Inspiration: Olivia Joffrey

Thank you! I grew up in the Northern California beach town of Santa Cruz in the 1970s. My mother and her friends, many of whom had been expats in Europe, were worldly and stylish but in a casual nonchalant way. It had an impact on me as a child. They epitomized a specific kind of low key glamour you don't see much anymore. Once I started a family of my own, I longed for the same easy cotton dresses/caftans that I remember my mother wearing. Not a fancy dress, but a narrow cotton caftan with side slits that was no dressier than jeans (could be worn barefoot or with satin slippers), but a bit more feminine and refined.

Olivia's inspiring collage of her parents and their expat years in Spain.

Who have been your mentors and what have you learned from them?

As a thinker, and a visual person, my professor Dr. Joe Corn at Stanford University really shaped my eye and my thinking early on. He taught us to see the material world like anthropologists -- how did it get that way? Why this shape? What else was going on in history? He let me write a paper on the History of the American Wet Bar! As a result, I don't consider myself a designer, but a storyteller.

My creative friends are mentors: Claudia Schwartz  of Bell'occhio in San Francisco has been like a big sister to me. She tipped me off to The World of Interiors and the films of Agnes Varda. A mere thank you note from Claudia is worthy of framing. Another friend, Anne Reilly of Mott50 has generously taken time to show me the ropes. I have a few creative muses,but mostly my mother Anne-Marie shapes the narrative of our collection.

I love writing copy for my website and Instagram, and selecting fabrics. It's like setting the table for a highly anticipated dinner party. My least favorite aspect is approaching stores or showrooms (fear of rejection.)

How would you like to see your business grow in the next three years? 

I admire the Los Angeles based company Doen -- they are women-run, and exist online rather than wholesale to stores. I think it may be the way of the future. My manufacturing is in downtown Los Angeles, but within the next three years I plan to also set up a workshop here in Santa Barbara with a flexible studio space storefront where I could hold events, trunk shows, host wine-saturated lectures. In my fantasy, it's the bottom floor of a courtyard building filled with Spanish tile and tropical plants. 

Whom do you count among your favorite style icons, whether it be in Interiors or fashion? 

I worshipped the mothers from my very laid back shabby tennis/swim club in Santa Cruz circa the late 1970s. Gorgeous, feminine women with chestnut-colored tans and glossy hair in low chignons. Up their forearms, piles of silver bracelets from Mexico. Melodious voices and laughter and hushed discussions of books.

Olivia's beautiful mother, Anne-Marie

The doyenne of my parent's social set was a woman named Sharon Cadwallader. She was a celebrated food writer and had a popular restaurant in town. I will never forget her house. It was a tiny beach bungalow right on the cliffs where all the surfers lived. Inside were lots of books, Oaxacan textiles, Mexican leather chairs and Jimmy Buffet on the record player. It had a front porch with a hammock. Bouganvillea engulfed half the little structure.  At Christmastime she would decorate her tree with shiny tin ornaments from the Yucatan and little wicker birds. Her kitchen smelled of freshly chopped cilantro and limes. She was tall and lanky and looked great in caftans. Sharon drove a beat up little green Honda and was the most vivacious, larger than life, charming, generous person. Hug hug, kiss kiss and 100% unpretentious. She was friends with literati and longshoremen. She taught me that style has nothing to do with money. It's about expression and generosity of spirit, and a curiosity with the world.

Just finished Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. Talk about style! If he surfs as stylishly as he writes (which I am sure he does) it's got to be something to behold. It's one of the best memoirs I have ever read.