Meet Jane August

PB: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Jane August: In 10 year I hope I will be in a penthouse on 5th Avenue, which you can come visit at any time – and we will be outside with margaritas! In 5 years I see shoes, I see gloves, I see everything still in Italy though it’s becoming tougher and tougher and I will tell you why. If you look at all of these artisans and factories, they go back to generations of manufacturing. The generation of now does not want to work that hard. Manufacturing is a very difficult task. If you were to take apart a handbag or a shoe or even a beautifully made garment, if it is made well, there is a lot that goes into it. Especially a handbag, the amount of pieces that go into that bag is probably around 20 to 25 pieces. With the explosion of the Internet, people want to do something differently, writing on a blog, for example.

When the Chinese come in and say “we’ll buy your entire factory”, what happens is that they pick up the whole factory and move it. They take the workers with them to have them train their own for a year. It is really what happened after the war with America. We sold all of our technology to the Japanese in textiles. This is what is happening in Italy right now. You find less and less real artisans and you do see an increasing Chinese presence in the area. These artisan families pass the craft on from generation to generation, but now you have the young ones run off to work as designers. They do not want to work in the factories. Will these factories in Italy still be there in a few years?

More and more people do their manufacturing in Romania. When the concept of the European Union came about, it was supposed to mirror the United States to some degree. However, people are much more nationalistic. They are not one country, we are not even one country, we are 50 States and we are all very different. From a monetary standpoint though, you had countries that had been in existence with labor laws for many years, like the Italians. They have something like 10 weeks off a year, they have 3 hours off during the day. If you are a manufacturer, you are paying for all of this at an hourly wage. In Florence, let’s say, the hourly wage is EUR20 an hour. In Romania, it’s EUR 8 an hour. It’s a new-growing, prosperous country. Just like Poland. What will happen is that you will start seeing a shift within the other EU countries. It is not that the Italians or the French do not want to work harder, it is that these are new baby countries. They are going to grow and that’s who it’s going to be the limelight in manufacturing in 10-15 years.

See, even though I am a designer, I do think about all of these things because it’s important if you are going to have substantial growth to your business. I see doing shoes and gloves in smaller factories, the price will go up some. Then again I see the dollar coming back in 5 to 10 years. If you can wait it out, it all comes back to full circle.

PB: Jane’s advice to fashion newcomers?

Jane August: Make sure that you are in for a lot of work. It’s 24/7. If you do not have the stomach for it, don’t do it. In order to start your own business, you are better off working for somebody, learning all the different aspects and then you are able to choose. Technically I wish I was 20 years younger and I’d have much more energy. In reality, I could not have done it without having learned all the different facets of business to understand it.

PB: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Jane August: New York City. I love it! I could live anywhere I want, I’ve lived in California for 18 years and I love it. But there is a personality of this city like no other. I think the people are amazing. They get a really bad rep, it’s unbelievable. We also have beautiful museums, we have flea markets, just a very vibrant city. It also have the cross-pollination of so many different countries that come and stay here and work or come to visit. I just love NYC!

PB: What’s your favorite TV show?

Jane August: Project Runway. And Law and Order. I love PR, none of my people ever win though. Laura was my favorite of all of them.

PB: What’s your favorite food?

Jane August: Tofu. I love it, all the things you can do with it. I am a vegetarian, I do not eat anything that’s ever walked. Obviously, I make leather… I became a vegetarian when I became 16. My favorite restaurant in New York City is Candle 79 and the Candle Café. The Café is on 3rd Ave and 75th, they have excellent food there. Candle 79 is on 79th and Lexington. It’s all vegetarian and priced well. Most of the food comes from local farmers from Orange County, upstate New York. To me it’s important to support local.

PB: Any websites you check daily?

Jane August: I am a creature of habit. Mainly eBay, Jil Sander, I look for vintage sunglasses. I look at people.com because you never know what you’re going to see. I do go to Lux Couture because I like to see who Sari is carrying. I go to Paper Bag Princess in L.A., I check Net-A-Porter regularly.

PB: What do you like to indulge in?

Jane August: Clothes. Jewelry. Handbags. Shoes. Also my dog, I like to dress her. She has beautiful sweaters, she does not like coats or boots. I also do not buy anything Made In China. Some things you can not get around buying it, like little hardware, stupid things. None of my clothing is from China, I strongly believe that everybody is entitled to being paid a decent wage and if I can afford it, I will rather buy one beautiful thing. I bought three beautiful dresses this season, all Made In Australia. If I could really indulge – like in 10 years with the margaritas – driving around with a driver in my Bentley Convertible. I would really love to indulge in a fabulous car. Not sure why. Navy-Blue with caramel-colored top. That’s the type of dreams that help you keep going back to work the next morning.