Joel Fitzpatrick
Encyclopedia
Joel Fitzpatrick is a lighting and architectural designer, artist and entrepreneur based in New York City.
and raised in California
to a French mother and American-Irish father. He attended The Dunn School
, a co-ed boarding school in Los Olivos, California and began his entrepreneurial career there, giving haircuts, selling vintage clothing and keeping two Coca Cola vending machines on campus. He attended Bennington College
in Vermont
, where he majored in Sculpture and Lighting Design. It is rumored that characters in both Bret Easton Ellis
' Rules of Attraction and The Secret History
by Donna Tartt
are based on Fitzpatrick.
. He learned Lighting Design for Modern Dance there, and made conceptual art films and designed lights for everything from operas in Paris to touring African dance troupes. Fitzpatrick also worked as a lighting designer for well-known Los Angeles promoters Brent Bolthouse
and Mike Messex.
While pursuing his Masters degree, Fitzpatrick began making hand-screened, politically-themed t-shirts in his Hollywood backyard. From those, he launched first fashion brand, Pleasure Swell, in 1993. His punk rock
meets-surfer aesthetic defined the brand. The line also re-imagined the concept of Americana
kitsch, turning men's Adidas
polo shirts into women's dresses and making fashion-forward versions of classic 1950's and '60s pieces. Pleasure Swell sold at Fred Segal
, Urban Outfitters
, dELiA*s and at hundreds of boutiques around the world.
He opened his first store, Swell, with money he made by borrowing $90 from his bookkeeper and playing craps
for 24 hours straight in Las Vegas
, and with contributions from several investors. He opened a second store, Ether, in 1994.
shoes exclusively. A 25-foot inflatable basset hound - the company's logo - sat atop the building. Pee-Wee Herman
(Paul Reuben) bought a few pairs from the shop and word of mouth quickly spread. He began flying to the company's headquarters in Rockford, Michigan
, working with them to expand their range of designs. When they refused to make women's sizes, Fitzpatrick got them to agree to produce bigger sizes of the narrower child's shoe and in turn sold those to his female clientele. He also developed and sold his own exclusive designs, like glow-in-the-dark Hush Puppies, some made out of Kevlar
, and a blue suede pair that tapped into his Americana kitsch vibe.
Suddenly Hush Puppies became ubiquitous. Joel's celebrity clientele included Sarah Jessica Parker
, Ellen DeGeneres
, Jeanne Tripplehorn
, Angelica Huston and three of the five 1995 Academy Award nominees for Best Actress: Susan Sarandon
, Sharon Stone
and Elizabeth Shue. The New York Times compared the brand to Gucci
and Tod's
. The Council of Fashion Designers of America named Hush Puppies the Top Accessory of 1995. Malcolm Gladwell
wrote an article in The New Yorker
based on Joel's foresight and success, and secured his first book contract for the best-selling The Tipping Point
, on that article. In 1996, Fitzpatrick was nominated for the California Designer of the Year award along with BCBG founder Max Azria
, Mossimo
founder Mossimo Giannulli and designer Janet Howard.
Fashion Week
in Bryant Park. The first was a group show, Girls Rule, which also featured the designs of Tatiana von Furstenburg, Planet Claire and Oliver Dow. The second was sponsored by Hush Puppies and featured dresses made from vintage 1950's men's sweaters with matching suede shoes.
In 2000, Fitzpatrick launched an interior/architectural design studio and also began working on Chemistryset, a line of home accessories with a 30-person sales force and five showrooms. In 2006, his show "Recreation in Ether" was shown at the Forbes headquarters in Manhattan.
Fitzpatrick is now focusing on architectural and lighting design in private homes as well as commercial properties. He has designed conceptual lighting for a series of art shows curated by Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld (son of French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld
), including building a temporary gallery at the Fifth Avenue flagship Armani space in Manhattan for artist Richard Hambleton, and the former Essex Street meat market in the Lower East Side for Nicolas Pol's first American exhibition. He is also a licensed real estate salesperson and is currently designing a line of home accessories and custom chandeliers and lighting installations for public and private spaces.
Early life
Fitzpatrick was born in MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and raised in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to a French mother and American-Irish father. He attended The Dunn School
Dunn School, Los Olivos
Dunn School is a co-educational college preparatory boarding and day school located on 55 acres outside of Los Olivos, California. It was founded in 1957, by Tony Dunn under the name "The Valley School." Dunn has gone by its current name since 1960...
, a co-ed boarding school in Los Olivos, California and began his entrepreneurial career there, giving haircuts, selling vintage clothing and keeping two Coca Cola vending machines on campus. He attended Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, where he majored in Sculpture and Lighting Design. It is rumored that characters in both Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
' Rules of Attraction and The Secret History
The Secret History
The Secret History, the first novel by Mississippi-born writer Donna Tartt, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1992. A 75,000 print order was made for the first edition , and the book became a bestseller.Set in New England, The Secret History tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics...
by Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt is an American writer and author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend . She won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003.-Early life:...
are based on Fitzpatrick.
Career
In the early '90s, Fitzpatrick launched a lighting company called Double Happiness that provided lighting equipment and other related services to Los Angeles-area rock clubs, venues, raves and private events. At the same time, he was pursuing a Masters Degree in Theater Design at California Institute of the ArtsCalifornia Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
. He learned Lighting Design for Modern Dance there, and made conceptual art films and designed lights for everything from operas in Paris to touring African dance troupes. Fitzpatrick also worked as a lighting designer for well-known Los Angeles promoters Brent Bolthouse
Brent Bolthouse
Brent Bolthouse is an American entrepreneur, event producer, DJ, and photographer. He has appeared on MTV's The Hills.- DJ Work:...
and Mike Messex.
