Photo: Courtesy of Joanne Hong

Hello, everyone! My name is Joanne, and I’m an emerging contemporary women’s wear designer. I was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma and moved to New York City a year ago to pursue my dream of creating my own clothing line. I basically left all that was comfortable in my life: my family, my friends, and everything that I know to be here. But this past year has been one of the most amazing years of my life! Follow me as I go through the ups and downs of launching my own line. I hope I can inspire you to follow your own dreams (whether that’s in fashion or another part of your life!). I didn’t always know I wanted to be a fashion designer. I grew up watching my mom make beautiful quilts but never thought I would have the patience to sew. I thought that being a marine biologist would be fun because of my love for animals. My love for fashion quickly surfaced when I started college. After I took my first sewing class, everything just clicked and fell into place. After I graduated from Oklahoma State University with an Apparel Design and Production degree, I launched my own line, JOLYNN by Joanne Hong. I stayed in Oklahoma for the next two years and sold my line at the Little Black Dress in Tulsa. Because I was the only one sewing the samples as well as all the garments for the store, it was a bit challenging trying to grow my company. That’s why I decided that the next big step would be to move to NYC—the fashion capital of the world. It truly is one of my favorite places in the world.

Here’s a sneak peek of two dresses from my Fall 2012 line:


Photo: Courtesy of Joanne Hong


Here are two dresses that I custom made and designed:


Photo: Courtesy of John Vu

This past year has definitely been life-changing. I’ve had the most amazing support from my mom, dad, and brother to pursue my dream as well as overwhelming support from all of my friends from back home and my new friends that I’ve met here (shout out to Kevin and Krista)! It also helps that one of my biggest supporters happens to be my roommate and one of my best friends from home, Lyn. Her and her boss, Mercedes Gonzalez, from Global Purchasing Companies, have helped me take a step closer to making my dream reality. I was chosen to be one of 20 emerging women’s wear designers to show my fall 2012 collection at Launch Pad at MAGIC in Las Vegas next month!! So, the last couple of weeks I’ve been so busy preparing for MAGIC. I finished making my collection about a week ago, and I have a photo shoot planned for next week. I’m going to post pics from the shoot in my next blog! So check back next week! I hope that you all continue to follow me on my journey, and I would definitely love to hear from you too! ‘Til next time… Joanne For more info about Joanne and her new line, check out her website, Facebook, or shoot her an e-mail at joannelynn.hong@yahoo.com!