LA Fashion Week

Wow, the last few weeks have been overwhelming! Last thursday, October 11th, 2012, Linden had its first ever LA Fashion Week show with Project Ethos. All the necessary drama ensued, including models dropping out the morning of the show, 10 designers backstage but 1 outlet to plug in a steamer (in the ladies room of course), and the terrifying quick changes happening between shows. Will the girls make it to the runway on time? YES! Instead of inundating you with stories of stress and terror, just enjoy these photos of the fruits of my labor. I could not be more thrilled with how this show turned out. A huge thanks to my models, Project Ethos, and everyone who attended. Make sure to check out the new online boutique at www.lindenca.com and enjoy a 15% discount off your next purchase with code: ProjectEthos to celebrate this exciting LA Fashion Week debut.

Also check out the lines of fellow exhibitors and new friends, Lawren Michele and Collective26. Those girls put on some good shows!

Hero: Elsa Schiaparelli

Day 3 at the Pool Trade Show in Las Vegas and I have been inspired by a fashion history lesson I basically exploded onto my unwilling student/helper/roommate to take a moment and just acknowledge the greatness that was Elsa Schiaparelli. I wont word vomit the same lesson on all of you, so instead, pictures:

She was just amazing. Thank you for shocking pink, lobster dresses, shoe hats, and so much more.

American Psycho

Just over a month ago I quit the full time day job and just about 18 days ago I decided that without a single sample ready, I would show a Spring 2013 collection at Pool TradeShow in Las Vegas. So what did I do? I buckled down and worked my freaking butt off to produce one of the best collections I've ever put together.












The only way to do that after being burnt out from the day job was to have some kickass inspiration. I looked to one of my favorite authors and one of the most well written and disturbingly visual books, American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. Without going into an epic analysis of what I think the book means, I took a couple of different ideas from the main character, Patrick Bateman.

1. True identities vs how we want to be perceived

2. Open wounds, both literal and metaphorical

3. Piecing together an outward presentation of perfection while internally struggling with the imperfections

4. A nod to the Patrick Bateman wardrobe








In less than 3 weeks I have 23 pieces, a look book, and have debuted the collection here in Las Vegas today!

Have a look at some of the looks from the shoot!

Locals Only

A couple of weeks ago I was in Las Vegas. For some reason, shopping in Vegas always seems better than shopping at home - even if you're shopping in all of the same stores. There we were, at The Fashion Show mall near the Wynn rifling through racks at, first, Forever 21, then H&M, then TopShop (granted we do not have one in LA yet) and I got really sad. Wandering through the land of mass production, the world of everyone wearing the same boring look and then tossing it in the trash and updating it weeks later at another fast fashion shop, was breaking my heart. How is there nothing interesting out there anymore, how is it that fast fashion has become an acceptable way to clothe yourself - bringing home the latest trends moments after you see them in magazines and losing our individuality all over again. I even find myself putting together the weirdest outfits these days because I'm so sick of looking like everything else out there. I want to help promote a change. Lets all own different things, made on a smaller scale so you know it's special and fairly unique to who you are!

A few months ago i decided I was going to do my best to support garments manufactured at the very least, in the country the brands hail from - this cut down my shopping significantly. No Forever 21, no H&M, but also take away my favorite Helmut Lang, most of what is sold at Bloomingdales, Saks, Neimans, Ron Herman, etc. It's pretty stunning how much high end merchandise is manufactured in China, Indonesia, Turkey, India, Taiwan, and who knows where else. As a Los Angeles based manufacturer I know it's not impossible to do it here and to do it for a reasonable price, so I find myself disappointed that some of the most expensive lines out there can't figure out how to manufacture locally. Is it greed? Volume? Quality? The reasons don't matter to me much anymore. I have simply begun to care more about a local economy. If you are going to spend your money on something, maybe it should be toward promoting jobs in your own city. I know that Linden is not the only local line out there, so I want to know who else manufactures here and is worth knowing about. Not just fashion, but any product manufactured in this city. I created a facebook community page just to see who else is interested in this, who else feels passionately about it. Share with me and the rest of this LA loving community who has a business worth checking out. Click the link below, like the page, and please suggest LA local designers and manufacturers you love!

