The Necessity of Scarves: Interview with "We are Owls"

By Mihal Freinquel

In a quest to redefine the way we look at neckware, creators Connie Lui, Ling Chen and Emily Chen maintain that the scarf "should not just function as a piece to keep you warm but should also make a statement, like the perfect jewelry or bag that makes the outfit, it completes the look."

Mihal Freinquel: Why the Owl?
Connie Lui: We've always been fascinated by the beauty and mysterious qualities of the Owl. We relate ourselves to them as they are creatures of the night. The three of us have day jobs and we find ourselves gathering after work at night to have dinner and work on creative projects together. We find ourselves inspired by the night.

MF: The scarves are so intricate, both in design and quality. How are they produced?
CL: The production process is quite meticulous and tedious, as we want to ensure we produce a product we are satisfied with and our customers are satisfied with. That means the colors come out the way we envisioned and the quality is at its highest. We do sampling several times each season, visit the factories and test out the quality of the contents. Each scarf is hand printed by skilled craftsman in inner-Mongolia, China.

MF: The first scarf you ever made, what did it look like?
CL: This is quite a funny question because no one has asked us before. At some point many years ago, we got into knitting (as amateurs). We bought some yarn from the store and we all knit our very own basic knit and purl scarf.

MF: What was your inspiration for the F/W 2010 collection?
CL: Our concept was to explore the contrast and marriage between fear and beauty.
The mood is a touch of romance and a mix of haunting mystery. At the time, we were reading alot of dark gothic novels, especially the writings of Poe and Carmilla, by Le Fanu. This collection features delicate florals, intricate scripts, bold animal prints and seductive lace.

The Ivory Poem Scarf is my favorite in the We Are Owls arsenal (seen below). It's a luxuriously soft ivory scarf with the following poem written in black script: "A wise old owl lived in an oak. The more he saw the less he spoke. The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can't we all be like this wise old bird?"