Michelle Smith has always been a designer on the go. She spent years working for Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes in Paris, only returning to the U.S. to launch her fashion label Milly in 2001. Now, the designer finds herself settled at home in New York, and is finding comfort in spending time with her family. See how Smith is living in the age of COVID-19, and what to expect as she plans the launch of her new namesake label.

On Tips from Working from Home

“Working from home isn’t easy in the beginning. It’s easy to slack-off. I feel like it’s important to be disciplined and to create a schedule when working from home. This means different things to different people. For me, it means waking up early before my children, making breakfast for us all,  then getting them into their digital classrooms. Then for me, hopefully I can cram in a 30 minute run in Central Park (mostly for personal sanity) before tackling Zoom calls and working on my new brand, Michelle Smith, from home. I’m planning to launch in September.”

On Adapting to Working from Home

“Luckily, I haven’t taken on office space yet, so my team and I are accustomed to working from home. This crisis will significantly change the way people work going forward. For me, if I once thought I needed “x” amount of rented office space, I now realize I need much less than that, and it will affect my projected costs in a positive way. Working from home will become a new norm across industries, more than ever before.”

On The Impact to Day-to-day Operations

“The COVID crisis has affected us so many ways, good and bad. I always try to look for the silver lining.  I’m thankful for the extra time I have now with my children. I never would have otherwise had this opportunity to spend so much time with them, connecting in a meaningful way. It also allows me a lot of quiet time to dig deep and be very creative, which feels amazing. It feels so good to have hopped off the ‘hamster wheel’ for a moment in time, reset, refocus and go back in more passionate and more focused than ever. This crisis makes me feel uncertain, but as my kundalini practice has taught me over the years, nothing in life is a given, and there are beautiful lessons to be learned from every experience we encounter.”

On Launching Her New Label

“I was originally supposed to launch my new brand in May 2020, but I’ve moved my launch to September 2020. I will remain nimble and try not to financially commit to certain aspects until I know the key parts can come to fruition. If I have to push my launch to Spring 2021 because of consumer/market/supply chain conditions, I will. I’m doing my best to remain very flexible and agile during this tumultuous time, which I believe is key to survival in the long term.”

On Staying In Touch With Her Team

“We communicate through calls, FT and group video chats.  I’m living through Covid in NYC.  I live in Harlem.  For me, the hardest every-day part of social distancing is going to the super market- there are often long lines at my Whole Foods. Other than that, all is good. I try to run in the

morning before park gets crowded. Life is different but it’s ok. Knock on wood, I have the things that matter- my family and our health. It’s hard to not see friends, but we manage with social media and video calls.”

On Her Tips for Being in Quarantine?

“It’s important to have fun- to have something to look forward to. In my household, we have dress-up theme nights every Friday.  It’s always the highlight of our week.  I am also sure to get everyone out in the fresh air at least once a day, with masks and being socially distanced, of course.

I feel like this experience will change the way we live for a a very long time.  I feel like it’s a reset in our civilization that is very painful but also very much needed.”