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STEFUNNY HLADEK
San Antonio native and Clark graduate, Stefunny Hladek is on
her way to New York to follow her dreams of fashion design.
She has already begun two lines. Cotton Candy Girls is an
apparel gift line. Denim Dollies is Hladek’s line of
wristbands and handbags with co-designer Dayna De Hoyos.
Stefunny Hladek is a woman with enough spirit to make the
world go around. She has a distinct fashion sense and a walk
that says I am going somewhere.
“At what point do you remember fashion grabbing a hold of
you and your dreams?”
“Since I was in fifth grade I have been practicing and
studying art, but I’ve always preferred clothing to fine
arts. I appreciate art and understand why it is so important
but clothing has been my fetish since I was a little girl.
It was a running joke actually because I would change four
times a day. I still remember my favorite dress. The first
designer name that I knew was Calvin Klein. I must have been
in about third grade and this girl always used to wear
Calvin Klein. Her clothes were always really nice. I didn’t
care about what I was learning in school I wanted to know
who this Calvin Klein was and why his name was all over her
stuff. I would fixate on that.
After Clark I took off to Europe. I went to London for a
couple years off and on. I would go back and forth. I got to
experience and see and learn different things. I got to see
the greatest museums. My job there was being a consumer.
Things just worked out. God looks after you I guess, (She
laughs) I don’t guess, I know. It’s like taking the leap to
New York, its just going to work out. It has worked out so
far, how could it not work out?”
“Why New York?”
“One reason I have to leave is the sourcing. New York is the
port city for all of the European lines. It’s where you go
to learn about fashion. It’s where you go to get the
instruments and the materials to work. I think the
interesting thing is going to be watching the Denim Dollies
line grow because I will be closer to sourcing. I will be
able to get my hands on amazing things that I can’t find
here, different embellishments and stuff like that. In the
end leaving San Antonio is like leaving the best boyfriend
in the world. I love this city. It’s beautiful, it’s
wonderful, the weather is nice and the streets are clean.
And I am going to a very dirty city.”
“Do you like cold weather?”
“No. My girlfriend in Boston was like, “Stefunny you realize
that you are going to have to wear close-toed shoes.” Wait
what are those? We wear flip-flops in the winter. The good
thing is that you have more diversity in your clothing
there. I’ll get to wear blazers in the spring, whereas in
the spring here they are too hot. I’ll look better (she
laughs). No it will be really nice.”
“Have you gotten a lot of support for taking this step
and making the move?”
“It’s funny because I went to Arts and Eats and, previously
having an art gallery in San Antonio, our art community is
very small and everybody knows everybody. I kept running
into people and when I told them that I was moving to New
York, they congratulated me. I was like, ‘wait, I didn’t say
I was having a baby. I didn’t say I was getting married. I
am moving.’ ‘They were so excited. I was wondering if they
were going to miss me.’ I guess its one of those things like
‘go and represent us’ because as wonderful and up-and-coming
as San Antonio is in the arts, it is still so far and New
York is really the heartbeat of America. Everything starts
there and trickles down. It is like we are all in the
arteries. I feel intimidated though, because here it is easy
to be the big fish; people are open and nice. Whereas there
I don’t know how it will be, but I am going to have to start
from the ground up.”
“What makes you strong enough to take so many risks and
follow your dreams?”
“It’s funny that you ask that because I met this girl on the
set (the set of a video she is doing wardrobe for) the other
day and she was saying ‘good luck, you are doing exactly
what I want to do.’ And I was like ‘well, why aren’t you
doing it?’ She said she that she had been in corporate
America doing this, that and the other. I said, ‘how old are
you, thirty-one? If you want to do it you have to believe in
your dreams and go for it. If you don’t do it, you are just
going to regret it and be a bitter old woman.’ I am not
going to be a bitter old woman. I’d rather go fail and try
again than never try. It’s not even failure it’s just a
bigger hurdle to get over and a way to keep yourself in
perspective.
I couldn’t have done Cotton Candy without the art gallery in
that a few of the artists that I represented actually worked
with me on my line. We were talking about failure. I didn’t
fail at my art gallery. When I decided to close, it was
because it wasn’t making the money it needed to stay open. I
really had to go through having had the art gallery to get
to know these artists who would help me on this next
adventure. So when we were talking about failings, sometimes
we think of it as failure, oh this has ended. You just look
at it as a new challenge, a new avenue, and a new door to
open up. It was pretty interesting how things worked out and
crossed over.
When I had the art gallery people asked me to represent
them. So I had a great appreciation for art, but ultimately
in my heart I knew that it was in the fashion and apparel
industry that I wanted to work. I felt that if I made a
successful art gallery and I could get people to come look
at and buy art then I could probably do anything. Not that
art is a hard sale, but my whole goal was getting people who
felt art was unobtainable to realize that it was obtainable
and to get new collectors in there and really open up new
patrons to the art world. When I decided to close the
gallery I really had to do some soul- searching. Our lease
was over and our rent was going up. I had to decide whether
I wanted to give it a go for another five years because in
my heart, as much as I would have loved to, I was ready to
follow my dreams. This has prepared me for what I want to do
with my life.”
“You are so brave.”
“I don’t think it’s bravery, I think it’s insanity. I think
it is also that I am not one to miss out on anything, when
it comes to going out or doing things. I’ve always been that
way. Like, oh my God, this is the chance of a lifetime. I’ve
got to go. This is it. I have to go. God forbid something go
on and someone has fun without me. So that is kind of what
it is about. I don’t want to be left out and I want to have
as much fun as I possibly can.”
“What would you say to people out there to encourage them
to do what they want to do?”
“I can only say what someone said to me. I was at the VH1
after-party for the Vogue Awards or whatever it was and I
ran into Betsy Johnson, who is one of my all-time favorite
designers. I went up to her and said, Oh my God, I am a
designer as well and you are one of my mentors. I totally
admire your work you are just amazing. She was a little
wasted, she grabbed me and said, “Don’t ever let them think
that age can stand in your way. It doesn’t matter how old
you are. You can go for it.” And I was like, rock on. Its
one of those things when we are getting out of our twenties
into our thirties, we think we are getting older. We’re not,
we’re just getting better. I fully believe what I was
telling that girl the other day. You are thirty-one, do it
now. Don’t wait for the inevitable because you are just
wasting your time, not everybody else’s. Believing in your
dreams is the most important thing. Shoulda, woulda, coulda
is not going to get you happy.”
“Are you happy?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
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