Say Hello To Emily Katz

If you don’t know Emily Katz’ name, you certainly know her work. Her popular line of separates for men and women, embellished with machine-embroidered moody and hopeful images are among the few garments fitting into the category “wearable art” that are actually wearable. Not content to rest on the success of Bonnie Heart Clyde, Emily Katz is introducing a new line bearing her name for fall 07.

What was the impetus for Emily Katz? “I wanted to make a line that I wanted to wear,” says Katz. “I’m not as casual as the t-shirt with embroidery [the t-shirt with embroidered image being a staple of her Bonnie Heart Clyde line]. I want to put something fabulous on. And I wanted to go sustainable route. ” There were other reasons, “Personally, I wanted to continue the embroidery in a much more fine art way, on canvases not apparel.” And Katz and her original partner in the Bonnie, who was also her partner in life, had recently split up. So while she put Bonnie Heart Clyde on hold for one season (it’s still available this spring at Tumbleweed on NE Alberta), she got to work. “I’ve just been hiding away working really really hard on it,” Katz says.

The result is a line that finds its mark halfway between a more sophisticated feminine look and the t-shirts of Bonnie Heart Clyde. Sure there’s jersey, fleece, and denim, but here they become a cowl neck tunic or an interesting keyhole wrap dress. And layered over them are super modern jackets, a short swing coat and the wonderfully detailed water-resistant WOW jacket with slightly puffed shoulders, a bow sash, and a dropped waist from which the rest of the 3/4 jacket falls from tiny pleats. As at other Portland-based labels focusing on sustainability, Nau and Anna Cohen, Katz is looking at new fabrics, some that stretch the imagination: water-resistant fleece? She’s using hemp/recycled poly denim, soy jersey, and organic cotton fleece.

Launching a line the second time around, this is all old hat for Katz. Katz grew Bonnie Heart Clyde organically, initially selling thrifted shirts she had embellished with machine-embroidered images on the sidewalk on NE Alberta during Last Thursdays. Soon Bonnie Heart Clyde was in stores across the US and in Japan, Katz moved from repurposed garments to manufacturing, and more recently had done BHC collaborations with a shoe designer as well. Business-savvy Katz is one of the few Portland-based designers to be on the same schedule as the rest of the fashion world with a multi-year history of attending tradeshows and building retail contacts.

Soon, you’ll be able to see the full new line at the Emily Katz website. And keep an eye out, Katz is doing another collaboration, this with Andrea with BabyWit…a line of children’s clothes.