How I Got Here: LCI Melbourne alumni and designer Hannah Maybury on challenging your inner critic
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LCI MELBOURNE
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“It’s very important for me to remember doing my best in the time frame I have is actually good enough.”
Have you ever stalked someone on LinkedIn and wondered how on earth they managed to land that wildly impressive job? While the internet and social media might have us believe that our ideal job is a mere pipe dream, the individuals who have these jobs were, believe it or not, in the same position once, fantasising over someone else’s seemingly unattainable job.
But behind the awe-inspiring titles and the fancy work events lies a heck of a lot of hard work. So what lessons have been learnt and what skills have proved invaluable in getting them from daydreaming about success to actually being at the top of their industry?
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Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to women who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned along the way.
This week we speak with Hannah Maybury, LCI Melbourne alumni, designer, filmmaker and illustrator. A self-taught seamstress and cinephile, Hannah had a dream to study fashion but was nervous to be boxed into a style. This led her to LCI Melbourne, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Design Arts (Fashion and Costume) in December of 2022.
For Hannah, LCI Melbourne offered fashion and costume, alongside traditional and industry-standard patternmaking training and practices. Since graduating, she’s taken on a range of different projects and clients, learning the all-important lessons of work-life balance and self-compassion. Read on to hear about her career journey so far.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
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I’ll be honest – it changes from project to project and client to client but overall, I’m a freelance designer. This can involve anything from fashion illustrations to full custom garment design and construction.
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start out with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
Out of high school, I got straight into my dream course studying film and TV and specialised in documentary filmmaking, minoring in costume design. It wasn’t until three years later that I decided to hone my design skills.
The film industry is very competitive generally… let alone in Australia, where it’s not as well funded. Most jobs are not listed on the normal websites (if at all) and the pandemic shut down a lot of opportunities for me.
Since finishing my first course, I have been mainly working as a costume designer for independent projects. I taught myself to sew in my teens and used every resource I had access to, however, I always felt like there was some assumed knowledge in these tutorials that was blocking me from understanding patternmaking and design fully.
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Late one night I saw an advertisement for LCI Melbourne during Melbourne’s lockdown that intrigued me. I had considered studying fashion after my first course but at the time, couldn’t find a program that suited me. The other universities seemed so strict and I was nervous to be boxed into a style or career.
I was excited that LCI Melbourne was offering fashion and costume alongside traditional and industry-standard patternmaking training and practices. The skills I learnt at LCI Melbourne helped to improve my resume and ability to bring designs to life from scratch, as well as interpret clients’ requests to create the clothes or costumes of their dreams.
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now? Can you tell us about one in particular?
The main challenge I have faced across all of my endeavours is feeling good enough or worthy enough for these opportunities. I put my heart and soul into all my work because, without that, I feel like I don’t deserve it. But that has led to some pretty hard times that have made my work-life balance extremely unhealthy.
I am my own biggest critic. I have pushed myself so hard in the past – to the point of being unwell… A lot of the time, all I can remember is the stress of work rather than my achievements. This is because I hold myself up to standards that no one can fairly achieve.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
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Currently, I do everything myself… There are so many tiny details that go into producing even just one garment… people often only see the final outcome.
When I bring a client’s vision to life, this involves every step including patternmaking, shopping for fabric and hardware samples, making mock-ups and fittings, liaising and making changes as requested [as well as] all the paperwork and invoices.
I do this all while working a full-time job in retail so I can afford my studio and keep doing what I love. Last year, when I was working full-time as a designer and in retail, I was clocking 12 to 18-hour days.
What’s the best part about your role?
I really enjoy collaborating with clients to create something special. It’s amazing the ideas people have when they aren’t restricted by preconceptions of patternmaking or fashion industry norms… it’s a great challenge for me to interpret this into something wearable.
What would surprise people about your role?
I think people would be surprised about how flexible I am when it comes to the kinds of projects and designs I work on. They may see the work I produce for my label and think I’ll box them into that aesthetic, but I come from a background of collaborative environments and designing costumes for films that have a variety of characters, ages and styles. I just want to create. Just because I have the skill, doesn’t mean I always have the best ideas. I love it when people bring me something different or new to me to keep me on my toes.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
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Surprisingly, my experience in producing films and the paperwork that goes with that has really helped me when creating critical time paths, and scheduling and coordinating photoshoots.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
I am notorious for being a perfectionist, and it’s very important [for me] to remember doing my best in the time frame I have is actually good enough. It’s important to get the product to the customer that they asked for and as your own boss, you can make it as complicated or simple as you like. It’s important to communicate to clients how long you think something will take so they can have the proper expectations.
What about a practical tip?
It’s okay to turn down a project or say no to something if it’s going to sacrifice your mental health, overwork you or put other projects in jeopardy. Hustle culture isn’t always sustainable long-term. I am young and have a lot of great projects and work ahead of me – burning myself out now isn’t going to help me achieve those goals.
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