In the December 2005 issue of Fast Company Magazine

Clothes designer Doo-Ri Chung who studied with Geoffrey Beene said that he taught her to establish a routine to take care of the monotony of business so it doesn’t take away from the creative process. I agree–but don’t let it be an excuse for not doing the project you’ve set out to do. Set your priorities and give them a long-term timeline and then a daily/weekly one.

The way Chung creates clothes is to fool around with fabric on the mannequin so she can see how the fabric drapes. She says it’s “Old School”. This “Old School” approach is something I recommend. Fool around with the physical and get out of your head. One of my friends whose father works for George Lucas’ company ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) told me that when the company brought computers in to create the models he lost a huge percentage of the way he got creative inspiration. He needed to put the models he developed in 3-D and work with his hands to modify them. To just see them one-dimensionally on the computer took away his “body knowledge” the trust in his hands to lead him to solutions.

Chung says of her hands-on approach, “I have to offer my audience something new that they can’t get from Donna Karan or Calvin Klein. Some may think she may be bragging by comparing herself to established designers with distinguished track records, but it’s actually a smart move. She’s getting you to think she’s of the same caliber of those two and worth checking out. What do you offer your customers or clients that no one else can?