Real Talk:

Life In The Fashion Industry And The Challenges Of Being An African American Designer.

Six years ago the commercial fashion world welcomed a new addition to the family when Ryun Harrison, an Atlanta native, came bursting onto the scene. Ryun attended the Columbus College of Art and Design back in 2010 and since graduating, has designed for Urban Outfitters and American Eagle. It’s safe to say that if you have shopped at either of those brands, some of your favorite items of clothing were most likely designed by the man himself. What really makes Ryun special though, is his constant enthusiasm and positivity for his role in fashion as well as ‘the cool factor’ which let's face it, is rare.  

We caught up with Ryun to get some real talk on life in the industry, invaluable advice and his predictions for the future of fashion.

Ryun, tell us a little bit about your background: how did you get into fashion?

Before I decided to become a fashion designer I thought I was going to be a fashion photographer, all throughout high school I did photography. It wasn’t until my freshman year when we had to take an intro class in one of the other majors where I decided to pursue fashion design and see where it goes. As soon as I got into it I instantly fell in love.

“I worked on denim for 2 years, drinking 2 cans of Red Bull daily to keep me going as there was so much work to get done!”

My very first internship was with my mom's friend who owned a bridal store, I would go in and help out with fittings, from there I got an internship at Urban Outfitters during my senior year at College. There were only 2 interns on the design floor, I interned for the knits department. The director who was there at the time really loved me and wanted to get me a job, so she asked me to do a project for them. For whatever reason it wasn’t working out as planned, so the director found an alternative way to get my foot in the door, and hired me as a design coordinator for the denim team rather than a designer. This was my first introduction to the denim world. About 8 months later there were a few changes within the team. I was asked to do another project, and presented it to various bosses. I was finally hired as an assistant! I worked on denim for 2 years, drinking 2 cans of Red Bull daily to keep me going as there was so much work to get done!

I was later moved to knit tops which I was on for a further 2 years and eventually found the courage to speak up about getting promoted. Getting promoted isn’t easy in fashion, for me to finally get a promotion meant I had to approach them. I gained a lot from the experience I had in my first role from beginning to end. I had to go through certain traumas to learn things, but that won’t be and shouldn’t be everyone's journey. 

“In the African American community you’re always told you have to give 150% to even have half of the experiences available to other people who don’t look like you.” 

What have been the challenges you’ve faced in the fashion industry?

Expectations are always high in fashion and I think an extra layer to that is the whole race thing too. In the African American community you’re always told you have to give 150% to even have half of the experiences available to other people who don’t look like you. Whether that means promotions, moving up in a company, or your salary, you’re already told from the start you have to literally be better than everyone in order to get even 70% of that. 

Going into a job there’s then that pressure if you’re not on your A-game every single time and not a ‘yes man’ that you’re automatically going to get knocked down. And it's something that actually does happen. 

You’re worried that if you speak out too much and the company is laying people off that you’ll be the first person to get the cut. I don’t want to be treated like a second rate person, I want to be paid for my ideas and what I can contribute to the brand. Being in the industry a little bit longer now has given me the confidence to seek those aspects out.

What do you think makes a successful designer?

I would say, a good problem solver. If you had asked me this question when I first started out my response would have been ‘being super good at designing and being hip and trendy’ but now I see it’s about problem solving. Designers act as problem solvers daily. We have to ‘polish the shit to find a diamond’. Another aspect that makes you a good designer is being able to take criticism. When I say criticism I don’t mean being talked down to, I mean receiving helpful hints and advice from your peers. By taking their advice on board it helps refine your voice as a designer and how you show up in the fashion world. 

“There’s going to be good days and bad days, but your good days should greatly outweigh your bad days. “

The fashion industry can be tough, in what ways do you deal with the hard times?

What I’ve really learned was to have a great support system around you, whether that’s from within or outside of work. Helping you to take a step back from the situation and look at it from a bird's eye view. Perhaps the situation you may be in is feeling pretty shitty because of X Y and Z. But do you think that person really meant what they said? Chances are they probably didn’t mean it the way that they said it. 

My mom always used to tell me ‘There’s going to be good days and bad days, but your good days should greatly outweigh your bad days’.  In fashion we can sometimes pigeonhole ourselves into this bubble of angst because of how hard the industry can be, and that stems from people not feeling worthy enough or able to speak their mind out of fear of it costing them their jobs. We need to start dismantling that and recognize it’s ok to have a justified opinion, and companies should want people that have an opinion.

Baring in mind the pandemic and how things are shifting, What are your thoughts on the future of fashion?

The face of fashion needs to evolve. We’ve dressed up the world of fashion to be a certain way and we almost need to disrobe and dismantle that. Looking at how we are impacting the world and people as a whole and rebuilding that structure to include both those things. That’s the only way we can move forward. 

A lot of companies are going to need to dig into the company culture and pick out where they can uplift their employee community, and really support that. They need to give people the ability to enjoy their lives and enjoy working for that company. Because a big principle for me is If your employees are happy, your business will be happy. Your employees feed the business, if they’re not doing that, you’re seeing these companies now fail.

People are also speaking out more towards companies on social media. This has been such a big no no in our industry, so much could happen to you but you weren’t allowed to say it. If you spoke out you could be blacklisted and never get a job in fashion again. 

That’s slowly changing with events that are happening because of Covid and the Black lives matter movement. There have been so many amazing people who have come out of the shadows with careers at major fashion companies who admitted ‘actually it was pretty shitty working here, they treated me like crap’.

“Don’t take no for an answer. If someone tells you no at one door, close that door and move onto the next one.”

There’s been a huge lack of allowing people in this industry to have a voice on multiple levels. We hear from Fashion directors with 35+ years of experience but we aren’t hearing about all the other multiple levels that make up the industry. While the top 3% of our industry are running around in Rolls Royces, the rest of us are staying up until midnight to get shit done on a low salary. A lot of these aspects are not being highlighted because no one wants to disrupt the glamorization of fashion. But because of the knock on effects of Covid I believe things are changing for the better.

Any advice for budding fashion designers?  And students trying to break into the industry?

Perseverance. Don’t take no for an answer. If someone tells you no at one door, close that door and move onto the next one. Eventually there is going to be one door that will be unlocked and welcoming you into their home. This industry can get very disheartening very fast. You have to know that and know that you are worthy of  being hired by someone, and worthy of a company loving your work because you put the time in and have the talent to do it. Your confidence in your work shines beyond what you’re showing in a project. Staying true to who you are as a designer, having confidence in your work and good energy, shows potential employers that you’ll make a positive contribution to their company.   

By Emma Golley

Want to know more about Ryun? Check out his IG and Linkedin.

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