Eva DeVore wants to dress you. This local fashion designer earned the nickname “Spooky” years ago and is known for her inclination towards out of the ordinary style. With a desire to clothe independent, free-spirited people, DeVore tells us why designing is something she was born to do.

Alisha Domoslai: Tell us a little bit about your background? Where did you grow up/study?

Eva DeVore: I was born and raised in Southern California, and I suppose this place has made its impression on me. I have never really thought about that until now. As a child, the environment I grew up in resulted in me becoming very resourceful. I, in no way, had a typical upbringing. My parents were what you might have referred to as lower class, we spent most of my adolescent years bouncing around from place to place, and we had our share of hardships. However, by resourceful what I mean is I had to make do with what I did have. I think in many ways this transferred into my young adult life, and whether I was crafting space ships out of refrigerator boxes, making jewelry with scrap metals I found in the alleyways, or designing an entire collection with less money than a standard monthly car payment. I have always been creating or finding new ways to utilize whatever I discover.

In high school, I was immediately accepted into N.Y.U., U.C.L.A., U.S.C.,  and Berkeley, and as luck might have it, I decided to stay in Southern California and attended U.C.L.A. for several semesters. How I endured it as long as I did, I cannot say, but I knew the moment I started that I was entirely in the wrong place. I finally stopped kidding myself and everyone else and took a hiatus, which ultimately led to dropping out and me enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Design in Los Angeles.

AD: How has your environment affected your design process?

ED: Like I mentioned earlier, I have become quite exceptional at fabricating pieces with what would have been otherwise disregarded and thrown away. I know in many ways, this is the quintessential aspect of my designing. When you break everything I have done as a crafter down
thus far, it all somehow ties back into this truth and it will continue to do so as long as I am creating.

AD: What influenced you to become a designer?

ED: Life.

AD: Who do you design for? In other words, who is your target customer?

ED: Ideally and actually, I design for people who value the concept of being individual…sincerely and truly individual. This does not apply to those who form their lives around this notion, but rather to those who do it effortlessly and just want to look and feel good for themselves alone. I don’t really follow trends or forecasts, which many designers do and it is preached all throughout school. I absorb things I see and aspects that I am drawn to and make what I feel. It is just an extra perk when others like it as well.

P.S. I have never, nor do I intend to, mass produce my clothing.

AD: Who would be your dream client (past or present) to dress?

ED: The soul searching girl or boy wandering the streets of San Francisco or Lykke Li.

AD: Which designers do you admire and/or are you influenced by?

ED: Several of my favorite designers are independently based in San Francisco. House of Hengst is hands down my favorite, and when I head north I am going to find Susan Hengst and beg her for a job. Another is a personal close friend and former classmate at FIDM who is nothing short of amazing, Sir Adrian Manuel.

AD: Do you have any design philosophies or fashion rules that you live by?

ED: Hmm….don’t follow them.

AD: Where can your clothing line be found?

ED: As of right now, people can email me on my website, myspace.com/spookyforeva, and make requests, some I can do, some I cannot. I am moving up north at the end of the year, so I will be
going door to door finding boutiques that will carry my line. I will keep that updated on my website as time passes.

AD: What are some of the challenges you face as an up and coming designer?

ED: Everything up until this point has been a challenge. Literally every aspect of “spooky” I have been personally responsible for or directly involved with. I have conceived every idea, sketched every thought, draped every pattern, sourced every fabric, sewn every garment, styled every shoot, emailed every blog, harassed for every press piece…the list goes on. But I am hoping that I run into Phoebe Philo and she adores me and decides to take me under her wing and introduce me to all the right people.

AD: What are your goals for your future in fashion?

ED: To walk down the street somewhere and see some boy or girl in anything
spooky.