MadeInLosAngeles - click this link to find the new facebook page

Shameless self promotion: T-shirt edition

Basics are basics, yes but a good t-shirt is seriously important to a complete wardrobe. Yes, it's true, sometimes we all copy each other in fashion, but as a very serious t-shirt snob, I pulled 3 different t-shirts and copied different aspects from each. There was the body of one, the neckline of another, and the sleeve of a 3rd, and then I modified it all over again once the first sample was complete. I sourced some really amazing lightweight supima cotton (basically the best of the best soft cozy cotton), ordered a ton of it (made in los angeles!), had it preshrunk (yes so that when you wash your t-shirt it will not shrink, but just go back to its original shape), and used it to create what I called the perfect t-shirt.

Here are the keys to the fit

1. Rounded out and yes, low cut, v-neck makes this a woman's v-neck t-shirt and not one for your average douchy hipster dude rockin some man cleavage (guys always tell me they love to wear women's t-shirts, they like the fit - until they try mine - these are really for us ladies only)

2. The length crosses the hips so you will never look obscene rocking this basic with some leggings (this was obviously intentional as I also specialize in some rock star leggings)

3. The fit in the body cuts in slightly at the waist so you still have a shape underneath this loose fitting comfy but still somehow sexy basic tshirt.

Want proof? Look who's wearing it

Swimsuit Model Joanna Krupa wears the
Linden Basic Tee in Black

A very pregnant Katie Aselton of
"The League" wears the
 Linden Basic Tee in Black

Katrina Law of "Sparticus" makes it look SO
easy with the Linden Basic Tee in White

Sometimes I really like to have fun with those basic t-shirts and completely destroy them. I hand carve block prints and then work with a soldering iron to burn and distress the t-shirts. If you buy one of these items from any stores, I hand distressed each of them with love and an evil grin while I burn each and every singed whole into these tshirts!

Alexandra Chando of "The Lying Game"
 wears the Distressed Linden Tee in Black

Stella Maeva of "The Runaways" wears the
Exposed Ribs T-shirt in Acid Yellow

And then of course there was the modification of the perfect t-shirt, to create the perfect muscle tee. The neckline is the same, but here is a sleeveless t-shirt that ends just past the waist making it perfect for tucking into high waisted skirts, or perfect for a jeans and a t-shirt look!

Cameron Richardson wears the Linden
Muscle Tee in Black

Eloise Mumford of "The River" wears the
Linden Muscle Tee in White 

Janina Gavankar of "True Blood" wears the
Linde Muscle Tee in White

Grunge Aesthetic

I have no real affinity for country music, nor do I care to rock any western styles, but my two inspirations for Fall 2012 led me to a grunge rock cowgirl.

Initially I had searched for images of 1920's lingerie and antique pistols. The pistols inspired a laser cut leather lace that trims much of the collection as well as some of the rough edges, and the lingerie is referenced in some kimono-esque shapes based on lightweight robes as well as placement of the leather lace. But the surprise addition was a floral print fabric I stumbled on before I started to produce my samples.

The fabric is a double face, which essentially means 2 different fabrics woven together. Each side of the fabric has its own pattern, and each a beautifully muddled floral. I pretty much geeked out when I saw this fabric. It is a little 70s in the color way, but also a little bit 90s in it grungy floral pattern. Perhaps I have mentioned before that my formative fashion years were during the grunge rock years. I've never outgrown an offensive floral print paired with combat boots, and I'm certain I never will. I could not resist it, I had to buy it and knew right away how it would fit into the collection. It wound up defining the look I had created for the season and thus the grunge rock cowgirl became my look for fall 2012

So if you are keeping track, my fashion obsessions are:

- muddy florals
- combat boots
- leather
- obnoxious colors

Decisions

I'm coming up on my 4th round of manufacturing, and I'd like to think i've learned a lot in the last 2.5 years. I've learned why some items sell slower than others. I've learned that buyers are often looking for a deal because their customers are looking for a deal. I've learned that I often have to undervalue some of my pieces in order to put them into stores, or perhaps what I have actually learned there is that things need to be pristinely manufactured in order to deserve their appropriate price tag. All of these lessons are coming into play right now as I decide what to manufacture.

