Featured Artist: Eye of the Sun

Posted on February 19, 2014

Ogechi Anyanwu / Bartender / worked at Lula 4 years

How did you get started designing? I became serious about design after reading about Rei Kawakubo, Hussein Chalayan and Elsa Schiaparelli and their avant-garde approach to fashion design. I taught myself to sew in high school after my parents bought me a sewing machine. I would look through fashion magazines and design books and replicate designs I liked. I became increasingly interested in art and design and took classes in clothing construction and textiles.

How would you describe your style or design aesthetic?
I like simple, classic pieces with a unique shape or material, whether it's texture or pattern.

What has influenced your style?
I was naturally interested in fashion growing up in Missouri. Both my parents are from Nigeria, and my mother, in particular, has an outstanding wardrobe of African dresses and head wraps. I was drawn to the use of colors and patterns in a lot of these garments. I live a pretty active lifestyle so functionality in clothing is really important to me. College introduced me to a group of friends with similar tastes. I felt that was a point where I began to deeply explore and experiment with clothing and design.

Leather is a new medium for you, what other mediums have you worked with?
Leather is a new and exciting material to work with and I am learning as I go. I was first introduced to hair on cowhide a little over a year ago on a trip to Portland, Oregon. I stumbled upon an old leather warehouse and explored their stacks of hides. I hadn't seen this material used and was in the market for a new wallet. I decided to hand craft a wallet from the material. Prior to working with leather I worked with other natural fibers such as silk, linen, wool and cotton. A fibers class in college introduced me to Shibori (a Japanese dyeing technique), patternmaking, felting and screen printing. I definitely plan to incorporate this into upcoming projects.

Do you have any work rituals?
My studio is in my home. I usually start my mornings with coffee. When I am beginning a new project I generally research; selecting bag and wallet ideas from books, magazines, blogs and compiling them into an idea book. I’ll do some light sketching of what I plan to construct and get really detailed in the size of the bag and all the accoutrements that go in to making a bag(thread, zipper, snaps, straps, etc.)

Your first collection is wallets. Do you have plans to expand?
Yes, I'm currently working on larger bags and clutches; eventually I'd like to go beyond my signature pouches and work on dyeing and printing my own textiles.

Where does the name Eye of the Sun come from?
 Anyanwu, a Nigerian name meaning “Eye of the Sun," represents my vision for design: simple, elegant, and sophisticated. This is the first time I've branded my work and put myself out there as a designer. At Lula, there's a creative and supportive group of artists and thinkers, whose constructive criticism and encouragement really drove me to launch my line.

What's your go-to menu item at Lula?
That’s hard. I’ll pretty much eat any of the desserts {I have a sweet tooth). As for dinner I love Lula’s roast chicken on the café menu. It has everything I want: Gunthorp farm chicken, fingerling potatoes, and the best kale salad ever!

What's your favorite Beyonce song?
“Grown Woman”… actually probably “Drunk in Love.”