She is proud to have been named One of Los Angeles' Most Influential People by California Apparel News from 2000 through 2018.
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA, April 20, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Frances J. Harder has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Leveraging more than four decades of international excellence in fashion design and education, Ms. Harder has earned industry recognition as an educator, an entrepreneur, author and United Nations consultant to third world countries. In 1999 after realizing there was not enough business-related education being taught in further education she developed a further educational course for start-ups. This lead her to write a how-to book "Fashion for Profit," now in its 11th edition. This then led her to leave her full-time professor position at Otis College of Art & Design to found The Fashion Business Incorporated (FBI) an educational not for profit 501(C3). The FBI provided much needed business development assistance to new and growing apparel companies.
Outside of her primary career efforts as an educator, Ms. Harder has been the founder and owner of Fashion for Profit Consulting since 1998. After being asked to speak at many international presentations, she was contacted in 2012 by a United Nations (International Trade Centre of the World Trade Organization), working with countries including Peru, Nepal and Egypt. She also utilizes her vast experience as an expert witness for industry-related issues, including chargebacks, trademarks, copyright, trade dress secrets, patent infringement, and research and development issues for the Internal Revenue.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Harder began her career as a designer after graduating from Salford University in the UK and was invited back to teach one day a week. This launched her duel career as an educator and as a designer. She designed for Mothercare Maternity in London and after marrying her first husband they moved to Bristol and she was offered a full-time position teaching art at a secondary school. Her first husband, an aircraft engineer, was offered a contract in Munich working on Airbus. While at the Octoberfest she was offered a position as a technical drafts women working for engineers on Airbus. This interesting change in her career lasted for four years and a divorce, but while there she met her life partner and took off around the world for a year and then they married in Ceylon. Following this adventure they decided to move to the U.S. where her husband had a Green Card and was offered a job as a stress engineer in Los Angeles.
This then opened many new doors for Ms. Harder. The first offer was a design and patternmaking job for a denim company. While working for this new company she learned that the Fashion Institute (FIDM) in Los Angeles was looking for instructors. She applied and although pregnant she was offered a position teaching at their downtown campus. After four years teaching and giving birth to two children, her husband was offered a new position in Seattle. This was a new adventure and so they rented out their house in Torrance and packed their belongings and hit the road with their two small children and their dog. Once settled in their new home in Redmond she was offered a full-time teaching position at Seattle Central College in 1979. This was a very pleasant four years but then her husband received another opportunity to return to Munich as a stress engineer. So began another new 2-year adventure. However, although she was offered a position teaching art at the International School in Munich it was hard for Frances with two small children to juggle work and her domestic duties and so they decided to return to the states and to Los Angeles.
After an exciting road trip with their children and dog through the states from New York to California, they settled again into their old house and she again began teaching at FIDM. Then in 1985 she started a preteen line called Toggs while still teaching. This was a new business learning experience for which she was unprepared but willing to learn. The biggest disappointment was having her sales rep in New York take her label from her samples and affix another company's label. After four years teaching at FIDM she was approached to teach senior studio at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles as an Associate Professor. This new position opened exciting opportunities as a freelance designer. She was commissioned to design a junior contemporary line for a Japanese brand "Dog Dept" for which she was retained under her name "Frances Harder" under the licenser. Next, she was commissioned as a freelance designer to design for the sports teams of the Royal House of Brunei. Following these two incredible opportunities an agent for Priscilla Presley commissioned her to design two lines for her to be sold on the Home Shopping Network.
After nine years at Otis Ms. Harder developed a business entrepreneurial course which lead her to write her first edition of "Fashion for Profit: From Design Concept to Apparel Manufacturing and Retailing - A Professional's Complete Guide," followed by two accompany books, "Costing for Profit" and "Brand Building for Profit." This course became the basis for Ms. Harder's next venture to serve as the founder and president of The Fashion Business Incorporated (FBI) from 1999 until 2017. During this time, she was also invited to serve as a valued member of the district export council of the United States Federal Trade Commission for six years. She also lent her expertise as an Adjunct Professor for the Dean's advisory board for the fashion merchandising department of California Polytechnic State University and also served as an advisor for a number of other colleges. Additionally, she was invited by the French government to visit and learn about brand protection for many of the prestigious French brands. This was followed by other international invitations from the German government to learn their many advancements in sustainability. Then the Australia Small Business Association asked Ms. Harder to also present in four major cities on creating a new clothing label. She was among a few industry experts to be invited to travel to China and tour some apparel factories. Ms. Harder arranged for a number of years for U.S. designers to exhibit at the Hong Kong World Boutique and MAGIC International where new designers were allotted special booths for these global trade shows.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Harder has given multiple presentations as a guest and speaker in several other countries including England, Canada, Nepal, Peru and Egypt, among others. Additionally, she has utilized her stellar skills as a seminar topic organizer for the MAGIC International, Apparel Textile Sourcing Show, the Hong Kong World Boutique, the LA Textile Show, Phoenix Fashion Week, the Emerald Exposition and the ASD Show and Licensing Show, presenting at these events as well.
Within the coming years, Ms. Harder intends to continue assisting new and rising companies in the fashion industry to help them succeed using her vast experience, knowledge and contacts. She will also continue using her expertise as an expert witness for industry related legal issues.
The overall goal throughout her career has been to help make a positive difference in people's lives by educating them and helping to make their business less stressful and successful.
Among her many other professional accomplishments, she is proud to have been named One of Los Angeles' Most Influential People by California Apparel News from 2000 through 2018.
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