With race tensions at their highest level since the 60s, it's no wonder that Mexico is in the front of everyone's mind. I decided to call one of my favorite favorite colleagues. A charming girl named Simone Leblanc. Currently based in Los Angeles and hailing from SF, this fresh faced all American girl knows all about cross border relations and economic interdependence. She's the designer for her own fashion line which has been picked up by a swankety swank design house in the super luxurious millionario enclave of San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico.
jg: (ring) This is Jude
sl: Good morning Jude. It's Simone.
jg. Simone! How are you love.
sl: Fantastic. How are you?
jg: Great, thanks. It looks like we're actually going to have some decent weather today.
sl: Right. The weather has been very bad this year.
jg: I'm so f****** sick of it. I mean really, I'm just glad it stopped raining. By the by, thanks for doing this interview.
sl: No problem, I just love talking to you.
jg: Seriously right. Are you ready to get to the interview?
sl: Let’s go for it.
jg: So where did you go to school?
sl: I went to CCA, the California College of Arts and Crafts; and then to Parsons Paris for a year.
jg: Nathan Olivera went there right (CCA)? I'm such a big fan of that school, I think they have an excellent program. Tell me about Paris and how that affected your aesthetic?
sl: Broad acceptance of peoples' aesthetics and their expectations of conceptuality and creativity. It's so much easier to communicate your ideas when everyone around you speaks the language of fashion. It was very liberating.
jg: I know what you mean. That's why I had to leave the US to study design. I just couldn't stand all those candy ass girls that thought fashion was just about cute tops and cute trends. I just wish I had known they'd be the gatekeepers. So did you do any internships there?
sl: I worked with Fred Sathal. She does these beautiful clothes: Hand dyed knits and leather. Really gorgeous, very couture. You know, I love Paris, but I didn't see myself being there for more than a couple of years. When I left I was really excited to get back to the US and start building my career.
jg: Chambre Syndicale. That’s big time. So where did you get your start in LA?
sl: I went to work at Ann Ferriday learning the ins and outs of the design room. The work really wasn’t my creative vision, but it was my first assistant position. I totally kept the business afloat and that felt really good being the backbone of the design room. I learned so much there. It was a very chaotic environment and it taught me how to be organized and reign in things when they get out of hand.
jg: Tell me a little about your personal design philosophy.
sl: For me it all begins with intuition. The driving force is simply needing to create. It's sounds kind of cliched but it's about trying to find the voice inside of me, the one that tells me when something feels just right. It's interesting but people either have the sensitivity to hear that guiding voice or not. A core aspect of my aesthetic is finding my inner voice and letting it guide me. I also love embroideries, antiquated pieces that have a story to tell. I prefer natural fibers and powerful pieces that merge with the wearer without overpowering them, but still maintain a sense of independence.
jg: That's really a lovely thought Simone. I don't think it's cliched at all. I think it's what all artists aspire to. Now, tell us about LA and how it's affected your aesthetic. You know I love LA right?
sl: I totally agree. LA has been really great because it's opened me up in ways that I never imagined. Coming from San Francisco, you grow up with all of those stereotypes; but LA offers so many more possibilities as far as facilitating your creative visions. It's constantly evolving and looking for new directions. It also offers an ease in living as far as weather, cost of living, that other cities don't. LA gives people the opportunity to spread out and and figure out what you like as well as what you don't like. As far as San Francisco it really limits your direction, mostly because of the limitations of the industry there. It's virtually non existent.
jg: Tell me about it. It amazes me how little is going on here, creatively. The kids in LA are so much more with it; making up their own ideas. The kids here just seem too preoccupied trying to one up New York, which, poor dears isn't going to happen.
sl: I think LA also keeps me in a more explorative mood because there is so much happening. The scene here just offers so many nutrients and so much meat to use in the studio. There are also a lot of financial resources for designers. Still there are a lot of disgusting aspects to the city like Hummers and the pollution, but it's a totally cosmopolitan city where people literally come from everywhere to make their creative dreams happen and then end the day with a walk on the beach. Plus it's cheaper to live here than in SF or NYC.
jg: LA is a major American City, but it's also a major Latin American city as well. I think that's what I love about it. What about the Gas though it must be crazy right?
sl: I haven't driven for two days. It must be super expensive there?
jg: That's the only thing SF has going for it is the public transportation. Unfortunately all roads lead to nowhere.
