We love the clever eco-friendly style of New Orleans based designer Laura Skelton. Her line, prix-prix, incorporates recycled neckties to create necklaces, wallets, notebooks, and other green-minded accessories.Tell us a little about how you got started. I've always loved art, and anything related to making and building. I even loved putting together IKEA furniture when I was younger. I started making bags and clothing out of altered old clothes in high school and when I spent a summer at an art school program. In college I had no time or tools to sew, but I ended up studying architecture and learned to design and make things in a new, very precise way. I took an architecture job after college and worked for a year doing green architecture exhibits and sustainable building design. I really missed the hands-on aspect of design, and when I left my architecture job in July of 2007 I started prix-prix. I wanted to find hands-on ways to make one-of-a-kind, funky designs that were also sustainable and recycled in some way, and that motivation inspires a lot of my work for prix-prix.
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What inspires your work? I am inspired in large part by the awesome patterns and textures of the materials I work with. My architecture background has lent a minimalist design aesthetic to the basic format of some of my work, and I use the simplicity of the designs I make to best highlight the various retro patterns of the vintage materials I use. I stick to clean, simple lines in my basic sewing patterns, and it keeps my work from becoming too over the top or kitschy. I also avoid doing anything that looks "stuck on." The ornamental aspects of my designs need to be integrated into the overall object in some functional, logical way. The challenge of using recycled materials can inspire interesting design solutions in itself.
Any advice for aspiring designers? Start now and just play around with stuff. The more you make, the more practice you get and the faster your skills improve. Don't be afraid to waste your time or to make something that won't sell, and don't expect to be an overnight success. Trusting in yourself enough that you keep trying and stick with it is the best way to succeed. Learning to sort out good feedback and suggestions, and to find people with good judgment to bounce ideas off of, is a great way to improve and refine your work.
What are your plans for the future of prix-prix? I'd like to get my work into more boutiques across the country. If things continue as they have been, I may need to hire someone to help with the mountain of work I do for prix-prix other than designing and making things, such as shipping and maintaining my online shop. I would eventually like to add clothing to prix-prix, continuing along the recycled and re-fashioned aesthetic of my existing work. Mostly I'd like to let prix-prix continue to grow as it has been, and see where it takes me.
Where can people find your work? You can shop online at my Etsy shop, prixprix.etsy.com, or check out my website, www.prix-prix.com, for a list of stores selling prix-prix.
We love all of the amazing independent designers out there and we wanted to find out more about what makes these creative types tick. If you do too, check out more of our Indie Designer Interviews.