They say necessity is the mother of all invention. When it was too dark, we needed light. When it was too cold, we needed heat. When walking was too far, we needed vehicles. And when stores don’t provide us with interesting things to wear, we need to make our own clothes! Jessica Louise is an independent fashion designer making magic in a studio based in L.A. She’s never been the kind of girl who liked trying on clothes and she’s never been completely satisfied with what stores had to offer.
So when she found her self longing for something more expressive to wear, a little more fun and certainly much more unique, she decided to take matters into her own hands and began sewing and manufacturing clothes for her self. Soon she developed an unexpected passion for the craft and began sewing for friends, family and whoever requested a tailored garment by her. Fast forward a few years, and this DIY entrepreneur is working diligently to fulfill online orders, wholesale accounts and more!
She’s had celebrities such as Avril Lavigne pictured wearing her designs as well as been featured in an iPod ad in which a model wore one of her most popular items, the Contrast Bear Zip Up hoodie. Her creations are flying off the racks at a select few stores throughout the country and she’s working round the clock to keep the buzz going. Thankfully, in the middle of sewing and manufacturing something fabulous, I’m sure, Jessica took the time to chat with me on the phone about her company, her inspirations and her future plans as the next big thing in the world of do-it-yourself fashion.
Tell me a little background about yourself and how you got started.
Jessica Louise: I was raised by a single mom in Santa Cruz, CA and my mom is an art education professor for Santa Cruz State University and has been for the last 19 years. So, I was always encouraged to be artistic growing up because she’s an artist too. I just kind of started doing fashion on a whim. I don’t know if most girls are like this, but I hate clothes shopping and trying on clothes. I worked for Betsey Johnson for five years and was the head sales girl and I wouldn’t even try on clothes there. I would just get my size that I thought I was and bring it home and try it on later. I just kind of started making clothes out of convenience for my self, because I would have an idea for something that I wanted, and then I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I was just like, okay, I’ll just try to make it. My sewing skills have definitely improved over the last five years [laughs]. I’ve been sewing since I was eight years old and I have an old Singer sewing machine that my mom got me.
So you’ve had no formal training?
I have never taking a sewing class in my life. I’ve never taken a fashion design class or pattern making class, nothing.
You’re completely self taught then…
Yeah, I mean I’ve taken art classes and I was a studio arts major in college and I was a printmaker. So I’ve done etching and lithography and illustrating fine arts and the silk screening so like, you know, if you know how to silk screen you can silk screen a t-shirt; it’s a little bit different than doing paper but it’s basically the same principle
So how did you get started with the company?
I started making clothes for my self and like my roommate and people just started wanting my stuff. I think every sort if indie designer starts off just making custom pieces, and I didn’t have size ranges or anything. I just made everything that fit me [laughs], because I didn’t have a dress form or anything so everything was size small and I do custom pieces with just special fabrics that I just buy a couple yards of. I put them in a shop in Silver Lake called Sirens And Sailors in Los Angeles, I had them on consignment, and then my friend worked at a store in San Francisco and I started doing consignment there and I just got a really amazing response. After a while I was doing trunk shows every six months up there and I started to be able to pay my rent. It was amazing. I was working four of the weirdest jobs ever, and trying to do my line, so when it got to the point where I could just do my clothing line and not have to do a side job it was amazing.
That must be great to get to that point.
Yeah but it takes a lot of hard work. I didn’t ever think I was going to be super successful at something I’ve never had any training on. Something that became a passion of mine and I was able to be creative and it made me feel happy to be, not having to answer to anybody; I don’t have to pay attention to what trends are or what other people are doing because I just have always wanted to do my own thing, so it’s kind of liberating but it’s also scary because now I’m just like, ‘Okay, this is my career.’ So now I have to do things a different way and I’ve definitely learned its trial and error and everyday I learn something new, still.
So how would you describe your clothes to someone who has never seen them?
Kind of like story book, bright colors and really girly with a little bit of an edge
Who are some of your favorite designers, past or present, that you pull inspiration from?
Who I really admire a lot is Betsey Johnson. I get like, ‘Okay, I can do any colors I want. I can do bright colors and do things that make me happy.’ That’s something that I just learned from working for Betsey for so long and I’ve met her a bunch of times and she’s just an amazing artist.
I actually had the chance to go to one of her fashion shows in Bryant Park for Fashion Week.
How was it?
It was the most amazing thing that I’ve ever been to in my entire life. It was just so much fun.
That’s another thing about her too. She makes it fun and not serious, because people in fashion tend to take them selves so seriously and it’s like, I’m sorry, but a garment is not going to solve world hunger or whatever. The reason that I make clothes is because I, in my small way, can make a girl feel good about them selves, or they feel cute or special in one of my garments and that’s another inspiration for me too. If I can make someone feel good about them self, and make them feel attractive in any way, I feel that that’s my job and if I’m too serious about it, it kind of defeats the purpose.
