Meet Saimy Patel | Fashion Designer and Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Saimy Patel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Saimy, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
Only by overcoming obstacles are we able to learn and develop critical life skills, and it is these characteristics that will equip us to achieve success. You can change your mindset about the possibilities in life by challenging yourself and confronting difficult tasks. It is all too easy to live our lives in the comfort of our own homes. By pushing yourself, you will achieve new goals that you would not have considered before. Things that didn’t seem possible for you may now be within your grasp. You could simply stay in your current situation. But I promise you’ll be glad you took the chance! Setting a new goal for yourself is the best way to challenge yourself, in my opinion. Setting goals has so much power! Create actionable steps and schedule them on your calendar after you’ve set a goal. There are countless enjoyable ways to push yourself to grow as a person. As someone who has always been reserved and had a small comfort zone, I’ve tried to stretch myself more as an adult in order to broaden my horizons and come out of my shell a little. It’s made a huge difference for me, and I’m confident.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a Fashion Designer and Illustrator. I was born and brought up in India. I came to Los Angeles about four years ago to study fashion (at “The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising”) and learn more. My love for fashion came from my mom’s beautiful Indian traditional clothes. While growing up, I used to take my mother’s old clothes and make something trendy out of them. My obsession grew with fabrics; being around them made me happy. My work typically reflects the combination of Indian and western culture. I believe in creating multi-purpose, timeless clothing for working women which can be worn multiple ways. My design philosophy is to make women feel more confident, strong, and empowered by combining fashion and comfort together, so they can give their best to the world. I try using fabrics that are comfortable on the skin and feel good to wear with some solid colors and prints, using some simple silhouettes and elements from the latest fashion trends. I am currently most excited about my upcoming new collection with “Shein X”, which will be out next spring/summer. It has been a crazy four-year journey. It wasn’t easy adapting to a new culture coming from a different environment. It was the first time I was far from home and alone, doing everything by myself. But, I kept going and told myself to take one step at a time, and now LA feels like home. Today, I am proud of myself for coming out of my comfort zone and pushing myself every day to achieve my goals.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
It is funny that when I am answering this question, my best friend is actually visiting LA right now. She is a big foodie, and I am going to take her to all my favorite places to eat. One of them is “HOME”. They are located on the eastern edge of Silver Lake. I had mentioned earlier that LA feels like home, and this place gives off a homely vibe. Next, I will take her to the “Norton Simon Museum,” which has a major permanent collection that is well respected on a global scale. The majority of the art on show is on long-term loan from the Norton Simon Foundation and the Norton Simon Art Foundation, each of which owns various sets of artworks. And of course, you can never miss a nice beach brunch when you are in Los Angeles. My favorite place for that would be “Back on the Beach Cafe” in Santa Monica.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my success to every person who stood by me, supported me, and pushed me to stand on my own feet. And, also to every person who tried to put me down, because without them I would not have pulled myself up from the bottom.

Website: https://saimyspatel.wixsite.com/saimypatel

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ssaimypatel/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saimypatel/