Elizabeth Kiester's Wanderlust

The first thing you notice about Elizabeth Kiester are her wide, luminous blue eyes. She is pretty and petite, dressed charmingly well and with a sense of whimsy, instantly engaging you with her infectious, high energy personality. She is a force to be reckoned with. She is hugely talented. She is a woman who loves big, feels big and thinks big, fearlessly paving the roads ahead of her. Life compels her, or perhaps Elizabeth is just plain compelling.

Elizabeth and I met at the start of our fashion careers in Manhattan, when we both assisted freelance fashion stylists. In the years since, she's done stints as creative director for LeSportSac; concept designer for Abercrombie & Fitch; stylist for Gap, Banana Republic, and BCBG; and fashion director for Jane and YM. In mid-2008, she made her boldest move yet, turning on her heel, following her heart and moving to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she opened wanderlust, a fashion line and pair of boutiques featuring clothing made locally but with a worldwide appeal. She'll also be partnering with U.S.-based casualwear chain Madewell on a line that launches May 6.

Wishing that I were in the shop’s back garden sipping a lime iced tea instead of sitting at my kitchen table stateside, I chatted with her via the world wide web.

The Inside Source:  So, Elizabeth, what are you shopping for today?

Elizabeth Kiester:  I am cuckoo for the artwork of Vietnam peace activist Sister Mary Corita Kent (Fabien Baron and David Carson would not be who they are without Sister Corita paving the road towards this kind of graphic artwork—I really believe that!), happy and bright Marimekko and vintage Vera Neumann. My mom collected Vera in the '70s—our dishtowels and bed/table linens when I was growing up were always from Vera—and I've been obsessed and inspired by the work ever since. Vera’s color palette was amazing and truly directional, and the prints are to die for! Wanderlust is very inspired by my memories of childhood. Vera was very much a big, visual part of it!

TIS:  Seems to me you are in a completely different head and heart space than when you were in the thick of your hectic and demanding fashion career—but maybe not? 

EK: Definitely both yes and no! Now that I live in Cambodia, I am definitely seeing the world through different eyes.  I've become so much more aware of the way the "real" world truly is. It's funny, every time I come back to New York City, people say to me, "Welcome back to the real world, Elizabeth!" And what I want to say—but I bite my tongue—is that the real world is developing countries, places where boot strapping and making do with what you have is the norm, places where people think about surviving and making the best of today. 

TIS:  Wow, what a different experience it must be to work in Cambodia. 

EK:  I love being here and working directly and closely with the locals. It's a struggle every day. I face hardships and obstacles I never anticipated. I cope with things like unexplained power outages, nonexistent mail delivery, corruption and the lack of every day "normal" supplies.  On the other hand, I see the glory of a people rising out of decades of hardships, blazing orange sunrises and sunsets, a sky so blue it can't be described with words, opportunities and the chance to celebrate small victories. When my team and I see someone wearing a wanderlust dress or someone orders from the website, it's a shared joy that is not lost on any of us. Wherever we are in life, wherever we go, there are challenges, hardships and mountains to face and attempt to climb.

TIS:  What is it about Cambodia that drew you there?  

EK:  Someone once said to me, "You come to Siem Reap for the Angkor Wat temples, but you come back for the people."  That just about sums it up for me. I came here on a short-term volunteer program to teach kids at the orphanages and to install water pumps in small rural villages, and some kind of magical fairy dust was sprinkled all over me! I loved and was incredibly touched by the Cambodian people—this spirit about them, their ability to rise above years of strife and hardships and decades of war, this twinkle and sparkle about them, their resilience, their warmth, their humanity. Their courage. 

TIS:  What is your favorite thing about living there?

EK: The opportunities, the chances, the entrepreneurial spirit.  I love that you can do anything you can imagine, because currently in Cambodia, not much exists—it's a big wide open world here. I've met so many, many people here—locals and expats both—who are driven, focused, energized and enthusiastic, and they are making things happen. It’s so intoxicating and beautiful. It fuels me. 

TIS: Let's go back a bit—you mentioned your mom earlier. Does her influence still impact your vision for wanderlust?

EK: My mom was incredibly influential to me—she really was my hero. She was an artist, a fashion illustrator, an interior decorator—a creative force of nature. All my life, she showed me and taught me about color and composition and shape and design, most of the time without knowing she was teaching me anything. She would say to me, "you've got 'it'," whatever "it" is. But it was my mom who had "it," and I just copied her. 

My mom faced some enormous hardships and struggles when I was a child, and she channeled all of her energy into starting what later became a successful interior design business; she started it in her bedroom, sewing everything herself. She sacrificed many, many things in order to have her business, to support us kids, but she always did everything with taste, dignity, class and spirit. That's what I want wanderlust to be. I want it to be in the spirit of her—courageous, graceful, dignified and with a design eye that's always sharp and keen. 

TIS: What is your vision for your wanderlust line?

