Fashion designer Qristyl Frazier has had a series of "big breaks." Unfortunately each was followed by a big disappointment. Though daunted, she was never defeated even when her career opportunities seemed bleak.
The St. Louis native, who now lives in New York, says she didn't have any choice but to succeed. She simply refused to believe otherwise.
To call her spunky is an understatement. She's bubbly, earnest and exceedingly optimistic.
"I'm a go-getter; it's as plain as that," Frazier said. By the way, her first name is pronounced "Crystal," and that is the original spelling. She changed it to "Qristyl" for her clothing line because she wanted something more distinctive.
Frazier has a list of television appearances on her résumé, including her most recent stint on the Sundance Channel's "All on the Line," a reality television program in which Joe Zee, the greatly respected creative director of Elle magazine, coaches a fledging designer on producing a line for a mass market retail audience.
Frazier was living in the daughter's bedroom of a friend in Long Island because she didn't have an apartment of her own when she got the call that she was going to be on the show.
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...
After graduating from the Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, she was rejected for admission to Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.
She admits that her grades were bad — "really bad."
But she didn't take no for an answer. She called and sent the school a heartfelt letter pleading to be admitted to the fashion program. She was eventually accepted on probation.
She went on to graduate and took her degree to New York to start her own design line. Instead, she bounced around for a while working anonymously on design teams at White House Black Market, Sean John, DKNY International, Jones Apparel, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch and the Timberland Co. to name a few.
But working as an underling in someone else's company wasn't part of her dream. In 2006, she appeared on the Black Entertainment Television channel program "Rip the Runway." She debuted a line of plus-sized clothing — she prefers the term she copyrighted "plus-sexy" — and within days her website got hundreds of thousands of hits.
But she hadn't expected such a huge response. Her website didn't have a store yet, and she missed thousands of sales because she didn't have the resources, staff or inventory to mobilize quickly.
Three weeks later when she was prepared, she'd lost the momentum.
It took four years and four attempts, but she was finally cast as a contestant on "Project Runway" in 2007. It was the now-infamous sixth season. The season was taped as scheduled, but the broadcast was delayed more than a year as Lifetime Television battled with Bravo Channel over the rights to the show. Frazier's season wasn't broadcast until 2009. She wasn't even allowed to acknowledge that she'd been part of the season until it was officially announced.
Once it aired, she earned the attention she'd been waiting for, but while she was coordinating publicity and developing a press kit, she got a call that her 20-year-old nephew had been killed in a drive-by shooting.
Still she had to persevere and capitalize on her brief window of fame. The clock was ticking; she was eliminated on the fourth episode.
In the meantime, she appeared on the "Rachael Ray Show" and again on "Rip the Runway." She debuted her line at fashion weeks in Memphis and Phoenix, and her clothing appeared on Janet Jackson, Queen Latifah and Wendy Williams among other celebrities.
Still she struggled. She gave up her apartment and was virtually homeless. She floated among the couches and spare rooms of her friends for more than a year. Frazier was still in business and still shipping designs, but she wasn't making enough to afford a modest apartment.
ONE MORE LEAP
She managed to earn one more big break, but it required a huge leap of faith, i.e. cash.
"I told myself, 'Girl, this is it. You cannot fail again. This is an opportunity that can catapult your business to the next level, and you just can't say no.'" Frazier said. "What was I going to do, quit and become a waitress? I didn't move to New York for that."
So Frazier, who also happens to be helping to support her mom who still lives in St. Louis, scraped together the money to lease a studio space in Harlem and hire some assistants. She had only three days before the television cameras arrived to make the space look like she'd been operating there all along.
By the time Zee showed up to film her episode of "All on the Line," there was no turning back. She had to produce a full collection of samples of her designer line for spring and hire models for the presentation in less than a week. With some criticism and advice from Zee and some celebrity designers, she managed to look polished and prepared for her meeting with Brian Woolf, president of Lane Bryant Group.
She was vying to become the first independent designer to produce a line for the chain, which dresses women size 14 and up. Frazier designs for women up to a size 24 and offers custom apparel for all sizes. But there was another glitch.
She had assumed Lane Bryant would buy her designs and produce them, but Zee explained that Frazier would have to develop a plan to produce the clothes and deliver them to Lane Bryant. She'd have to find the right fabrics and production companies and negotiate the right price. This was what would make or break her business proposal. Her designs were on trend and flattering, but they needed to be mass produced consistently in quality fabrics and the wholesale prices needed to be low.
When Lane Bryant bought 11 pieces of her collection, Frazier's real work began. She had a limited amount of time to find her materials and a company that could produce the clothes on a strict budget. She had an order from Lane Bryant, but she couldn't expect to be paid until 60 days after the goods were shipped to the store. It was the ultimate in good news, bad news.
However, her designs, QFD collection by Qristyl Frazier, will appear in select Lane Bryant stores and lanebryant.com Tuesday. She said that she insisted on the line coming to her hometown; it will be on racks at St. Louis Galleria, as well as in Houston, Brooklyn, Harlem and Garden City, N.Y.
If the collection sells well, the store will probably invest in some of her fall collection as well, but Frazier is cautiously optimistic.
She says that she's sure her truly big break will come, but she's come close so many times that she's not sure this will be the definitive break that propels her into the realm of financial security.
This might just be another piece that keeps her moving ahead, and she's fine with that.
"I feel very blessed," Frazier said. "And I know that it's not how many times you fall down, as long as you keep getting up."
You can see an array of snippets of Frazier's television appearances at stltoday.com/stylefile or visit Frazier's website at qristylfrazierdesigns.com.
VIEW HER APPEARANCE ON GREAT DAY ST. LOUIS by clicking here.
VIEW A VIDEO ON BBC AMERICA by clicking here.
