MY WORKPLAYCE: LOUISE EDU
Name: Mary Louise Peralta Edu
Location: San Diego, CA
Occupation: Fashion/Costume Designer, Artist
Affiliations: InCharacter.com, FCC, CakeBall Queen
Background: Louise is a highly skilled fashion/costume designer based out of San Diego. Her education includes a BA in business and marketing (SFSU) and a degree in Fashion Design (FIDM.) After her schooling, Louise went on to design costumes for InCharacter.com for the next five years. She recently left the company to pursue a teaching gig at Fashion Careers College (SD) and to also concentrate on freelance work. Louise is also a mother of two beautiful daughters so you know her schedule-balancing act has to be on point. She was kind enough to let us into her home studio to see how she gets things done.
What’s in her space:
1. iMac 2. Tablet 3. Doily on cork-board 4. Artwalk ad on newspaper 5. Red Book 6. Facilitator Book 7. ‘Books to read’ list on post it note 8. Box full of swatches 9. Apparel News 10. Sewing Machines 11. iPhone 12. Custom pieces on hanging rack
Q. The first thing you notice when you walk through your front door is you workspace area. If you weren’t a designer, what would this space be used for?
LE: I would probably want a nice formal dining room…but having a room like that, with 2 girls under the age of 5, doesn’t seem like a good idea…it’d probably could be a really nice play area for them.
Q. I see that there is a doily on the corkboard. It reminds me of a smaller version of this huge knitted one that my mom used to put on top of my dresser. I don’t think that one is big enough to cover up scratches from a dresser. What is the significance of that one?
LE: Hahaha…I remember those gawd awful non-matching orange, green and yellow ones that a lot of Filipino kitchens seem to be infected with! Not necessarily the same thing, but kinda in a way…I have always had a fascination and love for history….I salivate at the thought of going to a museum and immersing myself in old paintings and historic relics. I especially love looking at vintage garments and designing with a vintage aesthetic in mind. This is where the doily comes into play: it reminds me of one of my favorite historical eras…the Victorian era….a point in time when fashion played an important part in people’s lives. Women had dresses or garments for every specific event, task or moment. Sometimes a woman would change approximately 4 times in one day, depending on their place in society…granted, I’m not particularly fond of the fact that women during that era didn’t have the same freedoms that we have now…but the fashion and the creation of the garments during that era amazes me. People had time to create very detailed garments back then, and to me, the doily is a representation of that: luxe garments made with attention to detail, in a society where customer satisfaction and appropriateness played an important role…..something I hope to bring back to Fashion someday.
Q. I usually keep a black book of all the ladies I have banged. (I am obviously lying.) You have a red book on your desk. What’s that about?
LE: Mmmmm hmmm….My lil’ red book is a record of all the sketches I’ve “banged” out of my head at different moments in a given day. I take it with me, pretty much, everywhere I go. I use it to jot down ideas, thoughts, or sketches whenever the mood strikes me so that I don’t forget about it later. It’s almost like a journal for me.
Q) Is there anything (not including me your mentor) in your workspace where you can pull inspiration from?
LE: Oh Wise Holy Rza Man Art Thou…you are the beacon of intelligence and creativity…..ok, maybe not that serious =P
Other than my aforementioned Mentor Rick….and the knowledge superhighway on my Imac, sometimes I find things in the Apparel News, Elle, W, and other fashion related periodicals. The “Mission Federal Credit Union” newspaper on my desk was a random paper I found one early morning when I was dropping off my best friend at the train station. I grabbed some coffee at the nearest coffee shop and came across the headline regarding an Art Walk in April….it sparked my interest, and the images of art pieces in the paper, definitely ignited my brain. Most of the time though…I usually find inspiration from the most random of things: from the way the wind blows, touches my skin and sparks a certain memory or mood in my head…to the simple image of my coffee cup sitting on my desk in the morning My right brain is constantly moving.
