Tania Fares Imparts Some Precious Advice to Today’s Young Designers

As you can tell CIIN is super excited about Tania Fares’ book launch tomorrow, it’s not very often that a woman of such weight in the fashion industry comes to Jordan… And don’t get us started on the book..

Tania took a little time out of her busy schedule to answer some of our questions. With Tania’s wealth of experience at the Fashion Trust, her not-for-profit organization we are sure there is plenty of advice to impart to young Jordanian designers.

The Fashion Trust’s goal is to mentor and support young UK-based designers. Some of the beneficiaries of this impressive establishment are Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto. The membership only policy ensures that the 80 investors get ‘first dibs’ on great future fashion talent.

Two pearls of wisdom you would give a young designer trying to push through in a competitive market…

It may sound cliché, but originality and being true to your unique vision is endlessly important. It’s the only thing that will make you stand out.

You must also have a very strong awareness of your customer and market to ensure your creativity, turned into a business, is a viable proposition.

Would you happen to have two stories with real designers that are relevant to the above two points?

I have worked with so many designers over the years with the Fashion Trust and I am glad to say that we have seen many of them go from strength to strength because they do adhere to these principles.

Hillier Bartley, Sophia Webster, Palmer Harding, Eudon Choi, Emilia Wickstead to name just a few…

I don’t think I could give specific stories as that would be really a story for the designers themselves to tell, but I’m just glad to see their openness and ambition, and to be able to help enable them in that.