Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Mason.
Hi Olivia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I grew up in a very small town in Northern California the 4th generation of fashion-loving women.
I took it for granted, all of the style I was surrounded by as a grew up, is evident now that it rubbed off on me. I started doing ballet at age 3 and never looked back. It was the only thing I ever wanted to do. I was also exposed to all of the classic musicals and I developed a love of period drama and all of the incredible costumes that went along with them.
My mother sewed and would involve me in the making of my Halloween costumes (which we would start in August). She taught me the basics and then I think maybe by about age 12, I was starting to do more sewing projects on my own. I did the costumes for my school plays and then when I got to high school I did all the costumes for full-scale musical theater productions.
Through all of this, my focus was still definitely ballet but this costuming thing sure was fun, and taking over my life… and I loved it. I applied to schools for design and for ballet when it came to college and came to the conclusion that I better dance while I was young and return to the official design stuff when I was older.
This is what brought me to Utah. I attended the University of Utah to major in Ballet and minor in Business. 2 years into my ballet degree I started a leotard line as a side hustle that kept me going for years. After graduating and dancing for a bit a poorly timed injury caused me to re-think and be “stuck.” It was late July, I was back in Salt Lake with a partially torn calf and thought, what on earth do I do now?
I enrolled in the Salt Lake Community Colleges Fashion Design program and started 2 weeks later. I got a part-time job as a receptionist at a law firm downtown went to school full time and slowly started rehabbing my calf and dancing with Municipal Ballet Co. I continued to grow my leotard business as well as designing and building costumes for local ballet companies and schools.
After 2 years my degree at SLCC was complete and much to my surprise for the first time I was interested in fashion, not just costume design. In order to graduate, I designed a collection and built it and it was shown at the end-of-year fashion show. During this process, I realized how passionate I was about this particular collection I was designing. My entire life felt like one giant hustle after another and I always wanted to look professional/cute/nice whatever the day required and I felt like most of my clothes simply were not up to the task.
The response my collection got after the fashion show was so awesome I started thinking maybe I should try to produce it! It seemed like the right time, I wasn’t married and didn’t have kids or a mortgage why not go all in while I didn’t have anyone depending on me? Looking back of course I wish I had known what was coming. I found a Los Angeles company that was interested in working with me and began what I was told would be a 6-month process.
This was the fall of 2019. A year and a half later of excruciating setbacks and delays and a year and a half into the pandemic I launched in March of 2021. It was a very long road and still very much a learning curve with all of the forces at play since covid. I am preparing to launch a new style this spring and I am still selling my line.
I am still costume designing and after working in the costume shop at the University of Utah School of Dance for the last 3 years as a draper/designer I am about to start a new job as the Co-director of the costume shop at Tanner Dance.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My biggest challenge has definitely been launching my fashion line during Covid.
The manufacturing process should have taken 1/3 of the time and the constant hold-ups and not being able to properly schedule a launch was extremely frustrating. It felt like a 2 year period of 1 step forward and 1o step back.
Then of course once I was finally ready to launch the climate for purchasing what I was selling was also not optimal. Developing and beginning my line has felt like an endurance test.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My women’s fashion line focuses on fashionable styles that can be worn to work, out at night, and everything in between without sacrificing comfort. The fabrics in this collection are all 4-way stretch and buttery-soft but still have enough structure to look polished. These fabrics promote moisture-wicking, and comfort and are easy to pack. The feminine cuts and colors are classic and can be worn for many seasons to come.
All garments are designed and patterned by myself in Salt Lake and the clothes are made in Los Angeles. It is very important to me to manufacture in the US and I am very proud of that. I love fashion, but I also am always constantly disappointed when “cute” clothes are not as functional as I want them to be.
I want to be able to wear a short skirt and not worry that it is going to fly up in the air when I decide to go dancing or even just get caught in the wind when I am carrying too many bags to also hold my skirt down from swirling around. Blazers shouldn’t be restrictive around the shoulders and pants should not make you feel uncomfortable about sitting down.
And most importantly I do not want to worry about sweating through my clothes when I have made an effort to look nice. These are some of the issues I have addressed in my design process. I also do custom bridal and costume design. These projects are so fun for me as creating one-of-a-kind pieces for specific people is truly unlike any other process.
My experience as a dancer informs all of my design decisions as it is impossible for me to design without considering function. I have several new costume design commissions with ballet companies coming up this season which I am super excited about.
Quality is important. For both fit and design. That is what makes clothes last longer and be worn longer. I strive to offer quality clothes that are unique but will not go out of style.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
If people want to shop my line it can be found at ollydesigns.shop. If you are a boutique interested in carrying any of my styles or you would like to host a pop-up shop or party you can contact me at ollymasondesigns@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Email: ollymasondesigns@gmail.com
- Website: ollydesigns.shop
- Instagram: @ollydesigns
- Facebook: OllyDesigns
Image Credits
Caty Gainer
