When looking to create a video to showcase her current collection, jewelry designer Michelle Lane tapped into her editorial past. As a stylist for Nylon and Teen Vogue, she had greatly admired Swedish-born, Paris-based photographer Louise Enhörning’s work but location had prohibited collaboration. This time around, Michelle resolved the continental divide by selecting to shoot in the City of Light. Set to a soundtrack composed by Annie Hart of Au Revoir Simone, the film—making its editorial debut here—captures the covetable aura of Paris in the springtime with the model Pihla Hintikka dreamily absorbing the city’s charms, both in Marais and on Il Saint Louis, in ladylike looks by the Australian brand Lover and, of course, accessories by Michelle Lane.

Images by David Black

All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects & feelings which motivated it.

At the time the artist, poet, playwright and cultural renaissance man Jean Cocteau uttered the above statement in 1918, “music” usually meant the ragtime beats and upbeat lyrics of Irving Berlin or the jazzy stylings of Shelton Brooks. In fact, by the time Jean died in 1963, rock’n’roll was still a baby: Elvis had just conquered mainstream America and the Beatles were barely a blip on the radar. But like all profound truths, his proclamation stands the test of time; great music, like any influential creative expression, evokes and reveals life’s visceral experiences.

Twice yearly, Brooklyn-based illustrator Jess Rotter—under the umbrella of Rotter + Friends—taps into this enigmatic relationship in reverse, creating an object (a graphic t-shirt) motivated by music. Demonstrating a particular affinity for the counter-culture, rock’n’roll movement of the mid-20th century, Jess’s past collections have featured musicians ranging from Captain Beefheart, Jim Ford and Neil Young to Christine McVie and Waylon Wood. This season, she took the symbiotic relationship a step further. Inspired by Lee Hazlewood, Jess collaborated with Light in the Attic Records to release a vinyl, Lee Hazlewood: The LHI Years, in tandem with her Spring 2012 tops featuring the singer-songwriter-producer.

Though best known for his work with Nancy Sinatra on “These Boots Were Made for Walking,” Lee was an acclaimed solo artist and influential record label owner, who latter-day artists like Beck and Sonic Youth looked to for guidance. Stylistically, his era-specific handlebar mustache served as an omnipresent signature. This summer, Jess and Light in the Attic also pay homage to an anthology of Lee’s colleagues, or what Jess calls “a compilation of country boot-cut heroes from 1969-1975,” with a corresponding tee and record. To mark the debut of the Lee Hazlewood project, Jess took a moment to elaborate on her method and muses.

Erin Dixon: Tell us about the path the led you to illustration.

Jess Rotter: Well, I went to college in Syracuse for painting and began my illustration career when I was living in London studying abroad—a long long time ago…ha. It was there I started scribbling for a British line called Birdie and when I moved back to New York City and couldn’t afford a studio for my massive canvases and oil paints, I started to work in “apartment friendly” mediums and garnered work for magazines, brands, stores and band merchandise.

Erin: How did Rotter + Friends come to be and who makes up the “friends” portion?

Jess: Rotter + Friends started in 2007, when I wanted to create a rock t-shirt line that didn’t depict the usual suspects we see over and over again from the 1960s and ’70s. I love Janis Joplin and The Doors, but there are so many other amazing musicians or treasures from the age of denim and flowers. That period of music is an obvious inspiration to my work and I wanted the drawings to act also as a warm discovery forum. If we can turn a person on to the power of Link Wray or Badfinger, that makes us truly beam. Records are our “friends,” right?

Erin: How do you select the artists featured on your tees?

Jess: I have a target list of so many bands I want to pay homage to that is ever changing, like a mood board. Lately our collaborations with Light In The Attic Records have been super rewarding, as the designs are approved directly by the artists’ families (since most of the musicians have passed away by now), and there is a vinyl re-issue as a companion to the piece put out from their label. My best friend Zach Cowie (DJ Turquoise Wisdom) is a major influence on the line, as he has turned me on to a lot of the bands we raise a pencil to through the years.

Erin: Tell us a little about your creative process when it comes to illustrating musicians and capturing music with pictures?

Jess: Well, I go through a really heavy research zone, looking through pictures, reading about the band, talking with friends. I usually spend a week or so not listening to anything else but that band or artist’s records at home with a big bottle of wine and my cell phone turned off. Well, I try to keep the cell phone off at least.

Erin: What is inspiring about Lee Hazlewood in particular?

Jess: Lee Hazlewood, the hunk with the booming baritone… Lee’s songwriting was really beneficial to the culture of the 1960s. What would we do without the song “These Boots Were Made For Walking” or “Summer Wine”? His work is legendary for bridging playboy rebellion, beauty and country class. I love the visual aspect of him as a legend. He wrote and performed memorable lasting jams with an iconic moustache, cigarette permanently hangin’ out of his mouth, two babes on each arm…brilliant. Do check out “My Autumns Done Come” one of my favorite Hazlewood songs…

Erin: Beyond Lee, who will you be listening to this summer and what will you be wearing?

Jess: This summer Light In The Attic is releasing Country Funk, a compilation of classic boot-cut jams from 1969-75. I illustrated the entire project, which includes a 20-page booklet and features tracks by Jim Ford, Bobbie Gentry and Tony Joe White. It’s a project near and dear to the heart. I will be also be listening to “Wild Life” by Wings on repeat, as per usual….

