Success in the Fashion Design Industry with Colleen Quen
What does it take to succeed in the fashion design industry? Discover the beauty of fashion, the importance of time management in a creative business, and how to fulfill your dreams and passion in the fashion industry. Meet Colleen Quen — her knowledge of the fashion industry is vast and she knows what it takes to succeed!
Colleen Quen is an internationally-recognized and award-winning French couturiere, who has — for more than 25 years — owned and operated a successful couture atelier. She was born and lives in San Francisco, California. She is a fourth-generation Chinese American. She integrates her cultural experiences and life dedication to couture and art. As a San Francisco native, Quen’s life mission is to internally and externally push boundaries and influence fashion internationally.
Learn more about Colleen Quen:
Visit her website 👉🏻 www.quenlife.com
undefinedApple Podcasts interview with Coleen Quen
Steven Chan: Hi, everyone. My name is Steven Chan. I am the co-host of the Imagine Talks Podcast: Achieving Success, Overcoming Obstacles, and Social Impact. And I’m so excited for today, we have Colleen, who is a French couture, and Colleen Quen Couture is her company. Right? And you’ve also taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and the California College of the Arts. Colleen, welcome.
Colleen Quen: Thank you, Steven. It’s such a pleasure to be here.
Steven Chan: You know, you have spoken at Imagine Talks. You’ve also been in design for over 30 years. When did you first realize you wanted to pursue a career as a designer?
Colleen Quen: Well, after I was debugging software programs, I thought I was going to be a computer science programmer. I was actually also designing ice skating costumes in the sideline. And I was going, because I was an ice skater.
So I wanted to create my own costumes, [and] I was more into that. Like, I was very excited about that. Design has always been a part of me ever since I was young, but it just became, like, real when I had to really decide on what I wanted to do in life. And then the truth came out and I said,
“Well, wait a second. I want to learn design.”
Steven Chan: Yeah. I imagine that would have taken courage because you’re transitioning from something to something else.
Passion for truth and going after your dreams
Colleen Quen: It is, and usually fashion design is a little bit more fickle. It’s hard to really make it out there. As in software engineering, it’s much more of the trend, what was going on in the 80s — mid 80s. But I wanted to go for my truth and my passion. I didn’t want to just go for what’s happening, really. I wanted to go with what’s coming from my heart and what I think I can contribute to the world.
Steven Chan: Yeah.
Colleen Quen: Definitely I became very mature at a very young age in my 20s, that I decided I need to change.
Steven Chan: And what kind of skills did you ended up having to use to craft your career? Not so much the fashion design, but forging your path and having this successful business?
Colleen Quen: Yeah. Because I have to say, though, because I was an ice skater and I had a private coach, and I was with her for ten years. It brought me discipline, dedication, loyalty, and also just making it work. I mean, it’s a lot of dedication, and if you really love something, you make it work. All that — the ten years of that actually gave me this stability and this kind of like,
“Yes, I can do whatever I want to do and make it happen.”
And so when I decided to go back to design, and then I worked for a few companies for about nine years, and then I decided to have my own business, [there] was not any doubt.
Steven Chan: Wow. But you also mentioned, too, that it’s competitive. What does success look like for someone who’s not familiar with the fashion industry?
Defining success in the world of the fashion design industry
Colleen Quen: Everyone wants to be a designer. I’m a designer. I’m a celebrity designer. Yes! You can be a designer or [say], “I have lots of money. I want to be a designer.” You can do that.
The [competition] is that everyone is a designer. Everyone’s studying design. Everyone’s coming out of design because I’m a teacher, too. So everyone wants to be a fashion designer. Everyone wants to do something and design.
And why not? It’s so creative. Right? So with that — that freedom but yet it’s this business that you can make money — is a beautiful thing, and it’s very enticing. So that’s why it’s competitive.
Steven Chan: Got it. Thinking about the design process. I mean, you’ve got so many gorgeous pieces on your website. Is there a way that you’ve optimized your workflow? [And] maximized your creative process?
Colleen Quen: Yeah. And so I’ve been in my own business for over 20 years, and I’m very efficient. Do you know why? Because it’s only me, and that [I] do the design and the pattern making. And then I have two seamstresses.
Now every time when I have students wanting to intern with me, they go, “Well, Where’s your big company?” I go, “Well, hi, I’m here.”
I think I’m really sustainable in my own way because, you know what? I came from the roots of making your own money and not — yeah, so it was very challenging — the finances, but I made it happen, and I was very sustainable in some ways and also efficient and also hard-working. So it just all came as one.
Steven Chan: And when you’re doing that, does that mean that you’re doing quite a bit of the business?
