You’ve worked with many notable designers. Tell me about some of these experiences and how they shaped who you are as a designer.
I met Linda Dresner by going into her store with my mom over the years in Michigan, so I knew her even before I was a designer. When I first launched the line, Linda gave me the opportunity to do a pop-up in her shop. Her career and influence in the fashion industry are incredibly impressive, so having someone like her in my corner helped me build a lot of confidence. I have learned something from everyone I have worked with, but the best piece of advice I have ever gotten was from Matthew Williams when he told me, and I’m paraphrasing, the world doesn’t need more stuff, so if you’re going to make something, make sure it has a reason to exist.’ As someone who was interested in one day launching my own line, this set me on a course of self-evaluation that helped me eventually refine my ideas for a brand. Without being able to answer why am I making something, I don’t think I would have ever been satisfied with starting out on my own.
Your clothes are on SSENSE which is a huge achievement for designers. What other goals do you have for yourself and for the brand?
I want to say thank you to the SSENSE team for giving me the opportunity. It was a milestone in our expansion into wholesale and to have them as our first major retail partner is an exciting step. As we continue to grow our wholesale and direct-to-consumer footprint, our goal is to expand our tailoring offering, to have a more robust range of suiting and eveningwear, and to eventually open a studio where people could come and get fitted alongside our RTW collections. I have a wider vision of modern Americana that I am telling with the brand, and as our collections grow, I look forward to expanding into other product categories and mediums.