Writer – Justin Howard @jthnomad
Fashion Designer – Alexis Frey @lifeafterdenim
“Being perfectly well-dressed gives one a tranquility that no religion can bestow.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Drawing inspiration from the denim culture of 1950s American, considers herself to be a fashion pioneer aka a woman designing men’s fashion staples. She must be doing something right as celebrities like Hollywood leading man Ashton Kutcher can be regularly spotted wearing her creations and premier retail outlets like Ron Herman and American Rag Cie are carrying her line, Life/After/Denim. Alexis is clearly blazing a trail through the fashion world.
Alexis Frey, of Life/After/Denim
Justin Howard for Black Chalk – Did you want to become a fashion designer when you were young?
Alexis Frey – Yes, absolutely. I think it all started with styling Barbie and Ken, and paper dolls. My father was a menswear designer in the 1970s before the inception of his manufacturing business. He taught me to sketch and we would draw everywhere, even at the dining table.
BC – How did you get into fashion design?
AF – My first job as a teenager was at my dad’s office in the Empire State Building in Manhattan, answering phones and steaming garments. Over the years in New York I learned from technical designers, merchandisers, and product developers. I worked retail. After college my mind was set on learning the garment business inside and out. So I moved to Hong Kong for two years and spent months in China working for and learning from factory managers, sewers, technicians, and engineers. For that experience I’m so grateful.
BC – What inspired you to get into fashion design?
AF – It’s my true passion. While working in Hong Kong I had the opportunity to travel through Asia and Europe. I was majorly inspired by the many beautiful places, their unique cultures, and street styles. Being surrounded by fabric is also a big inspiration for me. I see a fabric and immediately want to make it into something – like a pant, a shirt, or a coat.
BC – Whats your philosophy about the ART of fashion?
AF – Fashion is art on many levels. The art of fashion can take many forms. Getting dressed in the morning we are the canvas and our clothes are the paint. To be literal, fashion illustration and flat sketching are an art form in their own right. There’s also the element of creating color and design patterns such as prints and plaids. And of course, the actual construction of a garment, the sewing, the tailoring, the engineering, is an art form in and of itself.
BC – What do you enjoy most about designing clothes?
AF – I love sketching by hand. I love having a vision of a style and watching that vision become an actual garment that drapes just so. As a creative director I love working with my team in the process of putting the whole collection together from start to finish – from color to fabric to artwork to styling.
BC – As a designer what is the most challenging part of your job?
AF – I think it’s all challenging, and that’s what keeps it interesting.
BC – So If you had the choice of all designers in the world to collaborate with, what person would be your choice?
AF – I love my team. I’m so happy working with my team here at life/after/denim. Right now we’re just going to keep doing what we do. We’d be super flattered if someone awesome out there wanted to work with us.
BC – Whose your most influential fashion designer?
AF – Truthfully at this point I’m most influenced by smart, creative people all around me. I’m influenced everyday by the life/after/denim team, by our travels and shared experiences. And by my friends who are following their creative dreams and working hard to do so.
BC – Does your work reflect your personal fashion taste?? Can you describe your style?
AF – I think life/after/denim definitely reflects my personal fashion taste. I’ve always admired the way that stylish men put themselves together – the rolls of the pant cuffs and shirt sleeves, the tilt of the hat, the drape of the blazer. I’ve always gravitated to preppy things.
When I was 12 years old my favorite piece of clothing was a red wool tailored blazer from the Gap that I wore all the time. My parents are not preppy and had always tried to steer me in a funkier direction. The same year my mother came home with a vintage leather jacket for me. It was really worn out. I didn’t wear it until high school when I had the epiphany that it was cool and I got the courage to wear it. I also went through a couture phase where I just admired it from afar. I had some VHSs of fashion shows and would watch them over and over. I’d say my style today is a fusion of my innate prepster with an appreciation for classic, timeless, and funky pieces. I think the life/after/denim collections reflect that.
BC – Any advice you want to share?
AF – I don’t know about advice, but I’ve learned that fashion takes courage. And that wear-ability is of the utmost. With a balance of both, fashion can appear effortless. That’s one of our goals with life/after/denim.
BC -What do you think are the latest fashion trends?
AF – Prints, prints, and more prints. Tapered pants. Textures. Chunky sweaters. Artwork is more important than ever before in the past decade – new takes on plaids, stripes, fair isles, and again, all sorts of prints. Strong multi cultural influences take the focus.
BC – How do you see the positioning of LA fashion in a global scenario?
AF – The best thing about LA is the weather. The weather’s so great that your outfit doesn’t get hidden or taken over by a big heavy jacket. I think we’re home to some of the trends that seem less practical in cold climates such as the sweater as outerwear, three-quarter length sleeves, and knit layering.
BC – Future Plans?
AF – I think, I hope, the future is vast for life/after/denim. The online store is doing great. We hope to eventually open a flagship store. Most importantly, we’re grateful to our supporters and hope to continually express our thanks to them season after season.
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