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Hayley Paige spent the majority of her activity aerobatics about in sparkly leotards as a aggressive gymnast. In her additional time, she abstruse how to account and sew, and started authoritative herself dresses. Today, she designs sparkly bells gowns for the chichi helpmate who isn’t abashed to booty risks, and the casual red carpeting attending for celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen and Aly Raisman. If you chase her name on Pinterest, you’ll see a flood of photos from her own fairytale bells that featured three sparkly, bright gowns she advised — all of which prove that Hayley Paige is as accurate to her cast as they come.
Here’s how she got her start, how she finds the time to actualize added than 10 collections a year, and why she still desires to booty on added projects.
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I was a aggressive aerialist appealing abundant my absolute activity in the Bay Area of California, which is area I grew up. I had convenance six hours a day. I begin a way to antithesis academy with gymnastics on my own agreement and those time-management abilities accept ashore with me to this day.
My grandma accomplished me how to sew and adornment aback I was 3 or 4, so I was consistently designing and authoritative altered socks to abrasion with my leotards. The aboriginal dress I anytime fabricated was this hot blush minidress. My Barbie had a hot blush minidress, and I basic to bout her and comedy dress-up with my cousin.
I was absolutely into banana books as a child, and I would do a lot of account assignment and drawings. [In aerial school,] I had my own aerial helpmate as my superhero or my avatar, and I would draw pictures of her face and altered poses on canvas bags. My mom’s accompany who bought them from me still accept them to this day, which is awesome.
Eventually I started designing and authoritative my own dresses to abrasion to academy dances. I was account conjugal magazines all the time in aerial school, and consistently had this affection for bells dresses and the affecting amount abaft them. Both my brawl and graduation dresses I fabricated were white, which of advance concluded up attractive bridal.
Courtesy of Hayley Paige/Katie Buckleitner
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My dad is a doctor and my mom is an autogenous designer. I grew up idolizing both of them, but I consistently acquainted I’d go assimilate medicine. I didn’t anticipate actuality a artist was absolutely aural my adeptness or that it was a applicable profession. I consistently affected that saying, “I appetite to be a conjugal clothes designer,” was a lot like saying, “I appetite to be an Academy Award-winning actress.”
After aerial school, I went to academy at Cornell, area they offered the befalling to bifold major, so I thought, Why not? I concluded up belief both pre-med and cilia science and accoutrement design, which is addition way of adage appearance design. If I had acquainted like I had a choice, I would’ve been gung-ho, architecture all the way, but to be honest, I absolutely had aplomb issues. Aback you’re entering a artistic world, there’s such a vulnerability to it because you’re actuality advised on article that comes from your perspective. Whereas if you’re activity to be a doctor or a lawyer, I consistently anticipation you abstraction really, absolutely adamantine and you practice, practice, practice, again you’re absolutely acceptable at it. My parents were absolutely actual admiring of me advancing fashion. All the burden I acquainted was absolutely self-induced. I assumption I abstruse that from gymnastics. I accomplished aboriginal in activity that if I’m aggravating to accomplish at something, it’s absolutely up to me.
In amid my green and inferior years of college, I interned at Elle magazine. That was my aboriginal absolute aftertaste of Manhattan and the appearance world, and I admired it. I additionally formed for a stylist alleged Julie Weiss. I admired styling, I admired editing, I admired putting apparel together. I do anticipate advertisement myself to all altered areas of design, alike admitting my affection was consistently in bridal, was beneficial.
The absolute defining moment for me allotment to go into appearance was my chief aerodrome appearance in 2007. I created a 10-piece conjugal accumulating and accomplished I’d so abundant rather absorb my nights designing appealing dresses than belief carbon equations. I concluded up accepting offered a job as a artist appropriate afterwards by Jill Stuart, who abounding the show. I didn’t assignment for her actual continued because conjugal was area I basic to be but it was a dispatch bean into accepting into the appearance world.
After that, I formed as a artist at Priscilla of Boston for the Melissa Sweet cast for about bristles years. During my time there, I was acquirements the business and accomplishment aspects of fashion, but I was almost authoritative any money. I additionally had my own little ancillary projects and administration jobs to supplement the paycheck, but those were bigger contributors to growing my accomplishment set than they were bringing in any blazon of money. I was advantageous abundant to apperceive that I would never go athirst or be abandoned because I consistently had my parents as a above abutment arrangement and banking backup. But I additionally consistently agitated a bit of a "I’m not activity to await on my parents, I’m activity to do this" affectionate of thing.
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In 2010, a acquaintance from academy approached me and asked if I basic to alpha a conjugal accent rental aggregation on the ancillary with her. We alleged it Article Borrowed. We weren’t authoritative any of the accessories but I abstruse so much. It was candidly bigger for me than activity to business academy as far as acquirements the accomplishment and administration abandon of things. One affair I absolutely abstruse from it was how to pitch. Aback you accept an abstraction and you’re aggravating to get somebody to accept in it, you can’t aloof accept the enthusiasm. You additionally charge to present article that has a acknowledgment that somebody can see a account in.
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I eventually had to accord up my bisected aback Hayley Paige launched, but it was a acceptable acquaintance for me. I absolutely adherent a lot of my weekends to this activity with her. I like to accumulate the bowl actual full. If you absolutely attending at how abundant time you accept in your day, there’s a lot of hours that you can put into article aback you get home at night. You aloof accept to plan it out and say, “This is what I’m gonna do.”
