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Modern Fashion: Leslye Young of SY The Label On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Know your “why” — What differentiates your brand from others. How is your brand different from any other brand that’s selling similar stuff. Telling customers your story and the meaning behind your brand will go a long way.

Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?

In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Leslye Young.

Leslye Young is the co-founder, co-owner, and CEO of SY The Label. Growing up she always was interested in fashion and being involved in athletics. After struggling to find comfortable clothing while working in college athletics, she knew it was the time to start her clothing brand. SY The Label combines the best qualities of an athleisure and lifestyle line into a wear who you are, body-positive clothing brand featuring comfortable clothes you can wear for any occasion. She designs each piece with versatility in mind to bring you all-day comfort and to elevate your confidence, no matter what life throws your way.

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 childhood “backstory”?

I grew up in a small town in Kentucky called Mayfield. It was the town where everyone was at a high school football game on Friday nights and at McDonald’s for Saturday morning breakfast talking about the game. I grew up playing all kinds of sports. I was always on the go between basketball practice, swim practice, soccer practice, and tennis lessons. My grandparents lived 5 houses up the street and I would spend a lot of time there. Sometimes my grandmother and I would go to Wal*Mart, pick out a fabric and pattern, and I’d sit there and watch her make me a dress or shirt from scratch. I thought it was so cool. Fashion and sports were my two favorite things growing up. I might’ve not had the most expensive clothing or what was trending, but I knew what I had on was comfortable and I styled it how I wanted to.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

I always had the dream of owning my own clothing brand, but I wasn’t sure how or where to start, or even if I could make it happen due to being from a small town — and not somewhere like LA or New York City. It was just a dream — not reality. Growing up playing sports I knew I wanted to be around them when I got to college, but not necessarily play. I ended up getting an internship with the Murray State Athletic department in marketing. I absolutely loved it and wanted to do this for the rest of my life, so I thought. After graduating with a BS degree in Advertising with a minor in marketing I ended up moving back in with my parents jobless. I was miserable. I was back at home not doing squat and applying for any kind of job. I got a retail position at a local boutique and learned everything I could about retail. After I landed this part-time job, fashion came back into my mind. I went back to school and got a master’s of professional studies in Fashion Merchandising from LIM College out of NYC. I got my master’s in 10 months all online and loved every second of learning the fashion world and what it takes to create your own brand and fashion line. This is where it gets funny… As soon as I graduated with my master’s I landed a job in college athletics (what I wanted a year before). It was an internship, but I needed the money and experience if I wanted to live out my dream job working in college athletics. While working in college athletics I could never ever find a pair of pants that were comfortable enough and that was also stylish. Khakis just weren’t doing it for me anymore. After working in college athletics for two years I landed an Assistant AD title and oversaw a whole department which happened to be men. Nothing wrong with that, but being a female in a dominant male career field you didn’t necessarily always feel comfortable or confident in what you were doing. I was at the top of my career path two years in, in what I thought would be my dream job, but in reality, I wasn’t a fan. Being 26 years old in the position I thought I would have when I was 40+ years old I knew working in college athletics wasn’t for me. My husband and I moved states and I changed jobs and entered the corporate world. I landed a job working for a local boutique hotel in the town we moved to. I was in charge of all the marketing, graphic design, social media, email marketing, etc. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t really fulfilling anything. I really wanted to do something that I was passionate about and hospitality just wasn’t it. The pandemic hit and as we know it changed everyone’s life. I knew it was the time to start my own clothing brand if that’s what I wanted to do. My first designer piece is the SY Jogger, a pant that is comfortable for all but ready to make you feel confident if you need something fancy to wear as well. Forget the khakis, the SY Jogger is your new favorite pant.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I would say the most interesting thing is searching for different manufacturers and different fabrics. I knew that I wanted a manufacturer in the USA and wanted it to be women-owned. It was tough not having ANY connections whatsoever so I definitely had to do my research. I also wasn’t aware of how many different kinds of fabrics and textiles are out there. There might be two fabrics of the same combination but different weights or there might be two fabrics that are the exact same combos but come from different suppliers and feel completely different. When designing and creating the SY Jogger, my first designer piece, I probably went through about 400 different fabrics trying to find the one I wanted to go with.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

  1. Patience — creating and designing an article of clothing takes time — especially when you’re on a budget. Going from the idea to the real thing probably took me about 10 months. I was advertising and advertising that I had these awesome pants that I designed and telling every friend, family member, and even stranger, but it felt like FOREVER for them to become real. Every single person kept asking when are the pants going to be done? I would have to be calm (even though I was screaming in my head) and say “just a little bit longer.” Getting one product out takes time and I learned that. From designing the product, choosing a manufacturer, looking through hundreds of different fabrics, and getting your first prototype to your first sample, it just takes time. Then you have to wait for production. It’s a lot of waiting, but when you see your first product become real-life — that feeling is everything.
  2. Go-getter — Starting a business is not easy and it’s not cheap. I have a full-time job on top of running the clothing brand. Everything that we make with the clothing brand goes right back into the brand. Whether that’s restocking an item or making something new, it goes right back into the brand. My full-time job helps pay the bills. I, fortunately, work from home so it makes things a little bit easier. My husband and I also have another little side gig where we help some friends with graphic design and social media. It allows us to save and pay for pre-production and production costs. We work nonstop, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because it all allows me to do what I have dreamed of. The goal is to completely focus on the brand and that’s my number one priority, but patience is key.
  3. Planning and Organization — In fashion, you are planning next season’s products 6 months to a year out from when it gets released. You go through the idea, the design, the prototype, the sample, then production. After production, you have to plan and organize photoshoots for the website, record all inventory, send them to influencers, and then start advertising when the products drop. Being a one-man show (two-man if you could my husband, who runs it with me) it’s hard, but you have to do it because all of our costs are going into production.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The “why” behind SY The Label makes our brand stand out. The reason I wanted to start this clothing brand is so all women could wear something that makes them feel both comfortable and confident. Style and comfort are two things that shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. When you’re comfortable in effortllessly stylish clothing you feel like the best version of yourself.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You will face many defeats in life, but never allow yourself to be defeated.” — Maya Angelou

