Legal Lady Boss- Gabriella Khorasanee
When I first asked Gabriella to share insights into her career, I was intrigued by her ability to follow an unconventional path as both an attorney and fashion designer. How many people can say they’ve had Colette place orders for their designs? However, it’s her reminder for all women to advocate for themselves and have the courage to ask for what they want that resonated the most with me, and I know you’ll feel the same way.
Your professional journey has been interesting in the different paths you’ve taken throughout the years. I want to get into it all, but let’s start from the beginning. Why did you pursue the law in the first place?
Neither of my parents went to college and my mom was a stay-at-home mom. One of the things she instilled in me from an early age was to be financially independent. As a first-generation kid, I didn’t have visibility into many different career options. In high school for me the choice was doctor or lawyer. I was too much of a hypochondriac to be a doctor, and I exceled at and loved participating on my Model UN debate team, so law seemed like the right option. And of course, there was definitely an element of wanting to fight for justice.
At the beginning of your legal career, you also started two fashion companies- Cybelle and Mama. How did those come about? Did you always have an interest in fashion?
I have always loved fashion and grew up around it. My grandmother was a seamstress and sample maker for Oscar de la Renta, Bob Mackie, Bill Blass, and was the seamstress who made some of Cher’s dresses. She made all of my special occasion clothing, including my prom dress and wedding dress, all of which gave me the ability to “design” to a certain extent. Picking patterns and modifying them, choosing fabrics and embellishments – it was a creative process.
After law school I returned to Philadelphia, where I went to college, and clerked. My plan was to write another article for publication, during my “off” hours, because I wanted to become a law professor. While in Philadelphia, I reconnected with a college friend who was learning graphic design. Instead of using my off hours to write, I instead brainstormed a line of women’s graphic tees with my college friend – and that’s how Cybelle was born.
Cybelle was just an idea for well over a year before we actually had any t-shirts in hand. By that time, I was back in NY working at BigLaw in the commercial litigation practice. I was working the typical 60-80 hour weeks but still made time for Cybelle, which was a labor of love. About four-months after 9/11, I moved to California to start the next chapter of my life with my then-fiancé. After about four years, the relationship with my partner soured, and I walked away from Cybelle.
Leaving Cybelle was heartbreaking, but I still wanted to create and run a women’s streetwear line. I decided I had learned so much from creating and running Cybelle, that I could do it again – but this time on my own. And that’s how Mama was born.
When I started Cybelle, I knew nothing about graphic design or running a clothing line. By the time I started Mama, I had taught myself some graphic design, I had relationships with boutiques, and I started with one foot already in the door so getting Mama off the ground was much easier.
During that time, you worked with some major companies like Adidas and the MoMa. What were some of the highlights of that time for you? What were some of the struggles of being a founder?
Looking back, I had three main struggles as a founder: (1) no experience or training in running a clothing company; (2) no help – I wore all of the hats (design, marketing, finance, product development, production, shipping, customer service, web design, and legal); and the biggest (3) no financing. That said, the biggest highlight for me is overcoming those struggles and starting a women’s streetwear line on my own despite them.
But that’s not all. Looking back there are so many highlights: getting my first order from Colette, a boutique in Paris, being the first women’s streetwear brand to collaborate with New Era on the Women’s 5950 and Adidas on a performance model shoe, working and collaborating with other creatives, and the crowning achievement: having a photo from one of my Mama campaigns be included in the “ITEMS: Is Fashion Modern” exhibit at the NY MOMA in 2017. The funny thing about the MOMA exhibit – that happened nine years after I shutdown Mama, so it was heartwarming to know that it made an impact.
You also parlayed that experience into media with M.I.S.S. As this is a women’s focused audience, who did M.I.S.S. speak to and how did you use that to reach the customer at Mama?
