Interview: Designer Erika Schrieber Reinvents Ready-To-Wear For DC's Fashionistas

ERIKA: I always had an affinity for fashion and style, and recreating yourself on the daily by what you adorn yourself with. It’s a cool way to express yourself. I'm from a small town in Connecticut, and fashion really isn’t seen as a career. I went to University of Miami for my undergrad and I met people from all walks of life, and I felt like fashion was the way I wanted to go because I was passionate about it. I studied public relations, and for many years I tried to fuse the two. When I graduated, I went on to work for a fashion show room in Miami (Global Trends) so my background remained within PR and branding. Now, I work for Consign of the Times and I've worked for them for about five years. I really got first hand experience with luxury finishing, quality and construction… where those two roads met is becoming a designer. It’s affordable, made in America, and stuff that I would wear that's cool, easy, and transitional. I decided I would just create it. I tried many avenues starting this brand; I tried contracting, I tried figuring it out myself... I tried so many things and it never worked out. I started this project four years ago, and when I moved to DC, I figured let me do this "mom and pop" style.