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Space Cadet
Throughout my career I've often lamented how the small talk in the five minutes before a meeting starts seems to almost always be filled with personal beauty conversations or self deprecating food disclosures. The kind where one person inevitably says, “I’ve been SO good… then I’ve been SO bad,” all in reference to binging or sometimes just eating a bowl of pasta or some bread. One is not harmful, just boring. The other is harmful, and also boring. I'm not saying this to be c
Chrissy Nowak
Mar 202 min read


Flow State and the Designer’s Dilemma
Has anyone else noticed how completely a flow state can take over? When I’m working on a design project, the process often feels like solving a puzzle. A color combination leads to another idea. A print evolves. A presentation begins to take shape. One decision unlocks the next. And then suddenly hours have passed. Time evaporates. At some point I realize I haven’t had water, haven’t eaten, haven’t stood up or changed positions. Even basic signals from my body, like taking a
Chrissy Nowak
Mar 91 min read


From Fast Fashion to Thrifting, What’s Next?
For years, cheap new retail sold aspiration. It promised novelty, relevance, and participation in fashion culture. Today, it mostly offers availability. It is there when nothing else is. That shift matters because fashion has never really been about clothing. It has always been about signaling. Right now, thrifting, resale, upcycling, and DIY sit at the center of cultural relevance, especially for Gen Z. Buying secondhand is not a backup plan or a budget workaround. It is oft
Chrissy Nowak
Feb 43 min read


First Proto
To me, fashion has always been multifaceted. It is personal expression and basic necessity. It is art and commerce. It is joy, aspiration, exclusion, excess. It is fast, it is changing, and it is hurting the planet. I see all of it, and I’ve never been able to see it simply. There is sparkle here too the kind that draws you in, just before you notice the edges. That complexity has been there from the beginning. Growing up in Ohio, fashion mostly lived indoors. Outfits were wo
Chrissy Nowak
Jan 212 min read
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