I can’t really pick out a certain story, but I would just say this is relevant every single day. You’re going to go through many different struggles and hardships because that’s part of life. It’s the same with owning and running a business. There are going to be plenty of things I can’t control, but the only thing I can control is how I react to them. I can’t let it defeat me or defeat the purpose of why I am running a clothing brand.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?

More people are paying attention to where their clothing is made and who makes it. We have a long way to go still, but I do think people are being more aware of what they’re wearing and where it was made. I am excited about this because you just don’t ever think about the ones overseas making clothing all day for nothing. I always ask people “Would you want to make clothing all day for basically nothing?” If not, then why support a brand that does that? Everyone deserves fair pay.

Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?

One of our tag lines is “Bring comfort and confidence into your day.” I want people to feel confident and comfortable when they wear SY The Label. I want them to be able to wear their outfit while going to work, running errands, hanging out with friends, etc. all without having to change clothes 3 or 4 times a day. Being a woman is hard already. We don’t want to have to go through the hassle of changing outfits 3 times a day just to be comfortable, why not be comfortable all day and maybe only change your shoes. Style doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.

Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?

The fabric I chose for the SY Jogger is made out of the Repreve® fiber. Repreve® is one of the most certified, earth-friendly fibers available in the world. These high-quality recycled polyester knits are made from plastic bottles and post-consumer materials. If there was a way I could have a USA fabric supplier AND it be sustainable I knew I was making something special.

Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?

It’s incredibly sad. If someone is purchasing a top for $2.50, how much is the person making that made the shirt? I get that everyone is on a budget, but why buy something that cheap and then it lasts you a couple of months to a year and then it ends up in a landfill? Not only is that person not making a fair wage making the garment, but it goes to waste in a matter of months. Why not buy something that is more expensive that will last you longer and it likely not end up in a landfill. One thing we’d like to do in the coming months and years is to tell our customers we’ll gladly take back the things they’re tired of keeping in their closet that they have bought from us and we’ll give them credit back to purchase a new item. I will resell that item in a heartbeat or give back to a local women’s shelter. There are so many ways to keep clothing out of landfills and my goal is to help bring that awareness to people and our customers.

Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Know your “why” — What differentiates your brand from others. How is your brand different from any other brand that’s selling similar stuff. Telling customers your story and the meaning behind your brand will go a long way.
  2. Research — Read articles, and books, listen to podcasts and explore the internet. I researched fabrics, how other brands got started, manufacturers, trending colors, trending styles, etc. I researched as much as I could before I started anything. I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing before starting it.
  3. Ability to network — Get involved on social media. Join community Facebook groups of people doing the same thing. Bounce ideas off each other. Two brains are better than one. Get involved in the local community. Do social media giveaways with other small businesses — again work together because, in the end, we’re all in this together. Making connections is huge. It only takes that one person to potentially make your business or brand skyrocket.
  4. Sense of Business — Knowing the business side of things is huge. It’s the “not so fun stuff” but it is important. Start with a business plan. Who is your target audience? What is your target retail price? Are you making a profit in the end?
  5. Passion and Drive in the business — It’s not easy being in the fashion world, especially when there are SO many well known big brands out there. It takes time to build and create a fashion brand from the ground up and it’s expensive, but if you have the drive and passion for it then it’s worth it all in the end.

Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?

Take action in knowing who and where your clothing is made. Stop using manufacturers that are using child labor to make clothing just because it’s cheaper. Stop creating “new arrivals” every single week. Fast fashion has got to stop. It’s only creating more problems. Instead, come up with ways you can give back or take back clothing that customers don’t want anymore. If you take it back, resell it or give back to a shelter. We have to work together as an industry to keep clothing out of landfills as best as we can.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. 🙂

Women feel comfortable and confident in what they’re wearing throughout their day. If a woman is comfortable then they’re confident. We need to break the stigma around fashion being uncomfortable. The way that the fashion industry is evolving is that comfort and style are two things that can and should go together. As we have especially seen through the pandemic and the shift in working from home, you don’t need to be wearing jeans or a suit to work. Comfortable, stylish clothing is where it’s heading and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of that movement.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can visit our website at www.sythelabel.com or follow us on social media @SY_TheLabel

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Modern Fashion: Leslye Young of SY The Label On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.