Hey Laurel & Christopher! Please tell us a little about how you met and how you decided to start your brand, “I Love Factory”?
Christopher: We met through mutual friends. Laurel had just moved up to New York from Texas and she knew a few Texans that I had been hanging out with. We have always had a mutual love for fashion and costumes. When we first started hanging out we would spend a few hours before going out making Laurel custom headgear to match her outfit for the night. Immediately we started to get a lot of people complimenting the head pieces and we decided that it was a great idea to grow the idea into a brand.
What was the first piece you came up with?
Christopher: At first we were experimenting with a lot of different techniques, trying to find the right looks for the collection. The first piece that we created was really far off from what the first collection ‘Parklife Society’ eventually evolved into. It was made out of some burlap we discovered in the way back of a very chaotic fabric store that we painted red and yellow (love that combination!), a vintage patch with a creepy crow on it, and a few black feathers.
How do your talents combine, are you each responsible for specific steps or is the process a joint effort?
Laurel: We like to keep it as a collaborative effort. One of our best attributes as a design team is that we pick up on each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
What are the main components that go into each headpiece?
Christopher: First and most importantly is the foundation, which is what makes each piece strong, flexible and resilient. Once that is completed we build the design around it. Be it silk chiffon, satin, leather or flowers.
In the first collection ‘Parklife Society’ our color palette was almost all creams and blacks. We both wanted to emulate a very classic, chic style. Using fabrics such as satin, silk chiffon, taffeta and leather. And then embellished with feathers, veiling vintage buttons, antique costume jewels and pearls, and cameos. In the second collection we wanted things be a little more fun so we used splashes of color and metallics. We used satin, but this time played with fabrics like tulle, silk flowers and lots of lace to give the pieces a lighter air. We embellished a few of the pieces with Swarovski crystals and hand-sewn copper sequins. Laurel and I loved all the lace we were seeing on the runway so we wanted to incorporate more of that.
We always want to keep the same aesthetic so that when you see an I Love Factory piece you know it’s I Love Factory. And with each collection add or take away certain elements as we see fit to make sure it’s always new and always fresh. Our goal is to always make the collections timeless and season-less so that it will be a piece of art that you not only own forever but also wear forever.
How many styles do you work on that never make it into the collection?
Christopher: We do so many custom pieces and those are never part of the collections. They usually stay at the showroom as inspiration for future custom pieces, or for press or as part of Laurel’s personal collection.
Millinery was big in NYC amongst tenement residents during the late 1800’s, given the current state of the economy do you think we’ll see a resurgence in hand crafted goods?
Christopher: Millinery is something that should be done by hand and made specific. I think right now more than ever people are craving accessories and clothing that is made by hand. They can appreciate the time and effort that goes into making each piece. There is so much clutter out there and if you are going to spend money on something it should be exceptional quality, evoke emotion and be timeless.
We can see your pieces worn by ladies at the historic Kentucky Derby, do events like these inspire specific designs?
Christopher: Not specifically, but that may be since we have never attended one. We do admire a big event like the Kentucky Derby where people have such freedom of costume.
If your work was the lovechild of two people who would they be?
Laurel: I think it would be all those French new–wave movies but if John Waters were directing them instead, and Alice and Wonderland and crew were styling.
Christopher: I am going to say Marie Antoinette and F. Scott Fitzgerald while writing the Great Gatsby.
Who are your favorite artists and designers?
Christopher: In terms of menswear my favs are Hedi Slimane and Miuccia Prada. My favorite musician and muse is ivana xl. She is really creating her own style.
Laurel: Rei Kawakubo and Christian Lacroix.
What’s currently your favorite hangout?
Laurel: The factory and the deli that accepts credit cards.
Visit Christopher and Laurel’s collections online: www.ilovefactorybk.com
-by Katy Bagli
