How Daniella Kallmeyer Is Forging A New Era of Luxury Fashion

0:01Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Let's Get Dressed. It's your host, Liv. Pros. I hope you're all having a great start to your week. I just got back from New York Fashion Week. Such a fun week. So many good shows, so many good trends, which I can't wait to talk to you guys about at a later date. But today we are talking about one of my highlights of the trip, which was getting to attend my first Kalmeier show. It was beautiful and I was really honored to be able to sit down with its designer, Daniela Kalmeier, shortly after the show. Daniela has been building her brand for over a decade now and it feels like she is truly having a major moment.

0:36She has two gorgeous stores in New York now. She was just nominated for CFDA's Women's Wear of the Year Award. Zoe Kravitz just wore a custom Kalmeier mini, and she was one of the most talked about shows at New York Fashion Week. In today's episode, we talk about how she has built Kalmeier piece by piece over the past decade, starting with less than$7 ,000 and growing into one of New York's buzziest labels that's defining a new era of luxury in the industry. We also talk about what it is like producing in New York, being an independent brand, and how an intentional patient path has been really successful for her.

1:13If you have not seen her new collection, I highly recommend going to Vogue Runway right now or going on her Instagram and checking it out. We do talk about it at the top of this episode, so consider it required viewing before you dive into the episode. And if you love the brand, make sure you go shoot them a follow on Instagram as well. Let's go get dressed with Daniela Kalmyer. Welcome to the pod. Thank you. Getting to witness your show yesterday was pretty magical. Thank you. And thank you for making the time during what I know is probably a chaotic week for you. Definitely. But it's like, I think it's like the best time to do it is like right after.

1:47Like we need to start pre-fall yesterday. It's also fresh and the feelings are all still there. Yes. Better than like when I've like already blacked it all out. Yes. Do you black out during the show? Fully. Fully. That little like run I did at the end and waved at everyone. I don't know who I'm waving at. It was very special. It was very sweet. Yeah. How are you feeling? I feel good. I just told you this, but my alarm went off this morning and I was like, it's the day of the show today. So I think it's just like been running through my head so much. We had that music on loop for the last like week and a half.

2:22So it's just like inside of my head and I'm like stuck in the loop of this show a little bit. But it's such a serene show and it It was such a surreal moment that, yeah, it feels like a little bit of a fantasy to be stuck in that loop. I have to tell you, I love that song, On the Nature of Daylight. My favorite movie is Arrival, and that was the score to Arrival. And every time it plays, I get the chills. Why did you choose that song? Actually, some of my best friends and I had gone to see a contemporary ballet like a year ago. Cool. And I mean, the whole show was amazing, but this one particular piece was like so like hauntingly beautiful, like jaw dropping.

3:06And that song came on and like we were all like gripping each other in our seats. Yes. And Austin, who also photographs all of our work, like pulled out her phone and shazammed it. Yeah. And it's just like been on our playlist ever since. And when Richard Sears, who's this amazing composer out of Paris, was offering to live record the track for us, I wanted to find an example of the direction we wanted to go in. And that came up and I was like, this is the perfect collection for that. I get chills every time I hear that song. Have you seen Arrival? Yes, love Arrival. Yeah. Weirdly, why is it my favorite movie?

3:47It's a really beautiful movie. And also like I think we love a could be real dystopian future movie. It's funny that you brought up the movie because I always associate it with the ballet. But every time we like start this process over and I'm trying to find a track or an inspiration for a track, I go to like Hans Zimmer or like some kind of movie score. Because I do want my shows to feel like really cinematic and theatrical. Like that's the world I come from. And I think it's amazing when you've got like a pounding track and it's so fun and the models are like racing down the runway, but that's not the experience I want to give my guests.

4:25And so like making it so powerful where like the music is sort of like vibrating into your chest and you are like fully entranced and like sucked into the moment of these like 11 minutes. there was such a a very distinct choice in the speed and the cadence of the show the models were walking very slow almost like they were gliding and the music talk to me a little bit about the inspiration for the show I know you're you mentioned the soundscape a little bit but there are so many elements that come together for a show location soundscape collection what were you looking at when you first started thinking about it I think all of those things were super connected.

