Brightest Young Things

mary economides and alyssa lesser are eleni/lynn, a fashion and design project borne of shared interest, high school fashion shows, and a combination of middle names. with a design aesthetic beyond their years (they just turned 17) and a creativity level that allows them to turn trash into 'A Million Bucks' - their latest collection of clothing made entirely of recycled materials, expect nothing less than big things from these two bethesda girls.

PandaHead: how would you describe your personal styles? to what extent is that reflected in your creations?

Eleni/Lynn: We like found objects, mixing the old with the new, cheap with expensive, class with trash. No head-to-toe designer! But always something chic, or an attempt at some sort of concept. There’s also a penchant here for really obscure tee shirts.
We do some re-worked vintage shirts and one-of-a-kind items, and also buy most of our fabrics from no-name stores in Downtown LA - this reflects the appeal of owning something unique. Yet, at the same time, we want to put everything else we love into our clothes, and have no objection to mass-production. We enjoy modernizing vintage cuts and customizing patterns.

PandaHead:how did you two meet, and when/how did you realize you could work together to design?

Alyssa: We have gone to school and been friends since we were about seven. In elementary school, we would sit around at recess and draw little dresses and outfits. Mary's mom always buys Vogue and W and WWD and is very fashion-forward, so we kind of ogled all that stuff together. And my mom sews a lot and my grandmother was a dress designer so...it's in the blood?
Anyway, one day around 7th grade or so, we got bored and started chopping up old stuff on our own and hand sewing. The next summer we claimed a small sewing room and started making other things...jewelry and tote bags and re-worked tee shirts...When we got to high school, there was a fashion society which puts on a show every May. For the show, you can show individual outfits or a collection, but everything has to be made from scratch. So we just kind of started there. We typically like all of the same things and get along very well, so it just worked...

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to read the rest of this interview go straight to :http://www.pandahead.blogspot.com/