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| Arts & Crafts >> pH by Phillia |
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Based both in Maryland and in New York, these two are about more than clothes and cute bags. Phillia was seriously planning to go to med school, when she cooked up pH with Nanako and now they're dreaming big about saving the world through charitable efforts. She did an email interview with me in April about pH, what led her to where she is and what she's striving for now. We'll start by setting the scene. Phillia was in medical school, ready to take on the world and cure disease, when she decided to take a breath and start pH. 'I'm a free spirit and my soul felt caged up,' she says about the shift, 'there was this gut feeling inside of me that got stronger each passing day. I felt like my creativity was dying ever since I went to college to study biology. Finally I listened to my inner voice.' And what she did next a whole lot of people never have the balls to do, she got honest with herself, 'I knew I wasn't passionate enough about medicine, even though I wanted to help people, the closer I got to it, the more unsettling it felt and knew this was not the right path for me.' As refreshing as it is to be brave enough for a huge turn in direction, this now meant that she had no idea what to do next. Supportive family played a huge role in why pH exists today. Notably, her husband and mother in law gave her the extra nudges she needed to go for it. 'My husband and his family influenced me to follow my dreams. His parents encouraged their kids to pursue their passions in life,' she explains, 'and I was inspired by my husband following his own. One day my mother-in-law asked me, What is your dream career? and I sheepishly said fashion design but thought it was a bit far-fetched.' Yet the pull towards design was strong - after attempts at picking out a wedding dress, she designed her own, and with some help from her encouraging mother in law, the dress was sewn up and came to life. Phillia describes the experience as lovely, and it helped solidify the decision to not go through with med school. This lead to some 9-5’s to cover the bills, 'but being in that environment continued to bring me down,' Phillia says. 'Not to be a drama queen or anything but it really was soul sucking the life out of me. I really felt lost career-wise and I knew I wanted to be free from it. Luckily, I loved my personal time outside of work. In my free time, I got into photography and tried graphic design, which I both loved. But I knew deep down that this wasn't the dream job I was looking for.' After more introspection she convinced Nanako to take a sewing class with her and from there they were hooked. |
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'It's funny,' she says, 'because when I think back to my high school days, I would be looking at all the clothes in my closet and the words 'fashion design' would pop into my head. But I would immediately dismiss it because I never thought you could actually make a career in fashion.' And so a lot of these dreams seem to have been in hiding, but still there. 'I've always been kinda crafty growing up but not too much. I think I spent more time just hanging out with friends,' she says. 'I loved art, I was never particularly that good at any real fine art like drawing or painting, but I loved being creative.' 'My friends and I would sew basic little flowers and stars onto clothes. My mom was really big in cross-stitching so I got into that for a little while. I used to cut up magazines and make these big collages and give them to friends or hang them up in my room. Or make really cute covers for mix tapes I used to make my friends of like my favorite hits of the time. But I would have to say being crafty again really is new to me like a rekindled flame with a fav pastime. Being in science for so long, its really refreshing to be an artist!' |
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Noted earlier, pH is a joint venture with Phillia's best friend Nanako. 'I think I'm really lucky because our time together is always so positive,' says Phillia in response to whether it's frustrating working with a close friend. 'She's my soulmate so she understands me to my deepest core. We share the same eyes mind and heart. Which is great! Because when we work together its explosive! We create this really crazy positive creative energy between us and then we fly together. I'm sooo lucky. She understands the vision and concept of pH and completely believes in it and in us. So its been really cool since the beginning. Plus I'm extremely patient with anyone, not that I need to be with her in any way.' The creativity that comes from these two is amazing, almost all of the fabric is taken from an existing piece. 'The majority of our items are made from recycled vintage clothing and accessories. I love incorporating elements of earth into my pieces,' explains Phillia. 'This one bag I got a metal dresser drawer handle and turned it into a handle for a vintage clutch. Or attaching silk flowers onto pieces. I get a lot of vintage kimono silk from Japan. I have a nice stock pile of ancient samurai gear that I'm just itching to be creative with!' Anything else is from the (slightly less interesting than ancient samurai gear) local fabric store. |