5:06They're always super connected for our shows. This one in particular, we knew we wanted it to be a little bit bigger of a guest count and it was obviously a bigger moment. We wanted to still keep it intimate. Like that is very much our brand. We had opportunities to go into like a large warehouse space and have like double the guests that we had last season. But that's not for me, I think, at least not for now. I want people to like feel the clothes, like almost as close as like they would be touching them, but on the runway. We were pretty close. I loved that part of it. That intimacy was palpable.

5:42So I think that was like part of how we chose the venue. That was part of how we chose the music. I wanted it to be theatrical. I wanted it to feel intimate. And that model walk is also part of it. We worked with the models during their casting. We worked with the models backstage and at the rehearsal to make sure, you know, they got the pace right. And it was also very tently paced because we kind of designed the show and the tracks in three acts. But then at the very end, right before they all went out, I said, you know, remember the pacing, remember gliding. It's very elegant. It's strong. You know, think you're walking into a boardroom and everyone is becoming silent.

6:23But I also said to them, my team and I worked on this for over six months, and we love this collection and we love this work. So let's savor it. Let's not rush to make it be over. That to me feels so poignant because you go to these shows. It's really fun to be in a show setting when the music is pounding and the models are going and there's that strut and you're kind of bobbing your head and you're in that moment. But I really loved being able to actually savor your collection yesterday. Thank you. The models walking down slowly, the music, I felt like I was fully taking it in and experiencing it the way that you wanted us to experience it.

7:00Definitely. I think it's like easy to get into that sort of like this is what a runway is supposed to be and it can be fast and it can be thumping and you kind of get excited by like, oh, that's a model doing a model walk. But that's not what my clothes are about. You know, everything could look good in a picture, But how do you feel in the clothes? And so I think experiencing the runway in a way where like you really savor the clothes. You really see the details. You really are like enjoying like what that whole look is. And it's not a flash like a camera, like an Instagram. Like that's not the Kalmeier woman.

7:38Like she is, she's offline more than she's online. Like she's living her real life in our clothes. Impossibly chic. Just like so many of the people in your front row, I saw Sandra Oh and nearly capsized. I bowed to her. So my husband and I just started Grey's Anatomy for the first time. Oh, no. I've watched every season. It took... I'm not someone who will go up to a celebrity. I almost did yesterday. I was about to go up to her and be like, I'm on season two. I just started. I love you. I was so... I love her. And she's just like, what a graceful woman. She glided into the room just like your models did.

8:14I was like, there's a theme here. I need to walk a little slower. Yes, she was very gracious and graceful. There were so many styling moments to your show yesterday that really stuck out to me that I felt like were so wearable, but very intentional. There was that one gray suit with the double sweater around the waist, which I loved. A lot of great scarves, which you were wearing when you came out for your bow as well. Talk to me a little bit about those choices in this collection, and then also where the inspiration for the collection came from. Well, we work with an amazing stylist who also happens to be one of my very dear friends, Caitlin Burke.

8:48And it's just a very collaborative experience, you know, from top to bottom, no pun intended. But she really wants to sort of like be experimental and try new things, but never in a way that feels like gimmicky. And that's, you know, similar to the way that we design. I always want to come up with a fresh idea and something that feels like it could be in your wardrobe, but it's not. And it always just comes back to like, would the Kalmeier woman wear it this way? And I think that the double shirt tied, you know, we had such an unintentional viral moment with our layered T-shirts. And it was kind of a nod to that.