I do not automatically manufacture everything I design for each season because some things just don't make sense. My production runs are small and I manufacture locally so my costs are not really that low. (That said, my prices are significantly lower than those "high end" manufacturers who make everything in china!) Often, I find that the cost to manufacture dictates a selling price way more than what most of my customers would be willing to spend! 

Here are a few examples of items that would never have sold at their appropriate selling price

This silk camisole would retail for something like $200 and it's really hard to wear a bra under it. Would any of you out there pay that much for a silk cami?

This skirt doesn't have such a bad retail price, still winding up under $300, but how many women would rock both the porthole wasteband AND the fluttering layers on their hips. I designed it and I think it is actually flattering, but after working in retail for many years I know far too many women are incredibly insecure about wearing anything that might make them look wider. Any takers on this one?  

This one I am still debating. These leggings are from my fall 2012 collection, due out in stores in just a couple months. The contrast panels on this new version of the leggings are custom designed (by me of course) laser cut leather lace. The laser cutting process is by no means inexpensive and that puts these signature Linden leggings at a retail value of $385. Limited edition or not (there might be a grand total of 50 of these out there should I decide to make them), unless you are a recognized brand name it is hard to get someone to spend almost $400 on a pair of leggings. 

The image above brings me to my point about making a decision. I mentioned once before that I found a machine washable fish leather. It is completely sustainable (except for the part where it has to be shipped from iceland) because it requires only hot water for the tanning process and the plant is situated on natural hot springs so there is no excess energy wasted in heating the water. And oh, did I mention, MACHINE WASHABLE LEATHER! It is scaled and has a beautiful exotic look and also comes in a variety of colors. Where's the catch? It is not cheap. I have had a number of people asking me to recut the original Linden moto leggings (right), but the people asking are referring to the original washed lambskin leggings at a price of $225, but these leggings cut with fish leather may retail much closer to $400 as well. (This also takes into account that i have switched to a way better manufacturer but at a slightly higher cost) But just imagine them in steely grey, or bright red and obviously, black. Would you wear them? Would you pay that price tag for them? I always try to keep in mind that brands like Helmut Lang manufacture leather leggings for about $1000 (yes i know they are all leather and not just partial like mine) and those are not made locally. 

it's time to decide - order the fish leather, or not?  

I'm back, or trying to be

It has been some time since i've written anything at all for this blog and I would almost feel guilty if I had some kind of regular readership, but alas I believe that is not the case as I never post so nobody is really going to stumble onto my blog. That is all going to change! I think, or hope.

Where have i been?
As many aspiring entrepreneurs must do, I have been working a day job in order to pay for the business i so dearly want to succeed. So I work in a store in Beverly Hills. I was only working part time up until december (and when was my last post?) until I got promoted. To be clear I was not interested in being promoted. I was quite happy being an incredibly overqualified keyholder training people to work above me, but my boss convinced me it was the right move and I guess my eyes were filled with dollar signs, because I agreed. So now I am in charge of other people, and in charge of my line, and somehow I am supposed to be social, and involved in family obligations (a sisters wedding quickly approaching and a grandmother moving closer to be near the family), maintain a healthy active lifestyle, eat well, clean my house, and still have time to sleep. So long story short, this will be my outlet for the time being (meaning i plan to whine here a lot) and a place to muse about my current creative shortcomings, bounce ideas off of people who will hopefully some day one day read my blog and COMMENT on it, and perhaps work out the details of opening a Linden store in the (hopefully very) near future.

but so its not all just whining, here's a photo of linden stuff