Down the Rabbit Hole with Lindsay Vrckovnik

August 02, 2022

The journey of growing into oneself is not always facile — it requires that one looks within and learns from what is reflected through the looking glass. Lindsay Vrckovnik, designer, model, and expert of unexpected styling combinations expresses that although her Instagram feed boasts squares of seemingly effortless avant-garde looks, she didn’t truly achieve that creative and expressive freedom until she discovered herself.

Once Lindsay came to understand what made her feel most comfortable and most importantly, confident, she could translate this understanding of the self to her own brand, Verconiik. After ditching the monochromatic, ‘model-off-duty,’ expectations commonly imposed upon those in her industry, she allowed her true nature to shine through.

Interview by Kayla Curtis-Evans
Photos by Lumia Nocito

Through the non-traditional color-explosions Lindsay creates by hand, we become more familiar with what lies beyond her public persona — a strong-willed lover of fashion setting her own trends.

In the exclusive interview with the knitwear designer below, office takes a trip down the rabbit hole of Lindsay’s creative mind.

Your personal style is really reflective of your personality — it's definitely a little bit quirky and fun. How did you make sure to bring this unique factor to your own original designs?

I've had a really intense journey with my personal style. I think I've always wanted to dress more loudly and quirky but didn't always feel comfortable doing that. When I was younger, I struggled with that a lot. And then getting into modeling also dimmed my personal style because every model is expected to dress in all black, in tight skinny jeans, and all that. You have to look 'like a model.' That was also when I was a teenager, so I was really in the process of becoming a woman. So to be told to look a certain way in terms of also your body, like staying thin, affected me quite negatively. But I think I harnessed the way that made me feel and brought it to my designs and my personal style. I never wanted to feel like that again, so that's reflected in how quirky or loud my style is now. And it's super colorful. It's pretty much the antithesis of what I was told to look like during that time. On a day-to-day basis, I dress pretty casually just because I'm usually in here working. But my style really includes my ideal outfits if I were to express myself to the fullest. I aim to encourage people to step outside of their comfort zone. I know a lot of people struggle with expressing themselves through clothing because, you know, not everyone lives in New York City where it's totally acceptable to wear whatever. A lot of people have brought that up to me and asked, 'How do you become comfortable with your personal style?' It’s a journey, and I think everyone struggles, but I hope to encourage people to be daring with their clothes, through my work.

I love how you juxtaposed your current viewpoint on style with that 'model off duty' look that is imposed upon women and industry professionals so often. It's amazing that you found a space where you can do both — it's still reflective of your personality and you get to enjoy what you're wearing. Do you have something or someone who informs your colorful aesthetic?

When I was a kid, the reason I was so into fashion was definitely watching MTV music videos — Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, and Beyonce. That music video era of the early 2000s really inspired me because I grew up in a suburb where I wasn't seeing people dressing in interesting ways. Those outfits and music videos — that made me realize that there's this whole other world to dressing and I became obsessed with clothes. I would change my outfits six times a day just because I loved putting outfits together. So I've always had that love for fashion. I think now my inspiration is a little less direct. I don't think I have necessarily an idol or a famous person that I look up to. But when I'm walking through the street, I love to — in the least creepy way possible — take pictures of things I see in everyday life. And I feel like a lot of the time its people who are unintentionally styling something in a way that I think is really, really cool, but they have no idea they're making a statement. I pay attention to quirky things that aren't necessarily fashionable. I love to take inspiration from strangers. I do the same thing with color. I'll go on walks and take pictures of color combinations that are existing in the cityscape or in nature. I definitely try to get inspiration from not just one person or one place. I feel like that is so prevalent with social media and I think that's where it becomes easy to get repetitive and looks become redundant. So I mostly try to look elsewhere, in places other than Pinterest or Instagram. I do love Pinterest as much as the next girl, but I think looking at the environment around me and putting my own spin on it is more fun and more challenging.

