Josh and Lauren Podoll

As a team, you grew your line from organic cotton and bamboo t-shirts to an entire collection for both women and men. Tell us about the evolution?

L: The t-shirt collection, Josh Podoll, began in 2004 from the desire to create sustainable tops that showcase drawings inspired by nature, art and humor of everyday life. The line continues to grow along this trajectory and explores various themes each season with printing and embroidery. After several seasons of designing and producing tops and tees, we were ready for the challenge of creating a full ready-to-wear collection, thus, PODOLL was born. Designing a full collection enables us to freely explore shape, texture and volume while employing a range of luxury fabrics. It’s exhilarating to work without strict boundaries.

What are some of the joys and challenges of being a creative couple in business together?

L: Collaboration often yields the best both have to offer—we sometimes disagree about pieces in the collection so we work through the details until we arrive at a situation that is pleasing to both of us.

J: In general, we take the ups and downs together so that means when we hit a bump, we don’t have someone with an outside or fresh perspective to help out. On the other hand when things go right, we get to fully share the excitement of the moment.

We understand that Josh originally studied to be a painter and started his career as a fashion designer by putting artwork on t-shirts. How is painting for a body different than painting for a canvas?

J: Actually, I started making t-shirt graphics to take a break from painting….so, they are related by the fact that they involve color and compositional relationships but the drawings on the tees are representational (involving text, animals, etc.) whereas my paintings are completely abstract.

Does making art accessible as fashion change it’s meaning?

J: I approach fashion in a completely different way than when I’m making a painting. When I’m making a painting, I’m most often making it for myself and not thinking about how it relates to others or their environment.

L: But when we’re designing, regardless of how conceptual our starting point is, we have to consider the wearer to make the garment viable. It’s a chief concern of ours to make the clothing relate to and enhance the wearer’s body. Designing clothing is quite intimate actually, considering a person will eventually inhabit your creation.

Your collection is inspired by art and artists- Tell us more! Names, please….

J: PODOLL looks at different artists and artistic movements each season. We have been inspired by a range of artists such as: Kasimir Malevich and the Russian Suprematists, Agnes Martin and other Minimalist painters, and most recently Olafur Eliasson and his sculptural light installations.

L: Josh is an artist and I have a degree in Art History so we have rooted our collection in artistic influences.

Lauren, you originally worked as a buyer at a wildly popular San Francisco boutique. How does your background in retail influence your design direction?

L: I think it definitely explains why wearability is so important to me. During my years in retail, I have witnessed so many body insecurities—trying on clothing tends to encourage self-scrutiny. Ideally, I aim to make garments that foster confidence and comfort.

What’s the best part of your job?

L: Definitely the creative process. It’s extremely gratifying to participate in the process of shepherding an idea of a garment from original concept through the stages of refinement until we actually see it in it’s final glory on the body.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

J: I think we both agree that managing production is a huge challenge.

You are committed to manufacturing your line in the United States. What are some of the challenges of producing your collection domestically? What are some of the benefits?

J: So far, it’s been mostly beneficial to produce domestically. We have better access to the sewing facilities and proximity often enables better communication. It helps to oversee manufacturing closer to home so we can catch potential errors in time. Finding the best resources was difficult initially, but once we got through the first few seasons it’s been much smoother. The only drawback to domestic sources is that they are more expensive. We’ve made the choice to favor fair labor conditions over price.