Making your own sustainable choices in the fashion design industry
Colleen Quen: So I’m doing the business, and I’m also the payroll, and I also give them vacation, and then I’m also the marketing person. I brand mine out, I make sure that I select who I want to work with. I know it’s everything. And then, I’m also the designer, and then I choose the fabric, and then I create this design for them. I design for celebrities, too, right? So you have to be right on dot.
Steven Chan: Yeah.
Colleen Quen: You can’t make a mistake. I mean, you can make a mistake, but you really can’t, because you’ve got one client every time. So I developed this really amazing structure where I would actually set up my day, every day, every hour of what I was going to do and to accomplish it. So I made sure I made a list of what I need to accomplish every day, Monday through Saturday.
Steven Chan: Wow.
Colleen Quen: And if I have, like, 90 designs to do in one year, how do I break it up?
Steven Chan: Interesting.
Colleen Quen: And when the fabric comes three months later, like, everything I wear different hats. But I love that! My brain is, like, set up that way. Maybe because of software programming — I’m not sure, but I love the whole process of it — like making sure it smoothly flows, too. And I don’t get anxieties like, I’ll put in a little pampering time, but I break up every hour, and that’s what I teach my students to from 8:00 to 6:00. Break it up, you want to do this, and make sure you can do it.
Steven Chan: So time blocking is what you do?
In the fashion design industry, time management is essential for success
Colleen Quen: It’s really time strategy — time management.
Steven Chan: I think that you mentioned computer science.
Colleen Quen: Yes.
Steven Chan: As a way where you’re logical — there’s some operations and order of operations.
Colleen Quen: Yes. In order to write a software program, I have to make sure I know every word that I want to put to make that operation happen.
Steven Chan: Interesting.
Colleen Quen: So if I don’t know all the steps, that program is not going to be good. So I’m very — like, it’s almost like a flowchart in my mind, and then every step is leading to the goal.
Steven Chan: Is that very common? That kind of thinking for folks in your industry, persons, other professionals?
Colleen Quen: Probably, because you have to be super organized for fashion design. I’ve noticed that — I just noticed in the fashion world because it’s a business. This is not like an art world where, “I’m just going to be doing whatever I want to do.” It’s like, “Oh, no, we need to make this a business. So we need to have this client. Or this is a great strategy.” It’s all about marketing. It’s all about everything in design, which I love. I love the whole process of design.
Steven Chan: And one of the cool things is that you are singularly doing it right. You’ve got yourself. And then — I know — two seamstresses, but because I do everything, you know, everything, every part of it, it doesn’t require you to communicate with ten or 20 [people].
Colleen Quen’s work of art — “Madame Butterfly”
“Appreciate the process and be grateful going through the process of living life.” — Colleen Quen
Colleen Quen: No, it doesn’t. There’s no middleman. And if I need to change something and change it up a little, then I change it up. What’s wrong with that? But that’s how I learned in my process. So I have one gown. It’s called Madame Butterfly, and that is in the California Museum right now. I’m one of the 200 honorable women in California. And with, like, Shirley Temple. And I don’t know how I got there anyway…
But anyway, my Madame Butterfly is in there because that’s the one that kept my business going. It was selling for 20 years, like this Madame Butterfly gown, which someday you’ll see, but it’s still around. So all my gowns are also sustainable in a way that they will still sell after 20 years.
Colleen Quen: My design work is kind of timeless, but I do all the engineering. I do all the pattern work, too. So in French, couture, it’s all about calculations. I’m like a geometric sculptor, but everything is like sacred geometry. So I do everything in that way. It’s very analytical as well as creative.
Steven Chan: Interesting. One of the quotes that you’ve shared with us at Imagine Talks was, “Appreciate the process and be grateful going through the process of living life.” Tell us how that plays into your success — your productivity.
Colleen Quen: Okay. I feel that once you know each process, you can almost be in the present moment of really enjoying it.
For example: when you make something homemade, a food, it’s coming from your heart, so you love every step. I’m going to mix the egg now. I’m going to mix this, and I’m making this for grandmother, or the love comes in, right?
Gratitude at every step
Colleen Quen: And when you taste the meal at the end, it is like full of love and energy. It’s the chi energy, right? I do chi gong. So it’s the chi energy I’m giving.
So when I create it’s the same way, I love this process, I love doing that.
Colleen Quen: I just measured her. I’m going to do her body lines now. Like, everything is calculations and then I put [the] love in each thing. Oh, I’m going to choose her fabric. I’m going to choose the color that would enhance her, and then I know the shape that I want for her. And then when she walks down the red carpet, it’s going to be just so — she’s going to be a flower. But I’m just saying that I put in all my love, and when she wears it, she feels beautiful. And if you can do that, I think it’s, like, such a reward.
Photo from Facebook | Colleen Quen, LLC.
