Grad Success
Fashion Merchandising Grad Danielle Swanson: Theory Meets Art at The lululemon Lab
"The lululemon Lab is a hub for innovation and design," explains Danielle Swanson. She would know. She’s been the Merchandising Key Leader for the last two years. "Everything here is focused on moving forward. Everything is created on site. It's all happening before your own eyes. It's very transparent. Which is in alignment with how I live."
It’s only natural that Danielle now works at Vancouver’s most innovative store. The concept store of lululemon athletica, at The Lab customers can see what they’re buying at every stage of production. Home to a team of designers taking inspiration from everyone that walks through their doors, The Lab creates, manufactures and sells its own line of lululemon clothing. It’s Vancouver’s open-to-the-public fashion house. And Blanche Macdonald Fashion Merchandising grad Danielle is happy and proud to contribute to its success.
"I Key Lead, so I manage the store as well as merchandise," she continues. "I make sure the store is set up perfectly, lead the team and help them be awesome and sassy by goal coaching and bringing my uniqueness to The Lab. We do a series of installations by local artists in the window and I handle that too. I help run the store while taking the greatest care to hold up the aesthetic of the company at all times, while pushing the boundaries. We’re The Lab, so we need to be different. We have our own identity."
Danielle has her own identity. Two, actually. By day she’s Danielle Swanson, merchandising visionary and inspirational manager. By night’s she’s Lola Frost, Director and Founder of the Vancouver Burlesque Centre, "Instructing the ways of sass through movement, dance, sexy fitness and empowerment." They’re two sides of the same coin for a woman who has always had a desire to challenge herself and inspire the people around her.
"I always loved creativity as well as organization," she recalls. "I had my first retail job at The Bay Downtown in Victoria in my teens. I didn’t want a job in the service industry. I thought it would be more interesting to work in the men’s department of a big department store. That’s when I discovered what merchandising was. I saw the store merchandisers changing the store around and setting up mannequins. I thought, ‘I could do that’. I approached the team and they brought me on. Twelve years later I’m still rocking the ways of styling, merchandising and visuals."
Danielle moved to Vancouver and had scored a job as a merchandiser at The Gap when she realized that using her leftover scholarships from high school, when combined with her new company’s tuition reimbursement program, would be too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Blanche Macdonald had great reviews. I went there and the environment seemed really cool. It seemed like a perfect fit. I thought coming to Blanche Macdonald would enhance the skills that I already had."
Danielle came to the Fashion Merchandising Program having had the experience of working in stores in Victoria and Vancouver. What she learnt at Blanche Macdonald turned a job into a career.
"When I came to Fashion School I was a bit more rebellious. I was more anti-fashion than regular fashion. I was into a more punky and anti-establishment aesthetic and ideals. So working at The Gap was a funny dichotomy for me. I was still questioning what the industry was. I thought fashion was ‘I’m a designer and this is my vision’. There’s so much more. It’s a business like anything else. Peggy Morrison and Donna Baldock taught me that business. I learnt where it came from and how society dictated fashion. It became more of a philosophy and a different understanding. Fashion history was great. Seeing how major world events caused the nostalgic trends of today was amazing! I loved doing the tear sheets and really digging into what designers do and what their collections actually are. How do labels still have longevity, even though the original designers don’t design for them any more? That was really fascinating.
"Blanche Macdonald taught me structure and the business. Fashion School is where you get your history and function. It gives you the groundwork to be able to put your own personal spin on it. There’s a difference between art and design. You learn the rules and how to break them."
Those classes did more than change how Danielle thought about fashion. They paved the way for her second career in burlesque.
"In Peggy’s classes we talked about the 1920s and flappers. My burlesque character is Lola Frost. She’s a rock and roll flapper. After those classes I cut my hair into a bob and I’ve never gone back. It’s low maintenance and fabulous all the time. I’m low maintenance and fabulous, so I need a haircut that goes along with that."
Character-defining haircut in place, Danielle graduated Fashion School and began the journey towards lululemon. She left The Gap and worked at Zara, followed by a spell at Inwear as a freelance display stylist and a merchandising role at Bang On T-shirts. She was at Le Chateau as a lead window display stylist for two years and had a spell at Scout Boutique. All the while she was doing freelance work styling at fashion shows and photography shoots, somehow finding the time to be part of Sweet Soul Burlesque and tour North America with Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dolls.
"I made a decision that I was going to West 4th Avenue and getting a job with lululemon. So I did. My résumé was twelve years long at that point. I became the leader in merchandising for the West 4th team. When I realized The Lab existed, I wanted to be part of it. If you want to become an entrepreneur this is an amazing place to be. Everyone gets in on a new idea. One of us will be trying it on. Another person will be fixing the pattern or adjusting the sample. It’s an amazing process to be a part of – and I’m not even a designer."
Danielle brings her own skills to that creative process. She puts much of the credit down to her fashion education.
"Blanche Macdonald gave me the tools to think for myself," she explains. "I can defend my decisions now, because my decisions are grounded in my education. I’m applying theories to reality. Merchandising in a classroom is theory. But it’s a practical application and has to be used before it makes sense. You need to combine creativity with functionality and organization. That’s how I do things. I love teaching merchandising now.
"The best part of working here is the people. I love who I work with and what we stand for – elevating the world from mediocrity. These girls are really talented and I love being able to support that talent."
When it’s time to recruit new talent, one of the first places Danielle looks is Blanche Macdonald.
"Because they’re amazing!" she laughs. "I have very fond memories of my time there. I thought the teachers were amazing and some of the people that came through were incredibly talented and dedicated. They create what we create here – a community."
Education is a vital component in everything Danielle does. She’s continually taking the role of teacher at The lululemon Lab and in her burlesque school. Even though she had plenty of retail experience before she came to Fashion School, she insists it was what she learned at Blanche Macdonald that enabled her to reach the positions she’s in today.
"Education is always important," she explains. "Knowledge is power, and the more things you have to back up your theory, the better you’re going to be. Knowing fashion terminology does a lot more than just make you look impressive. It helps you articulate what you’re trying to do. It’s important to know the rules before you break them. That’s important for any industry you’re getting into. There’s lots of room for merchandisers these days, and you can be really innovative with it.
"I have a theory about merchandising," she smiles. "It’s like life. It’s so temporary. If you don’t like it, you can just change it."