The People Who Shape Us: More Than Just Influences

It's Saturday morning in LA, and I'm taking a rare moment of calm before diving into weekend studio time. There's something about 9AM on a Saturday that feels different – like the city's still waking up and I've got this little pocket of quiet all to myself.

I've been thinking a lot about relationships lately. Not just romantic ones (though let's be real, that's always simmering somewhere in my brain), but all the connections that shape who we are and who we're becoming.

This whole week has been a crash course in self-discovery, from Sunday's authenticity revelation to yesterday's realization that I'm actually starting to trust my design instincts. But something clicked for me last night during dinner with Jen that I can't stop thinking about.

We were split-testing two different pasta dishes at that new place on Sunset (the pesto won, obviously), and I was showing her my latest sketches. She pointed to a detail on my jacket – this subtle curve in the hem that I'd added almost without thinking – and said, "That's so you."

Three simple words that hit differently. Not "that's good" or "that works" but "that's YOU."

I've been so focused on finding my authentic voice like it's this solo journey, this internal excavation project. But what if our authenticity isn't just what we discover inside ourselves, but what emerges through our connections with others?

Professor Rivera challenges me. Nico offers perspective outside my fashion bubble. Jen sees parts of me I don't even notice. Even that freshman who questioned my design – she made me articulate what I know to be true.

We're not evolving in isolation. We're growing through these relationships, these moments of being seen and challenged and understood.

Maybe that's why authenticity feels so elusive sometimes – because it's not a fixed point we reach on our own. It's continuously shaped through our interactions, reflected back to us through other people's eyes, refined through conversation and connection.

I'm starting to think that finding my voice as a designer isn't about shutting out influences – it's about choosing which relationships help me become more myself rather than less.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the studio, surrounded by fabrics and patterns and deadlines. But today I'm grateful for this web of people who are, in their own ways, co-designers of who I'm becoming.

- Mandy