A maison
in conversation
with color.
Alexandra Gitlin, with team.
Annual maison portrait, October · Founder, centre, in costume. Jonathan (laptop), left. Ashley (ledger), right. Brother Jake, not pictured; he declined. The face paint is seasonal. The intensity is not.
My name is Alexandra Gitlin. I am seven. I founded the maison.
I learned to weave at our dining room table, where my dad works. He works on his laptop. I work on my loom. We do not interrupt each other. (He understands.) The knot is small. Once you have it, you have it for life.
The first piece was Iris. After Iris I made Solaire, with two ember baubles. Then Prisme, which contains every colour the maison works in. The clasp release is hidden inside the spectrum. I will not be telling you where. Then Attaché, for a friend who said she did not wear jewelry. She wears it now. (She is also seven. She did not put up much resistance.)
The maison is small and is going to stay small. I am the designer. I am the loomworker. I do not have help, except from my mother, who keeps the ledger, and my dad, who has learned to mute his microphone when I am setting a bauble. He does not always remember.
If you wear a piece of Rainbow, it was tied by my hands. I do not negotiate the first knot. The pieces are listed in The Collection. I will not be answering questions about the cord.
A field guide.
My father works very much. We share a table. I have heard the following on his calls, and wish to enter the following into the record:
He says circle back. He has been circling back since I was four. He has not yet returned.
He says Q4. I asked him what Q4 means. He said he would explain later. He has not explained.
He says synergy. He says it without smiling. I do not believe him.
He says cadence. He has a cadence. I have not been told what it is.
He says let me get back to you. He has not, to my knowledge, gotten back to anyone.
He works very much. The maison continues regardless.
After hours, at the loom.
Alexandra works at the dining room table in the evenings, while her dad takes meetings. The loom is at one end of the table. The laptop is at the other. The music is loud and chosen by the founder. She prefers not to be interrupted while a knot is in progress. Her dad has learned to mute his microphone accordingly. He does not always succeed.
"I do the knots in the order I want. Sometimes that is the second one first. My dad has opinions. They are not relevant."
Alexandra Gitlin, in conversation with the maison
In studio. The microphone is not part of the loom. The volume is not optional.
Hand-loomed in Studio City
Every piece is woven by hand at the maison's atelier (the dining room table, weekday evenings). The work is not subcontracted. Subcontracting will not be considered.
Numbered & registered
Each piece carries a hand-stamped serial (a sticker, sealed in clear tape) and is registered to its wearer in the maison's ledger, which is a Moleskine, ruled. The ledger is not for general inspection.
Cared for in perpetuity
The Care Programme covers complimentary re-tensioning, re-plating, and bauble replacement for the life of the piece, or until the founder turns ten, whichever proves more sustainable.
Inhabitants of the maison.
A house, in numbers.
Q4 has been mentioned at the table forty-seven times this season. It has been explained zero times.
"Gitlin is, by her own description, intense. The pieces are the same way."
"The founder is seven. The collection does not know this. We did not push the matter."
"She declined an interview but sent a list of demands. The work, separately, is excellent."
By appointment, in Studio City.
The atelier is open by appointment Tuesday through Saturday, after school. The neighborhood was named before the maison arrived; the founder considers this confirmation. The maison serves one guest at a time, accompanied where possible by a parent or trusted adult. Punctuality is appreciated. The founder will not wait.
Schedule an appointment