Elsi Ferris
Elsi Ferris
Founder / Owner Egg Studio
Los Angeles, CA
www.eggstudio.co
Instagram @eggstudio_
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What do you do?
I am the owner and founder of Egg Studio, an apparel and accessory representation company that works with independent designers who are thoughtfully curated and delicately designed. We focus on expanding their business but most importantly maintaining the integrity of their brand. Basically, I help designers market their product and ultimately get them into stores to grow their sales.
“I help designers market their product and ultimately get them into stores to grow their sales. ”
What steps did you take to get where you are now?
I applied for a position that I was completely unqualified for but with the company that I was set on working for. The owner saw my application and asked me to interview for a position that wasn't open yet but would be in the near future. In the next couple months I was hired and started off as an assistant. After a year of assisting I was offered an account manager position with another company. I worked here for a bit until I had a few friends ask me to take their brands under my wings - I realized this was the opportunity that I was ultimately working for by working for these other people and just took a leap of faith and started Egg Studio - Egg now has six designers in Los Angeles/New York and just completed it's first New York market.
For other people in your field, what do they usually lack?
The ability to recognize that you are replaceable but also investable.
What are you working on right now?
We are currently working on Spring/Summer 2016 sales - we just got back from New York and have an LA market coming up in October.
We are all Slashies with multiple skills, which one do you wish you could do more often?
This is completely irrelevant to my current situation but I would love to work more with music - incorporating it more with the fashion industry especially more so with my aspect.
What is frustrating you right now?
My macbook is in need of an upgrade...
What task keeps landing at the bottom of the To Do list?
In regards to Egg, everything has weirdly been manageable - I've had a lot of hours on planes that have been dedicated to organizing some lists that I had been putting off.
I also desperately need a car wash...
If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Focus more on organizational tasks and list sorting - updating contact sheets, making sure everything is in alphabetical order, handling some of the extra projects my designers participate in that don't necessarily correlate with wholesale but are nonetheless important, picking up and delivering samples when needed. Basically freeing more time for me to focus on emails and dollar signs.
Let's bring out the time machine. What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wouldn't necessarily go back and tell myself anything because it might alter where I am today which I am pretty stoked about. I do however constantly have to remind myself not to rush everything and expect instant gratification.
If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Maryam Nassir Zadeh - it would mostly be about how her vision of business started and has had to change throughout the years - how she grew to be where she is now.
What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Ones that involve collaborating with other individuals doing what I am doing and figuring out how we can help each other out without competing against our own business- working with designers on consulting and trend forecasting.
“working with designers on consulting and trend forecasting. ”
What is your ideal client?
I would love to work with Bird - a boutique in Brooklyn, NY and again Maryam Nassir Zadeh. This would mean either working with them on writing my lines and/or working with them on how they have created such strong business plans.
Do you allow yourself to say No?
I am currently starting to say no - Deal breaker is just not having enough time to curate my best work for another individual and/or when a designer wants representation that is competitive with one of my current lines.
What is your rate?
For designer representation with egg, please contact me personally.
How should someone approach you about working together?
Just background information on their brand and themselves and why Egg Studio - Also, they should include dollar amount booked for most previous season and current stockist list.
This member profile was originally published in October 2015.