I Must Have Been Crazy to think I wanted to go back into the clothing-design business. But that’s what being away from something for a number of years can do to you – make you forget the difficulties and hardships of whatever you were doing so long ago. Nothing feeds my soul like designing does … and nothing make me growl and hate the world like designing does. I know – to paraphrase Karl Lagerfeld, it’s not like we’re feeding the hungry or curing disease, it’s just dressmaking, dammit. But it’s the process of designing and making the dress that’s so seductive and so aggravating. I am sick for gorgeous fabrics; I am a slave, and the fabric is my master. I’m not one of those designers who designs the dress first. I dive right into the fabric. It speaks to me in honeyed tones, caressing me in whispers, telling me what it wants to be. And I obey. I don’t even look for fabrics I like; they just somehow find me. Lately, I’ve been mesmerized by handpainted silks. No, not that hippie-woman, earth-mother schlock that’s been passed off as “wearable art” for decades now, but gorgeous fabrics that can stand as art all by themselves. When I first saw the silk paintings that my friend Channe Felton and her partner Daniel Knorra were doing, I was floored. Both of them being such accomplished artists on their own, when they applied their talent to silk, the result was breathtaking. They’d done well selling the work as scarves and sarongs, but there were limitations to that, and they’d reached those limitations. Store buyers had told them that they wanted to see the silks made into clothes, but it wasn’t quite as simple as that. When I became possessed with presenting a fashion show earlier this year, I asked Channe and Daniel (whose work is known as the Felton Knorra Collection) to paint some silks especially for my show. To take those pieces of art and turn them into clothing was a sublime experience. My design point of view meshed perfectly with their fabrics, and we decided to collaborate on more pieces. I moved my design workroom into their Eastside studio, and we’ve lived happily ever after. Um, not quite. I remember reading that, according to the Small Business Administration, clothing businesses were the second-most-likely business to fail (restaurants held the top spot). I totally understand that, having worked for multiple clothing companies that have failed. But I have always believed deeply in my talent to design (even though my own business has certainly had its ups and downs), and it is that belief that makes hope spring eternal … especially when confronted with the incredible fabrics Channe and Daniel are painting. So I’m back in it again, crazily working on a Spring 2007 collection, which will be presented in New York, Las Vegas, and Atlanta during August and September, while juggling a custom-design business that brings immediate income. We work as two separate entities: I’ve had Made in Heaven by Stephen MacMillan Moser since the late Eighties, but our labels say “Made in Heaven by Stephen MacMillan Moser with silks from the Felton Knorra Collection.” A bit wordy, we know, but it gets our point across. My Made in Heaven Web site is up (www.madeinheavenInc.com), which has a separate gallery devoted to our collaboration. The Web site, as any business person can tell you, is a constant work in progress … as is the business itself. The toughest part is that Channe, Daniel, and I are artists and designers – not business people, and the process of turning art into commerce can be deadly. I loathe dealing with figures, finances, and paperwork because I have no aptitude for it. And sometimes just the process of making a dress – whether it be for a client or for production – can be almost as painful as childbirth (which, in a sense, it is). But it’s the love of the game and the feeling of having no other choice that keeps us working at it so hard. And like my friend Ashley Ballentine says (she just graduated from the UT design program and is starting her career with an internship at Betsey Johnson), “Love what you do or do something else.”
AGENDA Thu., July 6, 7-10pm, First Thursday, the always fabulous Pink Hair Salon, Boutique and Gallery (1204 S. Congress) presents the art of Austin singer-songwriter Jean Caffeine. For a sneak peek, see www.womenprintmakers.com/getmember.php?who=9.
This article appears in July 7 • 2006.