When did you realize your passion for fashion and designing?
I used to go to my grandmother's house and would constantly read her Vogue and Bazaar magazines, but I couldn't understand why I would see my name in those pages. My grandmother would tell me that one day I would do something amazing in the fashion world. At five, I didn’t really know what that meant, but once I got into my 20s and started working in retail, I realized that I have a true passion for fashion and clothes.
When did you launch your brand?
In 2014, I started Shingo Label, which started as a passion project. I wanted to give women the opportunity to wear those designs that sat in the back of their minds based on their size and shape, because sometimes retail has a way of telling you that you don't get to be fashionable because of your size.
What is the back story on the brand name Shingo Label?
Shingo means neck in Swahili. Shingo, to me, is all about being confident and walking with your head held high and your neck elongated. I can tell when a woman is confident by how she carries herself. Shingo is definitely a brand for women who are confident, believe in themselves, and don't care what the outside world says about their fashionable choices.
What inspires your designs?
I want to give women the opportunity to be confident in themselves and the clothes that they wear while being confident in their own type and shape. I research constantly and encourage my customers to engage with me and tell me what they want. I want them to tell me what they need and what colors they feel good in and that make them happy.
You have four collections on the market with a fifth collection coming out this fall. Walk us through each collection and what makes it unique.
Safari Romance
This was my first collection, and at that point in my life, I wanted romance, but I felt like I was going through a jungle. So I included my idea of what I would have been wearing on dates or with my guy if I was able to make it through the safari to get to romance. The collection consisted of a few dresses, a jacket, a suit, a sweatshirt, and other tops and bottoms. I chose greens, yellows, and nudes and I designed my own leopard print.
Lily
I wanted this collection to be very soft and feminine. I wanted women to be able to wear the pieces if they were going to work or stepping out with their girls. I included purples in this collection and used sweatshirt material for a few pieces like the balloon style skirt and a high low peplum top. The collection also consisted of a white denim blazer, and I created my statement jacket that a lot of women just like to wear on an ongoing basis. It says ‘Shingo’ on the back and it's a very bold piece.
Jungle Romance
I feel like we live in this world where everybody is looking for love, but even when everybody is confused about love, somehow, we still always find ourselves shopping for clothes! We might not be going anywhere, but if the opportunity comes, then we've got something to wear in our closet! For this collection, I created a lot more animal prints and included a bit more denim. The pieces included jumpsuits and dresses.
Inner Luxxe
I was excited about this collection because I was able to include pieces for curvy and plus-size girls. I would honestly say that this collection was probably the most challenging collection for me because when you're designing in the fashion world, they just label it as women's sizes, but then you have plus size girls and the body types are different. The silhouettes need to be different patterns because you have some women who want to hide certain parts of their body. I tried to do a lot of research beforehand and I worked to get women to give me feedback on what they felt like they were missing or what they would like to add to their closet.
A new collection, coming this fall:
For this collection, I focused a lot on fall colors like oranges, yellows, and purples. I also included green, which I always include because women love green. I know that sometimes when people hear darker colors, it’s kind of scary. However, the way that I design, I like to include details that add sex appeal and colors that pop. I also designed an emerald green satin dress and with a purple exposed zipper that goes around the bottom, and then a purple zipper that comes around the back.
Is there anything you add to your designs that are part of your signature look?
With my designs, I love to add colored zippers to the pieces, but in a totally different color than the garment. Also, all the animal prints in my collections are my original designs that I come up with my illustrator. The first dress that I designed was an animal print and women loved it, so that let me know that women aren’t afraid of animal prints if they are done correctly. So, I always include animal prints in my collections.
Who is a Shingo woman?
The Shingo woman is someone who is very confident and knows that she belongs in any room that she feels that she should be in. She's not cocky, but she is confident. She wears what she wants based on how she is feeling and I think that that is very important.
Shingo
“Shingo means neck in Swahili. Shingo, to me, is all about being confident and walking with your head held high and your neck elongated. “
The Shingo Label
· Bold
· Confident
· Pops of Color
· Sophisticated
· Elegant
· Empowering
· Contemporary