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Fashionn Design, Freedom, and the Art of Continuous Learning
21 Plays2 days ago
Pattern making, fashion design, and the art of living on your own terms. In this episode of A-Z Jobs, Nate talks with Vladimir—a Moscow-born pattern maker and artist now based in Bangkok. Vladimir reveals how he built a career working with international fashion houses while staying true to his artistic passions. From the technical side of clothing construction to the freedom (and challenges) of a nomadic lifestyle, this conversation explores creativity, responsibility, and the importance of continuous learning.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Inspiration
00:00:38
Nate
Good morning, Vladimir. Thank you for joining us on the A to Z job podcast. How are you?
00:00:43
Vladimir
Hello, good? Everything good?
00:00:47
Nate
Fantastic. So tell us about yourself. What career do you have and what inspired you to get started?
00:00:54
Vladimir
So, I'm the pattern maker for clothes and fashion designer and kind of artist-illustrator
00:01:07
Nate
Oh, fantastic. So what sort of percentage, talk to me about that. There's a few few different roles there. Go a bit deeper for me. What's it, what sort of involved in each role?
00:01:17
Vladimir
ah So my main job that I get salary and everything is the pattern maker or in some countries it's called constructor.
00:01:28
Vladimir
It's the engineer who do who is making the blueprints for clothes.
00:01:35
Nate
Ah, right.
00:01:37
Vladimir
So yeah, it's not fashion designer. I make the patterns
Living and Working Remotely
00:01:42
Nate
The patterns, right.
00:01:42
Vladimir
that cut the fabric on, yeah.
00:01:48
Nate
Oh, fantastic.
00:01:48
Vladimir
on uh um yeah it's around 80 90 percent of the time yeah i work for different companies all over the world yeah
00:01:52
Nate
And then, um so that's your that's your main your main work at the moment. Is that sort of 80% or 90% of your time? How much how much time is that?
00:02:12
Vladimir
Some in Russia, some in China, some in the USA and yeah, just a lot of freelance work and the I don't know, one, two main works.
00:02:27
Nate
Yeah. Okay. So you're, and you're currently living in Thailand, but where's home? Where, where did you grow up?
00:02:34
Vladimir
ah Yeah, I was born in Russia I lived all my life in Moscow But yeah, several years ago i asked my yeah bosses to give me but And I said that I can work remotely
00:02:50
Nate
Travel the world.
00:02:57
Vladimir
you can support me or not. And they decided that I'm too good to lose me. and So since that time I just travel and do what I want.
00:03:10
Vladimir
And sometimes I need to go back to Moscow for fitting the samples that came to office and yeah.
00:03:21
Vladimir
And of course travel to other countries, is the same reason, just fitting and touch by hands the things that I do.
00:03:31
Nate
you have You have the freedom that a lot of people dream of being able to work and travel and see the world. It's perfect. That's fantastic.
00:03:40
Vladimir
Yeah, I'm very glad that I have this opportunity.
Artistic Passion and Education
00:03:45
Vladimir
It's really rare and yeah, it's a little bit lonely, but but everything has their own conditions.
00:03:56
Nate
Yeah. So tell me more about the art. Tell me more about the the artistic side, your creative design work and your artistic work. Tell me more about that.
00:04:06
Vladimir
ah So my education is fashion design So I'm an artist in my, I don't know, soul And pattern making is just the thing that is very easy for me i don't know why my brain works very I understand mathematics and geometry and everything So for me it's easy And that's why I love my job and don't stress of it at all.
00:04:41
Vladimir
And that's why I have a time to be an artist and do what I want. So sometimes I make fashion sketches for other designers and illustrations and I sometimes just do everything that, I don't know, connect with painting.
00:05:11
Vladimir
ah One of my friends asked me to do the paint on his wall in the ah flat in Istanbul.
00:05:20
Nate
Hmm. Hmm.
00:05:20
Vladimir
Other friends ask me to do the naked sketches of them, to put it in their houses in frames and yeah just everything.
00:05:32
Vladimir
Prints for t-shirts, some illustrations for books. I do sometimes Buddhist art, the tankas, it's Buddhist icons.
