Meet LOYD/FORD ....

My chat with these designers has engaged, reenergized and reassured me that fashion is very much alive and well.  These two showed me that not all designers are about the blah blah blah of fashion as are so many today. Their entire modus operandi tells me that their collections will be and are incomparable additions to today’s world of fashion as well as that of the future vintage variety. Think of them as a 21^st century Dior, Lacroix or possibly YSL (all of them 5 star designers in their past and present value).

LOYD/FORD is a rarity … a treasure; Franck Ford (usually the voice of the brand) and Seven Loy are masters of their métier. The techniques and applications recall the glory days of Haute Couture, save the made to measure aspect. Their collections are produced and designed with no boundaries, no trends in mind and only on their terms; their vision allows for no skimping on design, fabrication or the amount of atelier type details. This is not mass produced fashion in its truest sense, this is the confluence of Haute Couture and ready to wear.  Their dresses are wildly lush, sumptuous, modern and unimaginably detailed.

Yes, these designers have designed for international red carpet moments and they have even designed wardrobes for the stage but they opt not to trade on celebrity regardless of its so called importance in today’s fashion business. Let’s hear their take on today’s fashion and you can decide on your own as to where LOYD/FORD belong in the Pantheon of fashion … today … or in decades to come.

So in their own words and “typing”... meet Stefan Loy and Franck Ford aka LOYD/FORD.. Franck speaks for both of them …

JF-What kind of women wear your clothes and who would you say you design for in terms of either celebrity or personality traits 

 L/F- we just had a  tulle gown with and a couture harness on  Avril Lavigne  for stage and  video , sold out  2 new styles overnight  at  Montaigne Market  in Paris with  no clue who Avril is or who bought the 16 dresses in 24 hours .. .in the past we dressed  Nicole Kidman , Cher , Britney , Courtney Love , Angelina Jolie etc;  ….  strange mix  but guessing our look was and maybe is  more show than muffin shopping … with this  new brand we design real beauty with  no shock effects  just rich and classic looks …  our woman is that 

JF-Without comparing yourself to any one designer; who would you like to be categorized with when it comes to fashion and why? Alive or dead

 L/F-Margiela /Dior .. The concept of deconstruction… the revolting against the fashion world … A desire to enjoy life, a private house … The silhouette characterized by a small, nipped-in waist and a full skirt falling below mid-calf length and now transformed in to micro mini and deconstructed looks with perfect French seam … meticulously made and perfectly proportioned……  all that is what we do and that’s based from looking at the 2 greatest and their philosophy .

JF- In your opinion, what makes your clothes stand out from other collections? 

L/F- we sew and hand stich ourselves and with a team of in-house sewers. Thanks god we have no other hobbies after work, we control each item and we always add some extra soul to each piece by draping and finishing each garment like a couture gown.  As long as we are able to do that we will have a special “couture like” ready to wear collections.  We want to stay like that and grow at the same time to higher quantities.  That’s our daily mantra and so far we doubled each season.  To make a production of 80 of the same dresses where each one looks like a one of kind couture dress that’s a real challenge. We think the final touch is visible in our clothes and it stands out 

JF- Can you describe your feelings about the state of fashion in today's world and its importance?

 L/F-There is so much hype for so little talent these days. I think it’s possible to win the CFDA award if you have the right beard at the right season.  We had a buyer who was really exhausted to buy …. but she said “ I have to buy that overpriced boring clothes.. . I just have to ... it’s an image for my store.”  Meantime we sold out the same time she marked down the super brands.  Fashion is the only art form you can wear on your body to reflect your art, style and vision and we just admire the people who are individual and authentic  

JF- Do you have a specific type of store that you want to sell to and why is your collection complementary to the other collections in that store ?

 L/F-being harmonious with Valentino and Alaia on the same display is the goal and that’s where we are selling ... luxury retailers with true fashion sense and personal customer service like Hirshleifers . Maxfied , Montaigne Market and other fine places ... the shopping world is so over packed and racks are " trend dead”…  we love the action where the dressing room is a wicked garden!

JF- what is your stance on internet selling... do you think that more customers will employ this or do you still stink that brick and mortar stores remain the best way to shop and why?

L/F-The world's premier online luxury fashion destinations!!! How many worlds of people do we need to feed them all with the same brands on 1000 shopping pages next to 1000 retail stores where the industry and editors guide the consumer all to the same brands. I think you enjoy a personal shopping day with an exhausting dressing room act and a nice lunch and a good time more than a “klick” for another dress. I think people buy wedding dresses already online. How sad is that? Do you want to marry me? “ klick! “

Uniform Union..meet Franck Ford & Seven Loy..Designing Minds

In today’s world of fashion, we are faced with many types of designers who offer us their interpretation of what they think you should be wearing.  The business of fashion is populated with its fair share of those who possess a modicum of talent.  On the flip side there is a rare segment that can be considered to be the true and genuine designers as they truly and genuinely design with their own point of view and not a version of someone else’s.  UNIFORM UNION falls into the latter, more elite group, without a doubt. 

