Jesse Kamm Relaunches With 'Grown-Up' Line
Jesse Kamm has relaunched her eponymous collection with a newfound simplicity and sophistication. The designer, whose work appeared in Gen Art’s “The New Garde” in 2008, recently took a year off to raise her son and has emerged with a new perspective. According to Kamm, the Spring collection, titled “Constructive Order,” is a reaction to her year off.
“The idea behind [the collection] is the word constructive, which means to move something forward,” explained the designer. “I wanted to make a group of pieces that was super accessible to my customer and easy to get back into. And there’s been a really positive response,” she said.
So far, the collection has been picked up by Tenoversix in Los Angeles; Roseark in West Hollywood and Santa Monica, Calif.; Kickpleat in Austin, Texas; Studio Sebastian in Dallas; Gravel and Gold in San Francisco; Maryam Nassir Zadeh in New York; and Deuxieme Classe in Tokyo.
The luxury artisan label, which originally launched in 2005, is designed with versatility and price point in mind. It appeals to a wide range of clients from the fashionable, young Hollywood girl to stylish women in their 60s. “I feel like as I grow up, the pieces grow up,” Kamm said. “It used to be a little bit more fun and flirty and bohemian. And now I feel like there’s a new sophistication, which I really love.”
The collection is made up of easy-to-wear classic shapes that can transition from day to night—an integral concept to building a modern wardrobe for today’s price-conscious yet fashion-savvy consumers. “I want the person to be able to pull a top out and be able to wear it on Monday and then to be able to wear it next Friday in a totally different way,” Kamm explained. Styles include tank tops, blouses, tunic dresses, tie-front shorts and crop-leg trousers in a soft, earthy palette.
Wholesale prices range from $75 to $255, and all pieces retail for under $650. Textiles are made in solids and original prints in luxe silk and natural linen fibers. Kamm designs all of the prints for the collection, which is printed and made in California.
Prior to this season, the artwork she designed was very intricate with hand-drawn detailed graphics.
For Spring, Kamm infused the repetition and simplicity of her new daily routine into her prints. “This year of time with my son was [filled with] all of these super-basic tasks, and they were repeated. Sleep, eat, play. Sleep, eat, play,” she said. “I’ve really opened up to being ’here in the now,’ in the words of Ram Daas,” Kamm said.
Whereas past collections were inspired by trips to Panama or Paris, her work is more influenced currently by everyday surroundings such as architecture or the cracks in the sidewalk. “It’s more about what’s happening around me on the street or in my home,” she explained.
In a natural progression, Kamm’s personal experience led her to explore the Bauhaus design philosophy. She gleaned inspiration from Bauhaus weavers such as German textile artist Gunta Stouml;lzl and created her artwork by cutting construction paper up into simple shapes and forming patterns.
Kamm is becoming known for her prints. Recently, she began collaborating with Cerno, a Laguna Beach, Calif.–based furniture and lighting company, on fabric for lampshades. Her printed clothing pieces, like an artist print, are limited edition and have their own tag and number. “It’s very special, and I feel like a lot of my customers can feel this vibration because so much artwork goes into making these pieces come to fruition,” she said.
“You feel like you have this collectible piece, but it’s also easy to wear, and it’s something that stands the test of time,” she explained. “I want it to be something that lasts a long time in your closet,” she said.
For more information, call the Maryam Nassir Zadeh Showroom at (212) 226-1088.—N. Jayne Seward
