California native Brittney Mitchell is a self-taught fashion designer who is also in the U.S. Army. With no formal training in design and after a ton of research, she launched her brand, Hauze of B, in 2021 amid the pandemic.
Although she remains a student of fashion and design, Hauze of B is a brand geared toward people who enjoy dressing up whether they are headed to the grocery store or getting ready for a night out.
Mitchell opened up about how she balances military life and running her brand. She also broke down her design process.
How did you get into design?
I know it’s very cliche, but it has always been a passion of mine since I [was] a kid. Watching my parents dress up and go on outings, and reading magazines, but I can say when I really got into it was in college. Random story about how I got into design, so I used to work at an actual Greek store. I sold all the D9 apparel, so my manager at the time used to let me actually create the apparel for people locally [and] also [sold] to other vendors in other states. That’s where my passion for design [came from], just seeing other people wear the stuff that I created.
How do you remain creative while balancing a career in the military?
It is definitely a challenge and I’m still trying to find balance. But definitely on the weekends, is when I’m able to be my true self. One way I stay true to myself while in uniform is by trying to do stuff with my hair and wearing nails. Also, accessories that we are approved to wear.
What is your design process like?
For sewing, I’m definitely a beginner sewer. Like I can do the basics and all that. For fabrics, we do have a fabric market locally here, so what I do is I’ll see a fabric that I’m interested in, and I’ll reach out to my manufacturer to see if they are able to locate fabric that’s closer to them. Then what they will do is send me a swatch of the fabrics that I’m interested in, and we go from there. [During] that time. I’m just testing textures such as the stretch in it, how it looks in person. … For sketching, I am horrible; like I never had that skill. So, for sketching what I usually do is draw a rough draft of a design that I’m trying to make come to life and send it to my manufacturer who has a design team as well. So, once they see the sketch, they actually refine it for me. We go back and forth, me telling them my idea, this is what I like, and don’t like. I’ll ask them to change things and then it comes to life from there.
