By Chanda Temple
On June 10, 2022, Pyper Brown was feeling good. Really good.
It was her 28th birthday, and it was also the day she and five designers were set to compete in Magic City Fashion Week, a public fashion show that highlighted up-and-coing designers.
Although Brown said the Birmingham crowd cheered for her avant-garde designs, she didn’t win.
Despite the loss, Brown still celebrated with family and friends. “You can’t just let stuff like that take advantage of the moment you had,’’ said the West End resident, now 29. “It was still a good experience. It just didn’t end the way that we wanted it.’
But from that one night, Brown gained different kinds of wins.
She was invited to showcase her designs at Birmingham’s City Walk during the World Games in July 2022. A breast cancer awareness organization invited her to design a dress for its fundraiser fashion show in October 2022. And in November and December 2022, multiple Birmingham rap artists asked her to design for them.
Then, in February 2023, the online fast fashion retailer Shein contacted her after seeing her at Magic City Fashion Week.
“They wanted to know if I was interested in creating a collection for them,’’ Brown said of Shein, adding they offered to give her an advance to create and provide royalties. “All I had to do was turn in the design. I thought it was a joke. I called my boyfriend and my mom, screenshot what they sent me and sent it to them. They said that it was not a joke, and that I should email them back.’’
Brown did, and the company sent her a contract. She had a local lawyer review the contract. She also researched the company and discovered they had a designer program. After additional research, Brown signed on, and the company gave her three launch dates.
But getting to her next win wasn’t easy.
Brown was used to sketching on paper at the University of Alabama, where she majored in human environmental science with a concentration in fashion retailing and design. She graduated in 2017. For this Shein line, she had to learn how to sketch on an iPad. It was a challenge, but she mastered it. She also had to provide Pantone colors, measurements for the designs, inspirations for the styles, fabrics for the styles, and more.
The company gave her creative space to design. But Shein rejected her designs again and again.
They never said her designs were not fashionable, but it may have been that a design was too complex to create in the warehouse, they didn’t have a certain material for her design or too much skin was showing, according to Brown.
Brown kept submitting designs until she got a yes on her fourth submission. “I was like you know what, God is just molding me in this. I just took the whole process in because if I wanted to do something with a luxury brand, I would have to turn in my design 15 times before they liked something,’’ she said.
Her five Shein designs launched Dec. 1, 2023. A red and black peacoat that can also be worn as a dress or a jacket retails for $30. It is her No. 1 seller.
Brown, who runs her own line known as Pyper Collection and still styles local artists, hopes her Shein line will open the door for her to work with other retailers such as Walmart, Target, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
“My biggest advice to anyone is to trust the process. Don’t’ rush it. Don’t stop creating,’’ she said. “If you have a dream, just pursue that. Everything will work out when it’s supposed to.’’
To see her whole Shein collection, visit her Instagram page: Instagram.com/pypercollection. At the top of the Instagram page you, will see a link for the designs listed as us.shein.com/designer/10001531. Part of her Shein collection can also be seen on her website, http://www.pypercollection.com.
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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