New York is such an inspiring city, fashion-wise and artistically. You’ve stated that Verconiik’s goal is to bridge the gap between high fashion and playfulness, making intricate designs more accessible and less intimidating. What advice would you give to someone who wants to improve their own personal style, but may not be sure where to start?

For me, if I was in a position where I was, like you said, just trying to expand on my personal style, you're probably not going to want to make the jump and buy something that's a few hundred dollars and totally out there or something that you're not going to feel comfortable wearing. Personally, I would go to the thrift store and get things that are cheap, so that way there's not too much pressure on whether or not you're gonna end up loving it or if you don't end up feeling comfortable in it. I think thrift stores are a great place to shape your personal style. That's definitely where a lot of my high school friends and I figured out our personal styles. And then, I think once you have an understanding and you're comfortable with your own personal style, then of course that's where you may be more comfortable spending the money on specially-crafted pieces, like my work.

I mean, I feel like I'm still figuring it out, which I think is a good thing. I don't want to box myself into wearing only certain pieces or styles. I definitely feel like I didn't really start buying things that I maybe wouldn't have bought in a traditional store until I started thrifting too. You kind of figure it out along the way.

And there's no pressure. It's so fun.

Everything Verconiik is made by you. So you really abide by this slow fashion cycle. Are there any other sustainable practices that you implement throughout your design process?

A big one for me is where I'm sourcing my yarn from because everything I do is made out of yarn. I feel like my knowledge about yarn is really growing every day and I've found so many incredible farms that are so close — either in New York or the tri-state area. I've built good relationships with a lot of them and that in itself, communicating with the people that you're buying materials from, is a sustainability practice because often in fashion, where things are coming from is almost unknown in a sense. So having those relationships and getting all of my materials from within the state is something that I'm always thinking about. And of course, a lot of my fibers come from animals. I love animals. So I also need to know that most of the farms that I work with treat them well. They basically consider them their pets and many of them aren't huge businesses. A lot of them are family owned. So I think we also relate in that sense.

On this idea of slow fashion, I understand that the things I make are on the expensive side for many people, but I think that we've also gotten too used to low clothing prices. And of course, I don't have to go on a huge rant about fast fashion, but I think we all know why that is. I hope I can inspire people to get out of that way of thinking. It’s not normal for a sweater to be $10 because especially with crochet and knits, someone still made that and it took a very long time. I think also making sure that the people who work for me and work around me are all getting paid well is huge. I think about all these things a lot. But it's easy now for me to control those things because I am such a tiny business, so I hope to always hold on to those values.

No brand can do everything, but any consciousness in that realm is a good start. I also really appreciate what you said about pricing. I think that knitwear, especially the things that you make, have so much heart and personality in them — it's like a work of art. So I think when you can understand everything that went into it, then people can try to understand that the price does make sense. Along with certain key styles, you also create made-to-order pieces. What made-to-order piece was the most challenging for you and what piece made you most proud?

Oh my gosh. So I actually have put the brakes on made-to-order pieces just because it got kind of overwhelming for me to create something that the person was gonna be satisfied with, with only being able to speak to them through email. So that was just a lot, but I mean, it is very rewarding in the same way to custom-make pieces for someone. I have this one customer, his name is Samuel and he is my biggest supporter — I've done a few made-to-order things for him. And again, it is challenging when I haven't met this person. I don't exactly know their body type and measurements, so that's definitely the most challenging part. But it's always worked out and seeing him in those pieces has always been so cool because this person supports me blindly enough to put his trust in me. I hope to bring back made-to-order once I have more people to help me out here. So hopefully I can do that sometime soon.

To be able to see that growth would be super satisfying, I’m sure, starting with just you in the beginning. That's amazing that you're at the point where you’re able to have that growth.

I'm so, so excited.

I want to get more into your silhouettes because from what I've seen, a lot of your shapes are really unconventionally clever. How are you able to consistently come up with new designs that subvert stereotypical clothing shapes and traditional body standards?

