A Melancholic Minimalist

In Play it as it Lays, Joan Didion wrote unlovingly about the bland corner of Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, calling it the “dead center of nothing.” Two blocks west, however, was the center of something during L.A. Fashion Week's recent and sporadic incarnation. At a whitewashed gallery, Stacey Clark debuted her apocalyptic-inspired autumn/winter 2010 collection for Odilon, a label born in Los Angeles, but not one with any identifiable local traits — no boho chic, casual ethos or rocker verve. 

It is a severe line, influenced by the 23-year-old Canadian designer's love for zombie flicks and other morbid media fare. But Odilon is not Goth Talk apparel, either. Clark, who studied at FIDM, has a preternatural sense of refinement. By the looks of the collection, she is not consumed with creating clothes that must look young and hip in order to be noticed. Whether using thick neoprene on a dress, spider web silk organza for the interior of a raincoat or blaze orange-dyed rabbit fur for the wide lapel of a leather jacket, Clark and assistant designer Harold Kuhn manage to add flair to a minimalist sensibility in an emerging collection that several influential retailers have already noticed.

Clark recently spoke to Style Section L.A. about Odilon — its genesis, direction and place in the L.A. fashion scene.

Style Section L.A.: Tell us about the origin of your label’s name.

Clark: Odilon is named after the French post-Impressionist painter, Odilon Redon. Before attending FIDM in 2006, I studied painting, drawing, sculpture and art history at the University of Victoria (UVIC), in Victoria, Redon was one of my favorite painters to study. He was part of the Impressionist movement and was amongst Renoir, Monet, and Manet when he decided to take a turn away from that group. I always hated studying the Impressionists — I've always thought that they're banal, over-emotional, sappy. I didn't like the brush stroke style, the color palettes or the subjects and themes. So when I discovered Redon, I was so pleased. He broke away and went in a darker direction, and turned into more of a symbolist and surrealist painter. I related.

How did you get into fashion?

I've always been interested in fashion, it was always very natural to me. I started sewing when I was about 8 years old. I used to make patterns from my clothes by laying them on paper and tracing them, then my mother would take me to the fabric store and I would choose a few novelty materials and make myself an outfit — normally a shirt with matching skirt or shorts, or a dress. As I got older, I was not interested in fashion as a career path; I wanted to be a painter or a curator. I thought the fashion industry might be too superficial — growing up in British Columbia, I had become kind of a hippie. After a couple years at UVIC studying art, I went backpacking around Europe, and while there I realized that fashion could be art, and art could be fashion, and I didn't need to draw such a distinct line.

IN MOTION A look from Odilon's A/W 2010 collection.

When I returned home from my spring abroad, I ended up leaving Victoria and moving to Los Angeles to pursue fashion design. I didn't want to go to New York because it was so far from my family, so I chose L.A. and attended FIDM.

Where did you meet your assistant designer?

I moved downtown and that's where I met Harold Kuhn. He was attending Otis for fashion design at the time, and we lived in the same building. We met the day after I moved in and became instant friends. We have always shared a mutual love for fashion, art and design. After three years of being friends, I started my line and hired Harold as my assistant designer. We design very well together because we share a similar opinion in aesthetic, but I design very simply and classically. If it were just me on my own, my entire line would probably be all black, with long sleeves, high collars and super-long hemlines. I really focus on textiles, construction, silhouette, fit and overall vision and theme of each collection. While Harold has such great attention to detailing, like unique seaming and stitching, and trims. His vision is so out of the box, it complements my simplicity to create a unique, yet accessible collection.

DESIGN DUO Odilon assistant designer Harold J. Kuhn with Stacey Clark.

Have you ever modeled yourself?

Never. Not on purpose, anyway.