“The privilege to dress people is something I take a lot of pride in.”
Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to people who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly, the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned on the journey. For this instalment, we hear from Jessika Swarbrick, Brand Manager at Variety Hour, a Melbourne-based fashion label and design studio.
Jessika is what she calls “an accidental designer”. Despite growing up with a love for fashion (something she credits to being dressed in Pumpkin Patch from an early age), it wasn’t a pathway she considered pursuing formally. While working in retail at Variety Hour’s Gertrude Street boutique, Jessika studied a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in international relations. Then, the pandemic hit and her internship was cancelled.
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“At the end of 2020, a production role became available at Variety Hour,” she remembers. “Cassie, the owner and creative director, took a chance on me.” Thrust into the world of fashion, she learnt everything on the job, in real-time, quickly progressing from production assistant to manager to designer.
Though her job has been filled with countless highs – like seeing Noel Fielding wearing the brand’s shirt on The Great British Bake Off and travelling to China twice in the past 12 months – it’s also meant Jessika has had to constantly sharpen her problem-solving skills.
“When working in fashion, things are always going wrong,” she explains. “It’s one of those industries where you have to be able to move fast and resolve things quickly without getting emotional, which in itself is hard, as it’s such personal and creative work.” Still, it’s the variety (mind the pun) in the every day that keeps the role exciting.
Fashion Journal: Hi Jessika! Did you have an idea of your dream job growing up?
Jessika: I was always interested in working in a creative field growing up. Apparently, when I was younger, I wore a lot of colour and loved fashion, so my dad often jokes that I’ve landed my dream job now. I think that came from my mum and all the Pumpkin Patch sets she dressed my sister and me in as kids.
This evolved when I was a teenager, thanks to the hours I clocked on Tumblr. I really wanted to be a fashion photographer, so I love now that I get to concept and direct campaign shoots. It feels similar creatively, even if I’m not the one behind the camera.
How exactly did you make the leap into the industry?
I’m what you might call an accidental designer. I was working in the Variety Hour store in 2019 during my final year of university, where I was studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in international relations. I had big dreams of working for a NGO or the United Nations in development work, and was interning at organisations like World Vision to build my CV.
Come 2020, my internship was cancelled due to Covid lockdowns and I found myself graduating into an industry that was already highly competitive, with limited jobs. At the same time, I contracted and developed long Covid and I had rheumatoid arthritis in my left foot, meaning I couldn’t continue working retail long term, as it required so much standing.
Then, at the end of 2020, a production role became available at Variety Hour and Cassie, the owner and creative director, took a chance on me. I learnt everything on the job, progressing from production assistant to manager to designer. Over the last five years, I’ve been exposed to all different parts of the business.
Can you walk us through a typical day in your life on the job now?
Like most creative small businesses, the work changes a lot day to day and week to week. If we have a campaign to shoot, the styling, planning and direction will take up the majority of my workload for up to a fortnight.
I don’t do any textile design, but most days I work with Cassie to develop new cuts, source fabrications and retail plan our collections. We now have a Production Manager, Sarah who I collaborate with across production, shipping and manufacturing. I also work with Georgia, our eCommerce manager, to make sure our website, ads and newsletter all meet the brand’s tone of voice.
We’re renovating our Gertrude Street store in the next couple of months, so my next big project will be designing the fit-out, which I’m really excited about!
What’s been a major career highlight for you so far?
Noel Fielding wearing our Tomato shirt on The Great British Bake Off was pretty insane for me personally, as I’m obsessed with the show! I’ve also been lucky to travel to China twice in the last 12 months for trade shows in Shanghai, to visit factories and to go to the Guangzhou fabric market for sourcing.
But our first brand event in 2024 for our Florist collection was probably the biggest career highlight. We had a mix of customers and creators for lunch at the Royal Botanic Gardens. It felt like a great representation of what we want the brand to be, and how much it had grown and evolved in the time I’d worked there. I feel like we’re only just getting started.
What challenges or hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now?
When working in fashion, things are always going wrong, from shoots to marketing to production. It’s one of those industries where you have to be able to move fast and resolve things quickly without getting emotional, which in itself is hard, as it’s such personal and creative work. You’re making physical things that represent your ideas and creativity and it’s hard not to take it personally when it inevitably goes wrong.
One of the most challenging periods of my work would have been developing our Palazzo collection for Spring 2024. I remember it being very stressful – there were a lot of unknowns, as it was a design pivot from what we’d been doing, and involved learning how to produce new techniques like embroidery and new shapes like outerwear, which have their own challenges.
We took a big gamble, knowing we really liked the design direction but were not sure if the customer would like it. It was a bit weird in comparison to previous collections, as it was all inspired by the Eastern European builds of Melbourne’s inner north, where we usually drew inspiration from native florals.
At the same time, we were going all in, running and learning how to do paid ads and trying to do influencer gifting for the first time. I remember having a list of 20 creators who were our dream girls, thinking that if just one says yes, it would be a success. I think I ended up getting 15 in the clothing, which was a testament to our new direction and hard work. It was incredibly rewarding to see these creatives, whose style I admired, wear and really like our clothes.
What’s the best part about working as a brand manager?
The best part of the role is the customers. I feel extremely privileged to dress people and make them feel good in our product. Variety Hour products are special both in their design and in how they make people feel when they wear them. I miss being in the store and seeing that magic in the change room.
I think especially as women, clothes can be things that make us feel terrible about ourselves and our bodies, so creating things that are the antithesis of that is something I’m really fortunate to be part of. The privilege to dress people is something I take a lot of pride in.
What would surprise people about your role?
Most fashion jobs aren’t as glamorous as they seem on social media. Sometimes, I’m counting and processing stock. Sometimes staff are sick and I’m still going and filling in at the store. That’s part of building and being in a small business but I love the variety in what I do every day. I don’t think I would enjoy sitting at a desk all day.
What skills have served you well in the fashion industry?
I think my colleagues would say I’m very good at problem-solving. I’m a very logical and creative thinker, so ideas come naturally to me and I almost always can work out a solution to a problem we’re having.
I’m also naturally a very calm person and can keep my cool even when things are going wrong. I think part of that is the confidence I have in myself and knowing I can be creative and quickly come up with a resolution. I trust myself and know I have good taste.
The combination of these two skills is essential when dealing with production because things are always going wrong. To be able to process it quickly, come up with a solution and keep moving is almost a superpower.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
My number one piece of advice for someone who wants to work in design would be to work in fashion retail. This seems to be surprisingly uncommon among fashion design students, but I feel it best informs my perspective as a designer and the decisions I make every day. Both Hayley and Cassie, who make up the design team with me, have worked in our retail store.
This means, at the very core, we understand the Variety Hour customer. We know what they want, the fabrics they want to wear, and their feelings about certain colours and cuts. Our time with the customers in the store means we’re well-equipped to service them as designers.
Keep up with Jess here.