In our long-running series “How I’m Making It,” we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.

Some people fall into fashion; Eliana Masgalos ran toward it with intention from day one. Born and raised in Portugal, she knew early on that she wasn’t just interested in clothes, but also captivated by the process of creating them, from sketch to sample to the final piece on the rack. She’s driven by curiosity and a hunger to understand more than just the aesthetics of design. She wanted to know how things worked. 

Now leading womenswear design at H&M, Masgalos is a driving force behind how one of the world’s biggest fashion retailers balances the demand of fast-paced trend cycles with the existential importance of circularity and sustainability.

Ahead, she discusses the many roles she had at H&M, including working with its Chinese suppliers, her time away from the brand and the company’s continued sustainability efforts. Her well-rounded experience, in textiles, production, and design, ensure she’s one step ahead of the non-stop changes in the fashion industry.

Did you always want to be a fashion designer?

I never wanted to be anything else. I was very sure that’s what I wanted to do. I studied graphic design in high school because that was the closest you could [get] to fashion. And then I went to this very famous school called Citex [now Modatex]. It’s [where] all the big designers in Portugal [go]. It was a really good program, very intense, but very good. You came out of there very prepared. You learn how to make a pattern, you learn how to sew. You did projects on womenswear, menswear, kids, sports — you did everything. I came out of there with an internship with a catwalk designer I really admired, Katty Xiomara. She didn’t have anyone, and she had a lot of work, so I got to learn about things, because she basically put me on everything. From there, I worked with Inditex for three years, at Pull&Bear.

Why did you leave Spain for Sweden?

I had this whole exotic image of Sweden. I was like, it’s cold and it snows and it’s fashionable. [In 2011,] I applied to H&M and in two months I was hired. One thing I always wanted [with] my career was to learn about different things, and not get stuck in the same path of being a designer for 50 years, but more like, OK, if I want to be a creative director, or if I want to get to a head of design role, how do I get there? And how do I get there so I don’t only own the role, but that I actually know how things work.

Did you go right into womenswear?

I started Divided, [H&M’s] younger line. Because I had a lot of experience with younger customers, it made sense to start there. But I really wanted to work with production at H&M and get to know more. So, I started a Concept [and Collection Designer] role there [in China], a project that was closer to the supplier, so you could develop quicker and [produce] the products and the collections, but still sell globally. And then one year after that, I moved into a product developer role for knits and jersey. And then after that, I moved into a global role where we work, not only with Chinese suppliers, but all suppliers around the world and more connected to womenswear. From there, I moved over to womenswear, and I had a team of 15 people working with all the different parts of womenswear, and I was overseeing them as head of product development in China.

Did you ever take a career break from H&M?

I moved to Philly in 2018 and lived there for a year. I had a fashion director role at Urban Outfitters for womenswear. It was fun, but I felt like it was a little bit going back to more teenage customers, [which] I was kind of done with. So I decided to leave. I went to & Other Stories for a while, doing a project with them as their design director in Paris.

How did H&M win you back?

& Other Stories belongs to H&M, so when my previous managers heard I was there, they said, ‘You can really come back to H&M, we’re changing a lot. Everything is looking really exciting.’ And I felt so, too. So that’s how I ended up back. It’s been five years now, and it’s been really interesting also to see how the company is developing. It’s an exciting time.

How has your design process changed throughout your career, especially with new technological advancements?

Everyone talks about AI, but for me, that’s just one more [challenge]. When I graduated, you learned how to work freehand; then freehand disappeared, and you learned how to work with [Adobe] Illustrator, but some people still prefer to sketch by hand. 

I was always better at tech. We work a lot with Flow[-3D], which is a program that enables you to see digitally in 3D based on pattern. So your pattern maker basically makes the pattern, and you can visualize it in 3D, because that enables us to see the proportions of what you’re creating even before seeing it yourself. Also, that has helped us with clarity and sample rounds and all of that. So I think for me, it’s like everything that I’ve met along the way, it’s just been one more tool you can use, and being a designer is still a lot more than just using a tool. I don’t think it has changed much. And what I always say is, you are still creating clothes for a real person. Real clothes for a real person. [There’s] not many ways you can do that.

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What are some of your goals now that you’ve reached the top of your design career?

We want clothes to be durable and we want clothes to have a beginning and [consider] what happens when you get tired of them? We’ll think a lot more about circularity. I think everything you create should have a journey. 

I mean, I do that myself. If I get tired [of something,] I give it away to a friend, or I sell it. Everything should be durable and not just thrown away. We think a lot about that at H&M, and that’s one of the reasons why I really like to work for H&M, because I feel like having worked with other companies, this is the only company that I feel like we actually [make] a real effort. And of course, we’re big, and we’re the ones that can really make the difference, compared to smaller brands.

Has it gotten easier to make more sustainable choices?

When I started working in production, [which] was not that long ago, you’d have to ask the supplier, ‘Do you have this in a recycled polyester? Do you have this in a more sustainable material instead of just the conventional?’ And there were a lot of nos back then, and now they don’t even send you the conventional if they have more sustainable.

You’ve had such a well-rounded career! What is your advice for aspiring designers?

In a creative role in any industry, I think you have to have the passion. And that’s what I think of when I’m interviewing younger designers. The first thing I look for is, do they have the passion? It’s the same as being a rockstar; you have to practice if you want to be a good musician. 

Even when I was studying, there [were] a lot of colleagues in my course that were like, ‘Oh, we just came to fashion school because it sounds fun and easy.’ It’s not easy. And you have to push through a lot, and you have to know where you want to go. Nothing will just come to you. You have to put in the effort, you have to put in the hours, and most of all, you have to be passionate about it, because [there are] always bumps [along] the way. That’s for me as well. I’m 20 years in, I’m still passionate about it, and I’m not giving up.

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