We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deborah Lindquist. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deborah below.

Deborah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am happy as a creative artist.

It’s very rewarding for me to take an idea from my imagination and bring it into physical form.
Because I mostly make clothing, I love to see my pieces being worn, whether it be in everyday life, special occasions, in photographs, performances, etc.

I know what it is like to have a regular job because I have had regular jobs. I was a designer for brands in New York City before I launched my own in 1983.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York City and worked as a fashion designer for brands before launching my own brand in 1983.

In my own business, I started out with an idea for a belt made of knitted brass wire I found hanging in the back of a trim store in midtown one weekend. I thought it was interesting, edgy and cool and imagined it could make a good belt. I found out later that it was called Milanese Mesh, a material mostly used for watch straps at the time. Fortunately metalsmithing was my minor in college so I had experience working with metal and learned to make jewelry. The material is very unique so I had to invent ways of putting them together properly and basically taught myself to make belts. I embellished the mesh with studs and distressed leather I repurposed from an old leather jacket and started showing it to boutiques in NYC. It had an edgy, punkish vibe which was perfect for the 80’s. I sold it to both mens and women’s high end boutiques. The first store I showed it to was an accessory store named Gindi. The owner happened to have 3 locations, and he placed an order immediately for all three stores. At around the same time, I was selling to a very cool men’s store in Soho called Steve who connected me to a journalist from Women’s Wear Daily who wrote a feature on me as a designer to watch. This all happened within my first couple of months in business.

Interestingly this belt which would become my first design under my own name was made of upcycled materials, before there was a name for eco, green, and sustainable. Those terms would come later, around 2004.

Mesh belts were a new idea in the marketplace, and mine were high-end and made by hand. I sold them to better boutiques nationwide and internationally. I did many variations on the mesh theme, expanding the line as I sold to more stores. I electroplated them in nickel, antique nickel, antique brass, antique copper, gunmetal, 24k gold. I designed ornate belt buckles in vintage rhinestones and semiprecious stones as well as more simple styles that could be worn by both men and women. Fashion was a big deal in the 80’s. Everything was big. Big hair, big shoulders, big accessories. People were happy to spend more money on luxury items as wearing such items was about prestige and status. My new idea was timely, on trend and it was a thrill to see my work in the best stores.

I moved to Los Angeles in 1989 and switched into designing clothing after a popular volume belt brand knocked off my line and did it badly. I have written about this before. It was devastating as I had basically just arrived in LA.

I believe that of the most important things indie designers need to be is resourceful, trust their instincts and also to be willing to pivot. I didn’t really have time to freak out, I had to figure out what’s next.

The “What do I have and what can I make out of it? ” mantra was one I developed as a child. I was always creating something out of unusual and often found materials. When I started my business I decided that it was an important mantra and one that I should keep. I felt that the most important thing I could do in figuring out what was next is continue to be resourceful. I looked for inspiration in things that some people had considered unimportant and thereby discarded. The hunt for interesting materials led me to vintage fabrics of many types. Through much of the 90’s I designed one-of-a-kind and limited edition jackets, bustiers, and pillows out of the most incredible vintage curtain fabrics. I used romantic florals, tropical prints, and jacquard fabrics and sold them to better boutiques.

The hunt for discarded luxury fabrics continued over time and I found vintage cashmere to be a very valuable material. I launched my reincarnated cashmere sweater line in 2004, around the same time that journalists started to write about the new kind of fashion designers they termed “eco, green, sustainable”. My sweaters have been worn by celebrities and have been featured in the press worldwide along with my designs using organic fabrics such as organic wool, cotton, linen and sustainables such as hemp and modal. I work with a blend of organic, sustainable, deadstock, and upcycled materials.

Discovering my love for vintage materials was the start of designing clothing under my own label and letting the Milanese Mesh belt situation work itself out. I knew the first knockoffs would fall apart and they did.

