Ten Minutes with Lisa and Dan Soltis of LAS Jewelry

If you like your vintage  demure and dainty, then you might want to skip this post. If you’re in the market, however, for a boldly sculptural vintage remix—think a handcast crow’s skull charm and grandma’s favorite brooch—then you’ll love LAS Jewelry. Beautifully patinated butterfly wings, distressed leather rosettes, punk studs, vintage rhinestones, and drapey chains all take on new life as look-at-me pieces thanks to husband-and-wife designers Lisa and Dan Soltis.  Here’s more from the redux masters . . .

Oligoville: In five words or less, LAS Jewelry is. . .

Lisa & Dan: Detailed, corroded, layered, stitched, statement.

Oligoville: How would you describe your ideal customer?

Lisa & Dan: Someone who wants to make statement, who has an appreciation and excitement for our work and wants to have a piece of that process.

Oligoville: How’d you end up as designers?

Lisa & Dan: Both of us have always been artists and have had a number of careers in artistic fields. Inevitably we ended up with the desire to make a career out of our own work and felt that jewelry was a medium where we could combine both our 2-d and 3-d talents.

Oligoville: How/when did you launch your brand?

Lisa & Dan: 2009 was definitely a poignant year. We had been toying around with the jewelry for a couple of years before that, and decided to make a proper go of it.

Oligoville: What attracted you to working with vintage materials?

Lisa & Dan: Our love of old things, and our belief that they should be given new life. In addition, of course, the green aspect and using materials that don’t have to be newly manufactured always makes the earth, and us, happy.

Oligoville: Who and/or what inspires you?

Lisa & Dan: Scientific illustration and anatomy books; prints from India, Africa, and Mexico; desert plants and creatures; the L.A. architecture and color palette, which is a scheme of washed out pastels with pops of bright hues; our childhood toys and backyard explorations; our friends, family, and faith.

Oligoville: What’s 24 hours like in your life?

Lisa & Dan: Working at home in our loft, multi-tasking, and prioritizing a number of projects. Dan will be sculpting a new wax while Lisa, will be hand sewing a leather creation. We’re also snacking several times a day and maybe a walk with our puppy is mixed in there somewhere.

Oligoville: What’s in your closet? What are you wearing right now?

Dan: Vintage tees and button downs, worn out jeans, leather boots. Right now I have on a 1980s tee with an eagle screen print and jeans.

Lisa: It kind of looks like a costume house: prints, sequins, lots of vintage. Right now I’m wearing Earl jeans, an oversized 1980s printed cotton button up, and a vintage rainbow suede belt.

Oligoville: What’s in your bag right now?

Dan: In my french army man bag I have a sketchbook, shades, extra pens, emergency change.

Lisa: A vintage eel skin wallet from an estate sale, African print make-up bag, mini leather journal, micron pens.

Oligoville: Tell us about some unexpected setbacks you have faced since starting your business and what you learned.

Lisa & Dan: Facing our daily and dire need for wisdom—in both business and creativity. We’ve learned the hard way from looking at this from an artist’s point of view rather than from a business perspective. It’s insanely challenging to keep up with organization, updates of many kinds, idea development, and financial balance and intelligence, all to create things we love, to make art. We are constantly learning to edit, time manage, and to work effectively as a team.

Oligoville: What has been the most rewarding part of your career?

Lisa & Dan: Gaining recognition from doing what we believe we are meant to do.

Oligoville: Tell us where you expect to see your business in the next five years.

Lisa & Dan: We have a list of stores/retailers where we’d love to see LAS. We’d also love to have a steady flow of sales online, a solid fan base/following, and a definite voice in the fashion world.

Oligoville: Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Lisa & Dan: Keep going, creating, and acting on at least 90% of your ideas. There are bound to be some amazing things in the mix if you do so. Travel if you have the means and document everything you see. Keep insane journals and sketchbooks, inspiration walls, etc. Keep yourself grounded business-wise and get someone to manage that area for you if you can’t do it yourself!

Oligoville: What’s on your playlist right now?

