Paris-based designer Ashley Ashoff

It was a like a little touch of home in the heart of city of light when I met California-born scarf designer Ashley Ashoff, at her stunning Parisian apartment/showroom. Greeting me in an understated grey dress, piles of chunky necklaces, and sky-high basket-weave stilettos, she gave me a tour of her digs, introduced her mother, who was vacationing from California, and offered me a home-made chocolate chip cookie. American hospitality, American dessert, American girl – yet with a distinctly French inspired sensibility, trained, in part, in France. And a girl who creates a accessory that’s typically French. Oh la la!

After a degree in Textiles and Apparel Design from Cornell University and a stint at Parsons Paris School of Design, Ashley founded her line of unique accessories in 2005. Including an array of high-end men’s ties, pocket squares, and silk or cashmere-blend scarves, some of which are hand-dyed and hand-painted in her Northern-California studio, Ashoff’s collections are sophisticated and show the superb quality of an artisan dedicated to her craft.

Inspired by everything from nature to philosophy, her most noted designs include a batik-ed interpretation of the interior of the human heart, a translation of lines from Balzac made to look like a wrinkled, hand-written note, and a poem by Baudelaire scrolled onto the scarf in calligraphy. Ashley Ashoff is love on silk. It’s no surprise that such one-of-a-kind work has since attracted the eye of many of the world’s movers-and-shakers, from Karl Lagerfeld to Madonna. Her wares have also made it into the gift-bags at the Golden Globes and on to Steven Tyler’s infamous scarf-clad microphone stand.

Have you always wanted to be a designer?

I knew I wanted to be a designer when I was about eight or nine years old when I watched My Fair Lady. I was really influenced by Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy’s clothing. I was also surrounded by really creative women; when I was little, for Halloween, my grandmother and I used so spend a year thinking of a costume and making the patterns together; I started getting into sewing and laying colours and everything at a young age. I originally wanted to go into architecture but I realised that it was a little too constricting for me. I didn’t feel like I could have an idea and a design and see it become that vision immediately. I found that part of fashion really magical in a way; that you can have these incredible ideas, sometimes outlandish, sometimes practical, and make them happen.

And why Paris?

Paris. The first time I came to Paris I was twelve years old. My mother, my sister and I were in London, but I was just dying to see Paris. I don’t know where that desire came from. Maybe it was from movies, maybe it was the glamour, maybe it was the fashion. I came here for one day and found it very overwhelming. I distinctly remember telling my mother that Paris was a fabulous place and that I ‘d have to come back when I was older. And then it became a project. My junior year at Cornell I took a leave of absence for a semester and went to Parsons Paris.

I came here hoping that I would find more concentration in fashion. I worked with a woman who is a textile designer for couture houses – for Chanel, Lacroix, and Dior – and I was really fascinated with textile design and how much you could do with it. You could apply it to clothing or to scarves, like I do now, giving a depth to your design by creating a print. I always had the intention of moving back to Paris as an adult, either to work for a house or start something of my own. After college I went back to California for two years to start my brand, to create enough stock- because I had to paint all of them – and an actual design that I could present to buyers and to the press. Once that was ready I came back.

A romantic Baudelaire square scarf

Do you think that scarves get a bad rap?

I think that has changed in the last two years. One of the reasons I started was because I thought that the market was really limited. There was really just Hermès and Pucci; If you said “silk scarf” to someone, those were usually the brands that they’d remember and there were more elderly women wearing them. There was something missing that was more abstract and personal than just a geometric Pucci print and caricatures on a Hermès. I wanted something that was more tangible and that people felt a story with; that was personal and could be custom-made. It would be like a couture scarf; they’d be the only one wearing it.

Your designs certainly have a romance, heart, love letter theme. Where did this come from?

One of my favorite professors at Cornell is a famous writer, Richard Klein. At the time I didn’t speak French and all his classes were in French. That was the first time I started reading French philosophy and French poetry, and I just loved it. I read a lot of Kant and Baudelaire. I’m a romantic myself and I’ve always handwritten letters to people.

I think the written language has lost a lot; writing to a loved one is something that should really be handwritten. The Baudelaire scarf is my favorite poem in French, handwritten by a Parisian calligrapher in 19^th century script. It’s Paris at its best; love at first sight and exchanging a glance in a crowd and feeling that emotion of love at first sight, even if you don’t ever see that person again.

What’s the hardest part of owning your own brand?

The hardest part is that you don’t have fixed hours. It’s a 24-hour, seven-day a week affair. It is nonstop; with the time change in the United States and my living here it’s all the time. You don’t ever really turn off. Even when you’re on vacation these things pop up. But I don’t know if that’s the hardest part because in a way it’s wonderful; you can choose when you want to work and when you want to take time off.

What’s next for your brand?

I am exploring the idea of embellishing my scarves with jewelry or even doing jewelry. I would like to do scarves for next winter that are lined in leather. I don’t think that it exists; I’d love to do a light cashmere scarf lined with worn calfskin leather that is really thin and soft. I am going to embellish with rivets, chains, or precious gemstones. I would never stop doing scarves. I’ve met so many interesting people; it’s always fascinating to see what kind of people my collections attract.

What are you listening to now?

Music? I like Charles Aznavour. I really don’t listen to new music. I love Patrick Bruel and Maná.

One of Ashley's natty neckerchiefs

What couldn’t you live without?

Chocolate. Dark chocolate.

Do you have a dream purchase?

My dream purchase was a Birkin, but that’s done. A house in California.

Desert island book?

An uplifting book to save your life or something to pass your day? I think that if I were in a situation like that I wouldn’t want to read any philosophy or anything too heavy. I think I’d want to read something that just makes me laugh. A book that makes me laugh out loud is A Year in the Merde. It’s light and easy and if you’ve ever lived in Paris you can relate to it. I think that it would calm me down to read it and laugh at someone else’s problems

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I hope that I will be spending an equal amount of time between California and France. I hope that I have children. And I hope that I have multiple products with my brand.

Can you run in heels?

Yes. Do you want to see my heel collection?

For more information on Ashley Ashoff or to shop online visit her website.