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Newyorkette (Carolita Johnson) is an ex-fashion industry escapee who now works as a cartoonist and maintains Newyorkette.com. Her cartoons have been published in The New Yorker, The Complete New Yorker, "The Rejection Collection I & II" and many more publications. She offers an interesting perspective on the industry for new fashion students.

 

1) You are a cartoonist but you have quite the history with the world of fashion. What would you say was your biggest role in fashion before you left it all behind to become Newyorkette?

My biggest role in fashion was as a fashion model. I was momentarily famous in Europe, but never got rich. I still model in New York, but not in the glamorous end of the business. Now I just do fittings, which I'm perfect for now that I'm nearly "normal"!

 

2) I heard also that when you were a model you had a fight with Bjork...?

No, I never had a fight with Bjork! Not at all. Someone must have misunderstood the story of how I was to open Jean-Paul Gaultier's show (years ago) in a certain outfit, and just before the show began, Jean-Paul came up to me and apologetically told me Bjork had not liked her outfit, so he had told her to walk around the racks of outfits lined up for the show and choose whatever she liked and that she'd chosen my outfit. (As it happened, she chose the outfit with the big number "1" on the hanger -- I'd like to think that being in a rush to do the show and go to her next gig was what made her choose it!). I was gracious about it at the time, but it was to be my last show for Jean-Paul while I took a break to go back to university, and I really would have liked to have ended on a high note! So I would go around telling the story with mock indignation for a while. :)

3) To become a cartoonist did you attend school?

No, I went to Parson's School of Design hoping to take illustration or fine art, but my parents wouldn't hear of it. They wanted something more money-making. So, I took fashion design, which I didn't give a rat's ass about. My plan was to get the BFA and sneak off to another university later on.

 

4) Wow, so you got to go to one of the most prestigious fashion schools in the world. What was that experience like?

I'd wanted to go to Stonybrook and take English Lit. I had only applied to one "art school", and chose Parson's because they offered the BFA which I planned to use to get into another place later. On orientation day, they said, "welcome to Parson's, the best art school in the world," or something to that effect. And I was like, huh? If they're so good, how come they let me in?

 

 

5) *lol* If it wasn't so great, why did you go?

The BFA was the clincher. Actually Foundation Year was really great. I learned things I still use today. It was only the last three years of majoring in Fashion that kind of sucked. I have to admit, though, now that I do fittings for money (it pays the rent!), the patternmaking and draping classes turned out to have given me the knowledge I need to be very valuable to patternmakers with too many garments to fit in one day! They love me. I catch what they miss, and I know exactly what they're talking about when they ask me about fit details.

 

6) Who would have known that a fashion degree would be so valuable for a fitting model to have! (Are you aspiring models listening?? *wink*) You may have gone to school to spite your parents, but you still went and you got through it. And you ended up working in the industry. Though you didn't work as a designer you have had a lot of contact with designers, stylists and other industry people. For a model, what traits make this contact pleasant and unpleasant?

Well, the technical end of the fashion industry is very different from the glam side. I'll tell you what. The glam side of fashion thinks I'm short, fat, old, and not pretty enough. They don't want to hear a word I say. When I meet people from that side of the business, I often feel totally scorned, and I sometimes even feel humiliated! I have maybe one really good friend from that side of the business. The side of fashion I work in now thinks I'm tall, pretty, not too thin, not too fat, just right, and they like to talk to me and hear what I think about this or that, whether it's work-related or not. Many among them don't read The New Yorker, so they're not even that impressed with my cartoons -- sometimes they don't think they're funny at all, but they like me all the same! I leave work feeling like I've done well, and worked with friends. So, it depends who I'm in contact with! I'm definitely partial to the technical side of the business. Much more down to earth.

 

7) I'm with you on that one, that's the side I like best too! I got frustrated in school with the pretty girls that had no interest in the science of fashion and patternmaking and whose entire goal was to make pretty people look prettier. Maybe I shouldn't say that as the voice of this website but it's true! Do you have any horror stories you can share? No names need be mentioned ;)

No, not really. The only horror is the fickleness of people in the glamorous side of the business. One minute you're their darling, and the next minute they treat you with contempt or indifference that can really sting. One has to really have one's own center of gravity, and a good sense of identity and self-reliance. Also, obviously, I can see that any woman in any end of the business is treated very superficially. This is not the business to grow old and slow down in. You have to stay young at heart, and be quick on your feet, and always be ready to have the rug pulled out from under you (and it will be!) and land on your feet. If you don't have that in you, it's not the place for you. There's no mercy.

 

 

8) Nicely put. On your website one of the Q&As you've posted is "How can I become a cartoonist?" and your answer is "Fail at everything else first." Do you think you failed at fashion?

Yes and no! I really actually did try to flunk out of fashion, but for some reason, still had really good grades. I just can't do anything half-assed, I guess. But I tried it and didn't like it. So I tried something else. And something else. And something else. I guess you could say I failed to find my way to cartooning quickly, and yet all those false starts were part of my growing experience, and necessary for finding my way to what I really wanted to do. To be a cartoonist, you have to have something in your life besides cartoons, I think. A bunch of false starts never hurt anyone doing something where they have to mine the emotions and ups and downs of the everyday person. Yes and no.

 

9) Actually I feel the same way about my path TO fashion, isn't that funny? Most people would be shocked at my "prior-life" CV! Anything else you'd like to share? Any advice you'd like to give new students?

Don't be afraid to fail. Failing can do you a world of good. Nothing is a failure as long as it gets you from point A to point B, even if it wasn't exactly what you had in mind. The only time you waste is the time you spend regretting your mistakes, so don't regret them! Learn from them and get moving!

 

To learn more about, or contact Carolita Johnson (aka Newyorkette), 
or see more of her cartoons, please visit her website Newyorkette.com

 

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