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Welcome to Open Studio, a Racked feature where we explore the workspaces and showrooms of some of the city's most talented, up-and-coming designers.
Our latest collection, autumn/winter 2014, is Stoners vs Jocks—a cheeky interpretation of high school life in the '90s. I thought a lot about the things I used to draw in my notebooks: mushrooms, eyes, boobs. And then the new pieces I wanted to see with t
The new space has been a game changer for the business. Before we were doing everything from my apartment and it made certain things pretty difficult. We had a big order for Urban Outfitters and were literally assembling in the kitchen and filling
It's pretty hard living and working in the same place. Its easy to go for days without leaving the house. I adore my home, but the simple act of going to work is a luxury I haven’t had the last four years. Having a physical separation between home and wor
Having a laser cutter in my studio is also a total game changer. Mine’s only a small one—not big enough to do my wholesale orders, I outsource a lot of that—but it's so amazing to be able to just draw something and make it immediately, right there. That’s
At work, I'll play the same album, or even the same song, over and over again, sometimes for weeks at a time. Right now it's Kendrick Lamar—Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Section.80, especially the tracks “Backseat Freestyle,” “Now or Never,” and “F*ck
It’s a fun challenge to elevate plastic to something luxe and desirable. I mean, plastic jewelry is really the ultimate in mass-production, so it's sort of perversely fun to use the same material to make something thoughtful and high-end that people will
Collaborating with DKNY has also been really amazing in regards to our design growth. If they want something, we will make it, no matter if we’ve done it before. Our first season together I was battling with a visor for our spring/summer 2014 collection.
We’ve done three seasons together now, and they are so wonderful to work with. They are so supportive of my collections and I am so grateful for it. Designing is such a personal thing for me, so to have people that I respect believe in my line really driv
I really feel that it's good for me to have a separation between working and not working. It allows me to have a work day so I can get things done when I need to, and have the ability to put them down and walk away when I need some space. I tend to get ob
Another thing I keep coming back to is words. I said earlier that I obsess over things, and often those things are certain words or phrases. The mantra necklaces have been a huge hit for us and I think it's so funny and awesome that these things that get
Laser cut acrylic presents some really exciting challenges. Acrylic is not a common material in accessories, at least not like this, and laser cutting is still a pretty new process in fashion, so it sort of feels like uncharted territory. A lot of the con
Jewelry designer Carrie Morrissey uses materials like acrylic instead of ornate gemstones; she pulls inspiration from high school stoners, phrases that get stuck in her head, and the culture of mass production. Her latest collection for her brand I Still Love You NYC includes pizza pins, cheeky tiaras, and a necklace that outlines how many fucks one should give (answer: 00).
Over the past year, she began collaborating with megabrand DKNY and has supplied major wholesale orders for companies like Urban Outfitters, all while operating out of a Greenpoint studio and keeping an Etsypage.
She explains, "Plastic jewelry is really the ultimate in mass-production, so it's sort of perversely fun to use the same material to make something thoughtful and high-end that people will love and treasure. I find those juxtapositions coming up in my work a lot: low vs. high, mass produced vs. handmade, natural vs. artificial."
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