There has always been one thing that really bothers me about the fashion industry - the waste. Starting with sampling, we make patterns, cut that pattern in muslin, sew it together, make adjustments, make a new pattern and sew it into a sample. Of all of that, only the final pattern and sample are not going to get thrown out. Move onto production - when pieces are cut out they are put on a marker. A marker is each pattern piece of each size spread out across the fabric to utilize as much fabric as possible. But there is still always waste, and always leftover fabric. Much of this goes into the trash. Next is shipping out production - pieces are tagged, wrapped in tissue, and poly-bags to be as protected as possible while they travel to shops. The shops then unpack each item, throwing out the poly bags and the tissue paper.
There is a green movement in fashion, trying to cut waste, but no matter what, it will always be a waste-heavy industry. To minimize my own waste as a designer, I've begun taking scraps and turning them into wearable pieces instead of letting it go to the trash. I plan to expand this effort, but for now, I'm making jewelry out of leather scraps that are too small to use for anything else. Adding a little bit of whimsy to my designs, customers can now buy hand cut leather skull and unicorn earrings - this is only the beginning. While I continue on with Linden, there will be many limited or one of a kind hand made items that I will use predominantly leftovers to produce.
I have this fascination with anything that can be deemed ugly, ridiculous or absurd. Ugly is the best word for this rant though. At a point in my life, I realized that I want everything to have a chance to be beautiful. An ugly fabric for example, if used in the right way, could become a beautiful garment. (I also like to remember that calling a print or a pattern ugly could be demeaning that textile designer's masterpiece - unless they're like me and they kind of dig ugly). For many years I have recollected the famed Warhol line, "if everybody is a beauty, then nobody is", and considered its meaning. Warhol's obsession with mass production pointed out that when we are given too much of something, it loses what makes it special, so if everyone looked like a standard beauty, we would all be the same and therefore unattractive. I think about this concept, and I look for the beauty in things that would not otherwise be considered as such. There's been an ongoing joke in my life that those of you who know me well are aware of - I like to collect ugly things, including the men I find attractive (to clarify, I don't mean to say I go after ugly men, I just have such different tastes from my friends that it has led me to believe I pursue the off beat type and not the "standard", I personally find them very attractive). Similarly, I am notorious for wanting the granny furniture because I want to give it a chance to be loved, or picking up the ugliest dress in a store because I need to know if it looks better on the body than on the hanger, or finding the ugliest art and believing it should belong to me because it is so ridiculous, or wanting the ugliest animal in the pet shop because it's so ugly that it's cute.
People talk about soul mates, and how there is someone out there for everyone, I like to think there is something out there for everyone. As a designer, no matter what you design, someone out there will like it - even if it's really only just one person. Creating is a beautiful thing as long as it fulfills something in someone, even if everyone else in the world thinks what you have created is ugly.
I've designed 3 seasons now. Each season I've learned more about the business, more about how to relate to my (or any) pattern maker, more about the types of fabrics I want to use, and more about what I do best. While I really do like this last collection, I think I got a little lost trying to fill several categories and be marketable in all of them. The pieces do go together and work together, but somewhere along the line I lost my original intention, and now its time to regroup.
The interesting thing I learned post trade show is something I'd suspected after my second collection - my leggings have the potential to be my design niche in the fashion world. I'm actually really amused by this because a few years back when leggings began to make their way back into mainstream fashion, I absolutely resisted. I resisted skinny jeans too though, and I think it had to do with adjusting my mind set toward a new silhouette. But now, here I am, hoping to finalize larger orders on leggings. It's definitely made me start to rethink the direction I take the line in, or at least it gives me something to design around for the next couple of season. Basically, expect less silk, more cotton, leather, and lace.
On a somewhat related note - Keri Hilson was the host of the official Grammy's after party this year, where she was wearing the original Linden moto leggings (pulled by her stylist from Gather, 630 S Main St Los Angeles CA 90014 - www.gatherla.com). Here's the best photo I could find via google, but I'm working on getting a better one.