In 2010, Claire Distenfeld cold called the interior designer Ryan Korban. She had a project that only he—the visionary behind Alexander Wang’s Mercer Street store and numerous celebrity homes—could execute. Intrigued, Ryan listened and liked what he heard: Claire, a veteran of the art world, and her father, Fred, were planning to open a boutique on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They didn’t have a space, but they did have a concept: They wanted to pair Old World opulence with the contemporary avant-garde—to marry established designers with up-and-coming innovators. The connecting thread would be quality. The space might take a few cues from international flagships like 10 Corso Como or Colette, but it would retain a uniquely New York DNA. And the store’s design would reflect this unlikely fusion; the materials would be unduly elegant while the art and wares would provoke. Two years later, this past Wednesday night, Claire’s contemplation became a reality with the opening of Fivestory.

Situated in a landmark townhouse at 18 East 69th Street, just off Madison Avenue, Fivestory welcomes visitors with a winding staircase, checkerboard marble floors, shelves meticulously wrapped in supple grey suede, warm lighting and custom brass accents. “Every piece is custom,” a relieved Ryan emphatically assured me. He went on to add that unlike many projects he has worked on, the results perfectly reflect the original renderings, a statement Claire backed up, affirming, “Everything is exactly how I envisioned it.” The art ranges from contemporary photographs to classic sketches and abstract paintings. All of this, ultimately, serves to contextualize the retail offerings, which tie back to Claire’s original concept. On the first floor, print masters Timo Weiland and Risto hang alongside Carven and Lyn Devon, while the second floor highlights more radical articles—frocks from Russian newcomer Vika Gazinskaya or literary clutches from Olympia Le-Tan, for example. Meanwhile, menswear incorporates a number of hard-to-find Japanese labels, with a children’s section, colorful “shoe garden” and homewares rounding out the familiar-foreign mix.

Ken Kaufman and Isaac Franco. Images by Paolo di Lucente

In a decade in which designers and stylists have become synonymous and celebrity status typically receives more media attention than sartorial skill, Isaac Franco and Ken Kaufman, the designers behind the New York-based womenswear label KAUFMANFRANCO, are of a different school. They come from an era when you were required to pay your dues and put in your time—an age when creativity and competence were coveted over fame.

As other international luxury brands barrage customers with Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and Tumblr blogs, the pair actively avoids “overexposure.” They prefer their designs speak for themselves, and they believe that a sense of discovery is a key component of desirability. Though they launched their label in 2004, the partners didn’t even take on PR until last year. And when they finally made the move, they selected The Musmanno Group to represent them. Notably, the firm is helmed by the nuanced and cerebral Elizabeth Musmanno, a veteran of Christian Dior Couture, Vera Wang and Oscar de la Renta, who takes pride in working with brands that display an inexhaustible passion for and dedication to their craft.

The designers’ commitment to excellence includes over 25 years of side-by-side industry experience, starting with the pair’s meeting in the studios of Pringle. Together Ken and Isaac have designed for brands ranging from Valentino to Anne Klein to Ungaro. At KAUFMANFRANCO they combine these experiences with their own distinct aesthetic DNA, creating concurrently tailored, elegant and easy daywear and sensual eveningwear that is simultaneously raw and refined, handcrafted and high-tech. A similarly impressive balance is also found in the designers’ relationship. They are best friends who finish each others’ sentences at the same time they openly disagree on whether animal skins are appropriate for next season and who’s better at filling out FedEx labels.

Erin Dixon: Tell me about meeting at Pringle. Originally, what was it about your respective work that drew you together?

Isaac Franco: We have nothing in common actually (laughs). We don’t even like each other.

Ken Kaufman: I just thought he was cute and he just didn’t want me to compete with him. He was so talented, I just…

Isaac: I had never seen such a beautiful portfolio.

Erin: And leading up to that point, what were your backgrounds?

Ken: Parsons…

Isaac: I got a degree in fine arts and I got a business degree from Skidmore, and then I went to the [Fashion Institute of Technology] for the accelerated knitwear program.

Erin: So how did you guys both land at Pringle?

Ken: Well, actually I was working for Gloria Sachs and then went to Pringle and then I was promoted. We worked on Geoffrey Beene sportswear and Pringle Scotland, and then I took on Pringle because it allowed you to travel internationally. So I hired Isaac as my assistant and that’s how it all began.

Erin: And going then to Valentino, what would you say you guys learned from him that you use today or looked at in developing your own collection?

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Ken: It was so involved…

Isaac: It was amazing how it was hand-touched, but it was still…

Ken:…a well-organized machine and the level of excellence did not have to slide based on the amount that they were involved in.

Isaac: There was also a lot of trust. He had his people who he trusted and he would tell them what he wanted and everyone would go marching away and come back with what he wanted. It was a machine, but he did see everything.

Ken: Touched everything.

Isaac: He came to work every day.

Ken: And he looked younger every time he came into the office. No, it was just the level of excellence. [It was] very in contrast to the more commercial approach of America. It was, “Guess what? Everything can matter.” And everything should matter: your hangtag, your label, your boutique, your runway presentation, what you print those pictures on, the offices… Everything was just to a level of excellence that had its own point of view and made sense.