Lisa & Dan: Rush 2112, the Raconteurs, MGMT, Miles Davis, Allison Krauss, Zeppelin….

Oligoville: Last words?

Lisa & Dan: Thank you.

Ten Minutes with Caycee Black

Already a Lucky magazine favorite, Caycee Black has turned her passion for painting, ballet, and old movies into a luxe line that works as well in the boardroom as it does center stage. The collection—a tour-de-force of sophisticated whimsy —features dramatic but elegant prints and striking but never heavy-handed details such as flounced hemlines and draped necklines. Keep reading to learn more about Caycee’s conversion from canvas to couture.

Oligoville: In five words or less, Caycee Black  is. . .

Caycee: The mix of the three loves of my life: art, film, and ballet.

Oligoville: How would you describe your ideal customer?

Caycee: My ideal customer is an individual who sees my pieces and knows just how she wants to add them to her wardrobe.  I love that so many different types of women have been attracted to the same pieces.  They see it in their own way and know just how they want it to look on them.  My pieces are worn on stage by rock musicians and by women that work in offices.

Oligoville: How’d you end up as a designer?

Caycee: I grew up always painting and in and out of art classes during my summers and anytime I could fit them in.  I also had a weird obsession for old films when I was very young, mainly for how the women transformed themselves in each scene by what they had on.  I also remember my mom letting me dress myself as a child, which turned out quite interesting. I still remember the details of those outfits.  My favorite outfit was pink pegged-leg suspender pants with a purple puff sleeve leotard and a teal beaded necklace with purse to match!  In high school I was working on my art portfolio. When Parsons [the New School for Design] came to talk to my art class, I had this moment where I realized it was what I had always wanted to do.  Now my paintings become prints that come to life when worn.

Oligoville: What fashion trend do you hope we’ve seen the last of in 2010?

Caycee: I hope we have seen the last of the harem pant. I feel like a few designers started showing them, and then every designer, no matter who their customer was. started adding them to their repertoire.

Oligoville: Who and/or what inspires you?

Caycee: I can be inspired by so many different aspects.  For prints it can be a shadow in the park or something that has spilled on a window.  For mood I am always watching old films so I usually become engrossed by a character or film’s story line.  For Fall 09 it was the Thin Man series in which I fell in love with Myrna Loy.  Her character was so witty and equal to her husband for the time period of the late 30’s.  For Spring 2010 it was Agnes Varda’s film the dark fairy tale Le Bonheur.  The juxtaposition between the happy palette and the dark storyline intrigued me. It led me to my palette for spring 2010 and to playing with unexpected detailing such as cut-outs and asymmetry.  For Fall 2010 it is a mix of Murder on the Orient Express and the idea of a garden at night …. dreamlike.

Oligoville: Sadly, we just lost Alexander McQueen who was just so marvelously inventive. What do you think his lasting impact on fashion will be?

Caycee: Wow,  this is a question. I just hope that the hype around his death will die down, and people will remember what he did and who he was more than how and when he died.

Oligoville: What’s 24 hours like in your life?

Caycee: Usually waking up much earlier than I would like as I am a night person.  Running to my factory, which is in midtown and going over things.  Then I am usually running around midtown grabbing buttons and fabric or meeting with a vendor.  I then come home and answer a lot of emails. After I take care of my day-to-day tasks I allow myself to start working on the design aspect of  the next collection, shoot, or film ideas.  Creating is why I do this.

Oligoville: What’s in your closet? What are you wearing right now?

Caycee: My closet is a mix of pieces I have designed and vintage.  Right now I am wearing my denim knit bodysuit from the spring 10 line with a vintage 80’s high-waisted pale denim skirt and black perforated, patent, strappy shoes. Oh, and hot pink lip gloss!

Oligoville: What’s in your bag right now?

Caycee: A Bazaar magazine, colored pencils, a sketch book, tons of pencils and markers, a camera, and my I-phone.  I can’t leave home without a sketchbook or camera. You never know when you feel the need.

Oligoville: Tell us about some unexpected setbacks you have faced since starting your business and what you learned.

