It was the first day of our last semester in school, and we found ourselves sitting on a stoop waiting for class to begin and Anna said to Aja “Why don’t we just start our own label?” and Aja responded “Why not!” We kept the discussion going all semester long and upon graduating, we immediately began working together to co-found Alex & Eli.
TFS: How do your styles differ when it comes to producing a collection?
A&E: We have a lot of core similarities in many aspects, but there are definitely varying approaches that we both take in order to reach final designs. Anna tends to be very experimental and always pushes to invent something new, while Aja masters the form and fit and is very intuitive about texture and balance. We have worked so closely together for almost two years now, so at this point we find it very easy to combine each other’s strengths within a singular garment, to give it something special and make it our own.
TFS: What is the most difficult part about producing your collections? Do you think about commercial suitability, or do you take a lot of risks?
A&E: The most difficult part is toning down all over our really amazing and creative ideas. We are not only designers, but also business owners and sometimes we would rather wear the former hat all day rather than the latter! We want to do and invent so much, but it is also very important to us that our client can follow and transform with the collection. We’re definitely major risk-takers and usually push the limits in both palette and form, but at the end of the day we just want to be sure that we are giving the Alex & Eli girl something that has incredible fit and attention to detail; we try to find that perfect balance between our client’s needs and our imaginations.
Yael Hartmann is the co-founder of Fadmashion.com, a social networking platform for designers & retailers. Check out Alex & Eli’s portfolio on Fadmashion.
All images courtesy of Alex & Eli
