PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY SMILOVIC

STYLE CLINIC

American designer Amy Smilovic, founder and creative director of New York-based brand Tibi (tibi.com), has a little-known history in the Peach State. Having grown up on Georgia’s charming coast, Smilovic studied at University of Georgia, keeping one of the only Tibi outlets back in her hometown. As Smilovic made a stop at Tootsies Atlanta to talk all things style, we got an exclusive interview with the designer to talk Tibi and view the resort 2022 collection.

1

Can you speak on your upbringing and how it has influenced you?

I think at my age you become such an amalgamation of everything you have experienced growing up. My roots, to me, are something I am thankful for because they add to me becoming a very layered, multidimensional person.

2

What made you take the leap into fashion?

I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I always wanted to own my own company. And when I was working with American Express, my husband got transferred to Hong Kong, so... when I wanted to start Tibi, it was more from a pragmatic perspective. I’m an artist; I know advertising; I know PR; I’ve been in sales; I’d learned about finance at that point; and I loved clothing. I’m now in Hong Kong, the epicenter for manufacturing, so it just made sense. I went into it more from an intellectual perspective, but stayed for the creativity of it.

3

Where does Tibi come from?

I started Tibi with a friend in Hong Kong. When I first moved to Hong Kong, I had actually started a clothing line within the first few days of living there. Then, literally on my birthday, I ended up meeting a woman. Her husband had actually gone to the University of Georgia with me, and we became instant friends. We decided to start a little offshoot collection and we named it after her grandmother, Tibi, and it just stuck. She, after a year, moved back to the U.S., and I kept the name, and voila!

4

What does authenticity mean to you?

I think that authenticity is about being honest with yourself. It is not necessarily about who you are in the present but about who you want to be. I think that is where people often get confused about what authenticity is right now because someone may be super anxious but they want to be considered effortless. So, if you start to describe yourself as effortless, by doing that you start to live it.

5

How do you stay passionate about what you do?

I have always made everything a challenge. I’m a competitive person. I love Tibi; I love clothing; but, to be honest, I loved working at all the different jobs I have had. I think a lot of people view passion as specifically loving the physicality of what you are doing, but it is not—it comes from within. I think it is such a misnomer, the phrase ‘Love what you do and you will never work a day in your life.’ It has some truth, but people take it so literally. Like, if you work in fashion, don’t you dare take a job doing marketing. Passion exists everywhere.