Search Results for: Colby Blount

Great Young Designers Flock to Brooklyn—Ferris

December 21, 2012 By Francesca Moisin Leave a Comment

Partners in Ferris, (R to L) Taylor Conlin wears a Ferris sweatshirt ($55) under a Ferris custom jacket ($130); Taylor Spong models a Ferris custom button down ($120); and Andrew Livingston sports a Ferris beanie ($10) Photo by Colby Blount (cblountphotography.com)

Great Young Designers Flock to Brooklyn
What they lack in experience they make up for with raw talent and determination. The owners of Ferris (ferrisnewyork.com), Williamsburg’s funky new clothing shop, may be young, but A.J. Livingston, 20; Taylor Conlin, 21; and Taylor Spong, 22, are reinventing men’s fashion while most of their peers are still in college. Their cozy 600-foot space— previously a pet store before they gutted it, painted over a giant cat mural, and filled it with furniture built by Spong— boasts an eclectic mix of vintage garments and trademark Ferris apparel.

San Diego native Livingston designs most of the signature pieces, like “The Borough of Life” fleece ($50) bearing the motto “Made for Destruction,” or the beloved “Underdog” T-shirt ($37), featuring a prancing pup logo. Apart from providing a livelihood, handcrafted T-shirts brought Conlin and Livingston together (Spong and Livingston have been pals since high school), and they’re partially responsible for why the business exists today. “I was at a Parsons party last October when I noticed this guy wearing a sick shirt that I could tell he’d made,” says Conlin of Livingston. “We started talking and realized we both had clothing backgrounds.”

Mary Meyer Clothing

December 21, 2012 By Francesca Moisin Leave a Comment

Designer Mary Meyer (middle) with associates Emma Kadar-Penner (left) manager of Friends Vintage (MM), and Stephanie Levy, MM photo manager, in Bushwick. Photo by Colby Blount (cblountphotography.com)

Like many great success stories, this was born of necessity. Mary Meyer didn’t always want to design clothes. As a student at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, she studied printmaking, weaving, dyeing, welding, and woodworking before graduating with a degree in painting. It was only after school that fate and need collided to alter Meyer’s future. “I was broke and couldn’t afford to buy the things I wanted, so I started making them,” says the 34-year old Williamsburg resident. “People would ask where I’d found my top, and upon learning I’d made it, they’d want one too.”

A small factory soon sprouted in her living room, and Meyer began to create custom dresses and shirts for friends. The Northern California native founded her company, Mary Meyer Clothing (marymeyerclothing.com), in 2005 before migrating East one year later. These days, with the exception of a few pieces fabricated at a midtown Manhattan workshop, all MMC designs are handmade in a factory near Coney Island, printed in Greenpoint, and dyed and processed in Bushwick. “It’s important to support my community,” says Meyer. “Because production is local, I can also monitor working conditions to maintain healthy environments and ensure garments are sewn correctly.”

Allegria Children’s Boutique, Pure Joy to the Burg

November 29, 2012 By Shana Liebman Leave a Comment

owners of allegria children's boutique in williamsburg

Melanie Gomez (left) and Lula Aldunate, recently opened their shop on North 3rd Street, offering a whimsical enclave of one-of-a-kind toy designs. Photo by Colby Blount (cblountphotography.com)

There are many unique children’s boutiques in the area, but Allegria takes the cake. In fact, their new store window on North 3rd Street is filled with impressive crochet-cakes handmade from wool sweaters; they’re soft, strange, and artfully crafted—a perfect preview of what’s inside.

The shop, which opened in September, is the love-child of Melanie Gomez, a designer who lived in France, and Lula Aldunate, a stylist who has worked for Elle and Barneys, but who found herself doing mostly nurseries and baby showers.