00:05:45
Vladimir
Yeah, just for books for my friends, monks. Yeah, just everything.
00:05:53
Nate
Everything is such a variety. that's what not What inspired you? What got you into this sort of the the artistic sphere? Is that something you've always had a passion for? Or was there a moment when you discovered art?
00:06:07
Vladimir
I don't know really. Yeah, I was a child and always was very artistic and liked to draw and paint. And my mother supported me a a lot in it because she is an artist, but she is an architect.
00:06:27
Vladimir
And I just draw from my childhood and till now. ah Of course, ah it was the hard time in nineteen nineteen Yeah, 90s.
00:06:44
Vladimir
90s. Yeah. And um my parents thing thought that I will be some, like, I don't know, economist or advocate because my brain is yeah, work that way very good, but it was so boring.
00:07:04
Nate
Yeah.
00:07:06
Vladimir
And one of my teachers saw my fashion illustrations and showed me the University of Fashion Design in Moscow, and I decided so I will go there.
00:07:19
Vladimir
And, yeah, around... the second or third year of my education, I understand that, yeah, that's really the thing that I want to do all my life.
Continuous Learning and Real-World Challenges
00:07:32
Vladimir
And because it's the combination of different arts, it's... And paint and sculpture and color and texture and music and performance and you need to draw and understand a lot of things.
00:07:50
Vladimir
So it was very interesting. And I, yeah, still have this passion I...
00:07:57
Nate
So how long was that study? So you went to university and how long was that program?
00:08:08
Vladimir
ah one and a half year before university
00:08:12
Vladimir
Because the exam very hard and you need to draw good already.
00:08:12
Nate
Yeah.
00:08:20
Vladimir
too bad not the best way you can, but good.
00:08:25
Vladimir
Yeah, so it was... how to say I don't know the system education in other countries, so in my country it's evening education.
00:08:37
Vladimir
I work daytime and study evening time. So it takes six years.
00:08:45
Nate
Wow. That's a big commitment.
00:08:46
Vladimir
Yeah.
00:08:47
Nate
You need to be passionate.
00:08:47
Vladimir
i don't yeah Six years and yeah, I have diploma of artist.
00:08:55
Nate
Yeah.
00:08:56
Nate
Yeah, that's amazing. So you need to be prepared before you go in, you need to have sort of refined your skill set a bit, and then do then commit to the sixth year.
00:09:06
Vladimir
yes
00:09:06
Nate
That makes sense. That's good. Because at least that way, like if you're not good enough to commit to the six years, you're not wasting six years, at least you know at the start that it's something you're you truly are passionate about before you sign up for such a commitment.
00:09:19
Vladimir
Yes, and after six years I still ah draw not very good. and yeah
00:09:26
Nate
that
00:09:28
Vladimir
I think it's the problem of all artists. We need to educate ourselves all all our life.
Fulfillment and Loneliness in a Freelance Career
00:09:35
Vladimir
yeah just yeah it's very different with education
00:09:36
Nate
Oh,
00:09:40
Nate
I agree. I think i think that that translates across most industries. you You go to you do your university or you do your study, then you get into so the real world and you're like, oh, what is this?
00:09:51
Vladimir
have case Different, yeah. Mm...
00:09:56
Nate
This isn't what I was taught. And then you got you got yeah that continuous learning. I think it's always there. It's good to have that but mindset. um So, okay, so you mentioned travel, which is amazing.
00:10:08
Nate
Anything else that you love about the industry? What's your favorite thing about getting to work in fashion design and and the creative industries?
00:10:27
Nate
Hmm.
00:10:27
Vladimir
and...
00:10:32
Vladimir
The second part is that it's easy for me. So I I can enjoy.
00:10:36
Nate
Yeah.
00:10:39
Vladimir
I'm not that guy who waits for Friday because he boring work and...
00:10:39
Nate
yeah
00:11:13
Vladimir
We have the... ah developers developers yeah maybe developers in ah China India Bangladesh Uzbekistan Russia USA ah Denmark Turkey just and the sometimes it's hard because people Yeah, of course.
