The Secret to Success of a High School Graduate Fashion Designer in Their 30s Earning a 100 Million Won Annual Salary

Entered the Fashion Industry Immediately After Dropping Out of College
Learning Design Programs and Building Experience to Prepare for Success

A woman in her 30s earning a seven-figure salary without a college degree is gaining attention in the U.S. fashion industry.

According to the U.S. economic media CNBC, Crystal Fortune (34) from Brooklyn, New York, dropped out of college and immediately entered the fashion industry, where she now designs shoes for well-known brands.

She had been interested in clothing since childhood and enrolled in a fashion-related department after graduating from high school in 2007. After experiencing shoe design in her first college class, Fortune quickly became fascinated with shoes. During her sophomore year, she interned at Tommy Hilfiger, learning about various colors, and also gained firsthand experience in the fashion industry as an intern at New York Fashion Week.

The four-year bachelor's program felt long and the tuition was costly, so Fortune decided to jump straight into the fashion industry. She built her career as a designer for various brands, designing socks and outerwear. In particular, she made efforts to keep up with the shift from hand-drawn designs to digital design work by diligently learning CAD.

Fortune finally joined Eastman Footwear Group in 2012 and became the company’s lead shoe designer in 2018. Eastman Footwear designs shoes for famous brands such as Tretorn, Eddie Bauer, and Nicole Miller.

Fortune said her keys to success are proficiency in design software like Photoshop, strict time management, and creativity.

She designs 75 pairs of shoes a month, including sneakers, hiking boots, sandals, and heels. She expressed, “I am happy to enjoy the fact that someone in the world is actually wearing my work.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.