While pursuing his Masters degree, Fitzpatrick began making hand-screened, politically-themed t-shirts in his Hollywood backyard. From those, he launched first fashion brand, Pleasure Swell, in 1993. His punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
meets-surfer aesthetic defined the brand. The line also re-imagined the concept of Americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
kitsch, turning men's Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
polo shirts into women's dresses and making fashion-forward versions of classic 1950's and '60s pieces. Pleasure Swell sold at Fred Segal
Fred Segal
Fred Segal is an upscale Los Angeles, California based clothing retailer. There are currently two Fred Segal stores: one in Hollywood and the other in Santa Monica....
, Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters, Inc. is a publicly traded American company that owns and operates five retail brands: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN....
, dELiA*s and at hundreds of boutiques around the world.
He opened his first store, Swell, with money he made by borrowing $90 from his bookkeeper and playing craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
for 24 hours straight in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, and with contributions from several investors. He opened a second store, Ether, in 1994.
Hush Puppies
In 1995 Fitzpatrick converted half of his retail space into a shop that sold Hush PuppiesHush Puppies
Hush Puppies is an international brand of contemporary, casual footwear for men, women and children. The shoes have been described as "the classic American brushed-suede shoes with the lightweight crepe sole". A division of Wolverine Worldwide, Hush Puppies is headquartered in Rockford, Michigan...
shoes exclusively. A 25-foot inflatable basset hound - the company's logo - sat atop the building. Pee-Wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman is a comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his two television series and film series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an HBO special in 1981...
(Paul Reuben) bought a few pairs from the shop and word of mouth quickly spread. He began flying to the company's headquarters in Rockford, Michigan
Rockford, Michigan
Rockford is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,719. It is on the Rogue River and is only a few miles north of Grand Rapids.- History :...
, working with them to expand their range of designs. When they refused to make women's sizes, Fitzpatrick got them to agree to produce bigger sizes of the narrower child's shoe and in turn sold those to his female clientele. He also developed and sold his own exclusive designs, like glow-in-the-dark Hush Puppies, some made out of Kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
, and a blue suede pair that tapped into his Americana kitsch vibe.
Suddenly Hush Puppies became ubiquitous. Joel's celebrity clientele included Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
, Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Jeanne Tripplehorn
Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn is an American film and television actress. She was brought to the public's attention through her supporting role in the 1992 film Basic Instinct, and since 2006 has starred opposite Bill Paxton in the HBO drama Big Love.-Early life:Tripplehorn was born in Tulsa,...
, Angelica Huston and three of the five 1995 Academy Award nominees for Best Actress: Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
and Elizabeth Shue. The New York Times compared the brand to Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
and Tod's
Tod's
Tod's Group is an Italian company which produces shoes and other leather goods, and is presided over by businessman Diego Della Valle. It is most famous for its driving shoes....
. The Council of Fashion Designers of America named Hush Puppies the Top Accessory of 1995. Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
wrote an article in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
based on Joel's foresight and success, and secured his first book contract for the best-selling The Tipping Point
The Tipping Point
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference is a book by Malcolm Gladwell, first published by Little Brown in 2000....
, on that article. In 1996, Fitzpatrick was nominated for the California Designer of the Year award along with BCBG founder Max Azria
Max Azria
Max Azria is a French fashion designer of Tunisian Jewish descent who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBGMAXAZRIA. Azria is also the designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, a global fashion house that encompasses over 20 brands...
, Mossimo
Mossimo
Mossimo is a mid-range American apparel company, founded in 1986 by designer Mossimo Giannulli, and currently owned by Iconix Brand Group. Mossimo specializes in youth, women, teenage, and adult male clothing such as shirts, jeans, jackets, socks, underwear and accessories...
founder Mossimo Giannulli and designer Janet Howard.
Fashion
Fitzpatrick opened another Ether shop in 1999 on Prince Street in New York, noted as the first to feature L.E.D. lighting in a retail space, and a Swell store on Lafayette Street. He continued to design clothing and showed two collections at New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Fashion Week
Fashion Week
A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers and the media to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, these events let the industry know...
in Bryant Park. The first was a group show, Girls Rule, which also featured the designs of Tatiana von Furstenburg, Planet Claire and Oliver Dow. The second was sponsored by Hush Puppies and featured dresses made from vintage 1950's men's sweaters with matching suede shoes.
In 2000, Fitzpatrick launched an interior/architectural design studio and also began working on Chemistryset, a line of home accessories with a 30-person sales force and five showrooms. In 2006, his show "Recreation in Ether" was shown at the Forbes headquarters in Manhattan.
Fitzpatrick is now focusing on architectural and lighting design in private homes as well as commercial properties. He has designed conceptual lighting for a series of art shows curated by Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld (son of French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld
Carine Roitfeld
Carine Roitfeld was the Editor-in-Chief of French Vogue from 2001 to January 21, 2011. A former fashion model and writer, she announced her resignation on December 17, 2010; she was succeeded by Emmanuelle Alt.- Family background :...
), including building a temporary gallery at the Fifth Avenue flagship Armani space in Manhattan for artist Richard Hambleton, and the former Essex Street meat market in the Lower East Side for Nicolas Pol's first American exhibition. He is also a licensed real estate salesperson and is currently designing a line of home accessories and custom chandeliers and lighting installations for public and private spaces.