California, Californiaaaa! I accidentally ended up on a cross-country road trip. Over the weekend I was at a wedding and hitched a ride to LA in the passenger seat of my friend’s Punch Buggy. We made a couple too many stops (Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Solvang, every antique store in sight), and the 5-hour drive turned into a layover at the kitchtastic Madonna Inn.
All to say, I’ve been spinning the block a bit, and I have some thoughts. I once had a conversation with Emilia Petrarca about the two types of vacation shoppers. One suffers from Vacation Delusion Syndrome: they pre-trip shop for the person they think they’ll become on vacation. The other Brandnewgirlitis: they leave unnecessary room in their suitcase, thinking they’ll return sartorially altered by the experience. I always fall into the optimistic later. Believing I’ll return with a bounty, I often sacrifice packing essentials.
In California I’ve noticed an abundance of Madhappy hoodies, barefoot shoes (Michelle Li wore a really good pair recently), chintzy costume jewelry, massive (I’m talking forehead-to-mustache) vintage shades, long, clean hair as an accessory, simple but figure-skimming jersey dresses (recommending Angel Moon), summer Uggs, short, short, short jorts, a lot of Apollonia LARPing (the Godfather character has been heavy on my mind), EYELINER, and PINK LIPSTICK. I visited my favorite vintage store, Scout, where I ogled some Helmut Lang heels that had what looked like a Silly Band around the ankle.
Whoever you are, the truth remains: one of the best parts of traveling is getting out of your closet!
BACK IN NYC: My LA OGBFF Lauren Schiller stopped by with a dispatch from her OGBFF pop-up in NYC. It’s sort of a Freaky Friday situation.
Talk to me about designing a viral phone case. How was the pop-up?
I made the first one as an arts-&-crafts project with my sister almost two years ago. It took a year and a half to figure out how to actually manufacture it, then the first teaser went viral overnight. Since then, I’ve mostly just been trying to keep up with demand. The funniest part is that the batch I made specifically for our New York pop-up didn’t arrive in time for the pop-up. At this point, I’ve accepted that if there’s a way for something to go wrong, it’ll probably happen to me first. Running a brand is basically learning not to let perfect timing determine whether you have fun.
What is important about a phone case?
A phone case isn’t really about protecting your phone anymore. It’s more like a purse. You carry it everywhere, it’s in every mirror selfie, it’s basically part of your outfit. I feel like the coolest people don’t use phone cases because they DGAF… but the rest of us can have fun with it, and we deserve really good ones.
What do you wish more designers were doing?
Making stuff I want to wear and then just giving it to me…haha. No, but FR, IDK I just hope everyone is having fun.
How do memes factor into your creative process?
OGBFF has always been about cultivating the feeling of an inside joke, just like memes do. But I try not to be directly inspired by memes. I’m more inspired by the collective sense of humor they create.
Mantras?
I just always say I think everything should be fun. If it’s not fun… I don’t want to do it. And when creating, I remind myself that not every idea has to change your life… Some can just make you laugh.
What’s in and what’s out, and what don’t you care about?
Flirting is in. Trying to be cool is out. I don’t really care about online criticism because I don’t really trust or value most people’s creative opinions.
Last screenshot.
I was a little drunk in a bar in New York this weekend when my manufacturer texted asking where the logo should go on our flip-flops. I handed my phone to the guy sitting next to me, told him to circle where he thought it looked best, and sent that straight to production. That’s my most recent screenshot.
Only one paragraph about California style and it’s as out of touch as ever!