What Sourdough and Fashion Design Have in Common (Hint: It’s Not Aesthetic + Recipes Inside)
You might be surprised to hear this, but one of the most valuable things I do for my creativity doesn’t involve a sketchpad, a tech pack, or even fabric.
It involves flour, water, clay, wildflowers, and a bit of patience.
Every week, I bake sourdough bread. Not the quick kind, but the slow, messy, meditative kind. I tend to my garden. I make elderflower champagne in early summer. I take pottery classes and recently engraved the Marcí logo inside one of my bowls (photo coming soon). And the more I do all of this, the more I realize: the rituals that feed me outside of work are also what make me better at what I do inside it.
Fashion consulting often looks hyper-digital from the outside — Illustrator files, spreadsheets, deadlines. But in my own rhythm, I’ve learned that creativity thrives when it’s grounded. When your hands are in something real. When you’re not rushing.
(Recipes for sourdough bread and elderflower champagne are at the end of this post if you’d like to try them yourself.)
1. Patience is a Skill
Sourdough taught me this the hard way. You can't rush fermentation. If you try, you end up with something flat, lifeless, and unsatisfying. Same goes for developing a new collection. Rushing the process to meet artificial deadlines only leads to regret later — badly made samples, production issues, miscommunication with factories.
In both bread and fashion, there’s a flow that can’t be forced.
2. Intuition is Built, Not Born
When I first started baking, I followed every instruction rigidly. But over time, I began to feel the dough. When to stretch it. When it needed more time. That same intuition shows up when I work with clients. After years of experience, I know when a fabric will drape beautifully before it's even sampled. I sense when a tech pack is missing clarity, or when a silhouette isn’t quite right for a target customer.
It’s the same in pottery class. Clay teaches you about feel. You can't be too forceful. You have to listen to the material. Recently, I made a little dish and engraved the Marcí logo inside the base. It’s imperfect, handmade, and somehow deeply connected to everything else I do.
Intuition is just experience made quiet and confident.
3. You Need Space to Be Creative
Some of my best ideas don’t come when I’m sitting at a desk. They come when I’m shaping a loaf, walking through my garden, arranging wildflowers in a jar, or standing at the wheel in pottery class.
Meadow flowers are my favorite. There’s something about their wild, unmanicured beauty that reminds me not everything has to be over-designed. I often bring that into my work — letting silhouettes breathe, embracing irregularity, and trusting softness.
We live in a time where productivity is celebrated, but honestly, creative work is cyclical. There has to be space to breathe, reflect, and get inspired again. Otherwise, everything starts to look the same.
Marci Tip
Running a brand or designing a collection isn’t just about staying busy — it’s about staying connected. Make time for the rituals that feed you, even if they have nothing to do with fashion. They’ll show up in your work in the most unexpected and beautiful ways.
Want more behind-the-scenes thoughts and creative tips? Follow along at marcibyjill.com or reach out if you’re building something meaningful. I’d love to hear about it.
Bonus: Recipes From My Rituals
Our Sourdough Loaf (Baked in a Dutch Oven)
You’ll need:
Large casserole dish with lid
Large glass bowl
Shower cap
Proving basket, dusted with rice flour
50g sourdough starter
350g water
500g strong white flour
7 to 8g sea salt (adjust to taste)
Rice flour for dusting
Directions:
Mix the starter and water in a large bowl. Add flour and salt. Stir roughly with a spoon until combined.
Cover with a shower cap. Let rise for 1 hour somewhere not too hot or cold.
Uncover and do your first set of stretch-and-folds: gently lift and fold the dough over itself, turning the bowl as you go. This builds gluten strength.
Cover again. Repeat this process every 45–60 minutes, for a total of 4 sets.
After the final fold, leave the dough to rest at room temperature for about 6 hours.
Dust a proving basket with rice flour. Gently shape your dough into a round and place it inside. Cover and rest in the fridge for another 6 hours.
On baking day, preheat your Dutch oven at 230°C.
Turn the dough out onto parchment paper, sprinkle with rice flour, and score the top with a sharp blade.
Before transferring to the Dutch oven, add 2 ice cubes between the baking paper and the Dutch oven (it creates steam and the loaf will have more spring). Transfer to the hot Dutch oven and bake with the lid on for 50 minutes.
If the loaf is nicely browned, put the lid back on and bake for 5 more minutes. If it looks pale, bake uncovered for the last 5 minutes.
Let it cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.
Crusty, soulful, and so rewarding.
Elderflower Champagne (Naturally Fizzy and Non-Alcoholic)
You’ll need:
1.5 litres water
150g golden sugar (granulated or caster)
1 lemon
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 elderflower heads (though there is no maximum!)
Instructions:
Boil the water and pour it into a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add the sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Let it cool to room temperature.
Cut the lemon in half, squeeze in the juice, and add the lemon halves (pips are fine). Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
Remove the flowers from the stalks and dunk them into the liquid. You can also place the flower heads upside down so the stems stick out of the water.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to steep for 24 hours.
Line a large sieve with a muslin cloth and set it over a clean jug. Ladle in the mixture to strain out the solids.
Pour the filtered liquid into sterilised bottles, leaving about 3 cm of space at the top. Keep lids loose to allow gas to escape. If using corks or flip tops, open daily to release pressure (aka "burping").
Don’t worry if bubbles don’t appear right away — it can take several days. Still, burp the bottles daily just in case.
Ready to drink after 10–14 days. Once fizzy, seal tightly and store in a cool, dark place for up to a few months.
Delicate, floral, and naturally sparkling — perfect over ice with a slice of lemon.
It’s floral, nostalgic, and tastes like early summer.
