MY FASHION INDUSTRY PAST LIVES

Before I was packing sweatshirts in tissue paper and handwriting thank-you notes, I was doing coffee runs for someone who thought fashion interns should levitate.

I studied fashion in school and was convinced I was going to become a buyer, that was the dream. Ironically, buying is the one area I’ve never worked in… and still the part of my business I struggle with most (which is why I now outsource it). Go figure.

Instead, I ended up doing a bit of everything. Working in Canada’s smaller fashion market meant wearing a lot of hats, so I didn’t stick to one lane; I got my hands into all of them. And while none of it was part of the original plan, every single role became the perfect crash course in building Diamonds + Sweatshirts.

My first job was as an assistant to a fashion designer. It was chaotic, underpaid, and a little unhinged - but honestly? It was the most fun I’ve ever had. I was exposed to everything: fittings, fashion shows, styling, production, the occasional meltdown… it was fashion at its most unfiltered.

From there, I moved on to bigger fashion brands working in product development,  creating pieces from scratch and working with factories to bring them to life. That led to wholesale sales, and eventually to business & brand development, with a focus on licensed products.

Each role taught me something: about pricing, production, branding, marketing, working with vendors, negotiating, storytelling. It wasn’t a linear path, but looking back, it was everything I needed.

I never expected my apparel line to take off the way it did. I started Diamonds + Sweatshirts with a focus on jewelry, and the sweatshirts were meant to complement that. But here we are, expanding into socks, t-shirts, and maybe a few other pieces I’m not ready to spill about yet, and I get to use everything I’ve learned to bring them to life in a way that feels uniquely mine.

So no, I didn’t become a buyer. But I did become a founder, one somewhere along the way, we grew enough that I had to retire the handwritten thank-you notes (if I didn't, you'd still be waiting for your sweatshirts). 

xx
Amanda