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Who: Josette Cacnio
What: a monthly feature with young people doing interesting things
Where: Hamilton
Written by: Samantha Payne

Josette Cacnio
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=4333281204
www.Josettecacnio.com

Written by: Samantha Payne

In the world of fashion it is not just about what you are wearing, but whom you are wearing. Summer is officially here and clothing designer Josette Cacnio will be working overtime to keep her clients in style. 

A local clothing designer, Cacnio has been passionate about making clothing ever since she was young. 

"Around the age of nine or ten, I started making clothes for myself," said Cacnio.

"As I got older, it just progressed into making clothes for other people. Basically I would just get fabric and trace other clothes that I had and cut them out. I would jump on the sewing machine and start doing it."

But Cacnio was no stranger to a sewing machine, even at that young age.

"I had seen my mom and my grandma sew a lot so I knew how a sewing machine worked. I just went for it; I didn't tell anybody I was doing it. But it was easy for me."

The instant passion for fashion led Cacnio to take a design program in college. Now at the age of 24, she has her own clothing design business, which acts as her full time job. 

While creating clothes is a fun outlet for Cacnio, she acknowledges that it is as much a process as any other job.

"Well, I start off with some paper, a pencil and a ruler. I generally have my own sizes that I do if I'm just doing my own design. If I'm doing something custom made then I get the person's measurements. From there I make the patterns for it, I sketch them out."

And while one would think that creativity is the most important part of design, there is a lot more to it than drawing sketches.

"It is very technical because it is all measurements and numbers. After that, I cut out the patterns out of paper, and then from the paper patterns I put it onto my fabric. Once it is on the fabric, you cut out the pattern from the fabric. After that you sew it together."

The task can become even more arduous if Cacnio is sewing something specially for a client.

"If I'm doing something custom then I do a fitting with the person before the garment is completed to make sure everything fits properly before I actually finish it. If it is just one of my own personal designs then I'll just sew it together because I know whether its going to be small, medium large," says Cacnio. 

Summer time is extremely busy for Cacnio. Some days she can spend up to ten hours designing the clothes, and anywhere from a few days to a few weeks making them. 

Cacnio feels that everything that crosses her eye seems to inspire the overall look of her clothing. 

"I am mostly inspired by street style like what people are wearing now and what is trendy. When I'm going out for a night on the town, I see what girls are wearing, I think it is cute and then I will kind of put my own spin on it."

Cacnio has several pieces of her clothing for sale at 170 King St. It is only a small selection of her work. Since she sells most of her clothing out of her home, she does allow clients to come by and try stuff on by appointment only.

And while Cacnio still has a long summer of work ahead of her, she couldn't be happier because she is doing what she loves.

"I love designing. I love sketching and drawing. It just the best feeling when I make clothes for someone and it makes them feel good."

 

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