00:11:39
Vladimir
But, yeah, I like to have connection with people. Yeah. yeah
00:11:48
Nate
Yeah, yeah you you're making a lot of people very jealous right now. You've got the you've got the ability to travel, you've got a job that you love, you don't care about weekends, you get to just live your life and enjoy every moment.
00:11:59
Nate
that That's fantastic. But you did mention you did mention you get lonely. So loneliness is is part of ah is part of this, having to do so much travel. Is there anything else that that is a negative to the career?
00:12:14
Vladimir
Yeah, this is one of the parts because I don't have friends who can travel with me and none of my colleagues have the same reputation that my bosses allowed them to be so free. Yeah, they're sitting in the office.
00:12:37
Vladimir
and Yeah.
00:12:38
Nate
Counting down till Friday.
00:12:40
Vladimir
a little bit jealous of me, but they love me because of my character. so that's And yeah, most of the time I just live alone and work. and I live in Bangkok, it's a lot of tourists here, so people come to one, two weeks, no long relationships.
00:13:07
Nate
Yeah.
00:13:08
Vladimir
I just, yes, i now I have the friends, not friends, but, yeah, friends all over the world because I met them here or in other cities and now they are at their homes and ah we still connect, maybe in Instagram or something like that, but yeah, no long relationships.
Advice for Aspiring Artists
00:13:31
Vladimir
And sometimes you need someone near just to I don't know, um share share your experience.
00:13:42
Nate
Yeah. So what about for people listening, if they're listening to you and they go, I want your career, I want to do, I want to work in the fashion industry, I want to do ah design work, whether be pattern work or it could be the artistic work and travel, how would you recommend they get started? What's a quick way for them to get into that, into that sort of industry and that work?
00:14:05
Vladimir
oh I'm not sure that I have the information about Quick, because, yeah, for me, it takes all my life.
00:14:14
Nate
Yeah.
00:14:14
Vladimir
And I didn't expect that I will have so much experience. Because, you know, when you are young, everyone wants you to have ah three years of the experience and everything.
00:14:28
Vladimir
And one day you understand that you are one of those professionals who work with everything the last 15 years and you really can do anything.
00:14:40
Vladimir
And it's so weird. Because for you, you are still ah that guy who just finished the university.
00:14:49
Vladimir
yeah, you just need to practice all the time. For artists it's crucial You must draw every day You must learn every day You must the analyze scene interesting Go to museums, watch runways the Listen for um people in industry And um the second part is you must...
00:15:19
Vladimir
the um watch what happened in industry yeah like AI and card systems because when I graduated my university, there is no apps who work with patterns.
00:15:26
Nate
Hmm.
00:15:41
Vladimir
I made everything with my hands. And now I work on my laptop and yeah, it became more faster. And a lot of my colleagues in university, they was too,
00:15:59
Vladimir
ah not so smart and they didn't learn it. So now they have ah my ah Much less less opportunities to work because they just don't know how to use laptop See is the same with Illustrator same with me journey same with everything
00:16:17
Nate
wow
00:16:25
Vladimir
oh and Around last three years, 3D modeling and 3D fashion became very useful for industry. yeah And now you need to learn it.
00:16:42
Vladimir
Because if you don't know how to use it, you will not have ah good work. So, yeah.
00:16:48
Nate
Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:49
Vladimir
And... um
00:16:53
Vladimir
I don't know. It's the same with, I think, any other job that connects with people. You must be kind, you must be smart, you must be friendly, and then everything will be better for you.
00:17:12
Vladimir
I don't know, um a lot of people saying that you need talent and if you are an artist you must be like, inspired and everything like that. It's just the bullshit.
00:17:29
Vladimir
No. Of course some talent is worthless but ah no, not so much.
00:17:38
Nate
It comes down to the training. Yeah. i and is And I suppose like you're right with the technology because it's it's moving faster and faster. Well, it feels like it's moving faster than it is that than it ever has.
00:17:51
Nate
So having that ability to to keep learning and and that continuous learning is so important. And
00:17:57
Vladimir
Yes, of course i'm already too old for
00:18:04
Nate
I feel too old for it.
00:18:05
Vladimir
it i gotten did yeah I can't move as fast as it And of course young specialists are more experienced than me But I have...
