In honor of our exclusive collaboration, the painter and textile designer invited us to her Brooklyn studio to talk about style, her creative process—and her childhood overalls.
THE INSPO
What inspired the collaboration?
“At CZH we use an alphabet of 26 shapes in all our designs. For this collab, I wanted a new, more painterly alphabet. I made 26 marks on 26 pieces of paper and played around with them. It was really fun for me to feel like I was creating my own secret language.”
THE PROCESS
Tell us about designing prints for Madewell.
“For the block print, I filled an entire 18” x 12” sketchbook with designs using our typical CZH wood blocks. It was a really fun creative challenge making the patterns smaller and more dense than our fabrics that we normally use for drapery and upholstery. It’s a whole different animal to create prints for clothes.”
LET’S TALK
Featuring CZH
What drew you to textile design?
I went to art school and majored in painting and everything I make stems from that practice. I started block-printing fabric to incorporate into my paintings and things grew organically from there.
Describe your style in three words.
Easy, breezy, beautiful. JUST KIDDING. Cozy, clean, fresh.
If you could only keep one piece from the shoot, what would it be and why?
I would keep my Madewell x CZH set, of course! It was really fun to see photos of myself wearing the print I designed in front of the paintings that inspired it.
What does denim mean to you? Can you share any denim memories?
Growing up in Memphis, I wore a pair of overalls almost every day—I’ll never forget the way they made me feel free and comfortable. My two-year-old daughter wears those exact overalls now and it makes me so happy. In my adult life I wear denim most of the time. Perhaps my style hasn’t changed that much!
What was it like to host the shoot in your own studio?
My studio is a sacred, special space. There is something about the light quality and the energy there that just makes you feel creative and capable. The shoot went well and we had loads of fun which was no surprise to me—usually things that take place in this sanctuary become something truly extraordinary.
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