One Man’s Trash is Another (Wo)Man’s Patchwork Denim Jeans
This story was also published in The Lion
While walking through Runway Playa Vista, a community hub for shopping and dining, one may find themselves drawn into Free Market Playa Vista by the savory smell of Mexican food or the sweet scent of mouth-watering ice cream. Sitting in between the two is Lue Studios, the creative brainchild of Katie Chambers-Jain.
The cold, modern atmosphere of Free Market Playa Vista is transformed into an inviting hideaway, that feels like a refreshing relief from the outside world, beginning with a “hi, how’re you doing?” from a warm, smiling Chambers-Jain seated behind a sewing machine and a pile of fabric.
Lining the side walls of the small studio space are various pieces of art utilizing various fabrics and textiles, created by Chambers-Jain. One side is home to clothing racks housing sourced vintage shirts jackets, shirts, boots, and one-of-one pieces designed and created by Chambers-Jain ranging from quilted vests to patchwork jeans. The other side houses handmade, small batch accessories made from deconstructed vintage textiles sourced from all over the world. In the middle sits a table display complete with hats with recycled textile patches and embroidered accents, as well as other vintage-inspired accessories.
Having grown up in Newbury Park, California, 25 minutes from the coast, Chambers-Jain spent part of her free time surfing and going to the beach with friends. The other part, she was thinking about and working with clothes.
Heavily influenced by her mother Dannette, who is known for being well dressed, Chambers-Jain knew she had to create her own style. “I went to school one day and I was fully dripped in Hollister, and I was matching this other girl, and I was like ‘ok never again’,” she said.
Her love of fashion and clothing consumed her, and knowing the fashion hub of Los Angeles was within driving distance, she knew she had to follow her heart. “I begged my mom to take me to Melrose when I was in middle school, and I fell in love with vintage and thrifting,” Chambers-Jain said. “I always dressed pretty funky.”
Having only attended a single sewing class while in middle school hosted by a Joann Fabric and Crafts store, Chambers-Jain began creating, self-taught, at the age of 12.
After graduating from Pepperdine University with an undergraduate degree in fine arts in 2015, Chambers-Jain left the sunshine of Southern California for the bone-numbing gray of New York City to get her master’s degree in fine arts from Parsons School of Design.
While at Parsons, Chambers-Jain was able to utilize her creativity in various ways. “I dabbled in everything from performance to body painting to mainly textile stuff. I was also always trying to infuse clothing in it, without being a clothing designer,” Chamber-Jain said. Her thesis project was made from tulle, a fine net-like material commonly used for bridal veils, that was repeatedly stretched and painted red. It was complementing shelves housing red second-hand objects such as a stiletto and a coke can, and was a commentary on consumerism and fashion.
Chambers-Jain graduated from Parsons in 2017, moved back to California, and began taking art commissions while working for a small clothing company, doing their styling and influencer marketing. At the beginning of COVID-19 lockdown, like so many others, Chambers-Jain was laid-off, “and it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she recounted.
It was during this time that Chambers-Jain began creating under the brand name Lue, an homage to the six-pound roommate she adopted while attending Parsons, her Yorkie terrier named Blue.
Towards the beginning of lockdown, she made face masks out of the fabric she had been collecting for around a decade in what she calls her “fabric library.” She then taught herself how to make bucket hats, putting her work on the internet. Her first batch of hats sold out, so she made more. Then the second batch sold out, almost immediately, forcing Chambers-Jain to rethink her original nonchalant approach to creating.
She found her style while making and styling her own pieces. “If I saw something I liked but it wasn’t totally me, I kinda just taught myself how to make it,” she said. “That is like the coolest thing ever. To see an old pair of sheets and turn it into a bag, or an old quilt that has holes everywhere and then turn it into a really cool jacket.”
After two years of not taking the brand super seriously, and focusing more on art commissions, a friend reached out to her about a space within Free Market Playa Vista. She applied, and “somehow they let me in,” she said. “It’s my first store and it’s honestly been pretty cool.”
When she’s not creating within the store, she is working in her home studio with “Peaky Blinders,” “Sex and the City,” or “Downton Abbey” playing in the background. “It’s such a different style of creating, because it’s so uninterrupted, just having Netflix on in the background, headphones on, in my pajamas or sweats, just making all day,” she said. When asked what she does on days off, Chambers-Jain replied, “This is like my hobby, and my passion, and my business, so I feel like I do this all the time.”
It’s been a little over a year since Chambers-Jain opened Lue Studios in Free Market Playa Vista, and she is enjoying the journey of creating and learning as she goes. “It kind of feels second nature to make clothes now,” Chambers-Jain said. “I’ve always been so fascinated by them, so I kind of understand how to deconstruct something and then reconstruct something, because I’ve been doing it since I was younger without knowing it.”