Chelsea Mak
Interview by Jennie Edgar
Photo by Dimanche Creative
March 1st, 2022
Films for book lovers and “cool girl” style
The founder and designer of the eponymous womenswear line spoke to us about Keanu Reeves, Play It as It Lays, films for book lovers, and her take on “cool girl” style.
“Money doesn’t mean anything. It has no importance.”
“What’s more important?” she asked him.
“The tongue is,” he said, “and the words it makes. If you’re careful with your tongue, you’ll always be all right.”
“You’re never going to be all right,” she told him.
From Marriage with Papers by Mohammed Mrabet
What were the cultural influences of your childhood and early adulthood? How did they influence you?
Growing up in both British Hong Kong and San Marino, California—a suburb outside Los Angeles—made very different, yet distinct impressions on me as a child. Hong Kong was high tea and Anglomania meets Cantonese contemporary films, as that's what we were watching with our parents. San Marino was partly very buttoned-up, but also as laid back as the rest of LA. I was into my mom’s Vogue magazines, Green Day, and the novel Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann, and fantasized about moving to New York City. In my 20s, I worked at Band of Outsiders, and my boss Scott Sternberg was a huge cinephile and super plugged into the LA art scene, so naturally that shaped my taste: I was steeped in the world of prep, Jean-Luc Godard, Woody Allen, and a less glitzy but more interesting Los Angeles.
Each segment of my life has had some sort of cross-cultural clash—Western culture vs. Eastern, buttoned-up vs. my rebellious youth, highbrow vs. lowbrow, or at least that’s how I experienced it. That has been a huge influence, as my aesthetic is always some juxtaposition of opposing qualities.
I think the swirl of these experiences has cultivated an appreciation and longing for the old world, so I’m always interested in reading books, watching films, or listening to music that might take me back to another time.
I like to think of the reflection of our reading lives as a kind of “literary autobiography.” In light of that concept, what books have you especially loved?
A few books I’ve loved recently are Modern Love by Constance DeJong and I am Not Ashamed by Barbara Payton (who is like a female version of Charles Bukowski). Also, I’ve Seen the Future and I’m Not Going: The Art Scene and Downtown New York in the 1980s, an autobiography by Peter McGough.
My boyfriend Andrew wants us to read a book together and I think that’s very sweet. I like the idea of sharing a literary experience together. Andrew gave me a signed copy of Amy Arbus’s On the Street, an ’80s street photography book for my birthday last March (only one month into dating). It was very special and very on-brand.
I also love films and there are a few I always refer back to for mood, nostalgia, or aesthetic: Whit Stillman’s “Metropolitan,” Wong Kar Wai’s “Chungking Express,” and Mike Mills’s “Beginners.”
What is your definition of the “cool girl” that your clothes are for? How does a woman embody this cool factor?
As the founder and designer of my eponymous womenswear line in Los Angeles, I use many cultural references for what a “cool girl” might wear. To me, that’s someone who is interesting and smart, in the know, and “gets it.” She is defined by her wit and charm rather than her looks. She probably reads a lot.
How do you describe your personal style?
I love a personal style that’s smart and laid back. To me, the word smart denotes that you’re aware of your surroundings and you know how to dress in a way that’s appropriate and chic. I also love it because it sounds very ’80s. I grew up in LA so there’s always going to be something inherently laid-back about my style—not athleisure or flip flops (two trends I will never embrace) but more so “not stuffy.” I like to wear a lot of vintage and secondhand designer pieces because I don’t like to be too precious about what I wear. And clothes in the ’80s and ’90s were just made better.
Where do you find inspiration?
Now that I’m running my own business, so little of my day-to-day is about the creative and designing, so when I do begin a new collection I like to take a short trip or do a beach day to clear my mind of past seasons or current energies. Then, over the course of a few weeks, I’ll let bits and pieces from films, songs, and books that have inspired in the past few months brew and somehow a mood board, fabric selections, and sketches transpire.
Is there a particular Chelsea Mak outfit you would dress the (hypothetical) “So Textual woman” in?
I’d put her in a Chelsea Mak Vienna Blouse in white with navy or black slacks, worn with a pair of cordovan loafers and black ankle socks.
Are there any books that inform your creative practice as a designer? Or your aesthetics? Or your values?
Books always inform my creative practice, with new ones every season, but off the bat I can think of The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I by Roger Shattuck because there’s a bit of a Francophile in me.
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion was pivotal to starting my line, actually. The summer I founded Chelsea Mak was shortly after a significant life breakdown. I had been in a dead-end relationship and at a crossroads in my career—I was at a point where working for other people was no longer fulfilling. I ended up quitting my two freelance jobs and breaking up with the guy all in one day. My mental, emotional, and spiritual state was very hectic, and I needed to get away. So, I took a trip to Vienna (namesake of the Vienna blouse) to clear my head. I happened to have Didion’s book with me. While reading, I related a lot to the pain Maria, the main character, was going through. And something about it consoled me. I was able to channel a lot of that pain and emotion into creativity, and I decided to start my own brand with clothing that was an homage to all the things I love.
A while later, a Keanu Reeves fan zine from IDEA, My Keanu, really informed the mood of the brand. I had picked this zine up while on an inspiration trip to London—I thought it was a funny little memento and have always loved zines (and Keanu). I found the zine amusing because it’s just this regular woman who’s so obsessed with Keanu that she follows and writes letters to him. I took this and made a story for the campaign of my second collection; I created a Keanu-infatuation story of my own. We used Super 8 and a film camera to shoot my friend, Sara, wandering about town posting photocopies of Keanu she made from the zine. She was looking for him, and maybe also for something deeper. Another friend took the images and made a zine, which really set the tone for the brand—old world and feminine, yet rebellious and irreverent at the same time.
How do you stay creative?
Any time I’m feeling stuck I love to visit bookstores. They seem to be the most justifiable and worthwhile places to go. My favorite is Alias Books East in Atwater Village; I always find something inspiring there. My latest pick up is this super ’80s book called Subculture: The Meaning Of Style by Dick Hebdige that explains how the different subcultures in UK’s postwar influenced the fashion of the working-class youth.
What are you looking for when you’re in search of a “good book?”
When looking for a good book, I’m hoping for stories that will take me to another place mentally, inspire me to think differently about my life—page-turners. My reading style is similar to how I eat food—with something indulgent, I might binge. With a “healthier, boring read” I’ll have a little every day. No matter what, you never feel like you’re wasting time reading.
“I was able to channel a lot of that pain and emotion into creativity, and I decided to start my own brand with clothing that was an homage to all the things I love. ”
Describe your perfect reading day.
My perfect reading day is any day I get everything I need to get done before 4 p.m. and can laze on the sofa for the rest of the evening with a book and snack. Or if I take a day off, I’ll bring a book to Point Dume in Malibu—grabbing a turkey sandwich and peaches from All Time in Los Feliz on the way.
What are you looking forward to reading next?
I’m looking forward to reading Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote Scum (And Shot Andy Warhol) by Breanne Fahs.
What’s one book you would recommend to the So Textual community?
L.A. Woman by Eve Babitz—it’s a nice short read and a smart glimpse into Hollywood in the ’70s through a female lens.
