Michelle Siwy is young, gorgeous and bi-coastal. Lucky girl. When we met her at the Thompson Hotel on Wilshire in Beverly Hills last week (she lives in downtown LA and in NYC), she was wearing a pair of her own stretch legging jeans, a black lace blouse, and the killer black suede Isabel Marant over the knee platform boots – the ones every girl from here to Tokyo has been trying to get her hands on! But Michelle is a wily girl, as well as being beautiful. Her company Siwy denim has come up with sequin legging jeans, lame’ legging jeans, black ripped legging jeans – they are thinner and stretchier than most denim brands, and are a hybrid between leggings and jeans that look great with the current oversized eighties style tops and sweaters. You can wear a dress over them, a tunic, or a long jacket – or if you have a killer body, you can easily tuck them into thigh high boots because they are so thin, they will not bunch up your leather or suede. Fashionrules was excited to meet this young denim entrepreneur, and here is our interview with her.
FASHIONRULES: How on earth did you track down those Isabel Marant thigh high suede boots?
I heard there are no pairs left in the world! And half the world was trying to buy them!
MICHELLE SIWY: I was determined, and I looked on the internet every day for three weeks. Eventually, I found them on TheFashionSpot.com, a British website, and ordered them from Europe. I’m very determined when I want something!
FR: How does it work for you, being bicoastal?
MS: I don’t want to admit I’m bicoastal! I think of myself as a New Yorker. But we produce our line here, and L.A.’s a great place for that. It’s good to be here for that. It’s important to see how girls wear their denim here. You get a lot of inspiration. In New York, denim is more for weekends, while in L.A., it’s a way of life.
FR: How did you wind up designing this line?
MS: I started out my career going to nursing school! Then one day, I had an epiphany: I should NOT be in a nurse’s uniform. I could not have a career where I had to dress like that. I took a risk and went to RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design), then transferred to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). I finished in 1999, and knew I wanted to work in denim. I knew that even in school. I’m really interested in denim. I used to go to the Salvation Army and look at the way the denim was used.
FR: What was your first job?
MS: I met Maurice Malone, an urban designer of menswear, and he was branching into high end denim. Then I worked with Acme t shirts, and after that, with a company called Fractel – they were a lace cut denim line.
FR: How did SIWY come about?
MS: In 2003 and 200, I started developing samples, and went to trade shows. I didn’t even have hang tags or labels – just samples! But I got orders from Harvey Nichols, Fred Segal/Ron Herman and Madison right away. We are five years old, which is hard to believe. I really wanted a slow growth. I have to compete with big lines like Seven and JBrand, so I’m trying to develop our own persona for our brand. And denim, after all, is about word of mouth. If you market too hard, it seems cheesey and mass market.
FR: Where is SIWY sold now?
MS: We’re in Intermix, Harvey Nichols in London, Galleries Lafayettes in Paris, stores in Dubai, and Henri Bendels. Bendels only sells accessories now, but they do carry us.
FR: When did you start doing the sequin legging jean? It’s really taken off!
MS: It started for holiday last season. It’s such a great way to dress for parties and holiday events, and still be comfortable. They look hot with a jacket or a big sweater or a blouse. Now we’re really known for our sequins. I’m actually going to Korea to work with sequin makers there. I love the colors – look at our cadet blue sequin. We also did it in silver and in black. We did stretch lame jeans for next season – they’re more subtle. And I love our lace jeans with shorts over them. And of course, we have the pocket design with is our open heart.
FR: It looks like you’ve done acid wash tie dye for spring 2010! And in shorts!
MS: Yes, washes and tie dye are back – we did it also in grey and white. We’re known for our cut off shorts, they have a wide range of washes. And we also have boyfriend shorts – they are cuffed, and longer – and look great with an ankle boot. What’s great about what we do if that all our denim fabrics have a vintage feeling and an authentic feel.
Tags: Isabel Marant, Michelle Siwy, Siwy Jeans
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