Wanna know how the best high impact sports bra company chooses their limited fashion colors? Surprisingly, it’s not just by taking a shot in the dark. There’s actually a whole career based specifically on the process of color choosing for brands, and the professionals who do this are called “colorists.” They’re responsible for forecasting future fashion and apparel trends, and must be able to take a gamble on changing consumer tastes during the process of color selection. They also must be able to obtain the necessary raw materials, assess lead times for dye manufacturers, and get the best pricing possible with supplies.

At Shefit, we have the privilege to collaborate withNicole Fonseca. Not only is Nicole the Shefit colorist, but she also works as Nissan’s Senior Color & Materials Designer. She specializes in color trends as well as design and has been our premiere colorist since forming a relationship in college with our founder, Sara Marie.

Nicole was the lead designer for Nissan’s 2017 concept car, VMOTION 2.0 Concept, which  took first place in both interior and exterior design at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Her career in automotive design has spanned the industry, working for suppliers and major automotive OEM’s like Mazda and Nissan. Her career took her from Michigan to California and then to Shanghai, China where she worked for one of the world’s leading automotive leather suppliers. She learned to research empirical data to understand customer trends and how to integrate these trends into seasonal color and material designs for production cars from affordable to luxury models and eventually to us at Shefit to develop seasonal colors.

We had the opportunity to interview her recently, here’s what we were dying to know:

Did you ever get a chance to drive VMOTION 2.0 Concept?

“Oh goodness, no. The car itself is essentially a piece of art, and honestly it’s really not meant to be driven. The car is actually more made to travel the world, and be shown globally. Which is so exciting to know that something I helped to create is being admired by others all over the world.”

So, how did you get initially get into the design world?

“I grew up with this constant urge to be creative, but I had a really hard time figuring out what kind of outlet I was able to put that creativity into, and still be able to make a living. It wasn’t until college when I found a way to take all of that energy and I was able to then turn it into a career.”

What would you say is the most important part of your job?

“The research, hands down. I spend hours upon hours researching trends and colors. I find the most inspiration through home interior and fashion, then I find myself applying those ideas to automotive design. At Nissan, we have to design cars three to four years before they come out, so we have to make sure that we are definitely making the right decisions when it comes to what we are going to pick for the interior and exterior features of the car. When it comes to the first 3 limited edition colors I selected for Shefit, I spent at least twelve hours doing this kind of research in order to ensure that your customers would really respond well to them.”

How did you pick the colors for Shefits next limited edition color line?

“I see my job as a way to get an emotional response out of people based off of colors and how they interpret them. I really took that into consideration when I was deciding on what colors would be part of Shefit’s newest color line. I wanted them to be different, and not what everyone would already be expecting. My goal with my Shefit collaboration is to help make sure that your incredible Ultimate Sports Bra is always keeping up with the newest technology and materials. It’s so crucial to make sure that the bra is functional, while looking amazing at the same time.”

What drives you to be successful?

“A lot of the time, I am the only woman that is in a management position in the world that I work in. I think that in itself is really what drives me everyday to be successful. I am able to acknowledge that women have buying power. In fact, women are buying carsjust like men. Therefore I feel that it is super important to have a female voice in the world of automotive design, and not just male.”

Where do you see yourself in the future?

“I definitely feel like I have this bigger calling in life. I really want to be able to educate young girls, as well as women, so that they too can see that they are able to find success in creative positions. We live in a world that is rapidly changing in every way, and we must be able to meet needs based off of that. Women are the future of design.”