Designing the Generation. Jamie Lee

Jamie Lee, creator and designer of the funk portal, is an up-and-coming designer in Brooklyn NY. Not only is she a rather artistic woman, she's a Nasty Woman with humor that can kill. She is one of the few millennials capable of turning the world around with one sheet of fabric at a time. She's designing a new generation for us, where her designs, models, and photos ooze with creativity and innovation.

Fortunately, I got to ask her a few questions about her work and life:

Olivia: What do you do?

Jamie Lee: I think too much and drink too much coffee. Occasionally, I make stuff about what I’m thinking when I have enough energy from the coffee I’m drinking. I write poetry and I create clothing for powerful, independent women; badass bitches and “nasty women;” women who know what they want and won’t stop until they achieve it.

O: Do you go to school for design?

J: Currently, I’m a sophomore at Pratt Institute working to obtain my BFA in Fashion Design. More importantly, I’m here to forge important relationships and collaborate with other amazing artists, as well as to absorb as much information and gain as many opportunities as possible.

O: Where are you from and why did you choose to move to New York?

J:Anyone who knows me knows the love I have for Philadelphia... it has shaped so much of who I am and what I do. Philadelphia has such a vibrant and friendly artistic community that is, I feel, less subject to much of the commercialization of artistry that New York has come to experience since the 80s. However, I chose to move to New York to explore new places as well as new parts of myself, to never sleep, to meet new people, and to learn more about how fashion functions as an industry and not just as an art form.

O: What made you fall in love with design?

J: Originally, a very close family friend caused my love for design. In fact, I even wrote about her for my admission essay to Pratt; “I believed her to be Manhattan reincarnate. Her jet-black hair pulled tightly into a bun matched her head-to-toe black ensemble, embodying her work ethic and business prowess. It was her essence of style that struck me because while fashion changes, style is culturally and historically transcendent. She’s the reassuring archetype of the effortlessly-chic woman.” It was she who also introduced me to Elsa Schiaparelli and consequently both of these women made me fall in love with design.

O: What kind of design do you do?

J: I create form-based designs: garments inspired by shapes that originate in human movement, such as the raising of an arm, the twisting of a spine, or the carrying of a purse. My designs not only contain physical aspects, but metaphysical ones. Emphasizing the Zen Buddhist ideals of balance and existence within the present moment, my work follows Zen Buddhism’s traditional use of origami as an aid in meditation practices. However, in converging form with the human body, it is clothing that uniquely allows the wearer and viewers to discover the intersectionality of modes of being (i.e. the intersections of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.).

O:What's your favorite fabric and why?

J: Wool is by far and away my favorite fabric, which is funny... Wool retains its shape, resists wrinkling, soiling, flames, and moisture. The fiber is also extremely durable. While wool is completely natural, you can do so much cool stuff with it; I like playing with the different shapes it can hold and it’s also the only fiber that can felt.

O: If you could be the apprentice for anybody who would it be?

J: If they were still alive, I would have loved to apprentice for Alexander McQueen or Elsa Schiaparelli, since they were my main sources of design inspiration when I was younger; they inspired me to actually pursue design in the first place. Currently, I would love to apprentice for Zana Bayne because I’m excited about making more harnesses and bondage inspired pieces as well as learning professional leather-working techniques to a greater degree.

O: Did you meet your goals for 2016?

J: I’m a very strong believer in New Years’ Resolutions, as hokey as that sounds. I think they should be revised throughout the year; it’s important to take time and understand if the things you participate in, find important, and take time in doing and determine if they’re contributing to the person you are and the person you want to become in equal parts.

My goals for 2016 were to take more risks in terms of my work and learn more about what makes me uniquely me. I met my goal of taking risks in interning for a photographer, getting a job at Pratt’s 3D printing lab, and working with hand-pleated paper and gold foil for my most recent design work. I’ve also learned that a lot of what makes me uniquely me and what helps me continue to be my best self is exercise and writing...

Having anxiety, exercise works to counteract all my negative energy and things about which I worry, replacing the feeling of anxiousness with euphoria and acceptance. I started the year out with doing yoga every morning for about a month and a half, which was really beautiful, but, of course, school sometimes got in the way...

Additionally, over the summer, I wrote for the online newsgroup, the Odyssey, which helped me keep a weekly goal of writing, but also made me realize I like to keep my writing to my journaling and poetry.

O: What are your goals for 2017?

J:

Unrealistically: Organize a revolution to completely revise the United States constitution and overthrow patriarchal, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and otherwise exclusionary modes of social and governmental organization.

Realistically: Have more confidence. Value exploration. Valuing my own process... Memorize the meaning of all tarot cards in both of the decks I own. I have a really great reputation as a reader amongst my friends and family, but I want to expand my practice to help more people in memorial of my clairvoyant grandmother with whom I was extremely close and who passed away two years ago.

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Photos taken by Maria Owen.

Modeled by Sophie Kleo Klem.

Check out Jamie's Website at www.thefunkportal.space .

Interview was shortened for brevity and clarity.