I know that you previously worked in fashion and that sparked your inspiration. What were some of your earliest fashion memories? Where were the places that you visited to buy your own unique pieces?
I really feel like fashion was in my blood. I was raised in this kind of eccentric environment with my grandma on my dad's side, she lived in LA, so I was around her a lot. She was an artist and also very into fashion and collecting. She aired on the side of major eccentricity and I was always around her and in her house. Her home was incredibly decorated all the time and she was always in an incredibly put-together outfit. As a young child, it was something that really appealed to me. And then my mom was always incredibly well-dressed growing up. She was a trial attorney in the eighties, so it was a world of powerful women wearing powerful outfits all the time. I think growing up surrounded by these women who weren't afraid to express themselves visually was really important for how I ended up becoming who I am and how I ended up being confident in my own way. I can also remember my mom telling me so many stories about how before I could even talk, I was basically telling her what I wanted to wear. I really feel like it was inside of me the whole time.
It's amazing that you also felt like you had the support to go off and do these things. Were you always interested in vintage items growing up? What were some places in LA that you would hit to find one-of-a-kind pieces?
When I was in middle school, I started really being into vintage and I started going obsessively to Rose Bowl every month. I would go to Fairfax Flea almost every weekend. I grew up in Hermosa Beach, which is in the South Bay in LA so it's a little beach town and there were all these tiny vintage stores around. My favorite one isn't there anymore, but it was called Granny Takes a Trip, and it was amazing. For the longest time, everything in the store was $10 or less. I loved the owner too; she and I would always get into these long conversations about clothes and it was never about anything other than the physical item of clothing. It wasn't about who made it or any sort of clout or prestige behind it. It ignited this passion in me for something other than just the physical item in front of me, but the story behind it as well.
Tell me about your experiences working in the high fashion world before you started Lidow Archive. What are some meaningful lessons you still consciously bring with you in your day to day?
I started at Vogue when I was 17 and that was a huge learning experience in so many ways, but specifically in certain pieces and designers because I didn't really know anything about designers before that. That was a really cool way to be introduced to it because it was so hands-on. It gave me both knowledge and an appreciation for a different kind of fashion that I think has really helped me throughout my career and brought me to where I am now. And as for the work experience in general, it was hard. It's not easy working in the fashion industry, as anyone who works in the fashion industry knows. It's a high-pressure environment and so you either have to learn or move on. And my first boss at Vogue, her name's Jessica Cantor, was probably one of the most influential people in my career. She's still in my life. I can't half-ass anything because I always have her voice in my head being like, 'This is Vogue!'
It's such a formative environment to learn the ropes and learn how those little details matter.
Another thing that I think about a lot that has really benefited me is, she told me that one of the biggest mistakes young people make starting off in their career is to suck up to the very powerful people and then they almost try to compete with their peers and they don't spend any time trying to connect with them. Jessica told me that that's such a mistake because your peers are actually the next powerful people and if all goes well, you're all gonna be coming up with each other. And isn't it cool that you get to support each other? Isn't that a better way of doing it?
Definitely one of the best parts of what we do is the community that you're able to create in these creative realms. It's important, especially because it's kind of a unique path. So it's good to have other people around you who are going through the same things and can understand your journey. With all of your prior fashion knowledge and collecting, do you have some favorite collections from past eras that are very inspiring to you?
I really gravitate toward the 1960s through the 1980s. I feel that my specialty is actually more of the unbranded versions of those times, and I also take a lot of fashion inspiration from movies as well. I think that my love for fashion came naturally and then the love for design came later. There are a lot of really amazing collections that I love, especially from Franco Moschino. He is one of my all-time favorite designers and I still think he's a bit underrated. I think he's starting to get his time in the sun. He did all these 'Cruise Me Baby' collections through the late 80s and early 90s where essentially one time a year he would pick a different city in Italy. So he did Florence, Venice, and Rome, and he would make a themed collection for those different cities. And I just love that he did that because I think that is true to what a fashion collection should be. It's taking one central concept and really making the most of it. And he just had such a kitschy way of doing things that almost poked fun at himself and poked fun at the industry that he was working in. That's so inspiring to me because he wasn't scared of what would happen if he poked the beast.
I'm sure there are so many parts of your life that you derive inspiration from, but you also mentioned film. What were some movies that really caught your attention for costuming and fashion?
I was a gymnast through most of my childhood and you get injured a lot. The way that I would deal with that was I would watch all these old movies. I just became obsessed with, specifically, movies from the 50s and 60s. In those eras, there was just so much more emphasis put on creating these dramatic fashion moments. Like Edith Head, the costume designer created movie after movie of these larger-than-life looks — it's not just fashion, it's really art. My favorite movie of all is this film from 1968 called What A Way to Go, starring Shirley MacLaine. It's still something that I reference all the time. And there are tons of moments where the clothes become like performance art. It's not just that they're sitting there lifeless, they're actually becoming part of the scene and becoming part of the acting. And I think that kind of gave me a whole new understanding of what clothes can do and what they can be.