EK:  Wanderlust is a personal fashion journey for me—yes, it's trend-driven but it's not 'trendy'. It’s fashion that is joyful, energetic, happy and exuberant. I am doing things that make you feel good, that are affordable, and are democratic in their design sensibility. I want to create clothes and accessories that bring an ease and a sense of well being with them. Stuff that you can wear to dinner in New York as comfortably and beautifully as you could on a walk through the markets in Delhi. Clothes that translate to many situations and speak a global design dialogue. 

Wanderlust also promotes fair trade. My sewing team works in their homes, so that they can care for the children, look after their parents—in most Asian cultures, you live amongst a multi-generational family unit. Therefore they make their own hours and work around their other responsibilities. And they get paid fair and decent wages for the amazing work they do. I don't use factories. I work with people. People who are striving for a brighter, safer, more secure future for themselves and their families. We are a family now, and we look after each other.

TIS:  Your boutique (I mean boutiques!) are utterly charming.   

EK:  Awwwww, thank you! I have to say, I am proud of the stores. I think they're fun and enchanting, because while the shops are here in Cambodia, they're not souvenir stores. Instead, they're places where you can buy great things that 'wanderlust with you' (go where you go) and you can bring a little piece of Cambodia on your travels, back home, into your office... Plus all the things in our stores directly help and motivate lots of young women here, who now have a chance, a future, a goal. So I like to think of wanderlust as a 360 degree experience—cute clothes and accessories that look good in Brighton, Boston, Battambang, Barcelona, Beijing, wherever it is! What makes them more gorgeous and adds a big bonus is that they're directly helping women in need. A full circle.

TIS: And your online shop?

EK: I am so excited to have an online shop now! It all came about because I'd get customers here in Siem Reap who were traveling and touring, and they'd buy a dress, take it home, and email me because they'd want another one! So i'd be taking pictures, emailing them to these awesome women all over the world, boxing the dresses and cajoling the local post office to mail them to Australia, the U.S., Europe or wherever and crossing my fingers that the customer would actually receive the package! Now with the online shop, we can ship all over the world, safely, cheaply and efficiently. We've warehoused everything in the U.S. so that customers from all over the world can track their orders and get them in a timely manner. Win!

TIS:  What about your personal wanderlust?  Any new trips on the agenda?

EK: Living in Southeast Asia really fuels my wanderlust! So many beautiful places right at my doorstep. I was just in Bangkok, which is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I’ll be going to Hong Kong next week!  This summer, I've got a plan to go to Sri Lanka and India—both relatively nearby and so exciting and thrilling and certainly inspiring. I've always gotta go to Tokyo at minimum once a year, as that is my#1 favorite city in the world and the most extraordinary place for fashion and design inspiration! I'm also dreaming of a trip to Koh Kood, Thailand soon and would like to go to Byron Bay, Australia, and then of course the Maldives......sigh! I'm dreaming now! 

Elizabeth Kiester's eBay Picks

Roll over items for details

WOW Finalnd Marimekko Plastic Ice Bucket/Glasses 1960s

"The ice bucket I would use to store bangles, and the cups for vases or to hold pencils, maybe jelly beans…"

(starting bid, $49.99)

Marimekko Tsunami Fabric

"My old NYC apartment was all black and white and red, and while now I am into a riot of color, I  love using black and white as a base for everything. This fabric is simply gorgeous."

(sold for $50.00)

2 Pairs New Marimekko Socks

"I would so rock these with high-heeled sandals!"

(buy it now price, $32.00)

Marimekko New Kaveri Bo Boo Make-up Bag

"Marimekko Bo Boo is the print I had on my comforter and sheets in my college room. This print defines Scandinavian simplicity, shape and modernism to me—utterly cool and timeless!"

(buy it now price, $17.50)

New Marimekko Petrooli Orange/Pink Fashion Umbrella

"I would hang this from the ceiling in a corner for a flash of color in an unexpected place."

(buy it now price, $39.95)

Marimekko Bo Boo Wallpaper by Katsuji Wakisaka New

"I would paper a door with this! Love it!"

(buy it now price, $149.00)

Vintage Vera Neumann Signed Butterfly Print

"I am flipping out over this!  I really get full-on heart palpitations when I find a good Vera!"

(winning bid, $99.00)

Vintage Vera Neumann for Mikasa Apple Salad Plate

"I’m envisioning this apple plate on my inspiration wall..."

(winning bid, $7.99)

1973 Vera Neumann Linen Calendar

"Who cares if this calendar is from 1973?  It’s awesome!"

(starting bid price, $9.99)

Sister Mary Corita Kent I Love You Very Plate

"OMG, this kills me......I must must must have this! What moves me is not just the simplicity of the statement,  but the use of typography is gorgeous and so very 'Corita.;  Yes, I am kinda corny—"love" statements like this always move me."

(sold for $20.00)

1968 Sister Mary Corita "A Piece of Good News" Print

"The colors in this work are very electrifying and bold... Again, Sister Mary Corita’s use of typography is so forward and so modern. I love the scale of the whole piece and the composition.  Her messages are always so incredibly poetic, and when juxtaposed with strong graphics, make for a really powerful statement. The beauty of this work is so amazing that it’s almost unbearable."

(buy it now price, $9.98)