Romantics and grunges
Text: Pepo Moreno | Photos: RosenMunns
First time I read the name RosenMunns it came to me the image of a blond, southern, affected girl. Don’t do it. Any coincidence with the real RosenMunns will be just for chance.
Sydney Rose and Ashley Munns put their surnames together like in sacred marriage and created a fashion brand. That was 2007. After talking with them, they made me forget about the southern, affected girl. They are more grunge and ironic instead. They are already selling in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and they got a place in the american new designers market. Nevertheless, they still have many things to do. “Catwalk would be a great stimulus for us”, says Sidney.
Where do your work concepts come out? ASHLEY: I grew up riding horses and playing “cowboys and indians” and “cops and robbers” kinds of games, because I loved the thrill of the chase. This clothing line gig always has that thrill of the chase thing for me. I always thought I’d be a painter, or a singer, or a performer, and got a real kick out of the story telling involved with country music. And then came rock n roll, which was a whole new beast of burden. And religion-a huge part of my childhood. All of these things blurred, always. It was Sydney’s idea. SYDNEY: Even before we started RosenMunns, Ashley and I created moods through clothing. There was a certain amount of (fashion) forecasting and intuition that we noticed in ourselves and in each other and we came together because of it. We sit on the same street and start to see the same people and things differently and we try to pin down why and go from there. It is hard to be the kind of person who changes her mind often, but it is also the reason we never get bored, and hopefully why we aren’t boring. The concept of Spring Summer 2010 collection came from San Francisco’s Chinatown, contrasted by the city around it and even America. Chinatown in San Francisco is a beautifully trashy place - It smells and it is crowded, it is exotic and transporting (Think Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet). Ideas of Chinatown can be seen literally in fabric choices and styling (we shot the lookbook in Chinatown), but the less obvious reference is the feeling of the collection. Also, It is a strange time in America - While designing Spring, we noticed an underground punk patriotism thing happening. This seemed to directly influence our color choices.
How do you work as a team? ASHLEY: Sydney is the cop to my robber, the cowboy to my indian. We actually have a very sacred relationship. The office for obtaining a General Partnership Business License here in San Francisco is in the same room of the Civic Center building where marriage licenses are issued. We signed and shook on it for better or for worse. The real reason we have made it this far is because we have an unwavering friendship underneath it all. We go down with the ship. SYDNEY: We are theoretical severed conjoined twins. We have one brain for design and two very different brains for arriving at the design and more-so for business. Our brainstorming sessions are intense and overwhelming - We are so honest and especially vulnerable as we toss all good and very bad ideas into the ring. It is the best - and the worst. Apart from inspiration and design, we literally work as a team on every aspect of RosenMunns. We send emails together, we make invoices together, we sew together, we take breaks together. We are trying something new - answering these questions separately and I am about to have a nervous breakdown. Ashley is the wind in my sails.
So, can you describe the other? ASHLEY: Syd is dreamy. She is crazy beautiful. Every bone in her body is creative, yet she is the single most capable person I know. What makes her so different from anyone I’ve ever met is her attention to every last minute detail. She can do everything and she can do it better than you, and she can do it all at once. She is the kind of friend that will lend you her favorite pants, make you laugh so hard that you pee in them, and then will wash them for you. She is always cleaning up my messes. She knows how to fix anything and everything. She is my constant, but she is always changing. She is the wind beneath my wings, and can sing better than Bette Midler too. SYDNEY: To me Ashley is my equal in a land of opposites. She makes me feel ok and at home with myself. She has this affect on most people around her too, but it selfishly feels like her empathy is custom fit for me. She is my sanity and my insanity. She counters my fears and keeps RosenMunns on track. Ashley is nonstop like a bouncing knee out of control under a table. She is a dreamer, an optimist, and a realist. The Rabbi, the Priest, and the Minister. She is beautiful and kind and tough as nails.
Tell me what happened with “Eat Mary Kate” T-shirt. How did people react? ASHLEY: They either loved it or hated it. It was love/hate. SYDNEY: People with a sense of humor got it and ate it up.
I realized how important is for you to ironize with and about your job. Is that certain amount of sarcasm necessary for a proper work? ASHLEY: Yes. Sense of humor is one of man’s oldest survival mechanisms for a reason. I’ve read articles about prisoners of war and how they used humor and controlled fantasy to stay alive, or as a means of communication. We do those things to stay alive on a daily basis. It is a matter of communication and survival. SYDNEY: It is important to challenge serious design and be sarcastic at times. We believe it is entirely possible to be less serious and still maintain the professionalism to get things done. Also, there are really no new articles of clothing left to invent - Everything has been done already. So we try to push the envelope on what is already out there - to make it new and perhaps smarter through humor. Maybe a pocket turns into a glove, or the seams of the shirt become more obvious than the shirt itself. Love it or hate it, it is new and fresh and you could say ironic.
Apart from fashion, you collaborate actively with SF art scene. What was your last project? ASHLEY: We like to collaborate with our stockists as we have real relationships with them. We don’t look at them as stores, we look at them as friends that we work with. The last collaboration we were involved with in San Francisco was with our online stockist Light Vision Store and Anica Boutique. We made a one of a kind garment where people from the city brought pins to stick on it. Everyone wants a chance to “stick it to em” sometimes. A girl in Japan ended up purchsing this garment, Denim Daddy, and so she is now involved too. We were also involved in a Light Vision Store Pop Up Shop at MAC (Modern Appealing Clothing) and look forward to future collaborations with them as well.
What’s your favorite garment ever? ASHLEY: Syd gave me a Bruce Springsteen tshirt like five years ago and I still wear it almost everyday. I will probably be buried in it. There’s just something about it, and I don’t even have a particular love for “the boss”, I mean, he’s alright. I’ve also been really into my hunter’s camoflauge tshirt. As far as RosenMunns goes, my favorite past garment is the Triangle Dress from SS09-it is dreamy. And I love our one piece from our SS10-it was modeled after a sock. My favorite garment ever is actually in our upcoming FW10 Collection.
SYDNEY: When I was about 7 I saved all my allowance money for a Hypercolor T shirt. The shirt had a man in a suit on the front and when the shirt was in direct sunlight the man magically stripped down to socks and boxer shorts. I don’t know if I’ve loved anything like i loved that since, but each season I have a favorite garment ever.
What celebrity would you like to wear your clothes? SYDNEY: I don’t know. I’ve never been good at this question. Mary-Kate Olsen in the “I Ate Mary-Kate” shirt would be pretty good. Vivenne Westwood already stole Pam Anderson and Marc Jacobs, Dakota Fanning… I haven’t seen Twilight, but that Kristen Stewart is pretty dreamy. And Emma Watson too. And Larry David. Maybe this question isn’t so hard after all. Truly, I just want Natalia and Freja, and Tanya and all the ya’s to wear it. The runway would be a bonus. ASHLEY: ya, what she said.