Erin: How did that transition into your work at Anne Klein? Was the contrast what led you to start your own line or was the experience more about building upon your knowledge base?

Ken: In between we were at Bob Mackie, and that was a totally different experience of construction and doing other things and really being thrown out of the nest to figure it out. Then between Anne Klein and Valentino, we went to Ungaro with a much different group, much different price point and being able to source globally… Then when we hit Anne Klein, we got to see so much more with licensing and all the other products. There were furs, leather goods, home, high, low, shoes… There was everything. So I think it was sort of our “graduate degree.” We’d seen that taste before, but to say, “Ok, now I think we have enough experience…” Even though we never have enough experience… Let me tell you, we learned that lesson quick.

Isaac: Valentino was an organized company—or an organized mess, but it really wasn’t a mess in any way. Anne Klein was just a monster of messiness. You would have shoes at this price point that were called “Collection Label” and you would have twenty-nine-dollar scarves…

Ken: You would have seven hundred-dollar shoes and seven-dollar scarves. They were all the same to me, and we were doing a lot of aligning of products, so that was interesting.

Isaac: It was hard maintaining ground.

Ken: You sort of learned what not to do…

Isaac: It was one of the hardest working experiences of our career [but] it was great experience…

Ken: Oh my God; we learnt everything. Then it was definitely time to move on and say, “Okay, we’re getting old.”

Isaac: Put your money where your mouth is…

Ken: We got started on our own, and really we got started as a consultancy business, which was really fantastic. We didn’t start with KAUFMANFRANCO right away; we worked a few years with different people.

Isaac: Anything! (Laughs) It was wacko—it was fun!

Ken: It was fun, and then it led us to getting this space because we needed to house eight people for a project, and then we were like, “OK, it’s time.” So at the end of 2003, we launched.

Isaac: With a very solid business plan (laughs).

Ken: We didn’t even tell the stores. We didn’t plan. We didn’t make phone calls months before—it was like a few weeks before…

Isaac: You want to see some clothes? Okay!

Ken: (Laughs) A friend of ours said, “You know, you might need to get yourselves a sales person.” So, its funny, how every other experience you have, it goes out the window…

Erin: In culling all of those experiences, what became the mission? How did you decide what you wanted to do with KAUFMANFRANCO?

Ken: Well we just started making stuff. We started doing what we wanted to do.

Isaac: Yeah, but we knew we wanted her to be urban…

Ken: Yeah, but we never sat and said, “This is what is going to be…” We just knew we are who we were.

Isaac: We knew that evening was going to be a big part of what we do. We knew sportswear was just as important.

Ken: And we love body contouring. Then after actualizing things, I think we got a handle on things what would be the combo, the collision between the two of us. It’s the raw and the refined. It’s the hi-tech and the handcrafted. It is the mix of those things and that ying-yang. And she’s always going to be sexy. We want to be a dual gender brand; we want to be male or female…unisexual.

Erin: On your website, you say that the common thread is simplicity. So how do you evolve simplicity?

Ken: There’s complexity in our simplicity. I don’t know if it’s simplicity; it’s more of a sense of things being a little more streamlined. We won’t decorate things just for the sake of putting something there. There should be a functional reason. There’s a little more thought behind it. You know, a well-placed seam could be an article of decoration for us.

Isaac: It’s also the way you can just belt something and completely change the way it looks. You can change the simplicity of a jacket by the way you belt it. We’re not doing three-legged pants, so it’s how you put a twist to it.

Ken: We don’t want a costume. I don’t want someone running around in something that you look back on later and say, “What was I thinking?” We want you to always look at your photos and say, “I still love that! I remember that day; I felt sexy.”

Isaac: We want her to feel a certain way. So when we were starting with KAUFMANFRANCO, it was about: How do we want her to feel? We didn’t want it to be an overt sexiness; we wanted her to feel it from within.

Ken: A sensuality over sexiness. There’s a lot of sexy out there but it’s that fine balance of knowing when to rev that up. We love being right on that tightrope of good girl/bad girl—is she good or is she bad? You know good girls, you know bad girls…ours really is right on the edge and keeps you wondering. It’s a hard place to find, a hard place to stay and play, but I think it’s definitely what we add to the marketplace.

Erin: In that raw-refined relationship, which one of you brings which element?

Ken: We definitely balance each other out. Everybody would be a pole dancer in my book, and Isaac keeps me a little bit more on the nice side of things. Right?

Isaac: Yeah, I’m a little more tasteful.

Ken: Very much more tasteful…but then there are times when it goes the other way.

Isaac: Yeah, it does go back. It makes it fun. It makes the collection more dimensional.

Erin: Traditionally, that attention to and appreciation of details and quality is more European. Have you found the American market appreciative of your dedication to creating more subtly beautiful products?

Ken: I think our client base totally understands and expects it. It’s a given; it’s not something that’s part of our mission. We want wonderful quality. We want great fit. We want wonderful fabrication. There is also a sense of discovery in the clothes. It may not be a overt, but we want her to look on the inside to see that there is a tattoo, or just a little something she can discover. That extra little thing just pushes it over the edge…

Erin: Are there certain things that each of you prefer to design? Does somebody prefer to design daywear or eveningwear?

Isaac: We like to do everything. We really do.

