso its who you evoke as a person and Colley is those who dare to be sexy and confident.

Everyday I try to evolve as a designer no matter what, and now attending Parsons School of design that’ll will also help me strengthen my skills, learn new things, and overall provide me resources that’ll make Colley reach the potential that it should.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

What I think most people who aren’t involved in a creative field are unaware of is that there is a reason why certain clothes cost so much money. Nine times out of ten fast fashion brands use low quality fabrics, poor ethical standards, and the labor cost is significantly cheaper which is the clothes usually cost from $7-$35 maximum. Lots of independent designers ( including myself ) haven’t reached the level yet where we can hire a team of seamstresses ( and afford to pay them as well ), and along with that I believe in only using quality fabrics for my customers so naturally the higher quality fabrics cost more opposed to cheaper fabrics.

Time is money, and my time is very valuable because I handmade all of the clothing I design and buy all the materials myself. It wouldn’t make any sense for me to price my designs cheaper than what it cost to make in general along with my labor cost. Designers don’t just price their clothing at an “absurd” amount just for fun, we price it at certain amount because its expensive itself to make these garments alone and at the end of the day we have to pay ourselves as well.

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

There are actually two particular goals that drive my creative journey and just in general. Personally I would love to design for and create a piece for Yung Lean and Lakeith Stanfield. When I tell people that they think its pretty random but to me they’re the epitome of what Colley reflects and is about. I look at both of them who breaks the norms of what it means to be an artist in their own version, they aren’t afraid to be themselves. I like the way that if you showed someone both of their faces without any prior knowledge of them they wouldn’t guess how unique of a sound Lean has, or the type of personality Stanfield presents to the world which is truly inspiring itself.

My second goal is to one day have an original custom design of mine worn by someone attending the Met Gala. I hope later down the line in my career I would have the privilege to be even considered by someone to wear my designs, and once that happens for myself,truly that is only when I could remotely consider that I made it or mildly successful in my career.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: ocolleyy
• Other: website coming soon to purchase items

Image Credits
Photographer credit it : @elyhonkpo