9:32We had actually, I loved that suit and I love that fabric. you see that fabric again in the frayed skirt, which I'm like crazy about. The white one and the gray one? The white one and the gray one. Crazy about those. The gray one, it's actually like so beautiful because the, I'm going to get technical here, but the weave and the weft, one is black and one is white. So when they fray, like one side of it frayed white and one side of it frayed black. And it was just like such a perfect, almost accidental color blocking that happened. But that suit is really beautiful. the fabric is like it's almost like heavy linen-y tweed drapey fabric and I knew I wanted to do like a denim like a mock denim kind of styling and we tried it like four different ways we tried it like really layered and then it felt too preppy for this collection we tried it with the scarf and it felt like a little bit too uptight for the collection and then that model Veronica walked in and she tried on the outfit and she was just like so hot and so surfery and beachy.

10:33And we were like, okay, it's actually nothing underneath. But like she took her shirts off, her layered shirts that she probably wore layered, and she tied them both around her waist. So all really natural and what the Kalmyer woman would wear already, which I love. It all comes from those places of authenticity. For sure. I mean, people ask me all the time, like, what is your inspiration? And it's never like some dramatic like reading. It's, I love to walk around the city. I love to watch how people wear their clothes. I'm so intimately obsessed with my, my customer and my, and my clientele. And if I feel like, well, I designed this to be like this, but she's, she keeps wearing it like this.

11:13So why am I not leaning into that? Right. Even like, you know, six plus years ago, we had kind of like a blow up moment with our three piece suit, but everyone was buying our vest separately and wearing it with jeans. And I was like, okay, maybe it's just about the vest. I want to go back into how you first got your start, what got you into design, because I've loved your work for so long. And yesterday, just seeing such a, you have such a beautiful perspective on resort wear and making it not resort wear, which I like. Like I feel, I feel resort wear doesn't really get the love it deserves. I'm a bi-coastal lady.

11:52I'm in LA and New York. And for me, resort wear is kind of my everyday. And I always have hated that it's segmented into like, this is just resort. And yesterday was just such a prime example of how comfort, but fashion and truly loving fashion, whether it's the frayed edges or the double sweater, those moments can come together really beautifully. And so I'd love to hear for you, What were those early beginnings like? How did you get into design? Well, okay, you bring up two separate things. I'm bringing up so many different things. Let's start with resort wear. I actually do. I want to touch on that because you, I'm going to see if I can follow this thread line because it's really important what you said.

12:34First of all, you being bi-coastal, I'm such a like New York girly. And so I was very binary when I used to design the collections. Like this is spring, summer, and this is winter. My winter collections were very heavy and my spring collections were very summery. And it really wasn't until like six plus years ago when we started opening stores and I myself was like keeping clothes in my closet and wearing my own clothes. And we were producing on a larger scale that I was like, we're not putting these things away. We're like, we're wearing them in layers. Like, okay, it's 65 degrees outside now.

13:13I want to be able to wear the same sweater that I wear with a coat in the winter, but just wear it with a pair of shorts or a skirt. So I think designing into a collection that has a little bit of something for everybody, because the Kalmyer woman is also so complex and has such a wide range of ages and lifestyles and demographic, that has also really informed my design. and I think like with the resort where yeah I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it's we don't like traditionally like put away our summer clothes anymore and and take out our winter clothes or vice versa resort is a particularly funny collection because it delivers like around the holidays but then people know away to to like summer summery places so you kind of want a little bit of something for everything.

14:07And that used to be like the hardest season for me to design for because I was like, what is it? And now I'm like, oh, it's everything. It's just like good clothes. It's just good clothes that you never want to put away. And like you could wear in like gritty New York City streets and then you can like pack the same things to Cabo. And that's so Kalmyer. Like that is so why I started the brand is I saw my friends. there you go I found my thread line I saw my friends like being like cool and edgy and wearing like ripped jeans and like their dad's shirts like when we were hanging out and going out and then they'd be in a yellow halter neck sundress to a like wedding in October and I'm like you're so confused you just like you don't have we don't have like the parts to put them together to make the right meal for you here.