Ken: I love sculpted daywear and I love sexy leathers…

Isaac: I really enjoy it all as well. Certain seasons more so than others. Certain seasons, I just want to do day dresses—or I just want to do eveningwear using crepe.

Ken: You’re much more focused, for sure. When he has a feeling, that’s it. I’m A.D.D.

Isaac: So, that’s how we operate (laughs).

Erin: How then do you guys manage to negotiate your friendship and business partnership? After all these years, is it more or less difficult to work together?

Isaac: We have ups and downs. We spend most of our time here, which is not such a healthy thing.

Ken: I really like his mother more than I like him.

Isaac: Exactly. He does. But you know, it’s also the time we get to spend together and laugh with each other. Sometimes when no one is around on a weekend, when we want to get something done creatively, that’s when our friendship bonds. When we’re here alone and working, when we’re accomplishing something, that’s the most exciting time—for our business but I think also friendship-wise because you are experiencing something new and isn’t it great to experience something with your friend?

Ken: It’s nice having that marker. It does heighten the excitement about what you’re executing. And having that back and forth, having that other person—especially when you are in sync—it does bring it to a different level.

Erin: And what has been the more rewarding part of owning your own company?

Ken: To do what we wanted to do, without somebody saying, “You need Mulberry,” or “Don’t you think you need to be doing Proenza Schouler colors?”

Isaac: You know what for me is the most fun and the most satisfactory? I very rarely get to see anyone wearing our clothes, very rarely, but when I do see someone and they tell me, “You wouldn’t believe how many people stop me and ask me what I’m wearing?” or, “I felt so good in it. I got a zillion compliments tonight.” That is such a great feeling.

Ken: Or for someone to not even know that it was yours and to talk about it. That’s great because then you know it’s super genuine. That’s definitely the reward.

Erin: So how would you like to see KAUFMANFRANCO evolve?

Isaac: In a niche way, in a cult way. We don’t believe in being overexposed. We want that sense of desirability, always, with the people associated with us. We want to explore menswear. We definitely want to be in accessories and in the product range where people want to consume. Some of those things we don’t even know about right now.

Erin: Has your vision of who is wearing KAUFMANFRANCO changed at all since the beginning?

Ken: It hasn’t necessarily changed, but it is surprising to see that you’ll have someone like Oprah tapping us one minute and then you’ll have someone like Mary J. Blige or Christina Aguilera and Courtney Cox.

Isaac: When it comes down to non-celebrity women, it has been a woman who’s the trendsetter in her town. She doesn’t want to see what you saw in a magazine or ad. She does her own thing.

Ken: She wants to be the woman to introduce [a brand] to her friends.

Isaac: It’s again that sense of discovery. We want to be that. [We want to be] under the radar. We want you to find us. We want to be there, but we want you to have that moment of, “I’ve got something good!” It’s hard nowadays to get that and when I buy something I want that, so…

Erin: On a very base creative level, tell me about where you go to feel creative and get inspired, within New York and abroad.

Ken: It could be anything; that is what’s so amazing.

Isaac: We don’t get to go on so many trips, like, “Oh, I went to Indonesia…”

Ken: We do. We went to India…

Isaac: We do, but it’s always work. We don’t have the luxury of going off to be inspired so it’s always part and parcel to what we’re doing, which is always work related, but some work-related places are pretty off the charts.

Ken: We go to India and really dig down deep and really get into developing all of our embroideries and doing the most wacky things with fabrics and being totally inspired by that. But then again, I can be going no place and be inspired. It’s more just having that solitude to let some of that stuff come out.

Isaac: I agree, because I’m even more inspired right now. I didn’t go anywhere and I’m inspired because I was in the process—when Ken was away—of reorganizing our office and changing our desks and making things visible and all of a sudden our minds open.

Ken: We just start playing around with all the little nuggets that we have…

Isaac: Going through our archive of embroideries. It’s like all of a sudden, “Oh my God!” And then you’re like, “Okay, where do I think fashion is going for Fall? “ And trying to put a spin on what you’re about or what you want to be doing. Then seeing the fabrics coming in from [Première Vision], so it’s multiple things. It’s not about going to the movies or seeing an old film. I’ve done that. It’s about being inspired by a clean space and coming up with a vision that’s exciting, bouncing it off Ken and about having a little time to talk about that…

Ken: Time!

Isaac: Time is against us.

Erin: Do you guys feel a lot of pressure then to adhere to the fashion schedule?

Ken: In the beginning, we were beating to our own drum, but I think it’s good that we stay in sync with our clients because it’s important that we’re on their time schedule. Then there’s always going to be the question: Who’s buying those clothes at that time of the year? We really want to be more trans-seasonal and our customer’s global. In summertime, she’s buying fur and leathers. In wintertime, she’s buying bikinis. It’s all across the board and we’re very lucky that we’re from the world of: If its good, they’ll buy it.

Looks from MUTA

Taking a less-is-more approach to fashion design, Odile Orsi launched MUTA in 2010 with the express purpose of updating and exploring the potential of the sheath dress. With origins steeped in Hubert di Givenchy, Audrey Hepburn and the ’60s, in the past 50 years the sheath dress has become a worldwide wardrobe staple. Timeless and simple, it can be adapted to any occasion with the addition of an accessory or adjusted to various tastes by altering its fabrication, length and adornments. By working primarily with silk, wool, cotton and leather, Odile preserves the “elegance, versatility and everlasting soul” of the sheath while at the same time evolving it, incorporating myriad inspirations, which range from palm trees to urban architecture.

