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Essay prompt:
Read the below article and respond in 400-650 words describing how Gustavo’s story relates to your own fashion career goals.
Complete, proofread, and submit in the essay field above.
The Fashion Designer's Survival Guide By Mary Gelhar
Gustavo Cadile: Design What You Love
When Gustavo Cadile started his signature label, he decided to focus on the ready-to-wear market, as this seemed to be the most lucrative market with the most opportunity. Although his passion was for eveningwear, he observed that the eveningwear collections in the stores were very small, while ready-to-wear collections were huge and had the majority of the promotional support. However, each season, the buyers reviewed his ready-to-wear and were lukewarm, saying it wasn't special enough.
He continued to make the eveningwear he loved for private clients and soon designed a wedding dress that would change his career. The dress was worn on Friday, and on Sunday, he received a call from Joan Kaner, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus. Ms. Kaner's friend had attended the wedding and forwarded a photo of the dress to her. Joan met with Gustavo, loved his work, and pronounced him ready to sell in the eveningwear salon at Neiman Marcus. She said he had to have a showroom first, and made several recommendations. Gustavo signed with Michael Atchison, the well-respected eveningwear representative for brands including Monique L'huillier.
Now Gustavo is selling his exquisite beaded gowns to socialite and well-dressed women for $3,000 to $5.000 at Neiman Marcus. He creates special-order dresses sold at trunk shows at Saks Fifth Avenue and also retails at more than 25 high-end boutiques nationwide. Gustavo travels throughout the year for more than 30 personal appearance trunk shows. His celebrity clientele includes Eva Longoria and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Gustavo plans to expand his line to include bridal and to add a less expensive secondary line of cocktail dresses catering to businesswomen. He says that you can start with higher-end, expensive product and later add a less expensive line, but you can't start with a cheaper product and add the higher end. He lives for the glamour of seeing women in his dresses, and his advice is that you must focus on what you really love to do--not what you see in the street or in the market.
Excerpt from pages 61-62