15:03So that is always what I come back to is like, would my friends wear it? Would my people wear it? Does this make you feel like you're you? Or is it making you feel like you're in costume or you're trying to be somebody else? Because there's nothing worse than feeling like uncomfortable in your own skin or your own clothes. I'm thinking about a like frayed Bottega skirt that I have in my closet that's knit that I just actually wore in Cabo. And I wore that with a tank there, but I cannot wait to wear it in the winter with knee-high boots and a black coat. There you go. And I just don't think that that was the way of thinking in fashion even 10 years ago.

15:40Well, I also think that it's not just about the seasons. It's also about occasions. And that's really what I think about a lot. Going back to seeing my friends dress very confused. So many of my friends are like boss bitches. They are bossy. They are leaders. They are CEOs. They're CMO. and so they're like wearing like a fitted suit to work and then they're the way that they dress when we hang out is like completely different and then the way that they dress when they have like a formal occasion is like completely different. I'm wondering do you think that your friends are still confused the yellow dress example like do you think that's still confusing or have we just maybe caught up to the idea that it's just more practical to dress with not the idea of season in mind?

16:25I think both. Like I, I remember somebody telling me once, like you make dresses for people who hate wearing dresses and I can't really put my finger on what that is exactly other than like maybe my own innate sense of style and identity and like not designing for the male gaze. And like I, I can't wait to wear that frayed skirt, but like it has attitude, you know, it doesn't have, It's not like sexy, but it's sensual. I want to get into that male gaze bit a little bit because it's so interesting to me and I can see it through your design. I think, and this is my personal experience, I never really wear a mini dress.

17:07The dresses that I have in my closet are often long. Maybe there's an open back moment. I'm not someone that goes from maybe that typical idea of a dress, which is why every time I see one of your dresses, I'm like, oh, like that white dress that you had that with a long open back drape fully covered up in the front, that is something that I would gravitate towards every single day. And you've spoken about being a queer woman and designing for women with women in mind, knowing what we love and knowing how we want to dress. Talk to me a little bit about how that experience has been for you designing without the male gaze in mind at all.

17:43It's funny you brought up that white dress because I actually designed it in black to wear to my brother's wedding. because I wanted to wear a dress. I'm in suits all the time. And so I wanted to be in a dress. But I was like, what is the dress to my own brother's wedding? And it felt like, and I was officiating. So I was like, I want it to feel like a little bit like, like it has stature, but also like kind of dramatic. So I came up with that dress. And then we decided to have like a cute little like mock bridal moment at the end. and we showed it in white. And of course, people loved it. Bridal dress.

18:24The top great bridal dress. Just a PSA for anybody who's looking for dresses right now. That is the dress. Somebody got married in it. Recently, I have to see. And they wore like diamonds down the, like a long string of diamonds down the back. It was so stunning. My heart is skipping beats. Like that is how it should be worn. The top version of that like became our bestseller, the Naya. I mean, I've seen that in every color. Not just at your show yesterday, but I've seen it all throughout Fashion Week. that turquoise blue is stunning. Thank you. It's such a good piece. Thank you. But I, it's really, it's not about like without the male gaze because I'm a queer woman.

19:00I'm a queer woman. The brand is designed by a queer woman. It's not a queer brand. You know, my customers are not like queer. They're not like trying to exude queer, but like there is something to be said about the experience of like coming into yourself, experiencing, you know, any form of like oppression or like conservative views that you sort of like outgrow or, you know, find yourself through. And I just, I want, I so just like want women to feel like themselves. I think I'm so inspired by the people around me, my friends, my muses. I was raised by strong matriarchs. I mean, my mom was at the show yesterday.

19:50And when we were walking out of the show after everyone was packing up, she said, your grandmother would just be cavelling right now. She was so fashionable and loved fashion. and we used to sit in her apartment in Riverdale and sew. She cared a lot about how she looked and how she looked to others, but still I don't think it was about male gaze. It was about elegance. It was about how you are perceived, and I think queerness does have a lot to do with how you are perceived. But it's also designing clothes and thinking about women's bodies I know that I like lived many years feeling like uncomfortable not understanding how to dress myself not how understanding how I'm supposed to dress for other people male or otherwise fashion or otherwise versus like how I wanted to feel and it was like very emotional like I was an up-and-coming like designer I was an aspiring designer and I dressed terribly because I was so confused like I never thought I'd make a mini dress and then we made one I actually designed that dress to be layered over like something long like when I first designed that dress I envisioned it over like a white like a long white button down and it was like almost meant to be like an accessory but I think that too like people wear it like with such ownership it's not about like this is like the shortest skirt I could possibly wear to be as sexy as possible.