Erin Dixon: Tell us about your background, both personal and academic.

Odile Orsi: I attended a painting course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, then I worked as an assistant in contemporary art galleries. Later, I got a master’s degree in cultural event curation at the University in Milan. After graduation, I curated events ranging from art to fashion. I have also always had a great passion for architecture and antiques, and for a period I worked at my father’s architectural studio as a furniture and fine and contemporary art consultant. All these experiences are essential and explicit in the essence of MUTA.

Erin: Why did you decide to go into fashion design?

Odile: I have always been fascinated by the fashion world. Even as a curator, I focused mainly on the relationship between art and fashion. I have always really enjoyed drawing and I used to design my own clothing for events and festivals. On these occasions, I was often asked where I bought my dress. So from there, I decided to think about a larger project.

Erin: What does the name MUTA reference?

Odile: Muta was born from my 2005 thesis project. The thesis was based on genetic mutations. A few years prior, I did a photoshoot in which the models wore accessories and jewelry made of meat. I wanted to give a polished vision of what contemporary genetic mutation could be, and above all I wanted to provoke by creating a mere accessory out of organs, which are essential to life. My thesis was presented as a fashion magazine, including editorials, advertisements and articles related to mutation, from here came the name MUTA. In 2010, when I started working on the sheath dress project, I had not yet found the name for my brand. Then, one day I saw the photo of Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress at the MTV Awards. It seemed like a sign, as five years earlier I’d done a fashion show with models dressed in meat—so I decided to call my brand MUTA.

Erin: What drew you specifically to the sheath dress?

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Odile: The sheath, as well as representing an iconic moment in fashion history and existing as an essential in every woman’s wardrobe, is an ideal choice for any occasion. I imagine a contemporary woman, dynamic, very often on the road, who does not renounce her femininity and style; the sheath dress is a versatile garment. It is easy to wear and can be combined in different ways by changing the accessories according to the occasion.

Erin: Your mission statement mentions that MUTA preserves “elegance.” What does elegance mean to you?

Odile: Elegance means essence. I think, actually, that elegance is a way of being. If it reflects the person wearing it and a dress can help express this concept.

Erin: You also note that MUTA recalls the spirit of the ’60s; what is significant to you about ’60s fashion?

Odile: The ’60s was a moment of innovation, of a new vision of women and fashion. MUTA is inspired by the structure, design, architecture and purity of line found in that period.

Erin: How do you select your textiles: wool, silk, cotton, leather? Do you produce everything in Italy?

Odile: Fabric choice is extremely challenging. Often it is the moment in which I see and touch a particular textile that a new design comes to mind. I prefer to shop at small shops or markets, even if it takes a bit longer. This process also adds to the exclusivity of my creations. I happened to find a vintage Chanel fabric from which I was able to create a single sheath. I’ll never find that fabric again. The textile must also work with the shape and line of the sheath. That’s crucial. I produce everything in Italy; the idea is to recreate the atmosphere and superior tailoring that existed in the first half of the 20th century. The customer comes into the studio, chooses the model and the fabric, puts in her order and within a week the sheath is ready.

Erin: Do you have a favorite piece among your designs?

Odile: My favorite piece is called “ON.” It is a red wool crepe sheath with a sharp cut and deep v in the back. On the front, there is a splash of purple, hand-done by me. I care particularly for this model because I kept it in the closet for so long. It felt incomplete and, then, finally one night the inspiration came.

Erin: What are some of your current inspirations?

Odile: I am inspired by beautiful things: a smell, a memory, a song, a trip… It depends. Certainly it is essential to draw a lot but not only clothes or designs—they are the final result of a series of sketches, studies and thoughts. Generally, I see something I like but I don’t take a picture, I don’t draw it immediately. I let some days go by and then I draw or sketch. What I remember is what I think is attractive…the thought that takes shape quickly with the gesture.

Erin: How would you like to see MUTA evolve?

Odile: My aspiration is to give my project an international voice and synergy. I also believe in collaborating with other designers and artists. It would be interesting to create limited-edition sheath dresses while simultaneously continuing to evolve the garment.

Images by Agnes Thor

Michelle Lane’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection evolves the New York-based designer’s signature rope accessories by combining inspirations as disparate as the effortless chic of Slim Kieth, Villa Noailles, the Art Deco pool at The Raleigh Hotel in South Beach (made famous by Esther Williams in the ‘40s), the simple, modern architectures of Charlotte Perriand, Yves Klein’s quest to reach the far side of infinity and more. The result is the Garibaldi Collection, which symbolizes the place where rationalism meets freedom. Meanwhile, the individual names of the pieces—like the Prometheus bangle and Haplodion necklace—were coined by Michelle’s friend, the musician Matt Fishbeck. Exclusively for Dossier, both Michelle and the collection were captured seaside at the Vizcaya Museum in Miami by photographer Agnes Thor.

Some of Michelle’s inspirations.

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Designer Michelle Lane

From left: Rolls of denim at 3×1; 3×1 founder Scott Morrison. Images by Ian Allen.

