Meet The Designer: Jesse Kamm

WHO IS THE JESSE KAMM WOMAN?

JESSE: She is a girl who is just like me. A girl who is independent and strong. A girl who thinks for herself, and has a clear sense of who she is and where she is going. This girl does not need to look at a magazine to learn what to wear this season. She is timeless. She is a leader. People look to her and mimic what she is doing, not the other way around.

WHAT INSPIRED THE SPRING 2016 COLLECTION?

JESSE: SS 2016 marked the 10 year anniversary of the JK collection. I wanted to go back to the beginning and reference the roots of the collection as a means of coming full circle. My collection had become quite minimal and Japanese over the past few years, and I wanted to bring a little of the glamour back. The shapes did not change much, but the styling did, and that was really fun for me.

When I started the collection I was Obsessed with Halston, Zandra Rhodes, Jean Muir, and the 70’s glamour that went with all of that. Angelica Houston, Lauren Hutton, Studio 54, Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, and the whole New York scene.

I brought back the long dresses tied at the waist with the obi belt, which was a mainstay in my early work. I made a nod to DVF with my version of the wrap dress, and I brought in all that good 70’s color… the baby blue, terracotta, and brick.

When we shot the lookbook, we called it “The Anniversary Party”. We referenced all of these black and white paparazzi shots of Lauren Hutton going to and fro these amazing parties. There was always some random dude standing in the background, and she was always with a different fella. We tried to capture all of that. The era, the light, the strange men, the hot cars. I love this collection so much. I feel so proud of how far I have come. When I started designing I felt like it was going to end soon, and I would do something else. I thought people would loose interest in me, and I did not have much faith in my ability. I no longer feel that way. I can see myself doing this for a long long time.

WHAT IS YOUR UNIFORM?

JESSE: Sailor pants, button down, hat, sunglasses, bare feet when I can get away with it.

DESCRIBE THE AESTHETIC OF YOUR HOME.

JESSE: I grew up in the country in the midwest. My parents were hippies. They built everything in our world. Our home, our furniture, the art on the walls, and the stoneware in the cupboards. We lived in nature. We camped, and hiked, we swam, we made music and art. We did not have much. We were very happy. I learned mindfulness and minimalism from them. My home in Mt Washington very much feels like the home I grew up in. It also feels like the home my husband and I built in Panama. It is all congruent, It all references the came thing. Clean, Spartan, functional, comfortable. It is based around nature, and filled with things we have built and collected. There is nothing in my home that is not cherished. It is all essential. That is how I live my life, nothing in excess. This rings true for my whole existence, and includes the collection as well. Someone referred to my collection recently as “lean and restrictive”, they meant it as a negative. I love that description of my brand as a whole. That is what it is. That is my world. Lean and restrictive... And happy. Very Happy.