So what would you say is your favorite fashion era?
Gosh I don’t know. I like elements from everything, except maybe not the 80s so much. I’m not really into acid washed jeans. But probably, I think the 50s because there was a lot of detailing in the 40s and 50s and the fitted garments. The 90s in Japanese fashion was really cool to me; all their shapes were really cute and all their street wear stuff was really cool.
If you could only wear one designer for the rest of your life, not including your self, who would it be and why?
Vivian Westwood. She’s really classic. The shapes are really classic and they’re a little bit edgy and all the pieces are beautiful and I think her work is incredible. She’s another huge inspiration to me, just her perseverance and who she is – she’s a fashion icon. I got to meet her once too. I worked for her son’s company for eight months and she used to pop in the store in Los Angeles.
Now, on your website you mention that most of your items are cut to order. So does somebody place an order and you make it specifically for them rather than having it in stock, is that how it works?
Yeah, because I want to be able to offer things to my customers that they can’t go buy in a store, you know. I do have wholesale accounts too and other stores and other websites order stuff and carry my line, but I like to have special stuff for my customers.
So is it only a few certain things that are like that?
A lot of stuff on my website is cut and sew. I’m starting to outsource and I’m having stuff manufactured other places and I have contractors that I use. I have a sweatshirt called the Contrastor Hoodie, it’s like a little sweatshirt with little bear ears, I get so many orders for those that there’s no way I could cut and sew those because I have to order like 200 of those at a time, so I obviously have to have someone make it. But if I don’t get a lot of orders for something I can’t put it into production and keep it in stock, but I want to be able to offer special things for my customers so I have a wait time on my website because a lot of things are still cut and sew.
How long does it take from the time that somebody orders something until you can make it and ship it out?
Generally one to two weeks.
Oh that’s not bad at all. I was thinking you were going to say a month or two!
No! I mean if it’s a huge amount of stuff, I do have a couple of customers that have been my customers for a long amount of time, and if they order 20 garments it will take me a little bit longer but they already know that. And if someone orders a large amount of stuff I can usually split ship where I ship half of it so they have it right away. I’m trying to really cut down my production time and get caught up, which is hard sometimes, but I’m trying to keep it between one and two weeks, if not sooner.
In doing some research I saw that you’ve had a lot of press and a lot of attention devoted to your designs. I’ve seen that Avril Lavigne was pictured wearing your clothes and you were in an iPod ad…
Yeah it was in an article in Time Magazine on the invention of the year and the picture that they chose was of a girl wearing the bear hoodie and talking on the iPhone. I didn’t even know about that – one of my customers told me about that. I get a lot of people that tell me, ‘Oh, did you see this?’ and they send me the magazine. I had Avril wearing one of my shirts on the cover of Japanese Rolling Stone and I would have never seen that except that there are girls in Japan who wear my clothes and know what my stuff looks like, and in another magazine, In Rock, she was on the cover wearing another piece.
So what’s your reaction to all of this?
I don’t know; it’s great! Any kind of press is good press. It’s nice to know that people appreciate what I’m doing.
Do you only make clothing or do you have shoes, handbags, swimwear…
I’m starting to do that kind of stuff and I just partnered with a licensing company so we’re trying to get more different hard case goods; I want to do toys and all that stuff.
Your line is carried in a couple of different retail stores throughout the country; do you have your own store or do you just work out of a studio?
I just have a studio in downtown Los Angeles and eventually I hope to have a street shop, but it’s me and one other person running the company so it’s hard to do everything…
Obviously success doesn’t happen overnight, so do you have any advice for up-and-coming designers?
I’ll get so many positive emails or nice messages, and then sometimes I’ll get the meanest thing ever with someone just saying that I suck or my clothes are ugly; you’re going to get negative feedback and you’re going to have times when you’re not feeling creative or you’re not where you want to be and you just have to be in it for your self. If you start something, anything, and you’re just in it to make money, especially if it’s an artistic career, that’s the wrong motivation. You should be doing it because you love it and it’s your passion and just know that if you work hard and be perseverant that you’re going to get somewhere no matter what.
Now this is just for fun. I know you’re engaged so are you designing your own wedding dress and bride’s maid dresses or are you having someone else do it?
Oh yeah! I’ll definitely do the drawings but I’m going to have someone else sew them.
Obviously fashion is a form of expressionism – it’s art. So what do your clothes say about you?
If you know me at all and you know my personality, I’m pretty easy-going and I think that my clothes are pretty expressive and light hearted. I just feel like its just fun and not serious and to make you feel good.
To check out Jessica’s designs you can visit her online store at shopjessicalouise.com
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