Get Like Me: Mali Romeo

Aspiring to break into the fashion industry or simply intrigued by it? Well LoveBrownSugar has something for ya! Our “Get Like Me” series highlights exclusive interviews with industry insiders from celebrity stylists to fashion designers, editors, fashion PR heads & more!

Aspiring fashion designers, you're in for a treat! Making the cut as our first-ever Get Like Me fashion designer is chic and edgy sweetheart Mali Romeo. As a young entrepreneur and technically trained designer, she's racked up experience studying at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and working as a designer for companies like Bongo and Aeropostale. Now the Head Designer and Creative Director for her own eponymous lines Mali Romeo and MÚS by Mali Ro, she's shedding light on what it takes to make it as a young fashion designer. Check it out:

Name: Mali Romeo
Age: 22
Favorite Designer(s): Rachel Roy, Rachel Zoe, Whitney Eve
Personal Style in 3 Words: Hipster, Chic and Classic
Must-Have Accessory: Any cool bag.

How did you get your start as a designer?
I didn't plan to be a designer, it wash't always my dream. When I was in High School they offered a fashion illustration course and I did it just to do something different. My teacher saw how good my drawings were and she suggested that I take summer courses at FIT, so I did. I really started to like it and so I went to college for it. From there, I got internships and jobs and then I just decided to do my own thing. When I was in school I won the student Designer of the Year Award. It didn't really hit me until then and so I just thought "I guess I'm supposed to do this." So I did.

After graduation what did you do? I interned. I got a paid internship working at Bongo and then from there I did a lot of contemporary work. I worked at contemporary denim line Charley 5.0 and then Aeropostale. I went from internships to jobs. And everything I learned I tied it back in to my line plus added my own touch.

I saw on Instagram that you vacationed in Tobago. Is that where you're from?My Dad is from Tobago and my Mom is from Guyana. I hadn't been to Tobago since 2003 and I really needed a vacation. Since I graduated I've been working and I haven't really taken a vacation, so I spent two weeks in Tobago.

How was it?It was amazing. It was so good. I was at the beach everyday. I got to see family. I got to eat so much food. It was really relaxing. I feel like I got cleansed from all my work and that's what I needed. When I came back I launched the website because I was just ready to get back in to it.

What would you consider your top three travel essentials?I need my phone, my flat iron and I need my makeup. You never know where you're going to go!

What inspired you to create Mali Ro?Well I didn't have a name for the line and one of my really good friends and I decided to go to Bryant Park one day and I told her that I needed to come up with a name for my line. People called me Mali for short but she called me Mali Ro. I liked the name "muse", but so many people used it. You know a muse inspires. When people saw my photo shoots,  I wanted them to be inspired by the whole line. She suggested MÚS by Mali Ro and we agreed on that.

Mali Romeo Stars & Stripes Collection 2012

So you have two lines right? Mali Ro and MÚS by Mali Ro?
MÚS by Mali Ro and Mali Romeo. MÚS by Mali Ro - that would be the funky line. It's kind of like having a split personality. MÚS by Mali Ro is like Mali Romeo's alter ego. If you look at the shoots for MÚS by Mali Ro, the girls are really funky, they're doing a lot of random stuff, they're just showing a lot of personality.

MÚS by Mali Ro Summer 2011

Mali Romeo, however, is like the Spring Blossom collection and that was really clean and simple -  that's how I am. When I made that collection I was thinking "I'm gonna make everything that I like". Because in the last collection, I liked everything, but I don't really wear everything because I made it for a certain customer. With Mali Romeo I'm going to develop that as things go along. The Spring Blossom collection was an introduction to that.

Mali Ro Spring Blossoms 2012

What would you say has been the most difficult challenge you've had to face?
The only large challenge that used to bother me was other designers copying my designs. But I have really great friends who are successful and they put it in my head that it doesn't matter. People are going to pay for the label. If other designers copy me, fine. I just know that I'm creative and I can always come up with something else. My advice if you have to deal with something like that is to stay relaxed and calm because it's your creative mind. And while you're calm and creating your designs, others are going to be sweating trying to keep up but you're always going to be steps ahead. If you keep worrying that means you see them as a threat, but personally I just keep creating because that's what I'm good at.

Three pieces of advice you would give to new designers?A lot of people want to be designers but they don't realize how much work you have to put in to it. Interning really helped because I already knew how to sew, but I learned how to do line sheets, tech packs, and you need to know how to do that especially if you're going to run your own business. You need to know how to do everything those people know how to do. And you should also try to teach yourself. I'm very self taught. From the things you see in my photoshoots to my website. It's good for you to be hands on and learn as much as you can so that you can apply it. You have to stay focus and you have to be determined. This has to be something that you really want to do. I try to not think about how much work I do because that would be stressed out. If I really thought about all stuff that I've sewed it would probably drive me nuts. You have to stay organized. And stay humble.

Who is your biggest inspirations and why?It's actually my friend. She's a friend and she's a mentor. She the designer of Ekineyo, her name is Nike Oyelami. She is such a big inspiration to me because before I met her I never thought I could be friends with a designer. I thought they would copy me or something, but she has really given me so much advice. She has just genuinely helped me and has always looked out. And we have always helped each other too. I really look up to her.

Where do you see Mali Ro in 5 years?The company has already started to grow. I'm now looking for a design assistant. I should have a few employees.. I really want to run a smooth ecommerce site so that I can build a great customer base and great clientele, so that one day when I open a boutique or showroom I'll have great success from people who really appreciate my product. And I also want to expand to accessories because I want to create a lifestyle brand.

Check out Mali's designs at www.MaliRomeo.com | Follow on Twitter @MaliRomeo