Because, or else, you become a robot and you’re just like making one thing at a time. Do you know when you eat mass production? What happens when you eat mass production?
Steven Chan: They all look the same.
Colleen Quen: And it tastes the same but you’re just going like, “I’m so hungry.”
Steven Chan: Yeah.
Colleen Quen: And then you go to a fine restaurant or you have mom make food. You go, “Mom, oh, my God, I love your home food.” You can never trade it for the world.
So I kind of use that as the same analogy as my chi energy being put in. And it’s my true love that I’m putting into each of my clients’ part.
The role of technology in the fashion design industry
Steven Chan: It’s interesting how you’ve got this blend of you’re taking your knowledge of how technology works. So computer science, but then also fusing that with business and fashion and that’s just incredible.
Colleen Quen: And also the Chinese culture, and chi gong and I mix a little bit of that, too.
Steven Chan: Do you think that that — especially with technology and social media. How does that play into what you do?
Colleen Quen: I know. So I went to computer science for like five years, and then I was writing programs, and then I was getting into, like, artificial intelligence and blah, blah, blah. I was really good at math. And then I go,
“Oh, it’s like, I don’t know if I want to be on the computer all day.”
Right? So I completely stopped it. Like, when everyone was doing computers, I was anti. And I thought, “Let me just drop this out. I’m going to do this with my hands and my brain.” And I didn’t need any calculator. I would calculate through my head all calculations because I wanted to use my brain. Okay, I still do this, but now I’m doing digital art.
Colleen Quen: I love digital art.
Colleen Quen: I do digital art because Apple invited me to do a presentation, and then they said, “You need to learn the Procreate.” And I learned it in a month. And I created, like a hundred digitals and then I did a presentation for them, and then I was teaching.
Steven Chan: Procreate.
Digital transformation in the fashion design industry
Colleen Quen: Like, in a month. Yeah, for Apple. And so then now I do digital art. I’ve been doing it for three years now. So I love digital art, but its still — I love the hands-on. When I learned Chinese watercolor painting, it’s the feel, it’s the movement. It’s like I’m in dance, so I want to dance. I don’t want to feel like I’m a robot.
Steven Chan: Right.
Colleen Quen: So I know the difference, but I know that digital is the way to go, and then it’s kind of a challenge because everyone else is doing it. But I still feel that our uniqueness is our own style. And if we go back and talk about style, it’s about your own truth and what you can bring that is unique yourself, not someone else’s character. It’s finding your own soul and putting it into the work. Like, my stroke, people will know my stroke.
Steven Chan: Yeah.
Colleen Quen: Or my shape of my silhouette. People know that because I studied it, and this is what I want — this is coming from my heart. It’s not like, “Oh, that’s a trend.” I never do that. I never follow trends.
Steven Chan: I am so fascinated. You’ve talked about energy and your uniqueness there. But then you also said, “Oh, there’s digital art component, too.” If I may ask, what is your setup like? Half the time, do you use traditional tools?
Colleen Quen: Oh, yeah, traditional tools. I have my scissors, my pencil, my rulers. I have no computer. I have no TV.
Steven Chan: Okay.
Colleen Quen: I don’t watch TV, and I don’t do any computer. I don’t have a computer. I just have my iPad, and then I’m drawing digital.
Being in the moment
Steven Chan: Oh, with, like an Apple Pencil?
Colleen Quen: Yeah. And I design something every day.
Steven Chan: Would you say — what percentage of your work is on just using the iPad?
Colleen Quen: Oh maybe like an hour or two. But I can create, like, a lot of designs from there because, for me, it’s very easy. But when it comes to painting, that is when I’m in my truth, and I’m somehow connected, like, to the heavens, and I feel really connected to the planet and the Earth. I’m not connected to the computer. There’s no interference between this — the communication is very clear. And so I just move as a vessel, actually, and I channel it that way.
And a lot of my work is about heaven and Earth and how I bring heaven to Earth here. So my work is very heavenly. It has to do with birds’ wings, angel wings, butterfly wings, anything that flies up to the heaven, but also I’m bringing heaven — the beauty of heaven here.
And it’s all about Taoism. Because I’m a chi gong practitioner, so I do believe in Taoism and the way of living life, too.
Steven Chan: That is a wonderful glimpse into how you create your process. I’ve learned so much about your scheduling and how you have your flow. It’s just incredible.
Colleen Quen: Yeah. Because I live in the present moment. My mind is not anywhere else. Now when you live in the present moment, that means you have to confront what’s happening and just be in truth. I’m in truth with you right now, and you can feel the connection.
Steven Chan: I feel it. And I definitely feel the energy and enthusiasm.
Colleen Quen: Yes. Because I want to be with you.