 Vintage Air Canada Bag |
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 Victorian Turquoise Ring/Brooch  Vintage Pageboy Hat |
And when inspiration strikes, it comes at her from sometimes very obvious things, citing 'flowers, nature, the sky, fashion of the decades, culture, history, color, texture to the most random things like the backdrop of the Real Time with Bill Maher set or from a piece of unfinished wood with all the dirt and natural grains in it.' Says Phillia, 'sometimes when I see something, a light bulb clicks in my head and the wheels start turning. I don't fight it, I just go with the flow and see images flash in my head by the millisecond. It's fun to see how it turns out. Sometimes it just piece, later to be used for further inspiration.' On getting inspiration from other designers, indie or otherwise, she discloses that she's just not looking in that way, 'honestly,' she begins, 'I am not that influenced by other designers. I find that I work better by not seeing what other people do, and stick to my own gut feelings in design. When I see what's out there then I start to compare and worry that I'm not good enough in the sense that my experience is so extremely limited, and I just really started designing last year. I also feel like I'm never going to get out there in time and by the time an idea I had is exposed fashion has already done that 2 seasons ago. Fashion moves along so fast! So I feel that its just better for me to create everything organically in my happy little world and stay away from the trends.' Phillia's personal favorites in the collection include the dresses Step Back in Time (80s style puffy sleeve dress is reconstructed into a kick ass 50s/mod/Jetsons sort of dress), and Raspberry Lace in Space (picture a cute red lace tiered dress, with a sort of futuristic band going 'round the middle), the WWI Vintage Tote Bag is also on her list, 'the story behind that sash that's on the bag is super cool,' she tells us, 'it's from a WWII Japanese Imperial Army group that helped train the wives of soldiers and officers to use bamboo sticks to defend themselves just in case the enemy crossed the shores.' |
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Getting in to what Phillia is dreaming big about, 'well first of all,' she begins, 'I would love to make a lot of money so I can GIVE a lot of money to the world. As much as I also want to be there physically and take part of the action which is super fun and such a cool experience, I guess I always believed that I could do more and felt like I needed to do more. What these people need is money. But just as important, they also need lots love and compassion.' And so, Phillia says. 'I want to use pH as a power tool to teach the world the art and joy of humanity. When you give back to the world, when you touch a soul and make it smile, that reward is unbelievably rich. And really I find that it comes back to you two-fold. Then you channel the positive energy through your heart and put it back out there, it becomes stronger and more effective. You start to reach out to a bigger circumference. I really do believe this world can be saved through love and compassion, because through this you open your eyes to the world, you see through people's exteriors and see their soul and realize that everyone is the same, everyone is a human being, a beautiful soul. Some are happy, some are sad. Some are angry and some are lost. But we are all the same.' 'Then you open your heart to non-judgmental acceptance to everyone, every life, everything in between. Then you can learn so much about the world, yourself, and human beings. Everyone deserves to be happy in their life. If you think about it really, one life. That's all we have. Don't we want to make the most of it all?!' Arn't you inspired?! Phillia's drive and determination energize me. |
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'I'm obsessed with history, the life behind things, people, places, events. I find it fascinating, wishing that I could witness first hand so many events of our past.' And then adds, 'I really love our vintage brooch rings, when you wear them they really look super fabulous!' 'Right now we contribute to Saigon Children's Charity because I liked the idea of starting small and where little money can go a long way,' Phillia explains. 'It's an intimate group that helps children from the most remote poorest areas of Vietnam get an education and training to help them and their family escape the cycle of poverty. I hope to be able to continue to help these people, as well as be able to help more groups in the future, one at a time. I would also like to provide some kind of education for the people that need it most, maybe set up a leaders academy in different countries. But I know gotta start with baby steps!' |
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