Meet Devon Pavlovits, designer and creator of her eponymous line – and self-professed “inspiration hoarder.” Here, she dishes on her start in fashion, her process, and the best business advice she ever received.
First, tell us how you got started in fashion.
Besides babysitting, my first job was in 1999 when I was 17, working in a boutique on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. (I got to help Alice Cooper find some crazy rocker pants... highlight of that job!) After that, I ran boutiques around Los Angeles. That led me to once manage the women's half of the Barney's Warehouse Sale, and they asked me to work at the store in Beverly Hills, where I worked as a bridal consultant in the Vera Wang Bridal Salon (not there anymore).
And where do you get your inspiration?
From literally everywhere I look. At the supermarket, someone's sweater might inspire some cool color combinations in a piece, or a blanket at a flea market. Maybe a piece of exotic fruit, or a painting. Studying different cultures definitely has a huge impact on my designs.
I'm an inspiration hoarder. Many laptops have died from being overloaded with my thousands upon thousands of reference photos and inspiration images. I save everything from colors, textures, silhouettes, proportions that spark something in me. Sometimes I look back and draw inspiration from, something I saved years before, and I see it differently upon second glance.
We’re dying to hear about your studio. Tell us everything!
We recently moved into a loft in an old hangar on the Los Angeles River. I'm obsessed and inspired! My fiancé Juan (who I have been with for over eight years) split the downstairs into our work spaces – an art/painting studio for him, and a jewelry production area for my team. We decorate with flea market pieces that we find, and little succulents, cacti, books, my mother's beautiful woven tapestries, my brother and sister's beautiful glassblowing creations, Juan's creepy (slash AWESOME) paintings, my father's beautiful reclaimed wood mirrors, etc.
My actual workspace is a huge mess, like a tornado hit! I have millions of stones, chains, beads, clasps, fabrics, tools, etc. everywhere, because that's how I get inspired, and work on 50 things all at once. It's quite embarrassing, but I can't just pull out three things and set them on a neat desk and keep it that way until the next design.
What's your favorite spot for a design break?
Anywhere in the company of my friends. Flea markets super early on Sunday mornings are sort of an obsession for us, then brunch!
Best styling advice you ever received?
People shouldn't listen to styling advice. It's all so personal. What works for one person, won't work for others. Wear what makes you feel great. That's it. Who cares what people think, as long as you're happy with it. Maybe try to be conscious of playing with proportions, textures, color, silhouette, and mixing high-low price points, but make it YOU.
Best business advice?
To give up. It made me so angry because I knew I could do it, and despite all the huge obstacles and limitations which made it a ridiculously slow process, I sacrificed everything and pushed through. When you know you want something so badly, and someone comes along and tells you to give up, something snaps inside and makes you push with everything you've got (plus even more that you didn't even know you had). When I make it, I'll be that much happier and more proud of myself, looking back on that rough road!
If you had to describe your style in five words or less:
Unique, creative, schizophrenic, forward, Devon!
Thank you The Style Hub for the article
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