Interview: Amy Hemmens by The Coveted
The Coveted is one of my favorite independent fashion blogs. I loved the interview she did with Amy Hemmens designer of Naik Fur. So I thought to myself, why mess with perfection? Here is what the The Coveted had to say about Amy and part of the interview. You will have to go to The Coveted to read the rest of the interview. Here is part 1:
Sacramento, California is place that I think of as being our State Capitol, home of the Governator, the place that gets hot in the summer… gateway to Gold Country and Lake Tahoe… I would not think that some of the most thoughtful artistiscally creative clothing would be made there. Naik Fur is a clothing line of one-offs produced by Amy Hemmens. She’s kind of unusual in the fact that she shares with us the very process of creating her work. She maintains her blog, showing all her current projects and musings. You can see her work develop, which is such a pleasure as it the clothing has a free form, organic, almost sculptural quality about them. Lately she’s been in the press, Refinery 29 likened her to Björk… Today, Amy talks with us about her process and design, it’s beautiful and philosophical.
The Coveted: What are you obsessing on these days?
Amy Hemmens: Raw Food, Politics, Quantum Healing, Sun Bathing and Sleep (Everything in one breath) Also, slowly working on my internal fears by giving to others what I might be equally taking. I’m in love with the idea of rediscovering the connections in what we have made separate for ourselves (nothing in particular, everything in general).
TC: What does an average day for you look like?
AH: Quiet things usually - I don’t drive a car so I regularly ride my bike early in the day to get fresh food and clean water, visit the library or go for lonely picnics if I’m not meeting up with a close friend.
It also seems that I’m consistently sewing and creating for an upcoming project. I’ve left lots of tea cups lying around the house. Or if I’m out of town, I’m interested in being free from my usual routines by getting around another city or place to take in and explore whatever possibilities are set out for me. I’ve had a great summer so far
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TC: Most of your garments are one-of a kind pieces, in fact, it’s written in your manifesto.
AH:Why have you decided to make singular garments? Beyond me myself and I, I promote the idea that everyone be individual in order for us to all to truly connect with one another. I’m no good at the business side of it simply because I’m so turned off by the inhumanity of profits, marketing and dollars over a human life value. If you look at the ways in which our current system works, it’s based on that infamous pyramid concept of a hierarchy and trickle down effect. I don’t see myself as the all-knowing leader or as the ignorant bottom feeder, but I would like for us all to start seeing ourselves as equals through our individuality by getting in touch with the idea that we can all feel free to be as meaningful and purposeful as we chose through our own truth and beauty creations(not one globally proposed idea of it) No one ought to feel like a slave through any set-up ideology. My perception of how society works is that too many people are suffering for the ultimate benefit of a select few. You see this trend always in our big government, but you also see it paralleled with all aspects of society, including and especially in the world of fashion and mass production. It doesn’t seem to feed the truth of an individual’s spirit in the end.
The most satisfying process for me as an artist hasn’t been the times when I felt I was “making it”. The most satisfying part of the process has been the times when I’m in the moment of creation. So that by the time I’ve finished a project, I’ve already met face to face with my beauty and truth. What more could I ask for? I usually have no further desire to continue the product past itself because I’ve felt so satisfied with the process of making a one-of-a-kind piece. I’m also allowed, through the sacrifice of excess, to experience life at its most “alive” stages. Anything beyond that becomes nothing more than death parading itself as life. It may be the reason many artist’s end up as starving ones.
Read the entire interview at The Coveted.