Knitwear is such a traditional craft. It's been around for so long and I feel like people always associate it with 'your grandma's knits' and it's not something that you necessarily would think is high fashion or breaking any boundaries. So I'm always thinking about how knitwear can be new and refreshed and how to push the boundaries of what knit design is. And there are a lot of designers doing that, especially now, knitwear's kind of had this whole revival which is so, so cool and interesting. I'm always thinking of that juxtaposition of playfulness and almost dorkiness of knitwear, but also, 'How can I make it sexy and kind of strange?' I like to play with the shapes and how tight it fits the body or how much skin it shows. In terms of how I come up with new designs, I'm so bad at this question because I literally don't know. Sometimes things will just come to me at the most random times — sometimes lying in bed when I'm about to fall asleep or I'll have dreams. A lot of it is also trial and error. Sometimes I'll be intending to make something and it totally turns into something else. Lately, I've been making these little fuzzy tops that are very strangely shaped. And those actually came to be because I was trying to make knit underwear and I totally screwed it up. So that's just an example of how one thing can kind of lead to another. I always try to test myself to not give up and to see how I can change and manipulate pieces into something else. And then I think a lot of my stuff is just building off of past work. I do get into creative ruts sometimes and I feel kind of stuck, but I know that my brain always has my back and I'm always gonna get out of that rut eventually.

When you're working in this world of slow fashion, you're able to take the time to make a mistake into a serendipitous success. That's the difference between this and the fast fashion process. If you're in a factory and something is not made the right way, it's getting thrown out. With designing, there's this logistical side, and then of course, there's this creative side of ideating cutting-edge designs. Would you say that you have more of that analytical brain or more of the creative brain and how do you reconcile one side with the other?

I'm definitely way more on the creative side. I went to school for fashion design and I remember some of my professors would get frustrated because I'm just so not technical. When we were making cut-and-sew clothing, like pattern making and anything mathematical, it just so wasn't my thing. I love to start something and see where it goes. In school, it was very much showing your process, showing your sketch, and then making the pattern. I really don't do any of that anymore. Sometimes I'll draw ideas because I do love to draw, but I usually want to start making something as soon as I think of it. So I've kind of thrown that whole fashion school process in the trash, but of course, there are still technical things I have to think about, like sizing. But yeah, definitely more of a creative brain.

When I look at some of your pieces, it reminds me of a fairy tale. If you could step into one fairy tale, which would you choose and why?

Is Alice in Wonderland considered a fairy tale?

That totally counts.

I love Alice in Wonderland and that whole story and that psychedelic world. That would definitely be one that I would step into. I love all the colors in the original movie. I feel like I'm kind of existing in that world, in my studio, see — I painted the floor green. I love it. It's all colorful. I feel like I always want to be surrounded by the most color at all times.

I think your pieces exist in a world of their own, but I could definitely see your pieces existing in that world too. When people put on one of your designs, what type of place do you hope that they transcend to?

I think about this a lot because that is the goal of my clothing. I think that a lot of the people who buy my clothes already have a very strong sense of style and self because you'd have to be comfortable enough to wear something so bold and bright. So I think a lot of them already do, but I also think a lot of them buy it as an aspirational piece that maybe isn't something that they're gonna wear every day. But when they do, I hope that they feel super bold and confident and bright. I want people not to hide their personalities and to not be scared to stand out.

Fashion

Happy 424 Day!

Simon Rasmussen — What's going on?

Guillermo Andrade — Right now we're just setting everything up.

So, what are you doing, is it a party?

Well, I kind of felt universally forced, right? Because 4/24/24, I was just like, I don’t really have a choice here. The stars also just kind of aligned, so to be honest, I got this settlement that came with a bunch of clothes so I had this idea to give back to the kids who fuck with us by allowing them to buy our shit first. Not handing stuff out for free, but to do it in a way where we could skip the middleman of the industry, so to speak, and not allow clothes to disappear into the abyss of Farfetch or whatever else. So what we’re going to do is a sort of warehouse sale, which we’ve never done before so that was really exciting for me. I didn’t want to do just another warehouse sale, so it’s like a sample sale turns rager. We teamed up with Adidas and a couple of other sponsors, then drinks, DJs, and a performance.