Franck Ford and Seven Loy are fiercely devoted to the art, craft and business of fashion.  These are designers who should be recognized for their design prowess, work ethic, technical abilities and their perseverance in delivering the absolutely best quality product to only those appreciate their output.  All you need do is ask their devoted clients:  Maxfield in Los Angeles, Ikram in Chicago, A’maree’s in Newport Beach or Montaigne Market in Paris and a select few more internationally.

 

Here, we get the opportunity to get inside the heads of these two very talented men by means of a few questions that expose their thoughts  on a cross section of topics , but always with the common thread (pun intended) of fashion.  Franck Ford speaks for them both mostly…. Enjoy the conversation …

1- What are your most prized possessions?

  F ~my diamonds, a valium pill made by Philip Crangi and 2 cowboys at the adductor muscle area on the upper inside of my legs.  

   S~My artwork by David Hockney and Andy Warhol

 

2-If you could come back in the next life, who or what would you like to be ?

   F~again ?  ok I do it as a sheikh 

 

   S~myself 

 

3-Can you define or describe who your ideal customer would be?

  Would be or is ?  It is a modern woman with taste and no instruction menu made by the press; and a name would be Liliane Jossua owner of Montagine Market in her high heels on a hardcore Triumph bike cruising the Avenue Montainge in Paris. 

4-If you were not designers, what would you have chosen as a profession and why?

  F~ … an architect... I don’t like power outlets and doors.

  S~ … a painter because he loves it, it is his passion

5-When you prepare for a new collection, what is the process? Do you do mood boards with fabric swatches, sketches and color preferences? Can you describe the progression?

  It starts with conversations, drawing, photos and moods from any time and everywhere.  We have an archive of over a million ideas/images and we study them to see if there is a theme waiting to be used.   In the end, we order many fabrics and then we move into draping, shaping and returning to the archive and then mood board at this stage could be a piece of art for the Tate museum .We go insane at least twice and then minimalize our  styles to make it salable  .  We keep a few over the top styles and add basics … at the end we have a small strong collection of 30 looks ... the day when it’s done we wish we could do better but we don’t have the Alexander McQueen team .... . It’s about fabrics and the patternmakers and seamstresses.  

 6-If you could invite 4 people, dead or alive, to dinner who would they be and why?

  F~ Valentino and Grace Jones! I wear yellow …

  S~ David Hockney and Petra von Kant  

 

7- If you could be wardrobing a celebrity for the stage who would you select and why?

  Courtney Love in size 6  . why?...  She is Courtney Love and not a joke pop star, but as twisted as we are, we would also do Madonna a favor and get rid of spikes .    

8-What is the ultimate goal for Uniform Union?

   A team of seamstress, patternmakers and production partners who can do it with us  .also the ultimate goal is to stay as we are and grow into the top 50 doors around the world.  For the other 2000 doors we can do a diffusion line today !!!!  a perfume and shoes etc;  … all the USA

9-Being based in California, do you feel that you are missing out or do you think that fashion is so international today that it doesn’t matter where you are based as long as you are visible?

  Where we  are based is even worse, we are in Palm Springs  away from all of it  and that’s  perfect because we travel and inhale all the fashion inspirations and do our social contacts and exhale our art and craft in a design studio.  Next, a quick jump in the pool and mountain views with an amazing green wicked garden and no one can bother us .

 We drive once a week to LA for production and manage all business on Skype and emails .  One thing further to say is Franck Ford flies for a day to Paris to fix a string on a dress and we are not afraid of distance and travels.  Last week was China for 3 days and next week is India for a few days and then Paris.  Our base is like a vase, the vase from a genie in the bottle.  One click and we are somewhere else again .

10-What would you like to people to think or say when they hear the name Uniform Union?

 Last week in China they love the name. In L’Officiel yesterday, they just use UU as credit and we LOVE that.  People should think they are part of our UNION, family,  and our Uniform is our look.  An army of pearls and beads;   they should think I want to be a member on the front and in the front row!

 

 

11-What are your personal pet peeves?

  99%  .. If we see high waisted camel toe denim short we run into our oasis and wish for less of that  . We really don’t like open toe shoes.  Show people who namedrop are the worst and we don’t like fashion editors who don’t write about us … haha .  We are not crazy about tourists wherever and practical polyester pants with zipper on the knee that convert  them into cargos should be forbidden by law.  