00:18:06
Nate
I feel like I'm trying to catch up.
00:18:19
Vladimir
How many? yeah 25 years behind my back in this industry, so yeah, some some good skills
00:18:29
Nate
And the networks as well, like ah like you say, the soft skills, the communication, the being friendly and the engaging with people, that's that's not a skill set that everyone has, particularly if people have grown up with so much technology. A lot of those soft skills need to be taught now, whereas a lot of people develop those because we didn't have technology growing up, so we had to have those skill sets naturally. But i I was reading an article just the other day that some bigger companies are bringing in consultants now to actually help their workforce really focus on those relationship building and um the soft skills because they're just the the new grads just don't have that skill set.
00:19:06
Vladimir
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19:12
Vladimir
Yeah, and I just felt that you really need to be brave and very self-confident because, um you know, if you...
00:19:24
Vladimir
Too much doubt about your skills and your talent and their are you good enough and everything. It will really slow your career in everything.
00:19:36
Vladimir
If you want some job, just try to do it. If you think you want, I don't know. um I work with sportswear a lot and I have a lot of experience in it and of course i want to work maybe for some big company like Arcteryx and they have a job
00:20:01
Nate
Hmm.
00:20:05
Vladimir
And a lot of my colleagues tell, oh, you are just a Russian guy and they are Arcteryx. You just nothing for them.
00:20:16
Vladimir
And I thought, why not? And but the ah I sent them my resume and everything, but they say they need someone in office and their office in Canada.
00:20:30
Vladimir
And I don't want to live in Canada, too cold and too dark.
00:20:33
Nate
call
00:20:36
Vladimir
I have it in Russia. So, yeah, but still they understood my experience and said that I'm very good specialist.
00:20:38
Nate
yeah
00:20:49
Vladimir
And if I didn't try, i never know.
00:20:54
Nate
agree completely. That's polite my number one career advice to anyone is just start. Just start and try because if you don't start and try, yeah.
00:20:59
Vladimir
Yeah, you will not lose anything if you if they like you, you will have good job If they will not like you, then you lose nothing Just five minutes of sending one email
00:21:12
Nate
You learn, yeah.
Inspiration and Self-Reliance
00:21:16
Nate
That's it. Hopefully you learn something from it and then you keep trying again. Try somewhere else.
00:21:19
Vladimir
Yeah
00:21:21
Nate
So tools and resources. is ah Is there any tool or resource that you keep going back to that you just love that's helped your career? Any websites or books or podcasts or anything you find inspirational?
00:21:41
Nate
Yeah.
00:21:43
Vladimir
I don't know.
00:21:44
Nate
Yes.
00:21:45
Vladimir
um one of my One of my teachers, he said that you don't need inspiration.
00:21:45
Nate
Hmm.
00:21:53
Vladimir
Everything is inside you all the time. And if you say that you don't have inspiration now, it's just... the Yeah, bullshit.
00:22:05
Nate
but
00:22:07
Vladimir
Because you are just lazy.
00:22:09
Nate
Just lazy, just putting it off.
00:22:09
Vladimir
Or depressed or something like that So do something with it Not ah because... ah It's not the out world It's your in world Work with it So yeah If you need, you will find inspiration in everything You will find any information that you have Just use Google Internet And watch, watch, draw
00:22:31
Nate
Use what you've got.
Aligning Career with Personal Values
00:22:39
Vladimir
Learn and yeah, just do what you want.
00:22:47
Nate
I find, i agree. And I find, i find there's also a um like your external environment is part of it as well in terms of, um, i I'm not often in the mood to film. I have to make a lot, I have to film a lot of content and some days like I don't wanna do it. I'm not in the mood, but if i if i if I'm proactive the night before, i get the i get everything, the camera's set up, the lighting's done.
00:23:11
Nate
When I wake up the next day, it's like, it's all set up. I will, ah, if it's set up, I may as well do some filming. So it's about, I think as well, preparing your your external environment as well as the like the internal mindset for it as well.
00:23:25
Vladimir
Yeah, yes, everyone has some secrets to make ah yourself a little bit more inspired, yeah I just...
