Durham Native And Designer Joelle Bond Lands Her Fashion Dream Job

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – As far back as Joelle Bond can remember, she has had a creative side. As a young girl, she loved to draw. “Ever since I was little I just loved to draw and then in high school, I took some sewing classes as an elective and that’s what kind of initially got me interested in making clothes, I am just very good with my hands,” Bond said.

Bond grew up in Durham, North Carolina, then decided to follow her true love for design and attend NC State University (NCSU) entering the Wilson College of Textiles, and obtaining her Bachelor’s in Fashion and Textile Management. After graduating from NCSU, she went on to get her Master’s in Fashion Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia.

While pursuing her degrees, Bond had many internships and retail jobs. “It was kind of a windy road. I mean in undergrad, I interned at Tracy Reeds in New York for one summer and that was amazing because I was able to see the behind-the-scenes of a prominent Black designer in the industry who was successful and doing well,” Bond explained. Along with interning for Tracy Reeds, she also interned for big companies like Spanx and Mashburn in Atlanta.

Shortly after graduating, Bond got her first big job offer from Athleta and she knew she needed to jump on the opportunity. Bond packed up and moved to San Francisco, California in 2017. She started working for Athleta as a technical designer which required her to make sure the clothes fit the customers for various categories such as outerwear, tops, and dresses. Last fall, Bond was promoted to one of her main career goals…a creative designer for Athleta. She now sketches and designs knit bottoms, dresses, and sweatshirts for the lifestyle side of Athleta.

Through her journey to achieve her current role, Bond faced some difficulties. “I was always the only woman of color at various companies that I had worked or interned. Or at least, one of the only Black people in the office space. Culturally I would always just feel out of place and a bit isolated in some ways.”

Along with feeling isolated, Bond also thinks it hindered her at times. “I feel like companies, especially in the fashion industry, really look for a cultural fit. Looking around, it was just always pretty homogenous” Bond mentioned that her background didn’t help with the lack of diversity in the industry either. “I think it was really difficult to even just move to San Francisco for my current role. Generally, I kind of grew up in a very diverse city and had a lot of friends and family who look like me to who I could easily relate to. So in my workspaces, I always felt it was hard to relate to the people around me because I just wasn’t used to being in those spaces” explains Bond.

Although Bond felt a bit hindered she still persisted. She was especially inspired when she interned alongside Tracy Reeds. “When I saw someone who looked like me run her clothing line and being able to help her at fashion week [sic] while seeing that up close and personal was inspiring early on since there are not that many prominent Black designers who are global and successful,” said Bond.

However, COVID-19 did throw a few bumps at Bond with her new promotion. “It’s been a bit crazy, having such a hands-on role,” said Bond. Bond has had to transition to fitting via Zoom, along with sending samples of clothes to homes. “There are so many things that can get lost in translation, so we have to be very communicative. There a lot of little details that are hard even when you’re designing in person. Everyone now has their own set of materials in their homes that we try to visualize and come together for one vision,” said Bond.

But Bond will not give up on her true dream, “I feel like I am just getting started, only being in my current job for less than a year.” Design roles are very hard to obtain and Bond has been working toward this role since graduating from undergraduate school. Although Bond does feel there is a gap in great quality, well-fitting clothes, that are out of materials that are responsibly sourced, for women of color who tend to have more curves. With that being said, Bond’s future goal is to “own responsibly made women’s wear line while getting as many experiences as possible; then provide options for women of color who want to shop sustainability.