Valenti, Alexandra
Wendy Mullin
Issue #28
Fifteen years after she launched her line, the Built by Wendy founder fills us in on what’s next
By Cortney Harding
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
Wendy Mullin is a role model for creative lasses everywhere, not only for her hip designs, but also for her amazing tenacity. She founded her aptly named clothing company, Built by Wendy, way back in 1991 and, after relocating to New York a year later, started selling her clothes out of the back of Rocks in Your Head Records in Soho. A few years after she launched her preppy hipster line, cool girl rockers began scooping up her custom-designed guitar straps and Mullin became loft-hold name among scenester fashionistas, including members of Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney. In 2003, she began working with Wrangler to design a line of jeans, Wrangler47, that helped bring the mainstream Wrangler brand to a downtown audience.
Now Mullin hopes to expand her brand beyond urban centers and into craft stores and high schools everywhere with two new projects. She has developed a series of sewing patterns for Simplicity that will be available for retail sale and for use in high schools, coming out in July. And she has authored Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe, a “how-to” sewing book set to be released in September by Bullfinch Press. In a recent phone conversation, she sounded a bit tired, but her effusive excitement and genuine passion for her work shone through.
How are you feeling about all of these new projects?
I’m totally psyched, mostly because I got it all done! A year ago it was a total nightmare because I had way too much to do. Most people don’t know that it’s really just me in the company; I have retail staff, but I’m directing everybody and managing the stores. I had the Wrangler line and was working on the book and the patterns and just had to take the mindset of a personal trainer and take really good care of myself. I went to bed early and got up early and was working all the time. I had no life, but I made it.
What are you the most excited about right now?
I just did a photo shoot for the Simplicity pattern catalogue, which was really fun. I have my own page and can design it however I want. I never thought when I was a kid hanging out in sewing stores that I would have my own patterns someday.
How did you develop the patterns? What sorts of designs will they cover?
Simplicity wanted a mini-collection, and I developed four basic patterns that can be altered. There are pants that can become shorts, a button-down blouse, a jacket, and a V-neck top. I’m working on a holiday collection for them right now. I’m designing a top that can be made into a dress.
Do you think high school students will use the patterns?
I hope so! I took home ec in 1984 and was totally inspired by it. I wasn’t so inspired by the fact that most of the patterns I encountered were for ugly gathered skirts. I’m hoping kids will respond to more modern patterns and get into sewing.
Tell me about your book that’s coming out this fall.
The book is an instructional sewing book. It covers everything from how to set up your sewing room to how to cut fabric. It’s a condensed version of all my techniques and the best parts of other sewing books. I also included three patterns and show readers how to modify them.
Was the book always a goal, or did you decide to do it once Bullfinch Press approached you?
The book was my idea, and I submitted proposals to a few different publishers. I liked Bullfinch because they are a very small press and I knew I would get individual attention. I also like the fact that they didn’t have a ton of other craft books and mine wouldn’t just be one of many.
Are you going on a book tour?
No, but I will be presenting at a crafting conference in Michigan and giving a guest lecture at the Art Institute of Chicago this summer.
Do you think the book will attract a wider audience to your clothing line?
I think so. I think my clothes appeal to a wide range of people and that it isn’t inconceivable for some sewing lady and her daughter to come in to the store and find things they like.
Where are you going next with the line? Do you want to open more stores, continue to design jeans, expand into other sizes and markets? You’re from suburban Chicago — any plans for a third-coast Built by Wendy shop?
I’m always making new stuff. The Wrangler line ends after this season, so I’m working on my own denim designs a lot. For the jeans, I’m working on a few different fits and cuts. I’m really sick of boot cuts and experimenting with straight-leg styles. I’d love to open a Chicago store if I can find the financing, too.
Who is your typical customer?
You! [laughs] Girls who work and are creative and independent. I don’t get a lot of rich women with their husbands’ money coming in. It really varies, though. My friend’s dad, who is a professor at Columbia, buys my clothes. I also just had the singer from the Arctic Monkeys in the store.
What city do you think has the best street style?
New York. I’ve lived here for 14 years and still see new things. The more I travel, the more I appreciate how cute and hip everyone in a community like Williamsburg [Brooklyn] really is.
What do you think accounts for the resurgence in young men and women being crafty?
I have two theories. One is that because of the Internet, people aren’t creating as much. It’s easier to send e-mail than write a letter, but you don’t have anything tangible to hold in your hand. Crafts also require patience, which the Internet does not. The second theory is that so much stuff is the same these days, and it’s all so widely available. Even the “alternative” stuff can be bought at any Hot Topic or H&M. People want to individualize themselves, and making their own clothes is a good way to do that.
What does it feel like to think back on how you got started and compare it to where you are now?
I’m excited, because all of my dreams have come true. I started out selling clothes in the back of a record store, and this is where I am. The process was slow and gradual. It’s not like I won the lottery. I’m not that disconnected from my past, and I still have my original sewing table. If everything falls apart, I’m ready to go back to the record store. [Laughs] I really hope it doesn’t though!
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