17.11.09
When the fashion bloggers go mad over a new product, you know it’s time to step up and take a look too… que.. I Heart Norwegian Wood, a small collection of hand made, one-off fashion accessories ranging from tasselled and feathered necklaces to quirky body harnesses, all designed and hand picked by Angie Johnson. Here Angie tells Sketchbook about growing up with family trees, cold Montreal weather and designing a rave wear collection (at 16)!
Angie, you were born and raised in Montreal is that right? But you have Norwegian roots, was the Norwegian culture a big part of you childhood/upbringing?
I was actually born in rural Manitoba, in a very, very small town. There are a lot of people with Scandinavian roots there (similar climate perhaps, i.e FREEZING) so I wouldn’t say it was a HUGE part of my childhood/upbringing, but it was definitely talked about and seemed very mysterious and interesting to me while growing up. My grandma is also obsessed with family trees, so we were always looking at charts of family members, seeing who came over to Canada in what year, who married who, how many kids they had and then trying to match them up with old photos. That kind of childhood, and people still wonder why I like doing things like sorting buttons and organizing my fabric by colour!
You work, play, and live in Montreal, how does this influence your creativity as well as your designs?
Montreal is a great city for really raw and energetic creativity. It’s quite affordable to live here, so you get people who are really focused on making art/music/etc. instead of people really focused on how to just live and eat. So that kind of breeds a great creative environment. About 75% of my friends are self employed in creative fields or employed at companies in creative positions so it’s a pretty inspiring environment to be in, someone is always working on some great new project, and it just pushes you to get it together and do something amazing.
If you could choose any other city/country to work from where would it be and why?
I have a definite weakness for London, but Stockholm is high up there as well. I love the overall feel of London and all the people I know there are incredibly nice, but I do not enjoy the crowdedness. Stockholm felt very welcoming to me, it’s also INCREDIBLY clean and I didn’t see a single track suit in the entire city.
What sort of fashion education did you undertake? Was this also in Montreal?
I studied Clothing and Textiles at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. It’s a very old and very small faculty, with more of a focus on the technical aspects of creating clothing (ie. textile science, clothing history, marketing, production, etc) and all the electives that go along with getting a degree. Not exactly glamorous, but some aspects of going to a really small school can be very beneficial, although it would have been nice to have more creative classes.
Your bio on the Etsy site says that you learnt some sewing skills from your mum. Is this something you did a lot in your spare time and at home when you were younger? What sort of things did you make?
Absolutely, my mom first taught me to embroider when I was around 6, from there I started hand stitching small Barbie clothes, then I began sewing more complicated doll clothing with the sewing machine. After that I moved on to altering vintage clothing for myself, then sewing from patterns. At this point I was amassing ridiculous amounts of clothing, so my mom suggested I start selling them in stores and I started my first clothing line (raver clothes, don’t laugh) when I was 16. I sold this line in a couple of local stores, and my mom actually drove me to my first meetings with stores because I didn’t have my license yet. When I think about that now it’s so amazing that any stores took my stuff, I was so young! And I brought my mom! But I brought samples and the sewing was good so….I guess starting young paid off.
You then progressed on to having an 8-year career in mainstream fashion, what sort of role did you play in the industry? What made you leave this role?
One of the major things that actually made me believe I could leave was reading fashion blogs. Every day I would sit at my desk in my office and start the day by reading fashion blogs. I would see all these amazing indie designers featured and I would think “Why am I not doing that. Why am I sitting here doing watered down versions of my ideas?”. So when my boss told me that he was going to stop producing our clothing line (which I designed) and focus on strictly distributing existing lines (our company was also a sales office) I decided that it was time to do my own thing.
What is a typical day at ‘I Heart Norwegian Wood’?
Things have been a bit nuts for the last few months, but basically it consists of any combination of the following:
Replying to e-mails, following up with customers, working on any graphics/photos that need editing, working on the new website, taking photos, going to the post office, sewing garments/making jewellery and popping on the computer every couple of hours to see what’s happening on my favourite blogs/ twitter/ facebook/ etc. Sneaking out for a candy break is also a common daily occurrence.
Each piece is individual and each element is picked personally by you, how do you begin your design process?
For me it usually works one of two ways. Either I’m inspired by a new fabric I’ve found which is the more conscious way of designing for me, or a random new idea just somehow pops into my head. This often happens late at night, or when I’m riding on the metro. I have to jot down a note or a quick sketch or I’ll forget, but some of my best ideas have come this way. It’s very weird to build a business based on what are basically daydreams, but I think a lot of creative people work that way, it’s kind of a gut feeling thing.
Since starting I heart Norwegian Wood, you have received a lot of attention from bloggers and press, what was this like for you?
It’s been one of the best things actually, since as I mentioned above, many of the blogs I read are what really gave me that push to do my own thing. It’s a kind of satisfaction I almost can’t even describe. Being in a magazine is great, it’s slick, you can hold it in your hand and the photography is usally wonderful. But it’s somehow impersonal. I don’t know who’s reading it, I don’t get a reaction. But on a blog I see peoples comments (both good and bad) and can learn from them and be involved. Because often times the blogs I’m featured on are ones I read and comment on anyways, so it’s much more personal. It’s like getting to meet your customers in person, which is something I get to enjoy through the “real life” boutique my fiance and I run, but don’t get to enjoy as much with Norwegian Wood.
You also have projects with your fiancé Tyson, what is it like working with your partner? Is this something you will keep up?
Tyson and I talked alot about how we would work together before we actually opened our store, so we worked out a lot of the potential kinks and made sure we were on the same page before we even opened. Of course new issues always come up, but some really amazing days/evenings/nights have revolved around our business. We have a pretty clear separation of responsibility though, since he takes care of the store full time while I’ve always had another job or Norwegian Wood as a responsibility as well. So the day to day working of the store are all him, while I only do stuff related to display, promotion, designer/artist selection and working with him at the store when we have art exhibitions or other events.
As Norwegian Wood grows it’s been harder and harder to devote time to the store, but Tyson has really stepped up and taken on more responsibilities (ie. blogging). I’m definitely still staying involved, but the roles are slowly but surely shifting again.
What’s the next move for ‘I Heart Norwegian Wood’?
The magical question! I’m really focused right now on getting help with sewing/production and creating a larger clothing range. I’m so completely overwhelmed with the actual sewing right now that’s become detrimental to my creative/designing time, which I think will hurt the line in the long run. So I’ve moved into a new studio space and am researching local small scale production here in Montreal. Quality is VERY important to me, so it’s been a bit hard, but I’m a very persistant person. I also get very cranky when I don’t get what I want, so I’m going to make it happen somehow.
Do you have a sketchbook/mood board? If so whats in/on it?
Once upon a time when I worked for large companies I had time to make mood boards, and I hope to be able to make them again very very soon! Lately though I’ve been working in my head alot and through a series of incredibly long lists/notes I keep on my iPhone. I also make a lot of small piles of fabric clippings around my studio. Once in awhile I pin them to a bulletin board in cryptic arrangements that don’t mean anything to anyone except me. I definitely do a lot of rough sketches in my bedside notebook, but again they probably look like the ramblings of a crazy person. This is one of the things I’m really looking forward to doing again though, it’s so relaxing and it really helps you sort out your ideas.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/iheartnorwegianwood