00:23:37
Nate
Oh. Yeah.
00:23:39
Vladimir
ah Sometimes I don't want to do anything at all and I just do nothing This is the part of my dealing with life Just if I don't want, I don't need It's ah more important to be happy and enjoy life than to be, ah I don't know,
00:23:55
Nate
yeah
00:24:04
Vladimir
ah
00:24:07
Vladimir
famous and, I don't know, I don't know English words for it, yeah, sorry.
00:24:11
Nate
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:14
Nate
I get what you mean. So it's that, it's having that lifestyle choice and you've, you've built yourself a career and you've built around, um around the lifestyle you want. So for you, lifestyle is like a non-negotiable, we call it a a non-negotiable.
00:24:14
Vladimir
ah
00:24:28
Nate
Like when I accept a job office offer, it needs to be, you know, this, this, and this. And for you, number one is lifestyle. So you've managed to get, you know, to build your career around achieving that, which is which is really important to be have that clarity on what it is that you're looking for in in those jobs.
00:24:46
Vladimir
Yeah, and you need some understanding of the word responsibility So I never... I don't know, making, made do something bad to my bosses, all the deadlines in time and everything.
00:25:03
Nate
Hmm.
00:25:03
Vladimir
But it's because when I was a child, my mother did a lot of things to ah teach me how to work.
00:25:16
Vladimir
So I can work very ah strictly, at work, and intentional, very fast. I know how to organize my time and everything around and usually I don't know um um how to say.
00:25:36
Vladimir
This season i have a lot of work and my deadline is around the 10th of September to do all that I need. um And today, in this point, I did 97% of my work that I need to do till the 10th of September.
00:25:59
Vladimir
so I will be absolutely free in August and in the September.
00:26:03
Nate
Yeah.
00:26:05
Vladimir
And i can do what I... Yeah, anything.
00:26:09
Nate
Yeah. So the time management, so being clear on your deadlines and, and knowing how to manage the time.
00:26:13
Vladimir
Yes, and yeah, just just try to study how to organize everything around
Final Thoughts on Happiness and Life Enjoyment
00:26:20
Vladimir
yourself. yourself
00:26:23
Nate
Yeah. Perfect. All right. To wrap up, I usually will always always ask my guests, do you have a favorite quote? Do you have a quote or a mantra that you live by?
00:26:35
Vladimir
um It's not about my job. It's about just life in...
00:26:41
Nate
Thank you.
00:26:45
Vladimir
And one of my... ah How to say... Spiritual teachers told it one time.
00:26:55
Vladimir
Not to me. Just in one of the lectures. And I thought that it... Absolutely describing everything that I want in my life.
00:27:07
Nate
fine.
00:27:08
Vladimir
brain.
00:27:18
Nate
all right.
00:27:36
Vladimir
So, be brave Be conscious Be smart No, be twice Always be kind And enjoy
00:27:46
Nate
Be wise.
00:27:56
Nate
And I can see all that in you. Like that's the vibe I get from you. I can see all that in you.
00:28:03
Vladimir
Yeah, because ah a lot of people forget that you must enjoy everything that you do. Because, yeah, you must work hard, you must build career, you must build family, you must, must, must.
00:28:21
Vladimir
No. Of course, some responsibility is very important, but it's your life. And it's just, it will end soon.
00:28:33
Nate
ah
00:28:34
Vladimir
Don't forget that you must be happy Yeah, and it's ah very ah yeah popular in some of spiritual communities that you must suffer in You must eat less and I don't know
00:28:35
Nate
So yeah, be happier. Yeah. it's It's the part that we always forget, I think, is taking the time to stop and actually enjoying enjoying what life is and what life can give us.
00:29:01
Vladimir
be too hard with you. And yeah, it's not about it. Just if you have something good in your life, then do it, continue it, enjoy it.
00:29:13
Nate
right do it it Do it with a smile. Enjoy it as you're doing it.
00:29:19
Vladimir
Yeah.
00:29:19
Nate
Fantastic. Thank you, Vladimir. It's been great getting to know you. Thank you for taking the time to to share your journey with us.
00:29:27
Vladimir
My pleasure.