21:32It's about bodily autonomy and like feeling just like cool. Like you just try, just zipped up this little thing and like, that's it. That's all you need. This is all I need. This is a whole outfit. I had lunch with Elise Walker after your show yesterday who told me that you have the best cut blazer in the game. She raved about your blazer for 20 minutes minimum. Wow. Said it was the best one in her closet. Her future daughter-in-law has it and wears it all the time. Wow. You're showing me pictures of it. That's your spokeswoman for the blazer. Well, Elise is the OG. Yeah. She really, she was one of the first multi-brand, multi-location stores that like really, really believed in the brand and picked it up at scale.

22:15Her team is amazing. I like, I trust them and their buys and their clienteling. And Elise is like such a perfect example of the kind of partnerships that we love because it was like part of why I opened my own stores was I hated that like there had become this giant separation between designer, product, and customer. And nobody like was being educated in the product and like how to wear it. I like long for the old school department store days where you worked with the personal shopper and they knew you by name and they walked you through the store and they styled you. And that still exists. It's so romantic.

23:01I mean, I'm such a romantic when it comes to these things. It does still exist. And Elise is a great example. Like she owns the company and she's there in the stores and she knows the product and her team is there in the stores and they know everybody's names. And that's how you build a strong business. I love that you just said that you're aligned on it feeling romantic because I think a lot of elements of your brand feel really romantic and nostalgic to me. You're made in New York, 70 % of your garments are made here. Third runway show, you've really gone at it your own way. And it's an interesting time to be doing that when there's a lot of conversation around New York Fashion Week, are New York designers showing on the calendar, all of these things.

23:42Can you talk to us a little bit about what that experience is growing a brand at the scale and success level that you have and not conforming to what, you know, you're quote unquote supposed to do as a New York brand. I think we're still not doing it like the way you're supposed to. There's nothing about my brand that's like kind of followed the rules. I started it without money and was like, well, this will be enough. Didn't you start it with what, three or$4 ,000? Yeah, like less than$7 ,000. But it's kind of fun. Like it's, this is like, it's a real old school brand. you watch like documentaries about someone like Diane von Furstenberg.

24:20Granted, she was married to a prince, but she hawked those dresses like one at a time. And for me, it was the same thing. It's like, you know, one vest at a time, one tie shirt at a time. And the profit from that bought the inventory for this. And, you know, the sales from this, like we opened one store, the sales from that store, we opened our next store. And it's like such an old school way of doing business, but it's like real, at least I know that like my brand and my product and my sales and my business are real. I think people should do what's right for them. You know, if you want to grow into like a large scale business and you want to start it with funding, like that's what's right for you.

25:01What was right for me was to stay close to the product, stay close to the business. I have, I'm to be like totally transparent. Like I'm very intimidated by the idea of it growing too big too fast. And like, I really love it. Like I love this product. I love the, this is maybe going to be the wrong word for it, but I love that I've built something that has gained me access to things and people and opportunities that I love. Like I am in rooms now because of the product that I made, that I designed for the people that I love. and I don't want to lose that just because I grow it too quickly. But I think that like what's right for somebody else might not be right for me.

25:50I'm really happy to be contributing to like the New York fashion industry in my own way. I think me doing it my way is part of what's made me stand out. And I think someone like Rachel Scott doing it her way is what's made her stand out. I think someone like Ralph Lauren is a perfect example of someone who like he did it his way you know like specifically jazz hands specifically jazz hands I actually finally just watched the documentary that like came out in 2019 very Ralph very one of my favorite films of all time can't believe I never watched it before but ironically watched it the weekend before the nomination and I was like in full-blown.

