Alumni
FIDM Grad Alexandra Bejan is Senior Designer at Women's Clothing Brand Fame and Partners
Alexandra Bejan came a long way to study fashion. She grew up in Bucharest, Romania and attended the American International School of Bucharest. She knew she wanted to study fashion and took her time researching her options. After visiting San Diego and falling in love with California, she learned of FIDM, and was inspired to apply. She completed her A.A. in Fashion Design and then her B.A. in Design. She’s worked steadily in the industry ever since, and has been at made-to-order brand Fame and Partners since 2019. We caught up with Alexandra to learn more.
Tell us about Fame and Partners and your position there. What are your responsibilities? I am currently the Sr Designer at Fame and Partners. My responsibilities include: coming up with relevant and unique collection concepts and designs for our e-commerce website as well as wholesale customers including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Free People, Shopbop, Anthropologie, and BHLDN. I am responsible for creating and developing seasonal collections while designing across multiple garment categories with a focus on dresses and evening wear, and producing and providing creative direction on all campaign and seasonal product photoshoots. We are currently working on influencer partnerships and collaborations in addition to our current development and planning upcoming photoshoots. The latest big project was our Spring 2023 product and campaign photoshoot production. Our main business is made-to-order; however we have been testing out and now working to expand our new on-demand Ready-To-Ship program, which focuses on small batch, low-waste production. We have also been working on expanding our product categories with more daytime clothing.
As it states on the Fame and Partners’ website, we are an "eco-conscious fashion company offering made-to-order clothing for today’s women. Made-to-order means that we produce less and conserve more, operating with an environmentally-friendly business model that also prioritizes customer agency and choice.”
What other projects are you working on and how did they come about? A huge life project of mine revolves around learning about sustainability and connecting to nature and finding ways to bring natural elements into my day-to-day life and work. The outdoors have always been a huge inspiration in my creative process, and working in the fashion industry can be very intense—I’ve struggled with anxiety and burnout, and being able to come back to simple practices has helped me bring more balance into my life, and to learn to set healthy boundaries. I utilize my instagram @_leezandra to show my journey of healing inspired and facilitated by nature, in order to educate and inspire others with similar goals and interests.
How did FIDM help prepare you for your career? Studying at FIDM allowed me to learn many skills that were foundational to my dream career as a designer. While I was at FIDM, I took a bit of a non-traditional path during my Design BA, where I mixed in Apparel Technical Design and Visual Communications studio classes to further explore the overlap between my interests in fashion and technology. Having had the freedom to explore many different things that interested me such as 3D modeling and printing, and taking part in unique opportunities such as the NRF student competition, allowed me to develop a strong and multifaceted background. I feel that allowed me to progress in my career quickly and efficiently through a unique perspective and set of skills.
What advice do you have for FIDM students as they start their careers? To discover their own unique set of values, and set the right boundaries in order to maintain balance in life. Oftentimes in the industry, we are expected to bend over backwards, and while there is a time and place for that occasionally, that should be the exception and not the rule. Creatives work best when there is room to breathe and space to create, and that’s something we need to first learn to implement for ourselves, even before we go to work. It’s important to have a strong life philosophy that inspires you and to maintain good habits to take care of your body, mind, and spirit.
