Interview: fashion designer julianna bass manufactures creativity

by Whitt Laxson

When inspiration strikes, Julianna Bass is ready. "The shower and 3:00AM in the bed are my most creative moments," she says of her artistic workflow. "My sketchpad is beside my bed. I wake up in the middle of the night because I've had a dream or I think of something." 

For this New York fashion designer, ideas can all depend on her emotions. "Am exasperated? Am I seasonally depressed? Am I over-the-moon in love? What is it that I'm feeling, and what is the strongest?" she explains. "Then it's sketch, prototypes, samplings, fabric selections..."

While it's not a process everyone understands, it's a craft Julianna has spent most of her life perfecting. "When I was 12 or 13 I wanted to be an architect. I realized there's a lot of math involved. That's probably not going to work out. I was always drawing though. Blueprints and sketching."

Julianna credits her grandmother for nurturing her creative spirit. "She sewed all the time. We would get doll clothes and take them apart. She would show me how these things were made. As I got older, she would make doll clothes into real clothes." 

As a child of the 80s and 90s, Julianna got her start in the small, southern town of Pulaski, Tennessee. With her creative spirit on display, she expressed herself through fashion, even in those early years. "I refused to have a prom dress that was bought from the store. I designed and made it. I just knew that's what I was supposed to do. It brought me so much joy."

After high school, Julianna took her talents to college at Middle Tennessee State University. Then for graduate school, it was time to pack her bags for the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. "When I got that acceptance letter I did not know what to do," she says of the opportunity. "It was very grueling. I went to school 10 hours a day. Then I was awarded Designer of the Year for evening wear specialization, and that was awesome. Country girl made good!"

After FIT, Julianna began working for a private label where she learned the reality of working in fashion. "It is an industry. It is a machine. I had no idea. I thought I was going to be sketching all day. That's 100% not how it goes down. It was good to start there and get thrown in." 

She moved on to work for major labels like Bill Blass and Elie Tahari. Then a career highlight came in 2013 when Julianna won a Coca Cola T-shirt design contest. This put her work in Target stores across the country, and in ads featuring Taylor Swift. It's an achievement that still makes her emotional. "Seeing my best friend from high school stroll in Target, pick that shirt up off the shelf and take a selfie with it... That made me cry. I'm going to cry right now just thinking of it."

A cash prize from the Coca Cola contest helped Julianna get to her next chapter in Berlin, Germany, a city where she says she made the first real design collection for her self-titled brand. "When I went there it felt very familiar to me. Things don't always speak to me (in that way), so I had to honor that."

Saoirse Ronan, Ashley Graham, and Tiffany Haddish are just a few of the big names who've worn Julianna's designs. As for her dream celebrity to design for? "Oh, come on. Beyonce!"

A small town upbringing hasn’t stopped Julianna from following her big city dreams. Now as an established designer, she's able to put her career and her life into perspective. "I always knew I wanted to do this, and I always knew I wanted to do it in a big way. I didn't have a vision of what it looked like otherwise." 

She's also able to take what she's learned and pass on her best advice to others pursing a dream. "Don't let not knowing what's ahead trip you up. Go for it. Really listen to yourself when it comes to what you truly want to do."

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