Having control over your own self
Steven Chan: Yeah. And I think that for many of us — folks who are in a standard — you’ve alluded to this standard nine-to-five or eight-to-five or seven-to-five.
Colleen Quen: Yeah, that’s right. Or 24 hours.
Steven Chan: It tends to be robotic or very fairly rote. Harnessing what you love and being able to make the most of it is really quite bliss.
Colleen Quen: I know. I think it’s for my chi gong, too, because I don’t know if you know, I did have breast cancer ten years ago, and it was from all that stress I had. But from there, I took the chi gong to preserve my life and changed it. I switched and changed, and I never, ever want to not appreciate life ever again. That also woke me up to…
Steven Chan: That moment? That was a pivotal moment in your life then.
Colleen Quen: Yeah.
Steven Chan: Wow.
Colleen Quen: To take care of myself and also my emotions and my mental state and to have control over it. Don’t let anything else control you. You have control over your own self. You know what I’m saying? Take the driver’s wheel and drive it yourself.
Steven Chan: So then, if I may ask, is it okay if I ask what was life before and after? Because it sounds like that was a pivotal moment.
Colleen Quen: I had breast cancer when I was 45.
Steven Chan: Yes.
Career burnout in the fashion design industry
Colleen Quen: And that was like the time when I did have my business and I was doing, like, tai chi and chi gong, but I wasn’t practicing it very fully in the Taoist way. So I was working so much. Plus I had my own business and everything. I mean, I was the pinnacle time, everyone knew me, I was working with celebrities. I was on America’s Next Top Model.
I was on film a lot and always interviewed. I never had a private life. Everything was exposed pretty much [on] interviews and stuff like that constantly. So my life was so interesting. It was very exciting.
But I think I burnt myself out and I didn’t know when to stop. So when I had the cancer, I took a break from, actually, my business. And I took a break for like five years, and I rested with chi gong.
Steven Chan: That was a kind of a force.
Colleen Quen: Yes! So it was a force and I was a coutier, and also I [thought to myself] “I’m not anything now, but wait, I’m doing Chinese watercolor painting. So I’m going to be a painter now. And then everyone’s going, “What? What are you doing with painting?” I go, “No, I want to do painting.” And again, I had the confidence because it was like, “Well, I can do it. Don’t stop me.”
Colleen Quen: And then I started. I painted 300 paintings in one year because I was going insane because I didn’t design.
Steven Chan: Wow.
How to recover from burnout in the fashion industry
Colleen Quen: Because I had my own business — I stopped it. And then I wanted to be more peaceful. So I wanted to rest for five years because it’s good after you have cancer, whether it’s small or big, is to rest your body and to find yourself and to heal. And then I went through chi gong and tai chi, and I did sword. And I have a really great master, Li Ping Jew, and then my grandmaster, too. So I’m a disciple. And so I dedicate my life to helping others and heal others, but also to preserve and preserve my own life as well. If I can preserve my own life, I can help others, but I need to do it for myself first.
Steven Chan: That’s incredible. What a change. That’s such a transformation.
Colleen Quen: I feel like I’ve lived a hundred different lives already. I don’t know why. And then I look at myself and go, “Did I do that? Who’s that?”
Steven Chan: Colleen, that’s remarkable, though. How often can someone say that?
Colleen Quen: I know, like, if I ever had to really, like, it was my time to go, I’m really grateful, actually. I don’t really actually mind leaving this planet, because I am so grateful what I’ve been given. And then I’m just super grateful, that’s all.
Steven Chan: That’s just incredible what you’ve done and also transformed and — how you’ve transformed and accepted a lot of things in life and really embraced life, too.
Colleen Quen: Thank you.
Follow Colleen Quen and learn more about her inspirations in the fashion design industry
Steven Chan: For folks who are interested in learning about you and how can they find you on the internet?
Colleen Quen: Yes, I have my website, which is Quen Life. Q-U-E-N-L-I-F-E. Because it is my work is all about, I don’t know, I might be doing so many things that I don’t want to just focus only on design. It could be everything — it’s a life force, right? So anyway, it’s called Quen Life. You can always reach me on my email there. Yeah. And then once you reach me, I can communicate with you. I’m a teacher. I am here to be of service. Actually, I’m here to help others. I’m like a mentor. I always have my fashion students, and they call me Fashion Mom. I’m so honored. I love them. And so if you are ready, I’m here. You know how it’s like when the student’s ready, the teacher is ready.
Steven Chan: Yeah.
Colleen Quen: So I’m here all the time because that’s my service. I only want to help.
Steven Chan: That’s lovely. Colleen, thank you so much for your time and your energy and really just inspired by what you’ve done. Thank you.
Colleen Quen: Thanks again.
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