In the past 20 years, the terms bespoke, custom and limited edition have been misused to the point of pointlessness—not dissimilar to how the ubiquitousness of the phrase “premium denim,” applied to everything from embellished to destroyed models, has rendered it insignificant. It stands to reason then that the industry’s next forefront would be simplicity—jeans that take the consumer back to the garment’s origins: the roll of denim from which they are cut, the individuals who design them and the factory where they are produced.

3×1 does exactly that, inviting customers to experience their jeans from the roll up. The latest venture from Scott Morrison, the man behind Paper Denim & Cloth (1999) and Earnest Sewn (2004), 3×1 is not only a denim line, it is a factory and retail space producing truly bespoke, custom and limited-edition jeans. Limited-edition styles are manufactured in runs of 8, 12, 16 or 24 and hemmed to order. Custom and bespoke styles include a consultation with Scott and pattern and fit expert Yan Liang. Moreover, all jeans are produced on site in the middle of the 3×1 store at 15 Mercer Street in New York City, presenting their construction in a gallery-like manner that, contextualized by the store’s SoHo neighborhood, could easily be mistaken for an art happening. In the time I spent at 3×1, chatting with Scott and his team, two things became apparent. One: Scott possesses a passion for jeans that arrives at obsession. Two: Everything about 3×1 denim is actually “premium,” from its origins to its social and environmental implications to its quality.

Erin Dixon: As a founder of Paper Denim & Cloth and Earnest Sewn, you’ve had a very illustrious career on a very grand scale. What made you want to create 3×1 and how is it different from your previous brands?

Scott Morrison: What we wanted to do was something quite smaller than anything we’ve done before. We wanted to make everything here and, basically, put the factory in the middle of the store and have total transparency into the whole process—to show the whole world what it’s like to actually see a pair of jeans made. We do three different types of products and everything is limited edition. For the basic kind of “off-the-rack” stuff, we make anywhere between 8,12, 16 or 24 pieces of any one particular style. When it’s done, we don’t make it again.

Everything comes with a sew-on button, which we clip off, and everything comes with extra-long hems and extra-long inseams. So you pick the fit, pick out your buttons and your rivets. Then, we hem everything on spot to your measurements. That’s the biggest over-the-counter stuff. The next step up [custom jeans] is to pick the jean style you like and match it with any denim you want. In men’s, we do about 65 different selvage denims from around the world and we have about 105 total denim [choices).

The next one up are [the bespoke] jeans, which we are limiting to 100 per year because of the time required. You come in before the store’s open so you have it all to yourself. We take you through the whole process and you design your own jeans. This is the cutting and sewing room, so you can see what’s happening. We also have a finishing room, which is basically the buttons and repair work. Then in the back of the space is the women’s area.

We’re really all about construction, obviously, with the factory being right here. So one of the things we try to do—much more so than I’ve been able to do at any other company I’ve had—is really make beautifully constructed garments, like a two-piece contour constructed waistband. You’d probably see it on a Balenciaga pant, not on a jean. It’s really, really time consuming to do; it has to be done by hand. [It has] stitchless belt loops, all tucked in—stuff that no factory, especially a denim factory, would ever want to try and do.

Erin: As far as the customization goes, will the entire staff be trained on the process or are there a limited number of specialists?

Scott: No, the whole staff can do it. What’s been interesting for us is to have a lot of people coming in because they hear the word “custom” and they’re like, ‘What is this? We want to see this.’ Ironically, I think more people are buying stuff that’s already made because they end up liking something, trying it on and they say, “Oh, I really like it the way it is already.” Of course it’s a little bit cheaper, too, than the custom-mades, but we are seeing a ton of custom-mades. We’re seeing less bespoke business, but it’s been great.

Erin: What about jeans keeps you passionate? What keeps you motivated on your third venture?

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Scott: This is a total passion project. I didn’t want to do another jean line so, literally, it was like: What was the first thing that I really loved and fell in love with in denim? Quite frankly, it was probably my first experience with a factory, walking into a factory and making whatever you wanted. So we’ve put a factory in the middle of our store, which I don’t think anyone has ever done that before. We really wanted to start off small, do it in a very specialized way. I wanted to make a denim product that you couldn’t get at any other place. So the fabrics are fabrics that I’ve never been able to really use because they’re so expensive. So it’s kind of like I’m falling in love again with something great.

Erin: Can you tell me a bit more about these denim fabrics that you love?

Scott: So, a lot of the mills that we normally get fabric from, especially the Japanese mills, I’ve run those fabrics for years and years and years and this is kind of a curated collection of my favorites. But there are also some mills that are so expensive, like Collect in Japan. Collect is an artisanal weaver, they only make a few hundred meters of something and it’s around $20 to $25 for a meter for fabric. Typical men’s jeans use three meters of fabric, so it’s extremely, extremely expensive. If you run a wholesale business like an Earnest Sewn or Paper Denim, it would be a $600, $700 jean, easily. So this is almost cheaper, in theory, and we are able to use fabrics that you can’t typically use in a big, commercial business.

Erin: What particularly do you love about these fabrics?

Scott: I think it’s the uniqueness. We have these linen cotton blends. Some of these lend themselves more towards really vintage, authentic-looking garments. Some of them are really novelty shades, like heather grey or seafoam, that never look vintage per se, but that’s what’s kind of cool about it. There’s a lot of novelty in some of these denims, even though they just look regular to some people. We have green casts and red casts—there are color differences, there are shade differences and over time everything kind of wears differently. You’ll see some that are really, really streaky, some that are more processed. We want to be able to educate the customers if they want to listen or learn.

