Designer Camilla Olson Visits Smith

On September 7, 2012, preceding the launch of her brand in Washington, D.C., Camilla Olson visited Smith for a luncheon hosted by the Center for Social Value Creation at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The theme for the event was “women as social entrepreneurs,” and attendees included students studying business, marketing, and design who are interested in creating a value-driven career. Several distinguished guests from the University community also joined the luncheon, including Ms. Wallace Loh, University of Maryland President Wallace Loh’s wife.

Camilla Olson is in the businesses of dressing women to look “smart; as intelligent as they are.” Olson launched her brand in 2011 with a focus on creating sophisticated, modern designer clothing that is also livable and washable. The brand’s distinct styles include caging, “voyeuristic layering,” and one-of-a-kind silk prints, created using oxidized iron and a few household products. The technique used to dye the fabrics is a key element in the brand’s positioning as eco-friendly, wearable art.

In addition to using environmentally sustainable production techniques, the Camilla Olson brand dedicates a portion of sales to community development, women’s health programs, and scholarships. Olson shared with luncheon guests her objective to have a purposeful mission that also makes good business sense, explaining the thoughtful sourcing, production, marketing, and hiring strategies practiced by her company.

Following lunch, Olsen encouraged students to stretch their limits, build skills at the beginning of a career, and don’t commit to a single path too early. “I just followed my nose in terms of what was interesting,” said Olson, an alumna of the University of Maryland with a BS in microbiology, who also holds an MBA in marketing from Farleigh Dickinson University.

Prior to earning her MFA in Fashion and Textile Design from the Academy of Art University, Olson was an entrepreneur working in the life sciences industry for 30 years, and secured two U.S. patents for her inventions. True to her entrepreneurial, creative spirit and dedication to the overall wellbeing of women, Olson has reinvented herself as a socially responsible fashion designer focusing on empowering women to craft their own unique value-driven career.

Following the luncheon at Smith, the Office of Marketing and Communication’s own Yang Zhao, a first-year MBA candidate, had an opportunity to volunteer at Olson’s trunk sale in Washington, D.C. – you can read about her experience on her blog.

Megan Burkhart, Smith Media Group, MBA Candidate 2013