Q&A w/ Victoria Jago

Designing the Destination

Nov 20, 2024

Creativity takes on many different shapes and forms. Sometimes, the practice is more abstract, while other times, it is a straightforward process of getting from point A to point B. Often, it exists somewhere in the middle, merging the free flow of open ideas and pure imagination into practical reality.That’s the area where Victoria Jago works as a technical designer in the fashion industry, helping transform artistic designs in outerwear into functional and wearable pieces of art. In this Q&A, along with hearing a little bit about where she finds inspiration, we discuss some of the challenges in her role, including navigating changing trends in culture and her approach to collaboration.

Keeping up with fashion trends can be a tricky task. As a technical designer, what role do you play in ensuring the garments you work on look and feel relevant by the time they hit the shelves?

On the design team we all do our fair share of market research focusing on trends, construction, key functional elements, lining etc.. and over time I've come to realize that keeping it simple is the key to longevity in design.

If you think about timeless pieces in fashion, architecture and other design disciplines, most of the examples that you probably think of like mid-century modern or whatever, they have a core simplicity and relatability to them that draws you in and makes you feel comfortable and then ensures that will always be relevant.

So in some ways you get your big innovative solution and then you think of a way to simplify it. And then as an added bonus, by not overcomplicating something, especially if you're working in functional design like I am, there's fewer things to break over time. And that also further ensures that while the design remains elegant, and relevant, it's also still functioning throughout that lifecycle.

We have this saying that keeping it simple often requires complex thinking to achieve. Like if you're really going to simplify, sometimes you have to spend a lot of time in the complicated realm to really focus.

You’ve had a wealth of experience living in rural areas and exploring the outdoors as well as living in major urban areas. How does the combination of these lived experiences influence your choices when selecting functional fabrics and elements in manufacturing clothing?

The outdoors has always been inspiring to me. So I’m always thinking of those functional elements, but I love beautiful things as well. So trying to find that balance of form and function has always been a focus for me, even just like the items that I personally own.

Sometimes that means advocating for a more durable, performance driven fabric, but sometimes it also means thinking outside the box to find a way to make a construction or a technical element look elegant and beautiful. So you can have a waterproof zipper, but have it put into the garment in a way that doesn't make it look like it's just there for a function.

Secondly is adaptability. Does your hood fit well and do you have adjusters in your hood that when you use them, actually function? Let's say it's really windy. You don't want wind coming into your jacket when you cinch your hood, does it actually seal out the wind? And when it's doing that, does it look good? So I'm like, Let's make it look like a beautiful flower, you know, instead of just a whole bunch of fabric.

Part of being a technical designer is recontextualizing a design into a visual language a manufacturer can utilize to create a garment. Can you briefly discuss your philosophy to ensure nothing is lost during this visual translation?

I've been working with the same creative designer Jean for the last four years. At this point, you know, it's beyond a working relationship, but we can read each other's minds. We have a wealth of trust and respect for each other.

But in addition to Jean, I also work with a few other creative designers and my approach remains the same. When they're passing me the brief, I take my time in receiving all their ideas, all their hard work, asking questions, and then once I have an understanding of what they want to achieve, then I'll chime in with my suggestions and my ideas and then we start to jam on the details.

When we're all happy with what we've landed on, I'll start to get into the nitty gritty of it, but I take it slow. When we're in the thick of it, I keep an open door policy and like a creative organic flow policy. So come to me in the middle of the day, I'll come to you in the middle of the day when we have a new idea, a light bulb moment, and just keeping the conversation flowing past those deadlines, past those meetings, outside of those meetings and being willing to pivot, being flexible, trying things, and taking risks together.

Even when I'm finished with my work and I pass it to the developer, if the designers still have new ideas, I will leverage my relationship that I've built with the developers to see if we can still sneak it in.

When your work is displayed on a runway, in a store display, or worn on the streets, would you prefer your contributions to be visible or invisible to the world? Would you like your work to be transparent, allowing consumers to focus solely on the designer's aesthetic, or would you prefer people to notice the specific choices you made in creating the pattern, selecting materials, or determining sizing?

I think the special collaboration thing between the creative and the technical designer versus being a developer kind of helps with the answer to this question because at the end of the day, it's a shared vision that we've created.

We are a unified body when we're passing our style. People credit both of us with the idea. They don't know where the designer ends, and where I begin. So yeah, it's a seamless thing. And then at the end of the day, like when they ask me a question about it, like throughout the lifecycle, they know and trust that my answer is our answer.

Creative designers at the end of the day have the final answer when it comes to a question, and that is constantly humbling for me. However, there are many instances behind the scenes and that no one will ever see where my answer is actually needed or where they defer to me.

What’s one tool, lesson, philosophy, you think every creative person should have?

Keeping it simple with that complex thinking. So just like not overcomplicating it, at the end of the day, it just makes it easy to see through to the core of the work and the core of the idea.

Take risks. Try and try and try and not be afraid to fail. Failing sometimes gives you the best results. Even iterating is one of the most important parts of designing creativity. And I feel like this is just like what everybody says.

Most importantly, I think is to remain present and humble throughout the process. Like be nice to yourself along the way, be as present as possible, trying to learn from it as much as you can, and as long as you enjoy the process, your work is a success. It's never going to be a waste of time if you're learning from it.