PAULA THOMAS ON INDEPENDENCE

By Crash redaction

PAULA THOMAS INTERVIEW ON INDEPENDENCE: EX-MODEL TURNED DESIGNER FOR HER OWN BRAND, FOUNDED THOMAS WYLDE IN 2006. SENSITIVE TO PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION AND QUALITY, PAULA THOMAS IS ONE OF THOSE DYNAMIC AND INDEPENDENT PERSONALITIES THAT STAND OUT AGAINST THE CLASSIC FRAMEWORK OF THE FASHION COMPANY. SHE DISCUSSES HER BEGINNINGS AS A DESIGNER, THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER BRAND, AND HER PERSONAL VISION OF FASHION.

Interview by Armelle Leturcq

Image above: Paula Thomas, photo by Rankin

How do you start a collection?

I have a different concept for each collection. You need to have a mix between a rock ‘n’ roll style, sophistication and feminine attitude; something that is very girly.

Do you organize a fashion show to present your collection?

We don’t do a fashion show, and I don’t want to. I feel like fashion shows give too much, too soon, and everybody knows what the collection is. The market will change with the Internet, and I don’t want people to see the collection too early. I will do more interesting things with the Internet in the future, but only for my journalists. We are creating a magazine dedicated entirely to Thomas Wylde. You would have a pass code and could see the collection so that you can ask for the pieces you need.

Why did you choose Paris?

The USA is too commercial. And it is too focused on the contemporary. The idea of fashion is different from what it is here. For me, fashion is taken very seriously in Paris. All my buyers from all over the world would come to Paris anyway, since they also come for all the other brands and the Haute Couture. I don’t feel that I need to be in New York. I’m based in Los Angeles, which I love.

But you come from London, right?

I come from London, and I still have a little bit of London in my work. I love to mix London street attitude and the casual beach lifestyle of L.A. It is like a combination of hard and soft. I want a rock ‘n ‘roll style, but you have to be very careful today, because I think you have to be new every season. The age groups are weird, too. A sixteen-year-old girl can love the collection, as well as a sixty-five-year-old woman, such as Jane Fonda who loves it and wears it all the time. I think I’m doing the right thing by not creating a specific age group of women. Every woman can wear it.

Why are you based in L.A?

I lived in New York when I was very young and I was modeling. Then, I became pregnant with my ex-husband. He wanted to become an actor, so we moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t want to go to L.A and didn’t like it at all first. I moved back to London three times. I thought: “I really have to make a decision.”, so I flipped a coin and chose Los Angeles. I’m not really based in L.A as I live in Palm Springs. I conduct my entire venture in the desert. This place is amazing with a spirit of the fifties. It is a really good fit. Three years ago, I was sick and I really looked at my life and wanted to change some things. I wanted to create a world where I was happy with the quality of my life. But I also love fashion, even if I don’t want to be too involved in it because it is not my life. It is something I do for a living and I love it, but I live my life enjoying other things like architecture or gardening. I look at life very differently now. I like to spend my quality time doing quality things with my daughter, my boyfriend, and my three dogs.

Do you run your business on you own?

I own the brand and the business so I am completely independent. I started in spring-summer 2006. In four seasons, we went from twenty to eighty boutiques around the world. It was managed well. I was working with Julien MacDonald, who went to Givenchy. Then Givenchy asked me to come and work with them, but I had to refuse for personal reasons. Then I came back to Los Angeles and I started freelance consulting for other designers. After a year I wondered: “Why am I doing this for everybody else?”

And what about other brands? What do you think of the creative worlds they offer women?

I think that when Tom Ford left Gucci, he left a hole in the market for the sophisticated woman who is a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, but also elegant and refined. In my opinion, Tom Ford was the only one who did this style very well. Today, Ricardo Tisci does it quite well for Givenchy. When you run a business you have to be creative, but also think about points of sale, prices, PR – every aspect of the business.

How many people work in your company?

When we started it was just two of us, and now there are fifteen of us working in Los Angeles. And I have all my factories in Korea. My CEO, Jenny, is Korean; she is amazing. The first collection we did was made in a garage in Los Angeles. Then, when we grew from twenty boutiques to eighty, we had to deal with production concerns. So Jenny came on board and it helps us. I am really hard on the person I want for my company.

Are you going to open your first Thomas Wylde store?

I want the first shop to be in Los Angeles, so that I can keep an eye on it and understand it.

Do you want to keep your management independence, or would you ask investors to take part in your business?

I don’t know if it will happen, but if it does, I want a very specific group. Our sales are up, even though we went through a little problem with Japan and the disaster they went through. I control distribution very closely and I am very strict. I am very strict about where items hang in stores, and I always choose the best boutiques. I am aware of which brands are next to our pieces. Finding the right clientele is also crucial. Printemps approached us, but I don’t need the clothes to be everywhere. Balmain, for example, has become trendy and now they’re everywhere. Balmain is over-distributed and too expensive at the same time. Every year I bring a new concept, but I want to be true to Thomas Wylde, too. I don’t want the growth of the brand to go that fast. In Paris, we have Montaigne Market, which is great.

Are you planning to bring new products to your brand?

We’ll introduce a second line in 2013. It is going to be a mix of sweatshirts and tee shirts (contemporary fabrics), but still with the Thomas Wylde spirit. And then fragrance and eyewear will come, too.

What do you think about getting older?

You don’t have to dress like a granny. I appreciate French women taking care of themselves, and the fact that they ride their bikes with high heels. They are also very sophisticated. French men force French women to make an effort.

Interview from Crash #57