Sick, I love it.

Yeah. My dream sample sale. Also, it’s not just hoodies and t-shirts here in there, it’s proper collections from the past three seasons. I’m also not picking and choosing, trying to make it accessible, like this was the only way I could afford to buy shit when I was a kid, bro. Sample sales were the thing I looked forward to the most.

I feel you. In New York, there's the annual CDG sale, which is when I used to cop all my CDG.

The only time I could afford Rick. I flew to New York once for a Rick sample sale and I was like, Wow, I can't believe I got invited. And it was mental. I still have those pieces. I will never sell them. Not even because I got 'em cheap. It was also just really fun. Even on the flight to New York, I was like, I can't believe I'm going to New York for a sample sale, what a fucking loser I am. But it was like the adult version of when I was a kid and I was like, Wow, I can't believe I'm 20-something and I'm still doing the thing I was doing in high school. So I hope we can create moments like that for kids here in LA.

Yeah. I love that. It’s important to connect with them; they’re essentially creating the brand. If you don't have them, good luck.

I mean, yeah. Fuck, bro. It's cool that we've been around for this long. I mean, it got a little rocky there for a second I think, for all of us. So coming out of it, tomorrow is a celebration. And it’s like an odd day of the week. It's a Wednesday, super random. And now that we've set it up, the homies are all like, Yo, I'm coming. I'm coming. Let me jump on stage, let me do this, and that's really what it's always been about. It's not some other strategy to get likes on the internet.

That’s how the best things happen, you just couldn’t help yourself. It was intuitive.

Yeah, it all came together in a really nice way.

Would you say that’s how 424 started as well? I remember we met in like 2010 on Fairfax and I was visiting with Rasmus…

Oh bro, it’s probably the time when I started the branch… do you remember Cecilia from Black Dakini? She’s the one that introduced me to CIFF and honestly, I didn’t even care what she was doing, I was just like, I’m coming, I’ll go with you. She said she’d give me half of her booth and I said, Awesome count me in. At the time, I had just gotten my green card and I wasn't allowed to ever leave America, so Copenhagen was one of the first cities I went to when I could finally travel. I mean, you see what we did at CIFF bro? It became our fucking hub for half a decade.

That was a moment for sure.

I remember the first account I got was Antonioli, and he came super gangster, being like, You're going to sell me these clothes. And I was like, bro, I didn't come to sell clothes. I'm just kind of catching a vibe with my homie and I made these things. And he's like, No, you're going to sell it to me. And then I was like, Oh my god that’s Claudio Antonioli. So then I went home, I googled wholesale, and figured that shit out. [laughs]

[Laughs]

Like you said, I couldn't help myself, but I didn't just make t-shirts and hoodies either. I was really on my Rick wave, so I made my version of the Rick things. It was that meets like The Boondock Saints, because I'm still a little bit of a Cali bro, sort of rock kid, but not really. I like hip-hop, but I like the way the rock stars look. I like the contrast. I thought it was cool. After that, I just never stopped.

It was clear to me when I first met you that you were onto your own thing in LA. It made a lot of sense, and it was so cool. It was before 424 was its own brand; you just had the store and this really cool curation.

It was all my shit, bro. I was very, very invested in sharing all of these things that I was finding from all over the world, like Astrid Anderson. She was one of those designers at the time, so important to 424. The connection to Copenhagen specifically for me was huge. I had a big fan base there. It was incredible. And then here in LA, we were sharing the things that we were a part of and finding; it was still the early days of Fear of God, Rhude, Martine Rose. A lot of these brands, we were the first store to ever sell it — we were selling Hood By Air on the West Coast.

You had Rick as well, I remember.

Oh yeah. It took me a long time. But I got Rick, bro. By the time I had to close the store on Fairfax, I already had a Raf Simons account. I had reached my ultimate dream. It was really all the stuff I wanted to wear at the time. It was dope. The best of the best.

We had an office magazine newsstand in there as well.

