Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Sydney: Betty Tran

I had the privilege to start Mercedes Benz Fashion Week with a huge dose of inspiration this morning, at a breakfast with Perth Designer, Betty Tran. Take note of this name because with the passion, drive, determination, tenacity plus oodles of creative talent, this young woman is sure to be making a massive name for herself in the fashion world. In fact she has already dressed Spice Girl star turned X-Factor Judge Mel B, Victoria's Secret super model Jessica Hart, international model Nicole Trunfio, Australian Miss Universe Jasinta Campbell, and most recently, the powerful sister duo Serena and Venus Williams.

This is Betty’s third year at Fashion Week and I am eager to be watching the runway after having a little teaser this morning (via instagram) below.

This post isn’t about the designs, that one is later in the week. This post is about an inspiring and beautiful person with an incredible story. Back to the breakfast; we had three other very inspiring ladies chatting to us about being “fearless” which is the theme of Betty’s collection. Big shout out to the following inspirational women;

Dai Le Founder & CEO DAWN | Champion Australasian Women Leadership | Mentor | Speaker | Inclusive Diversity Strategist

Jules Sebastian; Sydney-based TV presenter, stylist and wife of the very talented Guy Sebastian.

Sandra Kelly, Senior Marketing Executive at Redken.

Photo collection I took in the audience today via Instagram

Betty’s story of how she followed her dream brought a little tear to my eye. Arriving in Australia from Vietnam without speaking English, this young woman has gone on to achieve her goals by never ever giving up. She has worked hard and ploughed through so many challenges and I am in awe of her persistence and passion.

For anyone who thinks that being a fashion designer is easy, think again. It’s a very competitive career and only a handful of hopefuls really make it to fame. Betty achieved her dream because of the amount of hard work she put in despite being fearful many times and the obstacles faced.

Betty’s first Australian job was with McDonalds. By following her love of fabric and design she eventually landed a job with Armani. Having a mother who worked as a seamstress, the young 5-year-old Betty learnt how to cut patterns and sew at a very early age.

As she grew older, and to help with the household income, Betty assisted her mother to make garments and eventually approached a well-known Perth fashion label to see if they could manufacture their clothing. By over delivering on their commitment to the fashion label, the two seamstresses had plenty of work and built up a good business.

Disappointment came when her first label was let down by retailers and stockists who closed their doors leaving Betty $60k of debt! One thing that Betty vowed was to always learn from her mistakes and she decided she was not finished yet and launched Betty Tran.

Just when she was down to her last $2,000 Ms Tran spent it on making one more collection for Perth Fashion Week, which resulted in an invitation to New York. There was one slight problem; she would have to raise a substantial amount of money to fund it. She managed to raise the money and the show resulted in highly favourable reviews. The rest is history!

Betty’s advice budding entrepreneurs is not to make excuses, go on, it’s ok to be fearful but dismiss the worry and be true to your own vision.

Having experienced the same problems throughout my career I resonate with Betty Tran and wish her every success.

I’ll be back with more of the Betty Tran collection later in the week.

Have a great show Betty! xx