After graduation, it is common for students to find themselves in a different job than what they studied in school. Isis Bryant, BFA Product Development, quickly learned at her first internship that she had a passion for designing accessories, especially handbags. Fashion School Daily sat down with Isis to talk about her role as a Senior Designer at Steve Madden where she shares why sticking to a niche is helpful in building a career and how to get started in the industry.

How did the Product Development program at the Academy of Art help foster your career?

When I was there, we were the first graduating class for bachelors. First, I started out as Merchandising major and then I got interested in design. I didn’t want to go on the design route because I researched a lot of design jobs, and it just didn’t seem like what you learn in design was necessarily going to translate for me like that well in the industry. The Product Development program was a perfect balance between merchandising and design for me. The one thing that makes it different from the other programs is learning the PLM process of inputting in what is really needed for the actual product development job in the industry.

What are some lessons you learned as president of Beyond the Front Row, student run fashion club?

The club was a job of it’s own and it was a lot of work. That club taught me everything about what I wanted to do with my future. It gave me a glimpse of what leadership was like. I was so passionate about building this club because San Francisco doesn’t have a big fashion community; This club became the center of the Fashion community in San Francisco.

What are some positive memories you had at the Academy of Art?

Everyone I met was inspiring and you were surrounded by a lot of talented people. The teachers help you find yourself and build your confidence, especially in the beginning when you’re trying to figure out what’s going on and what exactly you want to do. They help you see how you are. I was told by one of my Merchandising teachers that I actually belonged in design.

When you graduated from the product development program, how did you end up going into design?

While I was in school, the director of product development at the time told me that there was this opportunity for a scholarship through the school. I believe it’s now called the Fashion Scholarship Fund. There was this project to a design collection from concept to end. I won the scholarship, and I got the opportunity to come to New York and meet with different companies to possibly get a job. One of the companies that was there was from Kohl’s and that’s how I started my internship. They offered me a job the following year. I was in Apparel division at the time, but I always wanted to do handbags. While I was there, I met one of the

handbags designers and I asked her to teach me to design handbags. Eventually she requested for me to join her team.

When did you discover you wanted to design accessories, especially handbags?

I’ve always loved handbags because I thought it was cool that you can make something that’s not related to size because size is very specific. There’s so much technical aspects to handbags. When you’re designing apparel, its limited because how many ways can you design a T-shirt? There are so many ways to design a handbag. This product is always evolving, and I thought of it as something that is always growing. I did a lot of research and certain things are recession proof like handbags and footwear. If something were to happen economy-wise, people are still going to buy handbags and shoes. That’s something the consumers are always buying versus apparel because they believe accessories can elevate their outfits.

How different is designing for accessories compared to apparel?

It’s more fun and challenging. To me, handbags are harder to design than apparel. Not that many people go into handbags and footwear than apparel and I wanted to try something different. I think if you’re more niche, it will be easier for you to find a job.

What does the work process look like to design handbags, and what is your timeline to create a product?

My entire division works on product for private labels for other companies like Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Kohl’s etc. We pretty much design for any brand you can think of inthat sphere. I personally work on a Walmart private label called “No Boundaries”. It’s their Gen Z brandfor a younger audience. In terms of development time, there is never enough time. There have been many times where all bags need to be designed, spec’d and sent out for a turn around time of three weeks. There was a time where I could have one additional round to get samples right but that doesn’t really exist anymore just due to it being fast fashion.

The team that designs Steve Madden handbags has tight timeliness as well when it comes to designing and creating tech packs. We have to be really flexible during this development period. During theconcept period, the stage I’m in now, we have longer time. But there is only so much you can plan when you don’t have confirmation on silhouettes. I have trend and color pretty close to finalized, however your buyers will always want to give their ideas into color so it is streamlined with the rest of the private label. The same happens in handbags for Steve Madden, they need to streamline with footwear. The project is always changing and a back and forth.

You design targeting the Gen Z consumer in mind. What kind of trends are you seeing out in the market?

The main thing right now that I’m seeing is the cargo idea. Everybody loves cargo and injecting that into bags is really fun. Metallics are so important, and a metallic bag is something that everyone wants to have. One thing that is happening in handbags I’m not sure that necessarily relates to Gen Z is quiet luxury. Since we don’t work in high price items, we’re exploring how to show that for a younger customer. I’m currently shopping for Spring 25 and I’m noticing it’s hard to find bags that have cool shapes when everything is quiet luxury. Denims and wash technology are something I’m currently looking into.

When you say shopping, do you mean shopping the sourcing for Spring 2025?

I mean in terms of inspiration silhouettes of handbags. So first we shop collecting imagery and buying special samples if they seem fresh. Then we look around the city and take pictures to see how things are being merchandised and if there are any stories coming through. Then we take a trip to Europe, LA, and Miami (Miami specifically for Spring) to see what’s trending. Last February I went to London and Barcelona to physically buy inspiration samples for reference and to see the merchandising.

Where do you normally get inspiration from? Is it things you see on the market? Or is it a certain movie or art?

At Steve Madden, we always look to see what everyone else is doing. What is everyone wearing right now and how can we get it out there extremely fast? How can we be relevant, cute, and fun? That’s our brand. We draw a lot of inspiration from movies. I work with the creator director on the trends for my division. So I feel it’s important to see what movies are coming out the next year. Beetlejuice is coming out next year, so I think grunge will be relevant once it’s released. Last year, I knew Barbie was going to be important and we needed to translate that somehow into bags.

What do you love most about working at Steve Madden?

We move so fast and we’re able to take advantage and jump on the trends. Everything is very fast paced and that’s how my brain works. There’s a lot of creative freedom here and my ideas are well received. It’s a mix of a lot of work and a lot of fun.

What advice would you give students who are looking to start their career in product design?

Reach out to people and learn anything you can from the people who are doing what you want to do. It’s so important to find your own voice. If you want to go for something, just do it. It’s a blessing and a crazy journey to get to where I am today. There were so many obstacles in my path. There were so many times I thought is it ever going to happen to me? When I was in school, I was the oldest in all of my classes. Now I’m in a senior role. I think, if it’s meant to be, it will happen for you.