 

12-what makes you happiest?

LOVE & LACE and people who believe in our work because we believe in others and support everyone we like in their craft or talent. We never go by trend or who it is.  AND THAT WE WANT TO SEE ALL AS OUR FAMILY …. UNIFORM UNION MAKES US HAPPY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c042LWvq8iA

the Fashion Diaries; Chengdu Odyssey Uniform Union

The Fashion Diaries; Operation Chengdu...

There isn’t a designer out there that doesn’t want a full-fledged runway show, unless of course they are not telling the truth.  It is a milestone in the life of a designer/brand.  So, keeping this in mind, imagine what happens when you are invited as the headlining fashion designer/brand and all expenses are paid for by the event organizers!  The catch here is that you have less than 2 weeks to get it all organized, pack it up and fly most of the way around the world to Chengdu Fashion Week.

The following is the accounting of that time period as told by half of the design team of Seven Loy and Franck Ford; the brand is Uniform Union.  The result of the scenario is fascinating, amusing, enlightening, educational and amazingly successful… read it and let’s hear what you think. .. In the words of Franck Ford, here is a quick journal of a whirlwind trip….……

 Almost thinking there is a free week to be at the pool looking into the aqua blue sparking water, the “new mail” sound “noir" goes on and yes the aqua blue sparking lace dress will be the opening piece for the Chengdu Fashion Week runway show

 The first thing I do is changing the new mail sound to “news flash “. That is the China sound and news is needed at UU.

After the fall delivery and a pre spring production running we had that week planned out in our Palm Springs home to draw Spring 14 finals.

UU founded in 2012 and all goes so well at Maxfield, Montaigne Market and a handful more! ...... But does it really go so well!?

It is a new brand and a new loving passion of 2 designers who had great success before but not the press. LOYANDFORD sold so well one point they could have bought the press but did not go that road or the other was we kiss a lot of you know what!

So why not do the show in China? 6 DAYS to make 30 looks and 3 days dim sum and maybe press! 

DAY 1

…   first look... A hand beaded leather jacket with feather sleeves and black pearl strings, underneath a blush striped beaded lace tunica, pleaded charmeuse skirt. The first China look is born. Next 5 " vacation days " are pattern, sewing, draping, shaping, beading and speeding to get 30 looks ....but not in a rush!!!!

Let’s rush to China. Maserati out of the garage, dogs a kiss, PALM SPRINGS - LAX, checking in, wardrobe fine, denim and a white tee and a tea in Chengdu 18 hours later.

A new metropolis with 35 million people, glasshouse bathtub and so tired. WHAT A RUSH TO GET HERE!!

Looking from the 19^th floor over the city and all what’s in mind is “UNPACK THEM NOW “by 10 pm the racks are full and the hotel suite does not look any different that any other day in our design studio 

Day 2 

8 - 9 eat and meet crew

9 -12 meetings 

12 -3 pm hair and make-up test

3 - 4 pm meeting 

5 till 9 pm fitting 

9 till 10 pm no food - a cake on floor 4 

DAY 3 

Where, what, when, who, why?

No music no shoes ...  it was not in the contact but there was a minute of thinking about it a week ago in Palm Springs.

No YouTube?  we want aphex twins ' WINDOWLICKER " , kraftwerk TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS ... sound lap and of course " OVERPOWERED " BY roisin murphy ...  we need 20 minutes sound

Calling William in London and Elizabeth in New York  

Dropbox me a.s.a.p.....  2 hours later all done and yes we love our friends 

9am meeting Mr. Yang.  Buying uniform union. Opening store, were what, where, when, who, why? Great meeting done and NO we can’t deliver in 2 weeks but let’s email after China

11.30 Loy is at the noodle stand outside and I am looking in the mirror and think… “So far so good. It is really beautiful where we are and it’s a short trip and that the dresses will be even shorter on the runway tonight.”

12.30 At the event, 30 helpers and we feel like we are in a mall… It is a mall. A luxury mall and runway next to Dior and Vuitton store and our logo in neon blue. Not that we care but there is no forever 21 and no free tooth bleaching booth… So it’s chic. Later we learn that’s where it’s all happening. Behind walls in malls! 

1pm till 3.30 test run. We really need 20 more models and better shoes. No way but we work it.

3.30 till 6pm hair and make-up....a wet Elvis Presley beehive and 3 lashes on top of each other. Please keep it simple. Just a wet Asian Elvis to the '”windowlicker" track 

7.30 stand by

8. pm show 

Loy and Ford doing there little runway walk like its nr 1000... (Its nr 1). A few interviews and they like our name UNIFORM UNION. We love it too

Day 4     

7 am Air China - Palm Springs.  Kissing the dogs at the pool