Erin: Would you say Japanese denim is your favorite? Do you have a favorite—or do you have different favorites for different things?

Scott: I definitely I have favorites for different things. If you want real red-cast, traditional Americana Levi’s-y kind of stuff, Japan is very, very good—as is Cone Mills (in the United States). If you’re looking for something that’s really, really artisanal and special, I think Japan is probably the best, but also we have one mill from Italy that does really incredible novelty stuff—linen cotton blends or cashmere cotton blends, beautiful colors that you wouldn’t normally find coming out of a denim weaver. What we’ve tried to do is to really offer a great variety of things so that people can come in and pick and choose what they love and also maybe discover something they’ve never seen before.

Erin: Have you ever created a custom fabric?

Scott: I’ve worked with mills to create fabrics from day one. A lot of the fabrics at Earnest Sewn and also Paper Denim were pretty much exclusives. Typically what you do is talk about ounce weights or if there’s a shade that you really like, and they run what they call warp yarns and weft yarns. So you can design your own fabrics and then it’s about picking shades.

Erin: And how do you find your factory workers for 3×1? Have you worked with them for a while?

Scott: Yeah, actually most of them, about six of them have worked for me in the past. Yan has been my patternmaker for the last seven years. Jenny Chen, who’s our bespoke sewer, she’s been with us since Earnest Sewn days as well. She’s in charge of all the developments and all the sample sewing. It’s all local. Some have been involved in the jeans business and some we’ve had to teach. We’ve had a pretty high attrition rate as well. It’s not an easy garment that we make. One of the things that’s really interesting is we sew basically the entire jean from start to finish with one sewer, which is very different from a typical jean factory, where it’s all assembly line. We sew at an extremely high stitch count per inch. Everything is done single needle, so you can see we actually sewed this garment pretty much from start to finish twice. The stitch count typical of denim is somewhere in the middle of seven to nine stitches per inch and we’re running 11 to 15. So it’s a much slower, much more complicated jean to make. There is much more detailing, which not everyone really loves and appreciates as much as I. We chalk everything—every single piece is chalked. It’s basically perfection. We do 100% inspection on all the jeans; every single jean is inspected from start to bottom, from start to finish. I look at every single pair.

Erin: Was bringing the factory and the transparency in-house more about quality or was it about sustainability and being local?

Scott: All those things. I wasn’t really trying to be local or sustainable. It was just one of those things where we really wanted to do it well and we wanted people to understand that this is an expensive product in every way, shape and form. We wanted people to see what they’re getting. There’s something to be said about not having a feel and a form of a big assembly line, which most factories are really geared around. The beauty in this is that customers get to see it done right in front of them, and they understand that this is a small factory, if not a sample room. We make 20 to 25 jeans a day. It’s really, really straight forward. We do everything on site—any alteration, any hemming. We do it all here.

Erin: In that vein, in comparison with the huge companies you have owned in the past, is this more or less work?

Scott: [This is] way, way more work. We think of new ideas every day and develop concepts every two days. In one sense it’s easier because, in theory, you can come up with something and literally come upstairs and put something into work. It doesn’t always work quite that easily, but for the most part that’s how it happens.

What’s typical in a wholesale business is you come up with an idea, you make a few hundred [items] and you sell them. It takes a lot of time to develop something, which is both good and bad. This has a lot more complexity in the sense that we’re running a factory and retail store and a design studio and eventually a wholesale business. It is neat for people to come in and have a voice and pick and choose the way that they want it done. Quite frankly, I’ve been pretty impressed. We had a guy come in and the choices he made were actually great choices and he made this really, really cool jean. It was one of those things where I was like, ‘Wow, this great. I think we’ll want to do something like this for the main collection.”

Erin: You actually just answered my next question: Do you get inspiration from other people and/or how does that design process work?

Scott: It depends. [Our set up] gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility as a designer to be able to say, “Hey, we can almost do anything.” We can’t do anything, anything, but we can definitely do a lot more than you could do at any place I’ve ever worked. So that, in itself, is exciting.

Over the last six or seven years, women have been consumed by basic five-pocket jeans. Guys still typically fixate on a traditional five-pocket, which seems to make more sense for us. But for girls, right now you have much more fashion sense—people looking for something that they don’t have. What we really try to do is rethink the way we do basic jeans, so a basic jean is really not a basic jean; it’s definitely not going to be the same as anything that you’ve got in your closet right now. We have some good starting points and we’re slowly evolving in the brand. We’re just starting to see what we can do, and we’re just starting to get the team really comfortable.

Erin: What are men looking for right now?

Scott: I’m a dumb guy, most guys are dumb. They don’t want fashion— we’re much more straightforward. The guy who comes in here is looking for something that he can wear all the time, something that he thinks he looks great in at night or whatever he’s going to do. Skinny jean, slim jean, we’re not doing anything that’s too trendy. Our guy customer is varying in age from 60 to 20, but they still all want a basic, straightforward, good fitting pair of jeans.

Erin: And what is the philosophy behind the subliminal, sort of gallery-esque feel of the shop’s décor?