Caycee:  Well, I decided to launch my collection right when the economy was going through its toughest time.  Stores in general were very wary of working with a new designer.  I think this has been to my benefit since I focus on pursuing the right stores for my collection and not a general grouping.

Oligoville: What has been the most rewarding part of your career?

Caycee: When I am wearing a piece of my collection and someone comes up to me asking where it is from.

Oligoville: Tell us where you expect to see your business in the next five years.

Caycee: I would love to have my collection in stores that support me and really understand the message of my line.

Oligoville: Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Caycee: Be very careful with doing anything with friends. If you do, make sure you meet with a lawyer and draw up paperwork before you start anything.

Oligoville: What’s on your playlist right now?

Caycee: Cocteau Twins, Petshop Boys, Pale Saints, Chris and Cosey, Chairlift, ZAZA, The Depreciation Guild (my boyfriend’s band), and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (also my boyfriend’s band he plays drums in)

Oligoville: Any last words?

Caycee: I am going to see some Koala Bears right now!  Maybe I will get to hold one!

Ten Minutes with Audrey and Roni of Generation Love

When is a basic anything but? When it’s an eco-friendly tee from Generation Love, the NYC-based t-shirt line by designers Audrey Bressa-Valcourt and Roni Hirshberg. With a philosophy that comfortable can also be chic and exponentially sexy, the designing duo’s line of 100% organic cotton t-shirts can hold their own on their own or peeking out from under a cardie or structured jacket. According to their website Audrey and Roni love Paris, room service, sunny days, and making a difference, just to name a few things. Like I said, what’s not to love about Generation Love?

Oligoville: In five words or less, Generation Love is. . .

Audrey & Roni: Chic, cool, comfortable, off-beat, eco-friendly.

Oligoville: How would you describe your ideal customer?

Audrey & Roni: Someone who can appreciate that our product is made in New York City, who pays attention to detail, and who likes to be comfortable but jazzed up.

Oligoville: How’d you end up as designers?

Audrey & Roni: We literally decided in one day we would start a t-shirt line, and we did! We have always had entrepreneurial spirits with a desire to create. One day we were listening to music and having fun, and it dawned on us to put that energy into a clothing line as a way to share our point of view and spread the love!

Oligoville: How/when did you launch your brand?

Audrey & Roni: We started two years ago from scratch while working full time. We literally went from store to store to show the line with a suitcase and a pair of heels.

Oligoville: Why t-shirts?

Audrey & Roni: We LOVE t-shirts! That is who we are, what we wear every day, and what we feel the most sexy and cool in.

Oligoville: Who and/or what inspires you?

Audrey & Roni: Music, people in the street, cities, and our friend Gio.

Oligoville: What’s 24 hours like in your life?

Audrey & Roni: Craziness. There is always something to do and usually not enough time in the day to do it all.

Oligoville: What’s in your closet? What are you wearing right now?

Audrey & Roni: In our closets there are lot of jackets and blazers. We pretty much wear one of our tees with some sort of jacket all the time. Right now Audrey is wearing one of our old-school hoodies that we made. Maybe it will make a come back.

Oligoville: Tell us about some unexpected setbacks you have faced since starting your business and what you learned.

Audrey & Roni: The list of set backs is wayyy too long to start! In any business you have to be prepared for the unexpected, and in this industry there is a lot of unexpected!   We have to remind ourselves that if we would have given up at the first bump in the road we would have stopped a long time ago. We have learned there is always a solution to everything.

Oligoville: What has been the most rewarding part of your career?

Audrey & Roni: Having clients contact us to tell us how much they love the brand and want to support us.

Oligoville: Tell us where you expect to see your business in the next five years.

Audrey & Roni: We are launching our online store this week, so hopefully it will be established and well known at that point!

Oligoville: Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Audrey & Roni: Don’t take anything personally.

Oligoville: What’s on your playlist right now?

Audrey & Roni: Passion Pit, La Roux, Brahms, Empire of the Sun…

Oligoville: Any last words?

Audrey & Roni: LOVE IS FANTASTICO!

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