Interview with janit baldwin conducted in 2005 by Alley Zepeda

A: Who are you?

j: I guess I consider myself to be a multi-tasking creative. It used to make me crazy until I went to therapy. I love to sketch, paint, collage, deconstruct vintage and re-design, design, and take photographs, write, and act. I also LOVE to travel. I moved around so much at one point in my life that I started writing travel articles published with my photographs and ended up creating a travel show for public television, “Woman On The Verge Of Adventure.”

A: Why Fashion?

j: I’ve been collecting fabrics since I was a child. I would make faux fur capes with matching knickers. Where do you wear something like that when you’re 13 or14? I mean I’m from the heartland. I always say that I went into acting so I could wear the clothes.

A: Is this your first accessory line?

j: My first venture into accessories was, “Artichokes”, handpainted silk ties for men and women, My girlfriend, Joan Farber and I painted the top layer of silk and returned it to an old school custom tie maker to finish construction. Lots of celebrities ended up owning them. A great men store, Jerry Magnum on Rodeo Drive, carried them. One night, some years later at an after Oscars party, I asked Jack Nicholson if he still owned one of my ties, he flashed his famous smile and said, “That tie is fucking brilliant!”- It was a Marlboro cigarette butt rolling down this beautiful cream silk tie that we burnt a hole in the bottom. As the orders grew, we had to switch to silk-screening. Later we added t-shirts that sold well at Fred Segals. Joan dropped out to pursue her fine art and I started adding more and more silhouettes. At one point I was doing long tailed Hawaiian Tuxedo Shirts when a maternity store in Beverly Hills, The Waiting Game, placed an order. The owner started telling me what she couldn’t find. I had friends who were getting pregnant and they had the same problem. They were working well into their pregnancies and didn’t want to look dowdy. It was a lot of fun creating; “Vie!” a forward fashion maternity line. My motto was, “A fashion model looks good in a brown paper bag, my job is to make women in this important transition feel great about themselves. The line sold nationwide. It was bought by Fitwell Dress Company in Boston.

A: Everyone wants to know what celebrity wears yours.

j: It’s always good for business when a celebrity wears one of your creations. My favorite will always probably be Jack, but Cameron Diaz picked out one of my bags and I couldn’t be more thrilled – she’s funny, she’s talented, she’s beautiful and she drives a Prius for ___ sake, she’s cool.

A: Are you trained?

j: Really trained. But usually I pick it up first and then go to someone that I really respect in the field and learn from the pros. I love to apprentice. Back in K.C. when I was sixteen, a really talented photographer- Michael McClure, asked if he could take some spec shots of me. I just started hanging out in his studio and taking my own pictures. When he printed, I learned to print. Later I studied with Nevada Weir who shoots for National Geographic among others.

A: So are you more an actor, a designer or a photographer these days?

j: Who knows…even when I was considered a working actress, I needed other outlets. Lots of stars do needlepoint; I used to make my own clothes, try to re-write the scenes I was given and take photographs on set. After my first film, Prime Cut; there was this small premiere in Kansas City. I designed a shear scarf dress with butterflies that looked like I had nothing else on. I was eighteen and couldn’t figure out why all the old men wanted to talk to me. When I began to travel, I would go nuts in back rooms of old fabric shops. An eternal optimist, I was sure that I would have somewhere to wear these glamorous clothes I would make out of these gorgeous fabrics. I’ve been deconstructing ever since I can remember to make something new. I never want to get rid of a good piece of fabric. I always think I’ll use it again.

I co-wrote the book to a musical years ago, “Greetings from Venice Beach.” I wrote in this homeless baglady who couldn’t throw anything away. She had so many shopping carts packed to the gills they formed a train that she moved section by section from one end of the boardwalk to the other. Let’s just say that I relate.

A: Where does this come from?

j: I believe that life is an art and it’s up to each individual to infuse it with their own meaning. My great great grandmother Weaver taught me to embroider and do handwork. My great grandmother was a milliner and had her own shop. She and my great grandfather performed summers with their ‘dog and pony show’ at the county fairs in the Midwest. My mother is an accomplished actress and entrepreneur, so it comes as no surprise to me that I find joy in all these expressions.

A: What is your biggest success?

j: The other day, I saw a woman at a plant nursery and noticed she was wearing my bagoholic. It looked perfect on her. It was really worn in because she said that it goes everywhere she does. Its things like that that keeps you going or make you think that maybe you are on the right track. Or when another designer is appreciating a limited edition handbag that a lot of work has gone into and tells you that it’s the kind of bag that gets passed down to your daughter. Wow! That’s the biggest compliment so far!

Isn’t the Internet great? I hope this is just the beginning of fusing my seemingly different passions into a holistic approach.