Scott: What I really wanted to do was fuse a bit of the SoHo gallery feel into the workspace. The two big thoughts were the factory in the middle of the store, so people can see it, which lent itself to this space really, really well, and we also wanted to showcase the process—the elements of the process: the denim wall or the way we present the products on the wall. We wanted the space to feel like a gallery—we wanted it to be a little bit different. Obviously, the retail experience itself is a little bit different; it’s a little unique. It’s not like you can just walk in here and help yourself, like in most stores. There’s a lot that needs to be told about the process. I do want people to come in, even if it’s just to see the whole thing—to just look at it and go, “Wow, this is great,” or “This is interesting. I’ve never seen this before.”

Erin: What do you think is the largest gap in consumers’ knowledge of how a jean is made—what’s the part that they don’t get?

Scott: Most people think you actually press a button and out comes this perfectly washed jean, but I certainly don’t have any real concept of how something’s done unless I’ve actually seen it happen. So I think people probably don’t associate all the steps. There are 31 steps to make a jean; it’s not super complicated, but it’s fairly complicated for what seems simple like a pair of jeans.

Erin: That is a rare opportunity in fashion, to be able to work with people to create something unique.

Scott: Some people really enjoy learning about the process and asking questions. Some people will come in and love to hear a bit about the jeans, a bit about our process. You also have the choice if you want to watch your pair being made—and if you have four or five hours to kill. It is neat to be involved in all those different decision-making processes and at the end of the day what you walk out with is actually something for you—it’s really yours.

All images courtesy of 3×1

The eminent fashion editor Diana Vreeland had an inimitably sardonic way with declarations that left little room for response, partially because any retort to the truth often falls flat. Such is the case with her below witticism: There’s nothing more boring than narcissism—the tragedy of being totally… me. We’re all capable of it. And we all know examples of it—these beautiful tragedies.

With the new year upon us, this is an apt reminder from a woman who dedicated her adult life to aesthetics. Fashion and style aren’t by nature narcissistic, but in a quest for beauty it is easy to lose sight of the consequences of our choices—whether it be where our clothes come from, the materials from which they are constructed, who makes them or where their profits end up. So, start 2012 not by making resolutions but by taking a moment to reflect upon your impact on the world.

Begin by studying the true cost of a garment via the Clean Clothes Campaign. Educate yourself about the ongoing battle over ivory (spoiler: elephants are on the losing side) at IvoryTrade.org and via this tragic and illuminating article by Alex Shoumatoff for Vanity Fair. Closer to home, investigate the New York fashion industry’s fight for survival at SavetheGarmentCenter.org.

Take action by contributing to Fashion Delivers, a charitable organization that donates new products to aid victims of disasters and individuals in need throughout the year. Or join Art Walk, which brings together artists and art lovers in an effort to empower our homeless neighbors and celebrate the most accomplished artists of our time. Meanwhile, Safe Horizon helps battered women and children and homeless teens find a safe space and a future.

Spend wisely by purchasing items that give back. PeaceTags.org takes what has become an irreverent accessory, military dog tags, and inscribes them with words of peace from Maya Angelou, Benito Juarez and other decisive voices, using the profits to heal the wounds of war inflicted on American veterans. The ongoing, ever-expanding FEED Project, dedicated to feeding children worldwide, now includes bangles, scarves, tees and more. Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony continues to combat breast cancer and the (RED) Campaign persists in its battle against AIDS in Africa.

In short, there is plenty to do—and with baby steps we can avoid becoming those boring narcissists so condemned by Ms. Vreeland and evolve into something bigger than ourselves and infinitely more interesting.

Above: An African lone bull elephant. Image by Chris Johns via National Geographic.

How to spice up your holiday downtime, as brought to you by Matt Lenski for Alexander Olch.

1) Cross dress.
2) Wear a formal top and no pants to dinner.
3) Affect a superior attitude.
4) Pair up with a family member of the opposite sex. Create a script, wherein one of you talks while the other mouths the words.
5) Finally learn how to tie a tie.

Since the 1980s, Belgium’s growing reputation as the avant-garde capital of fashion has centered around Antwerp and names like Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela. Back in the 19th century, however, it was the nation’s capital, Brussels, that was known to the industry’s international set, thanks to Delvaux, among the world’s oldest purveyors of fine luxury goods.

Founded in 1829, Delvaux made its debut as a travel trunk company, quickly expanding to suitcases, boxes and ladies’ handbags as it saw its star rise. Nearly 200 years later, the brand remains a bellwether of the industry, in both quiet beauty and exceptional craft, living by a mantra that includes: strong, timeless, elegant.

To encapsulate these words, the brand recently commissioned director Jake Davis to capture the very different creative beauties Carmen dell’Orefice, Zani Gugelmann and Francesca Bonato. The result is three dreamy vignettes, each set in a different part of New York City: Carmen seemingly on the Upper East Side, Francesca on Bond Street  and Zani on The High Line. All carry a heritage Delvaux bag. Francesca and Carmen have the Tempête from 1967 while Zani has the Brillant, which was originally crafted for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Contextualized differently by each woman’s unique look, individual styling and Jake’s nuanced direction, the Delvauxs assert their place in a contemporary wardrobe, affirming strength, timelessness and elegance as possessions of a woman—the bag is simply their reflection.