Tyler McGillivary Walks the Walk
With futuristic lines and retro colors and patterns, McGillivary’s pieces transcend time, building on themes of transformation of space, place, and identity each item brings its own personality, attitudes, and subjectivity to the wearer; and vice versa. Both cartoonish and elegant, her work encourages its wearer to move through their lives with levity and grace. Her first ever footwear line continues that tradition, with ‘60s silhouettes and playful patterns that beg to be skip-to-my-lou-ed in. The line, closed for pre-sale, will be available for immediate shipping September 18.
Tell me about your first-ever footwear line. What was the idea behind it?
I wanted to create shoes that felt like a ‘60s animation brought into reality in color and form. We use the spiral shape in a lot of our work as it symbolizes growth, renewal and transformation and it felt like a natural pairing to our clothing to try to drag that symbol into our footwear. I'd been doodling these shoes for a while, but I didn't know if it would be possible to achieve it functionally as a heel design. We finally found a producer willing to try it and it worked!
The line features three distinct styles. What does each mean to you?
The Lou heel — This shoe is probably the style I'm most excited about. It's based on the classic shape of a Mary Jane paired with a spiral stacked heel that is hand carved and painted. The color pairings are some of my all time favorites and feel off-beat in a way that really appeals to me.
Maris sandal — For the Maris sandal I wanted to make a shoe that felt like a cartoon character from an ‘80s Italian Disco time traveling into the year 3000. I feel like the Maris sandal has a nostalgic taste, while firmly living in a parallel or distant universe. I love that you could wear it to dinner, dancing or the beach.
Florence wedge — These shoes are based on a pair of vintage French platforms that had the perfect square toe. We designed the wiggly shaped metal buckle ourselves and, though the heels are high, the platform makes them easy to walk in. I love these with old wide-leg sailor pants or jeans.
What role does identity play in your work?
I just am fascinated by the role clothing and adornment plays in articulating identity. I believe strongly that what you wear is an extension of who you are, or who you want to be in any given moment, and think the act of getting dressed should inspire creativity. Most importantly, it should be fun. These shoes play on the transformative quality of dressing, in that I hope they transport you to a slightly different world, or at least put you in a good mood.
Alongside your recently introduced footwear line, you design and sell apparel, jewelry furniture, and home goods. How are each of these mediums interconnected?
We sell a lot of work by other designers alongside our own pieces and the main requirement of those items is just that they feel entirely one-of-a-kind. I'm always looking for work that is entirely unique and elicits a feeling of discovery. Of course, our brand and my personal taste is incredibly color and print focused, so a lot of the work and collaborations we sell tend towards that direction. Similarly, I will never stop loving natural elements like flowers, butterflies or rare plants and so that imagery features a lot into our world as well.
The Tyler McGillivary brand is uniquely positioned to feature up-and-coming designers-- tell me more about your business model.
I love highlighting the work of other artists alongside our in-house brand, both because I now have a platform that can hopefully help to grow their brands, and just to draw more attention to their beautiful pieces! In a way it does selfishly curb my personal shopping obsession, since I only sell artist's work that I either have already purchased an item from, or whose work I would love to own myself.
If you had to sum up the Tyler McGillivary aesthetic in three words, what would they be?
Greenhouse. Disco. Party
Your designs boast dynamic shapes and vibrant colors. What is the importance of geometry and color theory to your work?
I first became interested in color theory when a boy I briefly dated in college lent me the classic Josef Albers's book Interaction of Color (I never returned it). It essentially acts as a guide for artists and educators and goes into a complex history of color theory, relations between colors and your corresponding shift in perception. Similarly, I have a book called the Luscher Color Test that focuses more on the psychology behind color perception and interest and has the reader organize eight colors in descending order of how much you like them. Though the book strongly mentions that it is not a parlor game, this is exactly how I use it and it doesn't disappoint.
It's interesting to me to read about color theory, but I think ultimately most of our reaction to color is deeply personal and innate. I find that color to me is representative of creativity, like being in an art store and seeing rows of different markers or paints and just thinking "what will I make with these?" I often find it near impossible to cut down any colors when making a print or choosing fabrics and often I choose color schemes based on arrangements of colors in life, like when you walk by a grocery store and a pink flower bouquet is next to rows of oranges and there happens to be a piece of neon green tape hanging from the edge of a shelf next to it. Though the backing for why these colors are appealing is based deeply in color theory, I don't rely on that knowledge when designing necessarily.
You have so many signature looks from the new Eli Snap pants, to the classic Lula dress which just restocked on July 29th Do you have a favorite piece, and how do you like to style it?
My favorite piece is probably the MC dress in cosmos print and I style it with light blue strappy heels, big earrings and a fluffy bag.
Where will your fashionably-fitted feet be taking you next? Are there any new projects or designers in the works?
We're currently working on finalizing our FW21 season and designing SS22 as well as collaborating with new artists and designers such as Abiola Onabulé, Gemvving, knitwear designer Annie Hall, and Fal-Ash , with more to come.
