FROM THE DESKS OF LOUISA RECHTER TAKACS

"Making good decisions comes from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions." -Mark Twain

Last week, I spoke to a group of high school students at a career fair. They wanted to know how I launched a career in fashion. As I thought about the question, I realized I didn't have a perfect formula. So much of what led me to where I am today were a bunch of mistakes I made along the way. I realized though, that I had a story to tell and a lot of wisdom I could impart on these young minds! I became thankful for my mistakes and the ability to learn from them.

Later that day, Alessandra and I met to discuss the state of the fashion industry and our general outlook for the next few years. An interesting learning was that every decade, many apparel or textile companies are prone to encounter a production shock, whether it be a natural disaster, a civil affair or even a pandemic. Knowing that we are not invincible, we are taking our learnings from navigating COVID-19 and coming up with a contingency plan if this were to happen again in future years.

Some takeaways? It's ok to pivot. We're often told when building a brand, one should never stray from their DNA. "Dressy" is in our DNA but we realized we don't always have to be if that's not what our customer wants...so we are offering more versatile items (coming soon!).  Your relationships are everything. When COVID-19 was deemed a pandemic, we were advised to cancel production orders. We chose not to. Instead, we came up with creative ways to take on the product, making it a "win-win" with our vendors. Find new avenues for growth. We are starting the process of finding new ways to connect with our customer. It may take awhile, and we are sure to make a few mistakes along the way! We feel that now is the time to think of the pandemic as an opportunity to think outside the box. 

Ladies of Mestiza, your mistakes are what make you, you! We are resilient and we have stories to tell!

What lessons have you learned from the pandemic? Please share with us!

xx,