sl: (laughing) Come on. San Francisco is super romantic. It's really beautiful. I'm such a romantic. I love all that stuff. Have you been to Cafe de le Presse on Grant?
jg: I used to love that place. Unfortunately it's undergone a terrible remodel and it's just this cheesy tourist trap and they got rid of all their magazines.
sl: That's a shame. I loved going there to read magazines and have a snack.
jg: Me too, I loved practicing French and browsing the magazines. Their crab cakes were super delish. So who was your favorite designer growing up?
sl: Yohji Yamamoto as I was starting to learn more about fashion, but that has since evolved into Dries Van Noten. I completely admire his process and his vision, his quiet slow building with his showings. I love the heritage too; his father's embroidery factory in Antwerp. That is so gorgeous. I don't know, his pieces seem like they have this immortality, like they'll live forever.
jg: All great design does. I still love Yohji.
sl: The clothes sort of imbue women with this instant wisdom, world weariness, confidence, you know all the things I value in people.
jg: So, do you remember the very moment you said that's it, I want to do that [design clothing]?
sl: It's funny because it doesn't match at all what my parents tell me. They said when I was four I used to carry a baggy of scraps around with me and that I played with it incessantly; although I think it didn’t really happen until fourth grade. One day I was watching my teacher make this watercolour study of Madame X. Somehow she managed to perfectly capture the feel of velvet. I loved it. I couldn't take my eyes off the painting. I went crazy after that taking sewing lessons and remodeling my clothes. What about you?
jg: Oh my god. I always wanted to be a designer. I started making Barbie clothes when I was like 6 or 7. It made my dad crazy. Before that though I was really into yarn craft. My grandma was one of those old ladies that made tissue box cozies. She taught me how to make pompoms and I just went nuts. I was like five years old and I just couldn't stop making them. I experimented with different yarns, finishing techniques, colors, apparatus for making them, shaping them. I was like this pompom savant with my own R&D laboratory.
sl: (laughing) That's what makes us special though, you know creative types.
jg: (laughing) Sometimes I wonder if it's some sort of manifestation of autism.
sl: (cracking up) Instead of licking the light switch you made pompoms.
jg: Oh my god, you are killing me, stop it. Now tell me about what you're working on right now.
sl: Virgin Saints and Angels http://www.vsadesigns.com. It's a jewelery company based in San Miguel, Mexico.
jg: I love San Miguel. It's really the hot spot right now. You're only taking jobs that the Mexicans don't want right? Just kidding. How'd you land that gig?
sl: Very serendipitously, the sales rep for the company happened to move in next door and saw me sewing in the window. A few days after our initial meeting I found myself in San Miguel setting up a taller for clothing. It's definitely a slow build though. Our first collection was mostly about figuring out our limitations, training our artisans and figuring out capacity. Now that we have a lot of that worked out, we're adding more fabrics. I'm very excited about it.
jg: Who's carrying it?
sl: Fred Siegel, in the Couture section in Santa Monica. You can get a list of stockists in our web site.
jg: You know, Mexico is a big influence on my work, but mostly because of my heritage. Tell me about your connection to Mexico and how this project has influenced your aesthetic.
sl: I grew up with hippy parents in Marin. They loved Mexico and traveled back and forth. We always had all kinds of Mexicanalia in our house, furniture, textiles. I loved the colors and mixture of textures. My first visit to Mexico was 12 years ago and I fell in love right away with the languid tempo,
jg: Depending on what side of the counter you're on.
sl: Yeah, for sure. If you're on the local time line it's all good right. Though I've been exploring the Mexican palette, ochres, deep cobalts, and salmon washes for a long time. Working with the owners of VS&A has been a way for me to get out design ideas that I've been incubating for a while.
jg: That's so great. I love it when people can see past the surface. LA and Mexico are both such rich veins. It's taken so long for the world to take them seriously. Any advice for aspiring designers?
sl: Definitely get your hands dirty. Work as many places as you can and see the process in as many different areas as you can. Trust your heart and follow your own aesthetic. Nurture your vision and treat it kindly.
jg: You're such a romantic. I love it. Anything you want to add before you head off to your meeting?
sl: Jude, I just want to add that I'm so happy we met. You're such a purist, I think it's beautiful. I can't wait to see you're studio.
jg: I'd love to have you. I'll call you when I'm in LA next month.
sl: Bye.
3o6
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
