David Peck and Laurel Anderson make up the design duo of
Untitled 11:11. Having met at Parsons in Paris, the started Mastering textiles at a young age and with a mix of European High End ready-to-wear and American sensibilities they are producing a line made of sustainable, fair trade and eco-friendly fabrics. Lynn Furge spoke with the duo just before Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York to see where they are heading.
Lynn Furge: You are both friends from University… how did you come up with the idea to start Untitled 11:11?
David Peck: It sort of came about naturally. We had worked together in Paris after I graduated. Laurel moved back to the States before I did and I would come stay with her when I was interviewing for jobs in New York. I was frustrated with the types of jobs that were available to me after coming from such a creative and responsible position in Paris. I have always known that I was going to start my own line, but the thought of doing it alone was a little intimidating. The fact that I knew I clicked with Laurel and could trust her in terms of both her creativity and work ethic made starting Untitled 11:11 together a logical choice.
Laurel Anderson: I agree that it did come very naturally. I always seem to pick the hard way to do something. I suppose I want to really prove to myself I can, and if you are going to go, go all out. So if I was going to design, I was going to do it for myself. With that mentality, starting our own line allowed us to work how we wanted and do what we wanted.
LF: With combined efforts as a design team where do you share roles, where do you do your own thing and how do you balance the partnership?
DP: We are very different and similar at the same time. What really unites us is a passion for making clothes that are beautifully constructed—even if we approach the concept of design from different viewpoints. We both like to solve puzzles and pattern making and garment construction is just that. Each season has been a little different in terms of how we design the collection. We try to design the collection in a way that reflects our inspiration. This season our inspiration was the golden ratio and geometry, so there was a lot of cutting up of the pattern pieces. Last season (Fall ‘09) we were very much inspired by couture in the 50’s, so it was very natural for us to do a lot of experimentation with draping. No matter who comes up with the start of an idea for a particular garment, the other person always acts as an editor of sorts or a springboard for new ideas.
LA: We do indeed work very differently, and most of the time we are able to work past these differences. The filtering process is a very important step in the design process, as our aesthetics can be very different. For example, I always lean towards a more muted palate, black, gray, blue, ivory… and David likes LOTS of color. Its in that balance that we create the collection.
LF: Your collection seems like something that Katherine Hepburn would wear today if she were a current star, please tell me about the design aesthetic?
DP & LA: Our aim is to create clothing that is timeless, but relevant to today. The Untitled 11:11 customer is looking for practical luxury. Katherine Hepburn was very much of her era, but yet at the cutting edge at that same time. Our collections play with an ease of dressing that hopefully transcends age or time period. We hope women see our clothes as aspirational, but accessible at the same time. If we have achieved that balance then we have accomplished our goals.
LF: Untitled 11:11 works hard to maintain an eco-friendly practice, what types of fabrics and dyes, where do you manufacture?
DP & LA: Something that has become increasingly alarming to us is that lack of social responsibility in the garment industry. So little thought is often given to how a product is produced. By aiming to be socially conscious with each decision that we make we inadvertently make clothes that are also eco-friendly. We use many fair trade fabrics that are custom hand woven for us. The idea of fair trade is to give the workers who produce the fabric, from farmers to weavers, an equitable wage for their work. Our hand-woven fabrics use about 28% of the energy it takes to make machine woven fabrics.
LF: The blog is lovely and really stands to the testament of the attitude of the brand with Zip Cars and Power Saves on the Computer, tell me about your muse and the Untitled 11:11 lifestyle?
DP: We started the blog with the company to help keep our friends and family update with our progress. As the company has grown, we have had less time to blog, but we have transitioned into using Twitter and Facebook as platforms of communication. The Untitled 11:11 lifestyle is one of transparency. By sharing with our customers the ways that we have found reduce waste and lead more efficient lives, we are doing a small part in helping to educate people. We don’t know how to do everything right, but we do try to make even the small decisions meaningful. In the end it’s the small steps that we take that will help us take giant leaps forward in terms of creating a product that is completely sustainable.
LA: It is David who has the real passion for Twittering, Facebook, blogging, etc… I’m a little clueless when it come all that, but he works hard to try to update them regularly and hopefully, if we can share our little tricks and encourage people to make the same decision we have, then we are moving in the right direction.
LF: Where do you see the label heading in the future?
DP & LA: We are both passionate about is textiles. We would eventually love to develop a line of textiles for the home. In the meantime, we are actively developing partnerships with other companies for accessory development. Our focus in our first few seasons was intentionally small as we tried to perfect our vision and voice. As those elements are becoming a natural part of our design vocabulary, it’s easier for us to see how that can translated into a broader vision. For instance, this season we kept the core of our collection true to our roots with our cocktail dresses, but we also worked really hard a creating a line of separates that related to those dresses. You should see the collection gradually expanding its scope—especially over the next few seasons. We’re very excited to be able to offer a collection that can be integrated into each moment of a woman’s life.
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