Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Parker.
Hi Haley, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
From a young age, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: make clothing. Before I could even comprehend fashion as an industry, designing and creating garments brought me great joy. As a child, I would use my grandmother’s hand sewing kit to make outfits for my dolls out of cut up bit of my own clothing (much to my mother’s dismay). While my grandmother is responsible for teaching me the technical side of clothing creation, my mother is the one who instilled in me a love for fashion. Growing up, my mother would take me on her thrifting excursions and we would spend hours in densely packed consignment shops searching for hidden treasures. She taught me which brands were considered ‘designer’, how to assess the quality of a garment and the difference between a staple piece and a statement piece. One of my favorite things we would do together was sit at Barnes and Nobles flipping through all of the major fashion publications like Vogue, Elle, Bazaar. I would go home and rip out the pages with my favorite editorial images (I was obsessed with Alexander Mcqueen). This stayed with me all through childhood into my teen years. By the time I was graduating, I had committed to attending The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise in Los Angeles. Getting into the school felt like the culmination of my life’s dream. And while going to fashion school taught me a lot, the real-life experience I gathered while living in LA is what really helped me hone in on who I was a designer. Since that time, I have mainly done commission based work and focused on building my own brand.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Smooth is the last word I would ever use to describe my life’s path. But when I say that, I don’t mean it in a bad way, just that I have been faced with nuanced challenges on top of the typical coming of age trials that most people face. When I moved to Los Angeles, I was two months out of high school, 18, and incredibly green. The school I went to did not have a traditional campus and was located in the middle of downtown LA so I definitely did not have a typical college experience. I was catapulted into a very adult world; taking on more responsibility than I was prepared for at the time. While I had a lot of fun and made lasting friendships, I did succumb to distractions and ultimately got caught up in the struggle of living in Los Angeles. I had doubts about whether not being in school was for me which honestly felt like an existential crisis because going to school for design was my life’s goal up to that point. Before the start of my third year, I dropped out and started working in the industry/interning. Lo0king back, I can see that completing my degree could have opened doors for me and definitely given my career more structure. And I did go through a period where I felt like maybe I had failed myself by walking away. But at the same time, I do not regret it because the experience I got by going out on my own has led me to some amazing experiences and points of growth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When asked, “what do you do” my first answer is always “I’m a designer”. But, in truth, I consider myself an all-around creative. Not only do I make clothing, I model and do photography as well. In the past, I mainly worked with others to assist them in creating their vision. However, within the last two years I began to answer the question “what do I want to create”. During quarantine especially, I had a lot of time to reflect on what it was that I really wanted to do and the brand I wanted to build for myself. I got back into thrifting and upcycling, which led to more complex creations where I made pieces completely from scratch. Once I got back into the swing of things and began posting what I was making, I started to get clients who wanted similar items.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
My favorite thing about Atlanta is that the city is constantly in flux yet manages to stay genuine to itself at the core. The city itself has changed so much in the last three years alone, partly due to gentrification but also because Atlanta has put a big emphasis expanding to accommodate those looking to come here and add to the local economy. Atlanta’s booming film industry is the perfect example. Instead of accepting LA and NY as the big players, Atlanta has done a great job of making a name for itself and creating opportunities for local talent.
Pricing:
- Photography services: sessions start at $120 (in studio or on location)
- Creative Direction/Consultation: $80/hr
Contact Info:
- Email: haleyxparker@gmail.com
- Website: https://haleyxparker-apparel.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyxparker/
Image Credits
Calvin Maurice; Bennet Sandefur; Christian Gordon; Brenda Nicole Moorer; Haley Parker
