How I Got Here: Christopher Esber’s print designer on turning art into clothes

“Make as much artwork as you can, whenever you can.”

Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to people who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs. We explore the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly, the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned on the journey.

Few people can say their job is exactly the one they dreamt about having as a child, but Catherine Conlan is an exception. Based in Tasmania on Bruny Island, she currently works as a freelance print designer and textile design consultant. Operating under her own business, Milky Press Print, she counts Christopher Esber, Acler and Venroy among her current rotation of clients.

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Catherine’s passion for making clothes started when she was seven, cutting up old curtains, fabrics and linen from the op shop to create skirts, dresses and bags. By the time she was 15, she began interning in the industry, working with labels like Romance was Born and Christopher Esber.

“I would train it to Merryland and work with Christopher in his family home garage, where we’d be cutting, sewing and eating the fantastic Lebanese food his mother would make us,” she remembers.

After studying fashion design and working in-house at a textile company for five years, she took the leap and ventured out on her own. Now, a typical day for Catherine involves answering a few emails before setting up her paint and canvas, and jumping between artworks. “I’ve managed to somehow turn my daily way of life, making art and creating things, into a business.”

Fashion Journal: Hi Catherine! Did you have an idea of your dream job growing up? 

Catherine: Yes, exactly this, believe it or not! I’ve been making clothes and creating artworks on fabrics since I was around seven years old. I would drape them onto myself, and make skirts, dresses, bikinis and little bags out of old curtains, fabrics and sheet linen from the op shops or whatever my mum would let me cut up from the linen press.

My parents were extremely supportive of my pretty out-there outfits and overall ‘vibe’ in general, so I had a ‘Cath’s Studio’ set up in every rental we lived in. Now I have a pretty similar set-up on my property on Bruny Island, where I now live.

Take us back to when you were first starting out in the industry. Did you study design?

I started interning when I was 15 years old, flying from the Gold Coast where I grew up, to Sydney a couple of times a year to intern for brands like Romance was Born and Christopher Esber. In those early days, I would train it to Merryland and work with Christopher in his family home garage, where we’d be cutting, sewing and eating the fantastic Lebanese food his mother would make us.

From there, I moved to Sydney and studied fashion design at Ultimo Fashion Design Studio. After graduating, I launched a small label called ‘Worn’ and began paid work in the industry.

How did you land your current role?

Once I graduated, I worked as an in-house artist for a textile design company. I was there for five years. When I resigned, I began Milky Press Print, which is my print design studio. I started off with one client, then that turned into two clients and so on.

There were lots of cold call emails, LinkedIn rabbit holes and relying on word of mouth. I’m always creating opportunities for new clients and that process has happened pretty organically over the past eight years.

Can you walk us through a typical day in your life on the job now? What are some of your daily tasks? 

I have two kiddies now, so first things first is serving an eight-course degustation for each of their breakfast and sorting their activities and schooling for the day. I check my emails and WhatsApp, and get through correspondence with clients before mapping out my priorities for the day.

If it’s an artwork day, I set up my paints and tools for whatever is required, depending on the brief I’m working on. I always have the news on in the background. I jump between artworks, waiting for things to dry, and often get distracted with an idea halfway through that I begin and leave half finished.

Scanning what is ready for the computer is my end-of-day activity, and that’s when I listen to music. I’m pretty hyperactive, so there are always 100 things on my mind and going on at a time.

What has been a major career highlight for you so far? 

At this stage, I have been working with Christopher Esber for over 15 years now, the past eight of which I have been his Print Designer. The Esber team made their Paris Fashion Week debut in September 2023 at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, so seeing my artworks in the form of prints on the runway for Christopher Esber each season in Paris always makes me giddy.

There’s also a project I’m currently close to completing. Once that is submitted, it will be a highlight, definitely. And nothing beats raising my two kids on my island home – that’s the highlight of my life.

What challenges have you faced getting to where you are now?

Good old fashion work place bullying. Abusive bosses or colleagues in the industry and the blurred lines between ‘Is this just what it takes to work in the fashion industry?’ versus ‘I am getting abused at work and it’s wrong’. This alone set me back a couple of years… it made me doubt my capabilities and vision as a designer who could go out on my own and shape what working in the industry really looked like.

What’s the best part about your role?

Trust. My clients genuinely trust me to create their vision, which makes me feel great! I’ve managed to somehow turn my daily way of life, making art and creating things, into a business. I would be doing what I do, whether it was my daily job or not. And I’m so lucky to have the flexibility that comes with being able to operate and grow my business from a tiny island off of Tasmania.

What would surprise people about your role? 

Each print is an artwork in itself. I would say 95 per cent of the prints I create are from scratch, painted, drawn or made using printing techniques, rather than digitally designed. I create the elements, then move on to scanning and then forming the yardage or placement design in the computer. It’s very much about the elements and the artwork itself, and then the print design comes second.

I think people might assume a lot of work is created digitally, but that just doesn’t work for me or my process. Doing it from scratch is what makes for a truly unique design.

What skills have served you well in the fashion industry?

Practically, pattern making, draping, mocking up toiles and having an understanding of how clothes are made. But also the fact that I can talk until the cows come home. I’m a pretty curious person and I develop personal friendships with all of my clients, because we just chat.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a print and textile designer?

Referencing culture and nature, rather than existing art or fashion.

Also, a fantastic artist friend once said to me: make an artwork every day. So I that’s what I do. I make some form of artwork for my own personal practice every single day. It keeps me excited and inspired about creating artworks for my clients. So make as much artwork as you can, whenever you can, even if you think it might look shit.

What about a practical tip? 

Don’t let ego get in the way of anything, especially when it comes to how you pay the bills.

Keep up with Catherine here.