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Kris in the light. 

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Really the beginning of one of the most special and important friendships I have , please enjoy this interview with tiny genius Manon and enjoy this day we got to spend together . And thank you our mutual friend Sam for introducing us. My fam. love you . 

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Morvern Callar

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“Demon” , photo collage on paper page in collaborative zine by Matt McCormick “You Win Again”. 

October 2019

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Vanna @vannakitty smiling over a table of puff painters, Sprinkle Cookies from our friends at The Smile @thesmilenyc-blog, and our talented artists @fosterpridenyc with cookies , smiles and beautiful works of wearable art. 

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Vanna Youngstein : designing, favorite fairy tales, and what is was like to be our guest teacher for January’s Refashion Workshop with Fosterpride NYC.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Interview with designer Vanna Youngstein for Multiverseiii blog

Vanna teaches a Refashion How to workshop with us!

@vannakitty

Lyz : Where are you from and when did you move to NYC?

Vanna Youngstein: I'm from London and moved to New York around 10 years ago — but I go back to London for long periods of time, as I love both cities.

Lyz : When did you start your line? Did you intend to start as a full line or did you just want to create some tees?

VY: I started my line a few years ago. I made the first tee for myself, and when I would wear it, everyone would shout out to me in the street asking about the shirt. I would be styling a shoot and people on set would be asking me where they could buy the tee. I eventually started making them and I put the first one in a music video that I styled —  it really took off from there.

Lyz : What is the first shirt you made?

VY: The first t-shirt I made was "Cherry Baby" — the classic one with red flock on a white baby tee. I was really focused on those two words and wanted to start my brand with just one tee. Then I quickly made the baby blue and red version and the baby pink and red version.

Lyz : Your designs are all text based and so perfect for the brand. “Cherry Baby”, “Atomic”, “Tokyo Princess”, “Cara Mia”, “Stellar”..... What do these words mean to you and how did you come up with the aesthetic representation for the tanks?

VY: Thank you! I use mostly text based designs, but I do some cartoons and other images as well. I think about the words I’m going to use for a while before I make them into a tee - It’s something that has to feel right and be true to the feeling created so far. I am constantly researching and going over inspirations, themes and ideas, and then they just gradually come from there. Some phrases stick with me over the years, or I think about what my customers would want to wear at that moment in the year. “Cara Mia” for example is what Gomez calls Morticia in The Addams Family so that always stuck with me. The words/slogans always end up being quite cheeky or romantic or punchy. I try to mix tomboy and feminine together a lot and I like to work with mixing retro and modern techniques together. The Stellar tee has sparkle letters as well as heat press studs. I try to use deadstock tees where possible.

Lyz: What did you study in college and where did you go?

VY: I studied Fashion Design at the University of the Creative Arts.

Lyz : What jobs did you have prior to doing your line full time?

VY: I have always worked in fashion since I was about 16! My first job was working a Saturday job at a cool little shop in Portobello Road in London. Before doing my line, I designed for other large labels in New York and Japan and I am still a stylist.

LYZ : Top 10 favorite movies?

VY:

1- The Godfather 2- Pretty Woman 3- Life Lessons 4- Rocky 5- Vanilla Sky 6- Betty Blue 7- Chungking Express (second part) 8- Jackie Brown 9- Desperately Seeking Susan 10- Goodfellas 11- True Romance (I can't stick to ten!)

LYZ : Top 10 Favorite cartoon characters?

YV:

1- Bambi 2- Jessica Rabbit 3- Betty Boop 4- Snow White 5- Red 6. Count Duckula 7- Toodles Galore 8- Roger Rabbit 9- Ariel 10- Big Bad Wolf

LYZ : Pixar — yes or no?

VY: Yes but I’m a Classic Disney movie girl. I really like Ratatouille and Toy Story though!

LYZ: Favorite colors?

VY: Blue, Baby Pink, Silver.

LYZ: Top 10 Favorite books?

VY:

The Avocado Baby by John Burningham Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare The Godfather by Mario Puzo Une Famille by Cleo Le Tan 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Rare and The Beautiful by Cressida Connolly The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

LYZ : Favorite fairy tales?

VY : Princess and the Pea, Snow White and Rose Red, Rapunzel, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood.

LYZ: You have collaborated with some big hitting brands like X Girl Japan, Agnes B and Opening Ceremony — how does that feel, and is there a dream collab you want to do?

VY : it feels amazing to have collaborated with those brands that I have looked up to since I was really young.  It is truly a dream come true to work with them! I have a new, even bigger collection coming out with X-Girl next summer that I am currently working on. My future dream collabs would be Hysteric Glamour, Chanel and Miu Miu.

FH: How did you come about teaching an artist  “How to…….” workshop with Fosterpride? What was your lesson plan?

VY : Lyz Olko who is a good  friend of mine and who actually founded the “Refashion Workshop” series  kindly asked me if I would be interested in teaching a workshop on making tees, and I thought it was a great idea — so we brainstormed together and I decided to do a Puffy Paint workshop. I thought it could be a fun medium to base a class around. It is an easy way of making t-shirts look retro and modern simultaneously. I really was inspired by the work already done by Fosterpride in their workshops. My lesson plan was to start with a brief background on my inspirations and how I go about designing tees. Then I wanted it to be based around everyone experimenting and using different appliqués to enhance their designs.

LYZ : The booklets you made for the class are amazing.

VY : Thank you so much! I really wanted to make a zine-like booklet to go along with the course that had various images that I felt were inspiring and tied everything together. There were pictures of Kelis, Neneh Cherry, The Runaways, and Thora Birch in Ghost World all wearing cult tees mixed with various puffy paint or knitted 80s and 90s sweaters from eBay. I wanted to show memorable images that have inspired me mixed with different techniques and ways of creating a tee. I included a few pages of people wearing my t-shirts, and I had a page for puffy paint tips. The last page was a large blank t-shirt for designing your own tee before you start.

Check out pics from our workshop here!

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Bloody Coco, Screentest 

@xxoxococo

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Yulu at Golden Hour, Film

summer 2019, NYC 

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Yulu + Manon Guns for Hire, Summer 2019

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