Oh yeah, we did! I came to visit the one you had, and I was like, Yo, I got to bring this whole fucking thing over here. But yeah, in LA, after two days people forget you exist, but everyone’s been super supportive. We’re all 10 years older now. We've been around forever at this point.

It can be dangerous to take those breaks when you’re figuring shit out, but there’s something very genuine to this comeback you’re having.

Thank you, thank you. We’ve been in and out of those fucking showrooms in Paris for long enough. I've been in and out of these factories for the past 10 years of my life. We had to figure something out. And I think now really diving in, being in Italy full time and being there to develop these products over time, I think that the whole thing just really shows the suppliers respect you more. The people who are making your goods understand why you're making them. And I think now I finally got to the place where I'm not making Italian things, I’m making my clothes, I'm making Cali-centric shit, but with that European technicality and execution. With this Fall / Winter collection, it clicked.

So what’s the vision for the next year? What are you manifesting?

I'm just fucking relentless, bro. This is the way I want to live my life. Now that we are more aligned, more prepared, and have more experience, moving forward it is just more of becoming a fully functioning company that can provide and create opportunities for all of the people around me. We’ve been operating just on instinct for a long time.

Sustaining a business is scary, trust me I know.

Scary as fuck, dog. I just opened a store next to Bottega, bro, and it’s like what am I even doing? You have to just believe in the thing you're doing more than anybody else.

100%, and it seems like that’s what you’re doing.

And fashion’s kind of a competitive sport, as much as people don’t think it is. We can reach a certain level without losing ourselves. My biggest ambition at the moment is to create something that, when you leave one of our neighbors you come into our place you don’t feel that the level has been sacrificed at all. And it’s not easy.

Definitely. I wish I could be there tomorrow.

Thank you, bro. 10 years now. You’ve always shown me so much love. We have to do a booth or have the office part of the next 424 day. Shit let’s do a 424 day in New York.

That would be sick. Let's do it. I'm here. Let’s catch up soon.

Next season’s right around the corner so I’ll see you in Paris.

Yes, see you in Paris and Happy 424 day!

Fashion

Luis De Javier's Puta Takeover

April 25, 2024

Last night with Luis De Javier, guests were overheard confirming this generation's most vital conundrum: “If I’m cunt, I can still be pussy.” “And if you’re pussy, you can still be cunt.” This sentiment echoed throughout the night as we celebrated De Javier’s first-ever streetwear collection, "Puta". We spent seven hours at Ella Funt at a dinner turned party that only he could’ve thrown (co-hosted by emcee). It was too dark for even the most aspiring-to-look-mysterious of us to wear sunglasses inside. Under the semi-oppressive flash of party photographers, we danced as much as the space would allow, drank tequila out of teacups and kissed each other on the cheeks with a vaguely European intimacy. “I’m doing streetwear!” De Javier could be heard exclaiming — whether it be in disbelief or excitement, we couldn’t tell you.

Words and photos by Izzy Capulong

The Spanish-born London-based designer has been well-loved for his genderless tailoring, latex mastery, and overall message of empowerment. Dressing everyone from ravers to A-listers, De Javier’s latest drop pushes his design repertoire to a new level. “While designing for my celebrity clientele and showcasing my creations on the runway has always been my dream,” he notes, “It’s equally important to me that my brand resonates with a wider, more diverse audience.” While this collection’s medium has shifted from corsets to sweatshirts, the classic LDJ avant-garde sensibilities remain. Bikinis and booty shorts are shamelessly emblazoned with “PUTA,” blazers are constructed with ample shoulder padding, and I had my eye on the cheekily-named “Faguette Bag.”

The Puta collection will be available exclusively on emcee.

Fashion

Nadia Lee Cohen Celebrates Paris Texas Launch at the Chateau

To celebrate the launch, Cohen and founder and creative director of Paris Texas, Annamaria Brivio hosted an intimate dinner at the Chateau Marmont pictured below. Arman Naféei entertained guests throughout the evening with a special playlist he curated for the occasion.