I'm officially exhausted. Fabrics I'd custom ordered from UK weavers Joshua Ellis showed up a mere 6 days before my fall 2011 deadline - stressing out not only me, but my pattern maker too. That small amount of time means no margin for error, no time to deal with possible fabric errors, and a serious rush on samples that would otherwise have more time. If the fabrics had shown up any later, those samples may never have been completed, and those pieces turned out to be some of my favorite in the collection, so what a relief that they came in! WHEW
Aside from running all over the city trying to get everything done on time, fighting the computer trying to create line sheets for the trade show, and sewing some accessories on my domestic machine at home, I'd been struggling with how expensive starting a company can be, and decided it was time to get a part time job - which I started this week - my craziest week
So basically I'm too tired to write anything interesting, but hey, here are some pics!
So today it's my oldest sister Carrie's birthday. It got me thinking about the influence a sibling might have on something like artistic development.
The way it has always seemed to me, Carrie sees the world differently than your average person. Her sense of style has never been dictated by any magazine, the art she enjoys has little to do with how much it costs or how reputable the artist is, and she has a love of the absurd that is both frustrating and admirable. As a teenager she would write esoteric and often disturbing short stories to traumatize me with, but the thing about each story was how incredibly original each one was. I will never forget when she took one of my childhood books about a horse and her hat and turned it into a cautionary tale of a horse who wanted to fly with the birds, got her wish, and suffered the consequences (amputated legs replaced with dixie cups). I was so influenced by this story, I did a project on it in college. It's because of these things, that I think Carrie has contributed to my ability and need to think for myself.
To this day, and sometimes to my mother's chagrin, my sister still maintains some of her childhood tastes, sometimes buying ridiculous necklaces meant for kids or silly tshirts not intended for her market. It's these types actions that have influenced me over the years. At one point I realized that I really love to take ugly things and give them a chance to be beautiful, or that I really like to take things that should not go together, and find harmony in their unlikely pairing. I sometimes think this came from a youthful desire to be like my older sister with her well rounded and often bizarre interests and tastes. That's not to say she is without taste, it is simply unique to her and definitely to be appreciated.
So I finally tracked down a video of the fashion show I was privileged enough to be in last November - it was on YouTube - who knew?
Since it was my very first solo show, I thought I'd share a bit about it.
It all happened very fast - I responded to a craigslist ad on a sunday, and was selected to be in the show that evening. Tuesday I met with the stylist and the models where we chose the outfits for each of the girls. Of course, the stylist and I didn't exactly see eye to eye on the concept, but that wasn't important - what was important was that Linden was having a public debut in Hollywood.
A really interesting thing has happened in LA - its so common for clubs and bars to put on fashion shows year round and not just be dedicated to organized tents and runways during fashion week. It's a little refreshing, actually, for small designers to have venues where their clothing can be seen by the consumers themselves and not just the fashion elite.
So back on track, I showed up at the venue early - too early of course - parked*, and rolled racks into the venue. I spent the next several hours with my mother and some backstage assistants steaming while the models had hair and makeup done, and then dressing the models once they were ready. And then, we were all ready...and still ready...and still ready. So we had a bit of a late start, but when it finally happened, I was backstage with the dressers, my stomach in knots, my hands shaking, and finally it was done and I had to walk out and wave at the crowd. I stood out there for the finale with the models for what felt like ages, I could hear my close friends and family screaming every time I looked in their direction. I went backstage, took some photos with the models and then joined the party where I had an excited group of friends waiting for me. I'd never felt more justified in my choice to start a line than right there when I heard about the audience reaction from my friends, and even got to see the stunned looks on their faces. Truly a memorable experience.
**It was almost a perfect night until about 30 minutes after the show I was asked to clean up the backstage area. I packed everything up and took it all to my car, to learn I'd been towed. WIN!
I'm currently in a lull as far as what is required of me. Right now all I have to do are run a few errands to complete production, and wrap up the details of the next season so everything is ready for the trade show. I'm just waiting for fabrics to come in, and doing technical drawings for line sheets. (For those of you that don't know, line sheets are booklets companies provide to buyers that include technical flat drawings, fabric content, sizes available, colors, wholesale prices, delivery dates, and can include retail prices as well.) Aside from that, there's some business end things to do before the end of the month - but all of those things together, there's not much to do that requires concentration. My mind has been wandering - and has landed on this video:
Basically, I'm already plotting next season and its all inspired by Ida Maria