Because of my acquaintance of starting Article Borrowed with my friend, I absitively I didn’t appetite to alpha my own [fashion] business altogether. I actual abundant saw my strengths in architecture and my adeptness to affix to bodies on amusing media, and I basic somebody abroad to accompany the specialty with distribution, manufacturing, and capital. I absolutely started contacting the CEO of JLM [Joseph L. Murphy], a abode of conjugal brands, apparently in 2009 while I was at Priscilla of Boston saying, “One day, I’m activity to assignment for you.” I emailed them apparently every added anniversary aloof to analysis in. That’s admonition I acquaint everyone: Be ambiguous annoying because you appetite that job so bad. Aback they assuredly basic to accompany me in for an interview, I came in accoutrements blazing. The CEO absitively to booty a accident on me, a 25-year-old, and brought me on lath to barrage my own accumulating beneath my name in July 2011.
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JLM provided the allotment for a baby team, two arrangement makers (one is still with me today), and two sewers. We absolutely put pen to cardboard and bolt to the mannequins, and pulled out a Hayley Paige accumulating that season. It was a bound adapt of alone 11 pieces, but it was the aboriginal big footfall as me as a artist on my own. I additionally presented a accumulating that aboriginal division beneath the Blush label, which has become a sister cast to Hayley Paige at a lower amount point. I was alone planning to barrage the Blush band that aboriginal season, which was the aboriginal characterization he gave me to alpha with, but there was such a abandoned in the exchange afterwards Priscilla of Boston filed for defalcation [Editor’s note: Parent aggregation David’s Conjugal appear it was shuttering Priscilla of Boston food and labels Aug. 31, 2011.].
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We ran with those two curve for a acceptable four seasons and again I took on the bridesmaids’ band alleged Occasions by Hayley Paige. Afterwards my third year, I took on designing addition huge conjugal characterization that already existed alleged Jim Helm. I see Jim Helm to Hayley Paige as the Charlotte York to Carrie Bradshaw. Again we launched Hayley Paige Red Carpet, which is specialty abrasion or one-of-a-kind pieces. With a conjugal collection, you accept to break production-savvy and be alert of a amount point. The Red Carpeting band is advised for shock and awe afterwards commendations to archetype or confinement.
Most afresh we’ve started an athleisure line, which is a fun bells apparel for girls to abrasion during the day aback they’re accepting ready. I actualize over 10 collections a year, which amounts to a lot of dresses. Anniversary season, we alpha with, like, 30 or 40 designs, and it whittles bottomward to, like, 17 per line. For Occasions, we tend to do bit afterpiece to 25 because versatility is a above additional in bridesmaids.
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The baseline of my artful for the cast [as a whole] has consistently been the same. It’s the fashion-forward yet offbeat beauty. It’s adult but it’s girly. It’s avant-garde but it’s additionally sparkly. I accept in demography risks with assertive dresses and accepting fun with them. There was one accurate dress from my third presentation accumulating [for Hayley Paige] that I affirm is the acumen that I accept developed so abundant so bound and the name is the Guindon. It’s a striped dress and the industry aloof hadn’t apparent it before.
JLM Couture/Katie Buckleitner
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I do all the designing but I accept two administration who assignment on production. I accord them a little bit of architecture assignment for bridesmaids or the specialty dresses for celebrities, so they absolutely advice beyond the lath on whatever I need. I additionally accept an abettor designer, who holds bottomward the acropolis while I’m gone on block shows. I now accept four arrangement makers and 10 sewers, but it consistently seems like we charge more.
Making anniversary dress is a big process, and I accept every little thing. It absolutely is an art form. The accomplished action is complete in my apperception is aback I see brides abrasion my dresses. There’s absolutely annihilation bigger than a babe who loves the dress because it’s accessible validation that says, OK, I fabricated article for somebody who accepted it, and not alone that, but it’s activity to be beat on her bells day.
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I’d accept to say Aly Raisman is my admired applicant of all time. It was such a different acquaintance for me because it was like my activity advancing full-circle. Appropriate afterwards the Olympics, she begin me on Instagram and direct-messaged me. I was like, “Oh my god, I will accomplish you whatever you want!” She’s appealing badass. She’s absolutely beat a brace pieces of ours for the VMAs, CMTs, and the CMAs. For the CMAs, we concluded up accepting to cut off, like, 2 anxiety of bolt at the hem because she’s such a tiny girl. What was absolutely fun was that accurate attending had to be beat with a leotard, and I couldn’t anticipate of anyone bigger to abrasion or cull off that affectionate of look.
I feel like the attendance that we accept on amusing media is absolutely a different affair because it’s accustomed me to alone affix with my brides. I’m so advantageous that my bedmate is so admiring because I’ll actually be on Instagram talking to brides at the banquet table. Amusing media additionally gives me an befalling to appearance my personality that goes forth with the brand. I’m never activity to be the artist that’s intimidating. I’m like your best friend, allowance you aces out a dress. I appetite you to feel like you can chronicle to me and apperceive that I absolutely am whole-heartedly absorbed in you activity the best on your bells day.
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Get That Activity is a account alternation that reveals how successful, talented, artistic women got to area they are now. Analysis aback anniversary Monday for the latest interview.
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