26:33The weekend before your nomination? Before our nominations. Before your CFGA nomination? That's right. And I was like in full hysterics crying. My girlfriend was like, why are you crying? And I was like, I don't know. I just, first of all, I connected to and related to so much. And I think obviously like in fashion, we grew up knowing about Ralph Lauren and knowing all about the business i didn't realize until i watched the documentary how much it's just a business built on all the things he loves yep like whether it's like western montana ranch sheet or or like rent free in my mind forever yeah or like a white dinner jacket like you know what are their names the Rat Pack.

27:22Oh, yes. Yeah, Rat Pack style. But you just see his whole life. His wife is so, in my mind, ever present in that brand. Everything about what they highlighted in that documentary, I related to. He is so in love with his family. He designed a brand based on just the things he loves. He's like a theater nerd. He's a cinema nerd, and I'm a theater nerd. And he wanted to like make product that could live in people's closets in like a very regular way, but feel theatrical the way that he presented them. So a must watch all of that plus plus plus like years of like creating, building his own legend.

28:05I just like really related to that. Congratulations on your nomination, by the way. Thank you. I'm very excited for you. And it's unbelievably deserved. Thank you. I just read, I'm sure you read too, that article in the business of fashion about a new wave of luxury brands. And that article was, you know, I just, I just sent this big clean out in my closet at the beginning of August, got rid of half of it, was ready to invest in new, amazing everyday things. And that article actually highlighted a lot of brands that I went to, to refill my closet. you were mentioned, Totem, TWP, and they called this class the new wave of luxury.

28:43And I'd be curious to hear what you think about that. It's a funny one for me to answer because everything that we're kind of like being recognized for now is exactly what we started the brand about 13 years ago. And it hasn't changed. We've kind of expanded our categories and our price point a little bit, but our positioning has always been this. Aesthetically, price point-wise, the way that we think about retail, it's always been this, even since I was 24 years old and decided I was going to like start working on building my own business. And I think it's awesome that there are more brands in that space.

29:32For me, my background being in luxury and design, seeing people like my grandmother who was so elegant, always, always, always so elegant. I just like really wanted to make products that was quality. Being like a 20 something year old kid who loved fashion and would look at those price points and be like, I'll never be able to afford that. Now more than ever. And I was like, why should the things that I can afford not look like things I want to wear? And that's why I started this. So I think that space has expanded now. There are more designers who are designing in that space. I think it's twofold.

30:14I think people, I think customers are more educated. they've changed the they've changed the sort of like demographic of how people shop and that gap is closing a little bit there was like such a divide between like contemporary shoppers and luxury shoppers and I think that they're just more educated now I think aesthetic has changed I think the way that people shop has changed you know it goes back to us talking about like not shopping for seasons. I think that really affects it when you're like just layering into the portfolio of your own wardrobe. Then what price point do you want to shop at?

30:53What aesthetic do you want to shop at? I think women have changed. You know, we're not wearing just like theory suits to the office and then like Philip Lim dresses when we're going out. And then like. That was you just you basically just described me in my 20s. That's it. In one sentence. But that's what was that's like Like that was like the Barney's Co-op heyday that I started my brand during where I was like, there has to be something else. When you said contemporary, the only thing I thought of was Barney's. And I feel like that genre to me. But Barney's Co-op specifically. Yes. Because there was like, I loved luxury, but there was like a Barney's Co-op on the Upper West Side where I used to live.

31:35And I used to go in there and like browse all the time. And I'd be like, I don't want any of this. Why can't I even just get a white button down that doesn't have like a frill or like a diamante button? Yes. I wouldn't even know what that meant now if I was in a department store and saw Contemporary. Yeah. I remember going to see a buyer years ago and kind of explaining my positioning and how important it was for me to have, at the time, everything being accessible under$1 ,000. Obviously, for a number of different reasons, that has changed a little bit. But coming back to accessibility is always a cornerstone of my brand.

