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Meet the Owner
Miss Ja'Darria Williams is a Michigan State alumna with a degree in Business Management and a minor in entrepreneurship (*singing "Made It" by Teyana Taylor). After graduating this past December, she has been working full time while developing her business and brand.
"My mom inspires me to be a boss. She has been a boss her whole life, and I want to be just like her. She didn’t have much growing up, but she hustled so hard to become the woman she is today, owning over 30 properties and 1 building. My mom did everything on her own with no help or an education, and she made this possible. She is such a Sweet Savage and I love it."
Creating Fantaisie Clothing
"I always had a passion for starting a brand that represents tall women, and this is how I started my brand Fantaisie. As a tall woman myself, I feel that tall women do not receive the recognition we deserve. This is what pushed me to start my brand. I know a lot of people may think that the name “Fantaisie” is just a fancy word for “Fantasy”, but it's not. Fantaisie is actually a french word that means “Fancy”, a fancy word to describe the brand I am creating. "
Think you know what Fantaisie means? Ja'Darria explains what it means to her.
"Fantaisie offers a variety of clothing and swimsuits for women. I have recently released my own brand of swimsuits, called Amazonian Swimwear, on July 2nd. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were a race of tall, warlike women noted for their riding skills, courage, and pride; I wanted my swimsuit brand to represent these types of women."
Launching During a Pandemic
So far 2020 has been pretty rough. But that hasn't stopped Ja'Darria from working to build Fantaisie's brand.
"There were a lot of potential setbacks for starting my business during the world’s pandemic. Some people viewed the pandemic negatively, and then there were people who made the best out of the pandemic. I believe it pushed me to really work on my business. Since I was laid off from work, I was able to work full-time on my business and perfect it the way I wanted. It was challenging being that I was designing swimsuits during a time where people were staying home. I received a lot of backlash from other designers telling me that this was not the right time to create swimsuits, but I didn’t allow that to stop me. Instead, it pushed me to work harder to stand out.
This was a crazy time because there were also a lot of BLM protesting going on, and I made sure I joined the cause by stopping business on Black Out Tuesday and creating a page on my website specifically for donating to the BLM Movement. On this page you were able to find out more information on the movement and ways you could support the movement. I also had products that were related to the movement, and the proceeds went all to BLM organizations."
Here are some of the products on this page: Donate to the Black Lives Matter Movement
Summer Favorite
Outside is slowly opening up, and people are finally getting the opportunity to enjoy the warm weather. Fantaisie has new products available to do just that - with her most recent collection embracing the Amazonian woman.
"My whole brand of Amazonian Swimwear is my favorite. But if I had to choose, I would say this one [Amazonian] is my favorite. My inspiration came from an image on the web I saw of a warrior woman. It looked so cool to me, and it was one of my inspirations to start creating swimsuits similar to it.
I do have a sale going on for my new swimsuit brand, and it’s for anyone who decides to preorder an Amazonian Swimsuit right now. Due to COVID-19 and shipping issues, my swimsuits won’t get here until the end of July."
Post Quarantine Fit
I currently have some clothing sets on my site that have face masks to match it. This is one of
my favorites. You can be cute, but still safe at the same time. The pandemic is still going on, and I understand people still want to go out and do something fun. These clothing sets are a great way to continue protecting yourself.
Being an Amazonian Boss
"I believe Amazonian women are related to a Sweet Savage. Amazons are courageous and not scared of taking risks."
If you own a business, then you know that being the boss can get tough. You may not have to clock in and out every day, but you definitely have to be dedicated to running your business efficiently if you have any intention for it to grow. Seems like Ja'Darria is already aware of what it takes to be the boss.
"Being a hustler, you have to be able to take risks and make courageous decisions. So my whole brand of Amazonian Swimwear represents a Sweet Savage in my eyes.
My favorite thing about being a business owner is being able to say something is mine. I love the idea of working for myself and the learning experience I get from it. I feel like it makes me a better business professional. I also love that I could use every skill that I learned in college and apply it to my business.
My least favorite thing about it is the time. You have to dedicate so much time to creating your own brand. If you don’t have time to do it, it won't get done. You think you have so much time in a day to work on it, but you really don’t. There were days where I stayed at the computer for the whole day, and I only moved to use the bathroom or eat food. You have to be dedicated to your idea and your business. So, you’ll have less time for everything else in your life."
"Stay tuned with Fantaisie Clothing! This is only the beginning, and I have so much more to offer in the fall! Subscribe to my mailing list on my website!"
Stay connected with Ja'Darria and Fantaisie Clothing by following @fantaisie_llc on Instagram.