Finding the studio for Brooklyn-based label Chromat inside the labyrinth that is the Brooklyn Navy Yard is no easy feat. On a recent weekday, I wandered through warehouses in the gargantuan industrial complex until I finally stumbled upon designer Becca McCharen's world, a quaint studio where platform heels and body cages line the walls. That day, her team was fastidiously working on the final touches for pieces that would soon be packed up and sent to Opening Ceremony. Chromat, which has been operating since 2010, has lately received some much-deserved buzz. Under the influence of architecture and science, Chromat marries nineteenth-century silhouettes with unconventional materials to create provocative designs. Curious to find out more, I spoke with Becca about everything from working construction, to love affairs with robots, and witches in Bushwick.
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SHANNAN ELINOR SMITH: Can you tell me about your background?
BECCA MCCHAREN: I studied architecture at the University of Virginia. After graduation, I worked for several architecture firms and even worked [in] construction one summer, pouring concrete. Then I ended up doing urban development. During that job I started experimenting. I would come home and sew some stuff. I learned how to sew in college; I was a costume designer for the theater department [which is] where I learned how to do Victorian undergarments and period piece construction. Looking back on some of the early work I did for Chromat back in 2008, it is a little embarrassing, but I was living in Lynchburg, Virginia at the time and there wasn't a good fabric store. I would just go to Goodwill and rip up leather trench coats. At the time I had a friend in New York that had a pop-up shop (which is now International Playground) and she liked my pieces, so she started ordering them. I still had my day job in urban development, so I would come home at night and make orders, then send them to New York. It just ended up snowballing from there and I decided I’d just move to New York and meet all the weirdoes who were ordering my stuff.
How did your background in architecture inform your work for Chromat?
So, it makes sense now because architecture and Victorian undergarments are kind of all that we do with Chromat. We are interested in analyzing all the interior seams of a garment and extruding that to the exterior—making scaffolding for the body. We are also really interested in looking at the body as a building site.
Can you tell me about some of these materials you use?
We always want to learn about and experiment with different materials. For Fall/Winter 2014, we did velvets and chrome-plated metals. It was also our first big LED season, working with electronic light transmitters and programming systems that can read the body. Spring/Summer 2014 was our sport collection. We used neoprene, and we also started doing some steel cage pieces. The season before that was vinyls and the season before that was leathers. I’m not sure yet what next season is going to be, but I’m excited to figure it out.
What is the purpose of the LED lights on the Fall/Winter 2014 collection pieces? Are they strictly decorative?
Yes. They respond to movement, activated by accelerometers. This collection is our most feminine and romantic; it’s kind of not my vibe. But, I was thinking about a love story between a human and a robot, a lot
Shop all Chromat HERE
SHANNAN ELINOR SMITH: Can you tell me about your background?
BECCA MCCHAREN: I studied architecture at the University of Virginia. After graduation, I worked for several architecture firms and even worked [in] construction one summer, pouring concrete. Then I ended up doing urban development. During that job I started experimenting. I would come home and sew some stuff. I learned how to sew in college; I was a costume designer for the theater department [which is] where I learned how to do Victorian undergarments and period piece construction. Looking back on some of the early work I did for Chromat back in 2008, it is a little embarrassing, but I was living in Lynchburg, Virginia at the time and there wasn't a good fabric store. I would just go to Goodwill and rip up leather trench coats. At the time I had a friend in New York that had a pop-up shop (which is now International Playground) and she liked my pieces, so she started ordering them. I still had my day job in urban development, so I would come home at night and make orders, then send them to New York. It just ended up snowballing from there and I decided I’d just move to New York and meet all the weirdoes who were ordering my stuff.
How did your background in architecture inform your work for Chromat?
So, it makes sense now because architecture and Victorian undergarments are kind of all that we do with Chromat. We are interested in analyzing all the interior seams of a garment and extruding that to the exterior—making scaffolding for the body. We are also really interested in looking at the body as a building site.
Can you tell me about some of these materials you use?
We always want to learn about and experiment with different materials. For Fall/Winter 2014, we did velvets and chrome-plated metals. It was also our first big LED season, working with electronic light transmitters and programming systems that can read the body. Spring/Summer 2014 was our sport collection. We used neoprene, and we also started doing some steel cage pieces. The season before that was vinyls and the season before that was leathers. I’m not sure yet what next season is going to be, but I’m excited to figure it out.
What is the purpose of the LED lights on the Fall/Winter 2014 collection pieces? Are they strictly decorative?
Yes. They respond to movement, activated by accelerometers. This collection is our most feminine and romantic; it’s kind of not my vibe. But, I was thinking about a love story between a human and a robot, a lot