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By MARQUES G. HARPER [email protected]
Thursday, December 26, 2002 Page: 1D
LEHMAN TWP. – When he was 21, Jay McCarroll dreamed of having it all by
his 28th birthday: He’d become the next Alexander McQueen, whose clothing
collections fall under the auspices of Gucci Group. He’d have a boutique. His
wares would draw the same attention that fashionistas give to Fendi baguettes.
In October, the up-and-coming fashion designer turned 28 without the fuss
he once sought, and he has spent much of this year keeping to himself.
But McCarroll isn’t someone you’d easily forget.
He’s a chain smoker. He’s an atheist. He cusses. He likes the Salvation
Army. He hates pop culture, pretty boys and cheap upholstery fabric. He had a
stint in the adult entertainment industry. He thinks “low-slung, boot-cut
jeans are for whores.” And he looks like a winsome troll doll with a beard,
fake glasses and messy hair.
But in some ways, he’s also a contradiction: He makes decorative pillows,
which are sold locally. He bakes cookies with pale blue icing that matches his
Christmas wrapping paper. He loves music, Martha Stewart and cats. He can’t
live without Madonna or The B-52s or daily doses of Marlboro Ultra Lights or
Coke.
“I could have died by now. But something is keeping me here. And it’s not
God. … I just say everything happens,” says McCarroll, who grew up in
Lehman Township, and studied fashion at the former Philadelphia College of
Textiles and Science and the London College of Fashion.
“I feel like I haven’t even lived my life.”
Some people, however, might question his last statement. After leaving the
Wyoming Valley several years ago, McCarroll has lived in London and
Philadelphia and Amsterdam, rubbed shoulders – and bellies – with foreigners
while living abroad, and hung out with and worked for people who likely would
make characters from “The Sopranos” feel a bit queasy.
Meanwhile, he has sold his clothing in boutiques in Philadelphia, Amsterdam
and New York and on the streets of London.
“I’ve labeled this part of my life round two,” says McCarroll, dressed in
cargo pants and a black hooded sweatshirt, on a recent afternoon sitting in
his studio in front of a sewing machine. “If I’ve ever had a shop, it would
be called Round 2.”
In the second phase of his life, though, McCarroll, the youngest of six
children, has retreated from the urban hangups of Philadelphia and London and
taken solace in a quieter life with his family in Lehman Township.
Says McCarroll: “I want to be where things are pure and there’s snow. …
I’m rejuvenating.”
Abandoning his first line, Maitatoo – tattooed on his arm and meaning
“fashion” in Cantonese – he has started the Jay McCarroll line for his new
creations.
In the hours when most people are asleep, McCarroll, who doesn’t keep a
schedule, is busy working in his studio, which is filled with shelves of
fabric and the CDs of Groove Armada, Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple, among
others.
“I like to work when the phone is not going to ring,” says McCarroll, who
began sewing at age 8. “Maybe five cars go by between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.”
He keeps busy these days by designing new sketches for men’s and women’s
collections, sewing a baby blanket for the designer director of Urban
Outfitters and creating decorative pillows, which are sold at a shop near
Philadelphia and at OutRageous in Shavertown.
“There are only two things that I like: fabric and music,” he says. “I
think when I’m in a fog I’m at my best.”
His pillows, which range in price from $30 to $125, aren’t regular throw
pillows or ones perfect for an afternoon nap. Here’s why: For one handmade
pillow he added rows of washers on one side. On another he has stitched
together ribbons for its front. And a hot pink pillow features a silk screen
of the World Financial Center in New York City. Each pillow features
McCarroll’s logo.
“It’s good because they play off each other,” McCarroll says of his
homeware venture and his clothing collections.
McCarroll’s wares are better suited for a boutique in New York or London
than an Old Navy store. And for his latest designs, he has been fusing the
past with the present, the 21st century with the 1960s with the 1800s.
“It’s not for everybody,” he says of his clothing designs. “I’m just a
sparkly little thing.”
Sketches for his new men’s collection, he says, were influenced by the
new-wave scene and hip-hop artists including Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot and
other older acts such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
His women’s line is a combination of Victorian high collars and ethnic
blends. He calls those looks “Victorian, Japanese, weird girl.”
“I’m chronically leading up to it,” he says of his best work.
Although Jay McCarroll might not be a household name right now, he is
settling into the idea that success might take some time.
If success happens, it happens, McCarroll says. Meanwhile, he’s going to
live, maybe take off to some foreign land and continue doing what he loves:
making clothes.
“Better late than never,” he says, smoking his cigarette and sipping on
cranberry juice.
Marques G. Harper, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7324.
When he isn’t making clothes, Jay McCarroll, a fashion designer who lives
in Lehman Township, designs and makes decorative pillows. His pillows are
carried at OutRageous in Shavertown and at a shop near Philadelphia.
Fashion designer Jay McCarroll uses washers, shells and prints for a line
of decorative pillows, which are sold at OutRageous in Shavertown.
Here’s a sampling of pillows created by Jay McCarroll, a fashion designer
who lives in Lehman Township.