The OC Showroom is a bustling space that represents over twenty international and domestic designer collections. In our new column, Showroom and Tell, the Showroom team will be sharing sneak peeks of upcoming collections, snaps of visiting buyers and designers, and more. Stay tuned for more of the insider scoop! In our first installment, OC Showroom Director Joey visits the Highland studio in Brooklyn to see what the label has in store for Fall/Winter 2012.
Joey Laurenti: What was your inspiration this season?
Lizzie Owens: The textiles were the starting point. The German artist Joseph Beuys had an installation in the 70s, I Like America and America Likes Me, where he wrapped himself in felt and confined himself to a room with a live coyote for hours at a time over several days. (They both made it out OK.) The themes of vulnerability, survival, and the function of clothing as a protective barrier are meant to come through in this season's fabrics and textures. I used Scottish mohair tweeds, nappy wools, felt, textured tweeds, and tribal prints in jersey. The colors—deep indigos, gray, black—echo a state of nature.
JL: Where do you find the bulk of your influence for the line?
LO: Menswear has a reputation for being more creatively confining than womenswear, and I was conscious of that when we started. It's true that sportswear, which is the basis for Highland, requires an emphasis on function, but that means it has deep connections to lifestyle. The romance is different, but solid and precise utility has its own creative palette. You're still telling a story.
JL: How did Highland get its start?
LO: I took a road trip to California, thinking I might develop my styling work for bands into costuming. In Los Angeles, I reunited with my cousin Cramer Tolboe and family friend Mike Franks, both of whom had experience in menswear, and the moment seemed right for us to act on an idea for a line we'd been talking about for years. Highland was born that summer in an improvised studio on Venice Boulevard. After we got things started in L.A., I realized most of my creative and professional contacts were still here, and it made sense to relocate the studio. Mike and Cramer have mostly forgiven me for the change in weather.
JL: Tell me about your background. Where are you from? What about that has influenced Highland?
LO: My partners and I were born in Salt Lake City. Each of us grew up in the religion of the outdoors. In my family, summer meant heading south in my dad's old Land Cruiser to go hiking, camping, and river-rafting. In the winter, my family would drive 25 minutes to ski alongside people who'd come from around the world for the snow. Cramer, Mike, and I all had lots of gear around growing up. To find inspiration for Highland, I raided my parents' garage. There were old frame backpacks, retro Patagonia outerwear, climbing shoes, rope, and falsa blanket seat covers from the Land Cruiser. Our parents also had albums full of photos of the outdoor life in Utah from their twenties.
JL: How long has the collection been around?
LO: We started in 2009, and our first season was Fall/Winter 2010. This will be our fifth.
JL: Is there a story behind the name of the collection?
LO: There's an outside roughness in the name Highland, but it's also a reference to our roots. Highland Drive runs along one side of the Salt Lake Valley. It's a workaday road––essent
Joey Laurenti: What was your inspiration this season?
Lizzie Owens: The textiles were the starting point. The German artist Joseph Beuys had an installation in the 70s, I Like America and America Likes Me, where he wrapped himself in felt and confined himself to a room with a live coyote for hours at a time over several days. (They both made it out OK.) The themes of vulnerability, survival, and the function of clothing as a protective barrier are meant to come through in this season's fabrics and textures. I used Scottish mohair tweeds, nappy wools, felt, textured tweeds, and tribal prints in jersey. The colors—deep indigos, gray, black—echo a state of nature.
JL: Where do you find the bulk of your influence for the line?
LO: Menswear has a reputation for being more creatively confining than womenswear, and I was conscious of that when we started. It's true that sportswear, which is the basis for Highland, requires an emphasis on function, but that means it has deep connections to lifestyle. The romance is different, but solid and precise utility has its own creative palette. You're still telling a story.
JL: How did Highland get its start?
LO: I took a road trip to California, thinking I might develop my styling work for bands into costuming. In Los Angeles, I reunited with my cousin Cramer Tolboe and family friend Mike Franks, both of whom had experience in menswear, and the moment seemed right for us to act on an idea for a line we'd been talking about for years. Highland was born that summer in an improvised studio on Venice Boulevard. After we got things started in L.A., I realized most of my creative and professional contacts were still here, and it made sense to relocate the studio. Mike and Cramer have mostly forgiven me for the change in weather.
JL: Tell me about your background. Where are you from? What about that has influenced Highland?
LO: My partners and I were born in Salt Lake City. Each of us grew up in the religion of the outdoors. In my family, summer meant heading south in my dad's old Land Cruiser to go hiking, camping, and river-rafting. In the winter, my family would drive 25 minutes to ski alongside people who'd come from around the world for the snow. Cramer, Mike, and I all had lots of gear around growing up. To find inspiration for Highland, I raided my parents' garage. There were old frame backpacks, retro Patagonia outerwear, climbing shoes, rope, and falsa blanket seat covers from the Land Cruiser. Our parents also had albums full of photos of the outdoor life in Utah from their twenties.
JL: How long has the collection been around?
LO: We started in 2009, and our first season was Fall/Winter 2010. This will be our fifth.
JL: Is there a story behind the name of the collection?
LO: There's an outside roughness in the name Highland, but it's also a reference to our roots. Highland Drive runs along one side of the Salt Lake Valley. It's a workaday road––essent