Stoi Phillips

The Reality of What Happens After the Runway for an Independent Designer There is a moment after you finish a collection when you finally feel like you can breathe. The last garment is completed, the fittings are finished, the models have walked, the photographs have been taken, and the collection you spent weeks—or sometimes months—creating has finally been seen. People congratulate you. The pictures start circulating. You hear how beautiful the collection was, how amazing the show looked,...

Protecting the Craft, Respecting the Models, and Producing Fashion on Our Own Terms It has been a while since I’ve sat down to write a blog, but after everything I’ve experienced over the last several years and due to recent events, I felt like this was the right time to share where I am—not only as the founder of Stoi’s Design Co., but as a couture designer who has spent years participating in fashion shows, producing collections, working with models, and learning what happens both on the...

One of the things I've learned throughout my journey in fashion is that titles matter. Not because one profession is more important than another, but because every profession requires its own education, experience, creativity, and skill set. As someone who has spent years studying fashion, developing collections, producing runway shows, and building a couture brand, I have found it frustrating at times to showcase my work alongside people who introduce themselves simply as "designers" when...