Fashion industry veteran Jamie Banks spent 25 years working as a Design Director before launching her own brand, Change of Scenery. 

“Making women feel great is core to my values,” Jamie says. “I love building brands with a contemporary, feminine aesthetic that makes women feel beautiful."

This blend of feminine and contemporary styling is the foundation of Change of Scenery’s luxury swim and resort wear. Jamie’s extensive design background includes work with renowned brands like Kate Spade, Shoshanna, and Milly.

A New Path in the Fashion Industry

While leading large, cross-functional teams for Kate Spade, Jamie thought she would remain with the company for the duration of her career. During the pandemic, though, store closures brought Kate Spade’s operations to a halt. The company was forced to lay off its entire design department, including Jamie herself. 

Of course, it didn’t help that her 40th birthday happened on the same day as the layoffs: 

"it's hard to get older in this industry!" Jamie admits. “I was shocked. I had to figure out who was next, and I had three kids to homeschool during covid!” Once the surprise wore off, though, Jamie says the layoffs were the best thing that could have happened. “It made me think about what I love as a fashion designer, and what was missing.” 

Consulting and the Birth of Change of Scenery

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A few months of time to think led Jamie to the realization that she would make a good VP of design. This was when her husband suggested consulting in swimwear, which had always been some of her favorite items to create. 

"I got some great consulting jobs and came alive again," she says. "When you work for another brand, even if there is a hole in the market, you can't just serve it. There's also very little underserved in apparel – there's so much product. With fast fashion and ready to wear, there are designer-level-great items available from Target. But I loved the business model I saw while working with brands, who are so good at creating one specific thing."

Despite the abundance of choices in apparel, Jamie was drawn once again to swimwear, where she says options for Gen Z and millennial women are limited. Modest bathing suits exist, along with sexier options, but there’s little in between – which, she says, is what many women were seeking. 

Building a Brand from the Ground Up

Jamie’s husband, an entrepreneur himself, suggested that she write up How to Build a Business Plan for Your Ecommerce Startup - Clearco for the new idea. After downloading a blank template, she got to work setting it up. 

“I didn’t know anything about business plans,” she adds. “I filled it out and presented it to my husband, and he said ‘why it is 70 pages!’”

The pair decided to go ahead with the brand anyway, and Jamie says the process of creating the business plan was lengthy but therapeutic. The process gave her the opportunity to not just talk to her female clientele, but also get feedback and gain confidence in what she had to offer them as a designer. Although Jamie was familiar with creating and designing collections from her previous jobs, she was unfamiliar with the digital side of ecommerce, including selling and marketing the final product. These skills she had to learn on the job, as Jamie says she juggled inventory samples, design changes, and the technology involved in setting up her ecommerce store.

Despite the very real ‘change of scenery’ she experienced before setting up her brand, Jamie says the whole process has been rewarding. 

“I didn’t dream of having my own brand,” she says. “That’s common for fashion designers, but I never did. I thought I’d be an SVP somewhere big. But this is where life took me, and I can’t believe it.” 

Redefining Swimwear and Resort Wear for Women

Jamie’s brand, Change of Scenery, focuses on creating luxury swim and resort wear that is both fashionable and functional. Her designs are crafted with high-quality fabrics and excellent tailoring to offer a sophisticated yet effortless fit.

"Our pieces are designed to move seamlessly from poolside to grocery store to cocktails," Jamie says. 

Change of Scenery offers elegant yet uncomplicated pieces that allow women to look and feel their best, no matter the occasion.