Hosted by Pulp Lab, the garments created by these two talented artists will be on display and available for limited edition (three of each design) sale. Thanks to a mutual friend, Julie Wolfson, who writes for laist, I miraculously got the opportunity to chat with Sweet P and Sage about this upcoming show, their art, and more! (PS - This post has been condensed. To read the entire interview, go here!)
C+K: Let's start with a little Project Runway question - how has the experience of being on the show influenced your design career?Sweet P: It’s opened up a lot of doors to opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible, for sure. Name recognition is a huge thing because it makes your item sellable. In a way it’s kind of sad because I think the whole celebrity thing is a bit silly, but it’s just the way things are - especially here on the west coast (in LA). I definitely believe that the show was a huge thing for me and has allowed me to get to where I am today.
C+K: Your show Ghosts in the Garden is a collaboration with your husband, painter Sage Vaughn. How did the idea for the collaboration come about?Sweet P: Kate (from Pulp Lab) had emailed me because we have a mutual friend in common. She wanted to do a show with Sage's work, but he’s restricted as to where he can show because he's represented by a management company. I came up with the idea of incorporating the art onto garments, and Sage loved that, so that’s how the whole thing came about.
C+K: How was is working as a husband/wife team? Sweet P: There were definitely challenges along the way. For example, one of the dresses didn’t turn out right the first time, so we ended up having to start over. And it’s hard saying to someone “I don’t like this” when they’re an artist too. I’m sitting there looking at something thinking “What do I think about this? Do I like this?” But I just had to tell him when it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, and he understood. I think we both gained a better understanding of each other’s creative perspectives from this project.
Sage: It was interesting. To know that part of the process is created with love makes for a tender and slightly volatile work environment, and you literally take your work home with you.
Sweet P: Sage likes to work on his own, and I’m good at working with people and he was also getting ready for a show so he was really really busy. I would have to book time with him, and kind of keep things moving along. I think I was kind of a pain in the neck sometimes. But, we have a good relationship and we communicate really well, so even though it wasn’t always easy, we definitely worked well together.
C+K: Tell us a bit about the process of applying the art to the garments ~ did you have to experiment a bit to get it right? Sweet P: We ended up using acrylic paint watered down for one of the pieces because the dyes didn’t work. For everything else, we used fabric dyes and fabric paint. It was a challenge for me to think of how to create a garment to incorporate his artwork without taking away from the aesthetic of his paintings too. The corsage dress is my favorite because of this. It’s very textured fabric and I wasn’t sure how we’d be able to paint on it. We decided to dip dye the flowers, which Sage did himself, and then drip the paint down to create a look that really follows his style.
C+K: The contrast of nature with the somewhat haunting colorless backgrounds in your art makes quite an impact. Did some of this carry over to the Ghosts in the Garden concept?Sage: Exactly. The simplicity of the colors within the garment showcase Sweet P's strengths and elegance as a designer. Her truths come from exquisitely adept handling and shaping of the cloth. She can create so much from so little. It also acts as a blank canvas for me to then work on. It was important for me to approach this as a textile designer and not a painter. I did not want it to look like a painting on a garment, we wanted it to have the best aspects of both arts without fighting each other. This was also our motto for working together. I hope it was successful.
C+K: From the looks of it, I'd say it's an amazing success. I look forward to meeting both of you on Saturday! (For entire interview, and more questions with Sweet P, go here!)
* All images from Ghosts in the Garden by Tommy Clark, model Emma from Heffner Management. Runway images via style.com. All other images via Sweet P's blog and Sage Vaughn's website.