32:19But I remember this buyer saying, like, we don't know where to put you. You know, aesthetically, like, this is something that, like, would be on this floor of this department store. But price point wise, like, we'd have to put you here, but nobody shops like this. so you should consider raising your prices and that felt so against what I wanted to do and why I started the brand we could be more expensive but our quality is like impeccable impeccable and that is like number one priority I think the biggest thing in the world whether you are shopping at the gap or you're shopping at Kalmire the biggest thing I always look for is construction it can be at any price range but for me if it fits my body well I love that's that's everything to me thank you yeah well that's you know you just like connected all the dots right there like talk about the way that we design it's not about like male gaze or not male gaze we're like we're giving men too much credit actually it's like about how do you feel in the clothes and construction is part of that.

33:23Fabric is part of that. Fit is part of that. Like even a tailored suit, like you don't want to feel like you can't sit down or you can't like move or bend down. Like this was years ago. Somebody told me I had made like a custom white suit for someone for like one of the events of her wedding. And then she like wore it in pieces all the time. Like she'd wear the pants with a sweater or wear the jacket with jeans. And she wrote to me to say, you know, I was holding my two-year-old and he spilled spaghetti sauce on the pants and I've ruined the pants. And I was like, no, you made the pants. I said, like, knowing that you're living your life and like the best, most beautiful moments of your life in my clothes means I did something right.

34:05You've had the brand for over 10 years. You've had even hearing these anecdotes over time that have made the brand what it is. I'm sure a lot of people listening right now would love to hear your advice on sticking it out, you know, riding through the waves of having a brand for 10 years. Obviously, you just got nominated for a CFDA for women's wear. And I think there's so much grind to all the successful brands and people that we see today. It doesn't happen overnight. Can you talk to me a little bit about the evolution, the sticky moments, and how you've persevered through 10 years to get to this point now where it really feels like the brand is resonating now more than ever.

34:43Thank you. I'm like a cat with nine lives. Amen. This brand has like had so many ups and downs. I think really like the up, up, up started after I opened my first store. Before that, like there were so many moments, even right before opening that store that I thought like we weren't going to make it. So as far as like keep going and like keep grinding, that like really depends on where you're at. Like I was willing to keep going and like look for quarters inside my couch so that I could buy dumplings for a dollar and 25 cents so that I could keep doing this. That's not for everybody. And I knew that I wanted to do it.

35:30And honestly, it was like moments that like weren't even in the press or didn't really count for the bigger picture. Like I would do a random trunk show in St. Louis and all of these women would eat up the clothes and be like, I need more of this. And I'd be like, well, somebody likes it. So I must be doing this right. And maybe there just aren't enough eyes on the brand. And I do a little like pop up on the Upper East Side, like in somebody's apartment. and there'd be all kinds of brands there and people would be like, why have I never known about this? And that kept me going. So I think that's one of them.

36:10Like you have to want to grind. It's like living in New York. Like it's not for everybody and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with you if you don't want to live in New York. But I love the grinds. Like it gives me energy and it makes me feel like, okay, yes, that worked. Like what's next? And even just like those little moments with customers, like, okay, it's working. How do we do more of that? How do we multiply that? And that really happened when we opened the first store. But I think also like building a successful brand, you know, going back to the example of Ralph Lauren, like people look at other brands all the time and they say like, what's working for them?

36:47I have to do that. You have to just like build something that's based on what you love or that you're an expert at. But this brand like really, really started working when I stopped trying to please other people. I stopped trying to like kind of like shift and alter the brand and the product and our price point and everything to make it work for buyers who didn't really like love and support it. And I just was like, okay, I'm going to do this for me. And I think opening my own store allowed me to create a space for it. And when I first opened that store was when things started really growing and people would ask me all the time, what do you think changed?