About 2-3 years in with Mama, I was one of about three women’s streetwear brands getting press on men’s streetwear websites. Having gone to tradeshows, sponsoring women DJs, and collaborating with other women designers I knew there were much more than 3 women’s brands that should get highlighted but no women’s-specific website in existence. I teamed up with my long-time collaborator and friend to start M.I.S.S. – Mama’s International Secret Society. At first “admission” was invitation only and content was created quarterly. As membership grew we evolved into a website with daily updates and over forty contributors. The goal was to highlight women in all aspects of streetwear: designers, musicians, artists, stylists, other brands. Of course I wanted to reach my customer, but my primary purpose was to give other women in the industry the shine they deserved, and weren’t getting, on men’s focused websites.
Often there is this fear that lawyers have that if they leave the law, they can never go back. Even though you seemed to have shifted away from the law, how did you keep your legal skillset refined during this time? Was this intentional in case you wanted to go back? Or was it merely natural to do some legal work because you were a lawyer by trade?
To be honest, at the time, I had no intention of going back to practicing law. But having trained in law, I was able to read my own contracts, get all my business licenses, and file my own trademark applications. At the end of the day, what I loved most about being a lawyer was research and writing, and I was doing that every day with Mama and M.I.S.S. – just in the context of fashion and running a business.
Shifting into the more recent years, you’ve focused your legal expertise in privacy. It appears that you had the foresight to see that this area would become such an important area in the retail industry. Was that the case? What drew you to data privacy?
When I was a young lawyer there was not much of a privacy practice. Websites had to have privacy policies but that was about it. However, in each of my non-legal jobs, privacy would come up whether it was posting a privacy policy or working on access-management projects.
In law school, my favorite subject was ConLaw so privacy was interesting to me. When I decided to return to the legal field I knew I didn’t want to return to litigation practice. Data use had evolved so much in the time that I was away from practicing law and I kept hearing about data privacy, especially with new laws being enacted, such as the GDPR. Not only was the subject fascinating to me, but I figured, if new laws are getting passed then it would be an exciting area of the law – things would be changing frequently and the landscape would be evolving. And the laws would not only be new for me – someone who had stepped away from practice for some time – but for everyone else, even those lawyers that had stayed in practice.
My decision to work in the retail industry was not really related to the distinct privacy issues, but a culmination of my work thus far. I left Mama and M.I.S.S. behind, but I still wanted to work in fashion or fashion adjacent. However, having worked at two retail companies, I can say that I really enjoy the nuances of privacy as it relates to large online retailers.
Your career has had different chapters that demonstrate that having a J.D. can translate into “unconventional” paths. What advice do you have for anyone who is looking to make the leap and leave the law?
The decision to stop practicing is deeply personal – even though people in your life will likely have strong opinions. I think if someone’s heart is not it, then they should find something that they love to do. Getting a JD and passing the bar is not easy. If you’ve done that, then you are likely bright, hardworking, and capable. That’s really the foundation for anything. If you are planning to work in a field you are unfamiliar with, my advice (and advice I wish I had known and taken) is to learn on someone else’s dime. Want to start a clothing company? Work with or for an independent designer. Want to start a fashion website? Find your voice by writing for another website. That sort of thing.
There is an element of self-confidence and belief to navigate these types of shifts successfully. This is something that women stereotypically struggle with, and if they are outwardly confident, can be perceived as being aggressive. What advice do you have to other women who are struggling to flex that muscle?
Maybe it’s the NYer in me, but I’ve always been very direct and said what I meant. Is that seen as aggressive? Maybe. Do I care if people perceive me as aggressive? No.
Many of the highlights of Mama that I mentioned before came during a period when my motto was “just ask.” Rather than wait for companies to come to me, I would “just ask.” Want to design a New Era? Just ask. Want to do a nail polish collaboration? Just ask. Want to work with a fragrance company? Just ask. The answer was not always “yes” but the worst that could happen is getting a “no” for an answer – which leaves you precisely where you started, so what’s the harm?
We’re all about paying it forward here. What is the best advice you’ve received to pass along to our readers?
Always negotiate your salary – make a counteroffer and ask for a signing bonus. All the guys are doing it. This will impact your salary your entire career so start this practice sooner rather than later.