With a mere seven years under their vintage-inspired belts, Cydney Morris and Dallas Wand have woven their retro dreams and handmade designs into a fashion empire that rules the festivals and streets of California and beyond. Stone Cold Fox combines the nostalgia of the fashion days of yore with flattering, modern silhouettes, thus providing the perfect get-ups for every girl. Having just opened their first shop location ever in Venice Beach, California, their success has been made mostly through their online boutique, allowing the entrepreneurs to start from next-to-nothing and build their mogul-dom from the bottom up. Now, having conquered the fashion world, Cydney and Dallas have started Stone Cold Fox Bridal and Home, and they don’t plan on stopping there.
How and when did you know that Stone Cold Fox was the trail you wanted to blaze?
Honestly we started this straight out of college with experience in the food and hospitality industry and some internships we did along the way. We always knew we wanted to make clothes that we wanted to wear, but just couldn’t find. As the company grew within clothing, we dove into homewares, kids, belts, bridal, shoes and bathing suits. We really want it to be a lifestyle brand. We’re excited to see where the future takes us. We have been friends since we were six, and growing up we were always into fashion and all things design. After we both graduated college, we put both of our skills and minds together to create Stone Cold Fox. It started as a fun, side job and turned into our careers!
Do you find yourselves inspired by today’s ‘It’ girls? Who are your greatest muses?
Yes, we love how a girl can wear clothing and really tell a story. Each girl and how she styles herself and carries herself is always so inspiring. We love vintage clothing for its delicacy and uniqueness and really try to portray that in the clothes we make. We love Bridgette Bardot and Jane Birkin. They are just the ultimate Foxes. They exude sexuality, feminism and class and have impeccable style.
How did SCFbridal and SCFhome come into being?
Bridal started after [Cydney’s] sister got married and we custom-made her dress and the bridesmaids’ back in 2010. So many people loved the look of her wedding, that it wasn’t so traditional and we got a ton of requests after that. We love white and lace so it really came hand-in-hand. As for home, we both grew up with mothers with great decorating taste and thought why not bring our eye to the bedroom!
What do you think has contributed the most to your success?
I think that we have stayed true to ourselves, we truly love what we do and put so much personality into every single garment. We’re small, we take our time, and really fall in love with every piece. We are not a factory just making styles for the sake of growth.
Congratulations on opening your first shop! Where would you like to open a location next?
Yes we love having a shop, and so do our customers. It’s such a great extension of us. It’s small, in our hometown of Venice Beach, and we made it like a big closet. We are already in the works of opening a store in Australia and looking to do some in New York next hopefully.
Cydney, you seem to have a more traditional approach to design than we are seeing these days. Do you find yourself resistant to newer techniques?
Yes, today everything is so technical, and that might bite me in the ass one day, but I love to hand-sketch each garment, feel the fabrics, paint the movement. I work best with fluidity and handwork in this day and age.
What do you think is most important in the design process?
You have to be smart, know who your girl is and what she wants, but still innovative and new. Stay true to your brand, but also develop and grow.
Dallas, how much collaboration is there in the design process before production, merchandising, and styling?
Lots. We all work closely in our office during fittings, fabric shopping, and finalizing all the final details. There is so much work that goes into each garment that it takes lots of hands to complete.
Do you think photo shoots and story telling are more important than quality control and merchandising?
It’s all important, our shoots tell a story and portray the brand in a way we want the world to see it. Who is the Stone Cold Fox girl, but also you want the girl to be happy when it lands on her doorstep to the way it’s presented, and worn. When it comes to our store we work hard at making our customer feel comfortable, and a place where they feel a part of the brand.
What have been the most difficult and most rewarding experiences so far?
Difficult would be managing the creative side with the business side; there is so much work besides creating beautiful clothing. We also have to learn how to be the boss in a company of running a group of 12 women, so its been challenging to wear so many hats. The most rewarding would be looking back to how we started, cutting and sewing our first order, and how we got to where we are on our own. It feels good, we are proud and every time a new collection comes out we love to celebrate the hard work that goes into it.
What’s in the future for you and SCF?
We hope to open more stores, more accessories and kids. We have a shoe collaboration with Revolve coming out in October and our new belt collection just launched as well. We have lots of things up our sleeves but it’s a surprise!
Text by Leah Tassinari