37:28Like you're blowing up. That was then when people used to say you're blowing up. Now people really say you're blowing up, which I hate because it's been 14 years of slowly, slowly blowing up. I remember saying to someone who asked me then, sometimes when your world gets smaller, it gets bigger. Like I built these four walls for the store and that was it. I could like fill into it. anything that happens outside of these four walls, it doesn't matter. Because if I'm like successful within this framework, like that's good enough. And I think the last few years have felt like that. It's like, I can't believe I thought that was great.

38:08Now this is even better. And like every success we've had, because I don't have investors to answer to. I don't have a board that I'm accounting for. Every one of our successes, every one of our press moments, every sale, Every single transaction that goes through is a sale that we didn't have yesterday. Can we talk about Zoe Kravitz in the pink dress? Yeah. That was custom. How did that come to be? The pink felt so uniquely her. How did that happen? Well, I have a really good PR team. You're like the PR girlies did it. They did it. We manifested it. Yeah. Zoe was like having a hot moment. obviously like her stylist Danielle is like amazing everyone she dresses becomes like a knit girl or like is already a knit girl and becomes like a fashion girl but she was definitely all eyes on Zoe and yeah we just manifested it that obviously pre pre Eloise mini dress I don't know what we would have put someone as tiny as Zoe in, but it worked out really, really, really perfectly.

39:18And we'd had so many crazy press moments with that dress, like of all the things that we make. We've had so many amazing press moments. Shailene Woodley wore it on the red carpet. Like everybody loves that dress. So I think to have such a hot moment with Zoe, it had to be custom. And it's just funny. We've had two really major pink moments. One was the Barbie red carpet with Kate McKinnon and now this. And I don't own a single thing that's pink, but we love Barbie. It was so rocker pink and not Barbie pink that it had to be her who wore that. It was so, so, so good. You mentioned earlier in New York, things that are inspiring you.

40:06What's inspiring you out in the city right now? What are you excited about? I'm desperate to get back to live theater. I've been in my grind, no time to spare, no night without either a late night in the office or an event that I have to go to. I want to get back to theater. I want to go see people dance and move and sing again. And I want to go see a play. I'm desperate. I want to get back into museums. It's not really like, oh, I went to this art exhibit and I saw this one painting and that's going to inspire the color story of our next collection. It's more like just the act of living in New York and how much there is to do and be inspired by and just like wake you back up.

40:53It's like it's like gives you a little extra buzz. You go see an amazing show and you are buzzing the next day. You're telling everyone you have to see this show. I'm excited to get back to doing things that are outside of what I've had to do and make some choices about doing some things that I want to do. I know you worked at McQueen before you started your own brand. I actually went and saw the McQueen off-Broadway play that is in town right now. I saw it on Saturday night. I didn't even know about it. Yeah. Do you watch Bridgerton? Yeah, of course. Okay, great. So Luke Newton, who is the star of the third season, plays McQueen, shaved his head.

41:29Wow, hot. Incredibly. And he was really great. It's off-Broadway, so the production value is not something that you would expect to see on Broadway. And it's kind of just a light overview of his life. It's funny that you bring up McQueen, actually, because I think going back to what you said about doing it my way, he's such a great example. He did become like one of the biggest designers in the world, but he was un fond terrible, you know, like he was, he like, he did it his way, you know, and I think that there's something that I'm feeling now about the way that we're having this like really crazy, exciting moment being like kind of like so under the radar for so long.

42:16and then all of a sudden we're nominated for, you know, Women's Wear Designer of the Year, it does feel a little bit like that. It feels like McQueen in the 90s, like just doing it your way and like sewing the clothes and like, you know, being so involved in the production. You just, you never know. I mean, it's still art at the end of the day. Like I don't like calling fashion art because it's different. Like it's commerce and it's product. impact and I think for some people it might be like art but this is craft I think we should end on doing it your way I love that play me out we're doing it our way guys thank you so much for being here thank you so much it truly truly was an honor to talk to you during your fashion week and thank you so much for having me at your beautiful show I loved being there and it will be something I'll think about and remember for a long time.

43:39Thank you.