This happens to a lot of designers. Cheap knockoffs just aren’t the same as a unique item made by hand or by skilled labor. They have less value so people don’t really care about them and don’t think twice about throwing them away. It’s the cycle we see every day in the life of disposable fast fashion. Things are designed to fall apart so that you can buy them again. It’s a very disturbing waste of resources and people. The mass consumerism model has created forced labor and trafficking, unhealthy working conditions, destruction of the air, water and soil, and mountains of toxic waste worldwide.

On the other hand, the value of a high-quality item made by a skilled artisan has a lot to do with the process, love, and attention given to the nurturing of an idea in order to bring it into physical form.

Artisans are very special people and I believe this is the healthiest way to work. All thought is creative, good or bad. Creative ideas are brought from being simply a thought into physical form by a process I call my head/heart/hand way of working.

This is the basis for my eco fashion design courses which I teach in person and online. I taught this method for about a decade to student interns who came to work with me and learn my methods. They came from many countries as well as schools in the USA, and each one had various skill levels in fashion design. It was up to me to figure out what skills they did possess and help them to build on them. I designed some workshops in order to do this which are included in my courses and teaching program called “Creating Eco Conscious Fashion”.

I feel that more than ever it is important for people to find their own creative voice and create a happy and fulfilling life. I started putting the idea together for teaching my skillset at the start of the covid lockdowns. I was actually deemed one of the unimportant people. Non-essential workers, they called us. Not just me, the entire garment industry was termed non-essential including the fabric stores, contractors, all garment workers, boutiques. Are you kidding me? I thought. I’ve never been non-essential and certainly wasn’t going to start now. Fortunately I’m classically trained, am incredibly resourceful (resourcefulness is my superpower) and can make whatever I need to make by hand myself if necessary. What turned out to be necessary was masks as they were mandated but in short supply. So I pivoted somewhat drastically and made masks out of leftover pieces of my beautiful fabrics which I sold to stores, online through my website, and directly to individuals.

I was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times in a feature on Earth Day, 2020 highlighting how sustainable designers like me pivoted to create useful products for the bizarre time we were in. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our country, just as important in big cities as they are in small communities.” I was quoted in the interview. I have always believed this to be true and believe it even more today.

My eco-fashion design courses are created to educate, inspire, and support you in your own journey of creativity. Let’s work together to develop skillsets and create communities of artisans.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes. I’m an eco designer and have a unique connection to nature. I consider the health and well being of the environment when making decisions on my designs. Working with organic and sustainable fabrics is important to me, rescuing materials from potential landfill and reincarnating them into new and beautiful things is another, using skilled labor over mass-volume sweatshop production is another.

Working and living in an eco conscious way starts with where you are standing right now, what you choose to buy, and how you choose to work. Ultimately your choices affect the health and well-being of yourself (the most important part of all of this) and the planet you live on.

I want to see people healthy, happy and living their best life. I also believe that art (which includes fiber arts) can be healing. We have all experienced some level of trauma in the years behind us. I am here to support and teach you ways of being and working that are both healing and creative.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

We can support small businesses, shop indie brick and mortar stores over big box and online mega distributors, and learn to connect with others to create creative communities.

Learn from artisans who are willing to share their process and skillset. Apprenticeships are on the rise as many choose to skip college and instead learn trades and skillsets or do a combo of classes and apprenticeships. This is how I worked with so many student interns over the years. Students came to me from their various schools to spend a month or 2 with me to learn my skillsets. Plus I had a large team for a few years and started out with most everyone as an intern before hiring them as part of the team.

As with any business, you need people who have skills in various aspects. There are many parts to creating clothing, and I have found that people naturally gravitate to the skills they most resonate with. In clothing design and production, you can and should learn all of the necessary skills. It doesn’t mean that you will do all of them yourself all of the time. That is what a team and a community of creatives is for. Some of the necessary skills are design, cutting, sewing, draping, fit, sketching, patternmaking, sales, marketing, presentation, photography, textile sourcing, production management, shipping and distribution, public relations, and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://creatingecoconsciousfashion.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahlindquist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeborahLindquistEcoLifestyle/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-lindquist-47423b27/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/deblindquist
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EcoDeborah/videos
• Other: my fashion website https://deborahlindquist.com

Image Credits
Jenn Spain Jennifer Cawley Dan Graham