Lindsay Jones in Silhouette

My Q&A with the designer of Outlaws of the Border

Lindsay Jones radiates an ethereal and delicate quality as well as a quiet inner strength. It's this juxtaposition that makes her interesting as a person and an artist/fashion designer.  I first met her at the Zac Posen party for Target. We've since found out that we both live in loft buildings in a decidedly unhip area of Brooklyn and we're beginning our own collaboration -more on that another time. In the meantime please click below to read my interview with Lindsay and learn the details of her upcoming show.

Hey Lindsay, what's up?

I'm working on the next Outlaws of the Border Collection, of course, but I am also showing work at the Chelsea Museum in the project room on June 21st with a musical composer and a film artist. My pieces will be larger than life art/fashion pieces that I will execute with a very conceptual approach. They are part of the installation that fills the space of the room and links the various elements together through movement and fabric. I am very excited and hope you all can make it out!!

That sounds great. I personally love the Chelsea Museum. And this leads perfectly into my first question! You were originally studying as a sculptor and then got into fashion design. How did you go from one to the other? 

I feel most mediums translate into each other, It is a blurry line where one medium shifts into another, be it sculpture or film or writing...the more you learn of one it bleeds into the others. The focus is what makes it grow into  something strong. And Fashion in a sense is wearable art/ sculpture, that is collapsible and functional on a daily basis. I love that it can say so much so quickly and be gone. Like a series of thoughts.

So you see fashion design as creating something in 3D space. Because obviously clothing on a body is interacting with space in all dimensions and isn’t flat… 

One of the key things I like to pay attention to is the silhouette. I like the idea of a silhouette being interesting or modern or having a unique approach but not in a overly constructed way that restricts movement of the body. For me it’s kind of like a tension between the super constructed silhouette and the natural organic approach to shapes that are more along the lines of a woman’s body and the freedom that exists there… that point of intersection is what I find interesting. Silhouette has for many years reflected culture. Through fashion, sculpture and architecture. It is rather revealing about a cultures ideas of what is happening on a larger spectrum and the future motion of the whole, although harder to see when in the midst of it. That is why I think it is good to find things that are interesting without being tricky or overly trendy. So that the end result is classic although modern in its approach.  

You worked for some other designers before you began your own line. How did that experience inform you?

Well first you start as an intern and you have to do a lot of tasks and it can get quite complex. But I think that was kind of the best transition, because what it did for me was better than school. It forced me to be organized. It also let me see firsthand where an idea comes from, how it’s communicated, translated, executed: the whole thing through a team. It’s really exciting to see how it all culminates.

Speaking of teams, do you work with others on Outlaws of the Border? 
I’ve had up to 4 interns! Seriously I have two other people who work with me now. Maria Sharpe and Sheyna Imm. They do more of the business marketing/ P.R. side which that allows me to focus on design. They are also close friends of mine so we have a very open/collaborative relationship. 

Ideally how do you see your line developing?

I would like to move Outlaws forward in a way that includes more people into my vision while I remain true to myself.

Are there any women you’d want to dress? 

Honestly, Kim Gordon, maybe even Grace Coddington. People with individual style: to see how they translate the clothes into their own style.  

What are your current obsessions?

Andy Warhol! I even have a little hair piece that I'll wear sometimes. Seriously I love Warhol and his work and his effect on popular culture. 

  

What do you like best about New York? 

I like the hidden places. And how everything is interconnected, I like the mix of cultures and mix of rich and poor and how everyone is so close together and I like the industrial aspects and places further out. Little Russia, Brighton Beach, the bridges, all the parks…

What's the best piece of advice you've ever given or received? 

Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it's good or bad. Whether they love it, or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art.

-Andy Warhol

All photos from Outlaws of Border Spring/Summer 2010 Lookbook by Yana Toyber