Q. Do I see his and her sewing machines on top of the cabinets?
LE: Hers, but definitely not His…not unless the “His” wants to secretly be called a “Miss!” J/K there are a lot of straight as vodka male designers…Anyhoo, The grey one to the left is your typical home sewing machine (actually, it’s a little faster than the one you find at your local craft store, it’s supposedly almost industrial strength, at least that’s what the HSN woman said on tv while I was watching…but I don’t think so). The white one to the right is a 4 thread overlock machine used to finish the inside seams of a garment or to create specific hem details.
Q. The rack to the left of the sewing machines is filled with different pieces. Are those works you have created?
LE: Haha, that last sentence sounded almost fobuloso!!…Yes. Most of those garments are things that I’ve made, not everything, but most. I think the majority of them are costumes that I’ve made for my oldest daughter. The only thing on that rack that isn’t made by me, is probably that dark blue men’s suit that my friend’s husband gave to me to play with. He didn’t need the suit, cause it didn’t quite fit him well (the sleeves were too short) and so, in exchange for altering his suit, he gave me this one. I want to tear it apart, piece by piece, and expose the skeleton of the suit, so that I can possibly learn how the suit was made, and take that knowledge and utilize it for my own pieces….have I found time to do that???…now, that’s another question in itself!
Q. What would you say is your proudest piece out of the bunch?
LE: I think, based on construction and overall look, my proudest piece on that rack is the Cinderella dress I made for my daughter. I made two of those dresses in one week (one for my daughter and one for my niece).
Q. You used to work at InCharacter.com. Were you responsible for designing all those slutty outfits we love seeing girls wear on Halloween? Were anything too sexed up to be produced?
LE: HA! Those were the best ones to design!!! You should see the melons I would draw on all my croquis!! The more cleavage, the better!! I would say there were quite a few styles that didn’t make the cutting room floor because they were too sexy…some of em’ having nothing more than a top/tank and a pair of spanks….I worked on a boudoir (super sexy) line at one point, and that was fun!!…had to reach down into the super slutty soul that I have hidden inside me =)
Q. Recently, you made the bold move to leave InCharacter.com to take a teaching position. What are you going to teach? And why the change after five years?
LE: Funny, you say “bold”…cause I think it was nothing like that. I think it was a long time coming. I wanted something different, wanted more fulfillment I guess…and this teaching position presented itself to me. I’m teaching fashion design classes at Fashion Careers College in San Diego, so I’m still very well planted in the industry. I don’t know where this will lead me, it could be that this leads me to the road of teaching, or maybe I’m just on an on ramp to a better design job…all I know is that I needed a change, and that I needed to learn new skills, improve the skills that I do have, and meet a challenge. I also wanted more time with my girls…I feel like, as a working mom, they get the short end of the stick, when it comes to my time….they’re only small for so long, so I want to be there for them.
Q. I know that you have a side business in baking balls. Cakeballs that is. What inspires you to make them? Is it a stress reliever, new passion for baking? And would you say it is design related?
LE: Yes…people have mentioned how much they truly appreciate my “balls”. As much as it is a joy for me, sometimes it can create a lot of stress!!
It started out of curiosity, believe it or not. I found out about cakeballs at my best friend’s bridal shower, and wanted to see if I could make them myself. My inspiration for them stems from my love of chocolate! Anyone who knows me, knows that I cannot co-exist without chocolate! I would say that yes, the cake balls are somewhat design related, but not complex like fashion. I designed my packaging to reflect my own personality, and that is why there is a doily on the packaging as well…doilies are the best!
Q. Any words of wisdom to those trying to break into fashion design?
LE: Know your stuff and be prepared to work hard!!!…It’s one thing to be able to draw pretty pictures, but it’s another thing to know about patternmaking, construction, textiles and marketing. And fashion design isn’t a glamorous job….those who succeed, work hard as hell!!
Also, grow some tough ass skin!! Design is a very competitive industry! Only the strong shall survive!! So grow some BALLS!!!…or buy some from me!!
