WORK FROM THE INSIDE OF YOU — it took me awhile to get to a place in life where I was able to work from my inside place and not be distracted! I know with social media it’s hard not to look how green your neighbors’ grass is and see that their progress might be further along than yours. That is you being influenced from an outside source and that is not relevant to your work! It won’t make your work any better if it comes from a place of jealousy and stress! It takes a lot of self discipline to ignore that — and this ties back to having faith in yourself, to trust that authentic place that is inside of YOU and see that power you hold when you work from your inside and reflect outwards!
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rinat Brodach.
Rinat Shayna Brodach is an Israeli American New York based fashion Designer. She was born in Israel to a family of Moroccan and Eastern European descent.
At an early age, Rinat knew that she wanted to be a fashion designer. Her curiosity of the draping and movement of fabric led her to further exploration of fashion. In her early childhood she used fashion as a mode of expression and continues to do so today.
After serving in the Israeli Air Force and powered with a stronger sense of self and direction, she moved to San Francisco in 2005 to attend the Academy of Art University. There she received her BFA in Fashion Design.
During her senior year, Rinat’s thesis collection was honored with a yearlong scholarship in Paris. In 2010 she moved to Paris to attend The Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. That same year Rinat had her work published in Emerging Fashion Designers 2 by Sally Congdon-Martin. She remained in Paris for one more year working in the fashion house of Steffie Christiaens, among others, before returning to the United States in 2012 where she settled in New York City to start her own brand.
Rinat’s work stems from her extensive knowledge and training in draping that allow the woman beneath the garment to stand out and draw us in, while effortlessly and selectively enhancing a woman’s figure with designs that capture a gentle interplay between androgyny and sensuality. Her spirituality is the identity woven into each garment that exposes the light within the dark. An inside-out philosophy encapsulates her expertly finished garments held captive by the world that inspires her. Rinat Brodach remains committed to her philosophy of truth through expert finishing, draping, and connection to the soul throughout all of her collections.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
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In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’?
I have always seen disrupting in a positive light — I always strive to create a visceral feeling with my work, and disrupting an industry means you have been heard and are able to get a reaction and touch people with your message!
Can you share some examples of what you mean?
4 years ago I started to break away from hiring the usual professional models for my runway shows and lookbooks, and I started using REAL people — since real people wear my clothes. I try to show a rainbow of humans in my clothes — different genders, different body types from short to tall and skinny to plus size, as well as different ages. I put a man in a skirt and sent him down the runway, I sent a 70 year old woman down the runway just at the end of the show — there were gasps in the audience and a lot of reaction in the media, it was not expected! This was the starting point of my transition to designing GENDER FREE clothes.
In 2017 I sent out invitations to all major fashion publications for the brands FW runway show… The collection was called “Diagnosis” inspired by my mothers battle with cancer at the time, the invitations were these plastic tubes that are used in hospitals to draw blood and I filled it with water and red glitter and put a sticker on the tube that normally would have patients info but what was on sticker was the info for the runway show. Then, I put them in a “Hazard” bag from the hospital that I was able to get via a friend and it was sent out to the media.
I got a call from a NYPD detective as a major magazine called 911!!! I was so happy and slightly proud that I was able to create disruption and have someone feel that sense of fear that I had with my mothers battle! And having the NYPD work on solving this for 2 days hahahaha !
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
I know this sounds so cliché but NEVER LOSE FAITH IN YOURSELF!!! 4 years ago I was working all these side jobs to survive, I was in a bad financial place and depressed — I thought it was the end of the world and couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I kept moving towards making my dreams come true with whatever I could afford, I started to dig deeper into my creativity and found myself making magic with simple materials. I was very proud of the collection I made, and told myself that I could do anything! It’s all about how much you believe in yourself.
WORK FROM THE INSIDE OF YOU — it took me awhile to get to a place in life where I was able to work from my inside place and not be distracted! I know with social media it’s hard not to look how green your neighbors’ grass is and see that their progress might be further along than yours. That is you being influenced from an outside source and that is not relevant to your work! It won’t make your work any better if it comes from a place of jealousy and stress! It takes a lot of self discipline to ignore that — and this ties back to having faith in yourself, to trust that authentic place that is inside of YOU and see that power you hold when you work from your inside and reflect outwards!
BE PRESENT — We are just humans, having worrying thoughts, fearing the future, listening to the voices in your head that ARE NOT REAL, they are your ego’s plan to sabotage your life purpose! Be present, and ask yourself what is your purpose at this moment? What are you doing at this moment? Are you cooking dinner? Are you going for a run? Are you trying to fall asleep? Are you creating a new line of clothes? When these thoughts of your ego try to sneak in, bring yourself back to the present moment and say it out loud: “In this moment I am sewing samples for my new collection.” When you are present and focused on the present moment you’re allowing magic to take place!
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Yes I am FAR from being done — as a Gemini I always have something I would like to express! At the moment we are continuing to march to our own drum beat and breaking free from the traditional fashion calendar with drops of new clothing every few months (instead of twice a year like “traditional” collections..
And we will always continue to push our brand’s message of Gender Freedom — unlike other brands attempting to tap into trends with bland unisex, “gender neutral” or “genderless” clothing, we want to be truly gender free — instead of ‘neutralizing’ the wearer, we make clothes that empower them to freely express their own unique gender identity.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
At the end of the day it is still a “man’s world” in fashion. I still feel like sometimes I am not being taken seriously as a creator because I’m a woman — people forget that this is about the work, not who you are!
At times I feel like I need to work harder to prove myself, especially with the world today that is so consumed with social media and politics that forgets the focal point — the work!
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. Book by Eckhart Tolle
This book helped me shut down all the unnecessary noise in the head and around… and taught me how to be in the present moment and not let the ego sabotage and self destruction on moving towards working on our true life’s purpose. It helped A LOT from the perspective of working from the inside out and not let the outside affect the way we operate.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’d like to think that I’m already part of the movement to free people from labels! My mission in life is to create clothing for ALL people, spreading the joy of creative freedom and curiosity by creating garments that anyone can use as a tool of self-expression. My clothes are tools that empower ALL people to project confidence and explore new ways of expressing their true selves regardless of gender, body type, ethnicity, or ability. We want to create clothes that literally embrace the wearer and empower them to present themselves in ways that connect — and evolve — with their own unique gender or social identity.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” is from my father, “You make your bed and you sleep in it!” I have learned so much from mistakes, and in business it’s all about making decisions — so, you make a decision and now must accept its consequences… You need to own up to your responsibility, good or bad!
Female Disruptors: Designer Rinat Brodach On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.