We live in a world where it is imperative that we adopt a more sustainable mindset to reduce the waste of materials and it seems like you’re well ahead of the curve with that. How have you implemented sustainability into this collection?
Dana: Part of being a sustainable brand is like when we have leftover pieces from a collection, we don't just throw them out. We hold on to it. It has a quarter vibe sometimes, but you hope that you're going to be able to circle back and find a creative way to use it for something else in the future. So this material, the gym rings are made out of, and all the hardware was recycled from the collection that we had done in 2014. So in a way, it's nice to be able to come full circle and have the sustainability and the patience pay off and find new ways to use what you already have.
I believe in the designs. That's why I think we're still able to find uses for the hardware today, but the materials are different from the materials we work in today. It’s also why we were making things with it that's sculptural, not super functional, a bit more ornamental because they're not the traditional plating on hardware. So part of the reason we have all this leftover stuff is that after we moved into a sustainability space, we decided there's some materials we don't feel good about using, but we didn’t want to throw them out. We don't want to use them for any designs that are going to be rubbing on the skin, which is what makes the plating come off. So I was thinking if over time, our practice evolves and we find things to do with them that are not on body things then maybe they would still be relevant.
Your designs are sexy but in the most elegant way. What makes this such an irresistible combination for you and the consumer?
Dana: It's pretty simple. Look good, feel good. Everyone wants to look good and everyone wants to feel good. Everyone wants to feel irresistible. Everyone wants to feel a bit elegant, but not stuffy and a little bit avant-garde, but not cheesy or too much of a trend-hound kind of person. For us, part of the juxtaposition and the balance of mixing different aesthetics is trying to just to find some harmony and a balance of all of these influences that we digest from inspiration we gather and then combining them to make a new aesthetic that's uniquely ours. When you pull it apart, it has elements of all these different things. I think that's part of creating your signature style, it’s just combining it in a way that is reminiscent of your perspective.
Mariah: I think oftentimes Dana’s designs can be contextualized in a lot of different ways. Athleticism has been, I would say a big part of some of the inspiration like Dana has done pieces that are reminiscent of boxing equipment. A lot of people wear protective gear. There's a lot to be said for the jewelry you wear, the clothing you wear whatever's on your body being part of what empowers you and empowers you to express yourself. So it's certainly the pieces that make you feel strong. So in addition to the home goods, there are some wearable adornments, some are jewelry, some are, a nod to other kinds of athletics gear.
Dana: So there’s a chin guard that's a head harness thing with a metal plate for your chin with some leather straps. We had perforated rings and a previous athletic-inspired collection also from way back. But we're updating that to change the texture from perforations to striations. So a beautiful linear texture and those are worn in this shoot as rings and as your cuffs. So we try to balance it out and we're excited about challenging ourselves to include some pieces from each category every time we release a collection. So, a collection will have one theme and then it'll have something wearable, something functional, something art, and not traditionally functional, maybe something for the home and encapsulating that interdisciplinary artist and into your category design space and making that perspective of ours, consistent with the different themes we're exploring.
What inspired the athletic wear collection in general and how long did it take for you both to come up with designs for them?
Mariah: We’re both quite active people. I'm a dancer in another life and Dana is a mover as well so, why not bodybuilder themed? Prior to that, we've always just been looking for different kinds of somatic practices. I think self-care is close to what we do just for the sake of functioning and staying alive and all of those things and quite often what we're presenting is what we're going through personally.
Dana: I also think during quarantine, everybody was struggling with physicality and body stuff. The gym equipment was selling out everywhere and that was happening at the time that we were making this. I also feel like in the community that was heavily involved with, fostering and a merging into your final form is a big part of finding your way as a queer person a lot of the time, because the skin you're born with and the body you're born with, isn't always the body you dream of having. So I feel like there's a personal thing between queerness and body image and body actualization. I think more even for gay men than gay women, culturally, but a connection between gayness and gym culture and locker room culture and steam room culture.
It was impossible for us to look at someone like boy radio. Who's our forever muse and want to put him in like a latex singlet and release it during pride and not acknowledge how big of an influence that culture has been on us, from a leather, daddy loving kind of perspective. There's so many forms of body worship and idealized beauty. We're doing some work with the Tom of Finland foundation and stuff and what better example of idealized beauty than the male forms that he was illustrating. I think it was all very influential.
Our bodies have been changing over the years and we're adjusting our physical practices to continue to maintain or build bodies that we’re happy in. We've also been shooting more with less clothing and having more skin and jewelry-only shoots. We're both very into all the different forms of that as are the people in our community. I think that's another extension of things like jewelry and accessories and clothing too. It was just kind of continuing to transform your body in one way or another to represent how you feel, which I think gym stuff is a total extension of that practice.
Mariah: Some things we're finding or not finding it's always been a thing, but I think there's finally a little bit more space to explore it. Dana has designed within the context of adorning the body for a while now and has also started applying designs to other kinds of spaces. After joining the body It's the next facet of sculpting oneself in a certain way and not necessarily for us. I think we're interested in that being a physiological pursuit, but it doesn't always have to be that way. Then, I think the next facet of that is adorning the space and what's around you.
You know, fashion has changed so much, the way we wear things, how we go about it, what we wear. How do you feel like both of you have witnessed the evolution of fashion and how we go about it today?
Dana: I feel like fashion has evolved to be a lot more functional and pragmatic as opposed to all glamour all the time. Since we've been doing this, culture has shifted, not just fashion. Fashion is such a reaction and a barometer to culture and I think some of the things that happen in fashion are representative of things happening in the culture. So fashion sneakers becoming a forever thing and the image of what it means to use models has completely shifted, it was really difficult for us to be a unisex brand when we first started. But now everything is unisex and every fashion week is unisex now, which is great.
So we're always keeping an eye out to see how culture and the industry are shifting. I think we've been lucky. I guess that's the thing about being early adapters, when you are that type of person you're always going to be kind of ahead of it. So you're going to struggle at first to kind of pave the way and then people are going to kind of catch up and then it'll make it easier for you. By the time that happens, you're sick of the whole conversation, but now you're trying to ride the wave and also look forward to what's next. So I feel like in every sense with sustainability, with cultural issues that have shifted to affect a lot of things that are important to us. I feel like that's a cycle that we're kind of familiar with. It happens all the time.