WHEN TWO BECOME ONE started as a few text messages between myself and friend, Andie Casette—owner of LA base RIRIKU. Andie and I have been friends for a long time, through a long connected network, of Capsule Tradeshow days, shared clients, we have been clients of each other, and we share a big list of friends and even a few frenemies at this point! When Andie reached out to me with a text that said…
“Our dream space is open for lease in Highland Park, we should take it over together and do a concept store.”
I replied with, “I am in China right now, but I 100% do not have the money…I am stretched too thin…”
She replied with… “So you are saying I should at least look into it and contact the broker? :) “
And the rest is history.
When we started creating and connecting the store, Andie had a vision of a store heavy on texture and sleekness. She sent me boards combining sleek metals, glass brick and textured walls that looked like 1970s inspired caves. I added my feedback and let her know I was obsessed with the direction. The shared space would look very different from any of my past retail projects– and it was this energy and collaboration that made me feel very inspired about this project.
Andie and I then hosted a warehouse sale inside the new space to pay for the buildout which was a huge success—and we put this project into motion. It was during this warehouse sale, that we felt reassured that this neighborhood was ready for a project like this– and that we too could take on the scope of work– to make the vision come to life.
This is when I met Jam Cole—the artist, designer and creative we paired with to create the textured walls that create the dressing rooms, displays, and draw the entire space together. Our store has opened up, soaring ceilings and brick walls, but the work Jam created keeps the space feeling intimate, sexy, well designed and the response from clients is exactly what we wanted!
We sat with Jam recently to talk about all things creativity and below is an excerpt from that chat.
MEET JAM COLE
TITLE: Designer/Builder
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo sun, Leo moon, Aries rising. I’m surprisingly low key. I should be an absolute monster.
HOMETOWN: Sacramento
LUCKY NUMBER: 37
SECRET TALENT: Packing for road trips, starting over in new cities
GO TO BEVERAGE: Coffee/watermelon juice/basil gimlet
SPIRIT ANIMAL: A lion, but I also identify as an angel so probably like a griffin??
When we decided to open our new LA store, we were looking over the inspo decks for store design from our WHEN TWO BECOME ONE business partner and we're struck by the inspo images for the build out. It was in creating this vision that we met, Jam Cole. She spent late nights, and consequently early mornings, inside our store, creating, by hand, sweat, blood and tears the bulk of the displays, the walls and vibe. Jam worked in real time with Andie and I on the space– tweaking and developing the space as we evolved and crafting it to perfection.
The finished product of the store had already garnered endless compliments and design attention and we wanted you to meet our collaborative design partner, Jam. Please fall in love.
What is your background in art and design? While working with you we saw you building, sculpting, painting and planning– what is your back story? My mom taught me how to sew when I was pretty young, which kind of molded my brain to think spatially. I made my own clothes in high school and had a little indie clothing line throughout my 20s. There was a cute scene of indie designers in Sacramento and I used to organize fashion shows in dive bars with my friends as models. Later on I began collaborating with photographers and makeup artists on more conceptual editorial shoots and got more and more interested in textural detail in the pieces I was making. I think I was always a little confused by my own goals when I was younger, because I had thought I wanted a career in fashion, but what I was actually seeking was a career in the design and construction of shapes and textures, and the arrangement of space.
In my 30s I ended up dating someone with a construction background and I learned along the way as I helped him build out an entire 1940s house that had been completely gutted - like when I first saw the place, it didn’t have flooring or interior walls. Planning the interior and seeing it progress into a real home was so fun and rewarding for me and it made me realize that bigger picture building work is more my niche.
What brings you the most inspiration?I’m obsessed with Mediterranean architecture - especially places built into cliffsides where you almost can't tell where the earth ends and the structure begins. I love weird sculptural buildings - organic shapes reminiscent of rock formations and ice caves.
I’ve also always been a big fan of couture, my absolute favorite being Christian Lacroix, whose collections were so eccentric, decadent and impractical that the label basically went under. I can relate to this on such a deep level- I have zero interest in function over form. Function is of course incredibly important, and I find great satisfaction in building strong stable structures, but if I’m not able to sculpt the finished product into something unique and visually striking, I have no desire to start the process at all.
Clients are obsessed with the walls and structures you created in the store– what is the process? It was a similar process as the big alcove wall I built for RIRIKU’s old storefront in Highland Park, now occupied by Whimsy + Row. I framed the basic structures out of 2x4s and used plywood to kind of sculpt the shapes I wanted. On top of that I layered drywall and chicken wire in some places, followed by fabric dipped in plaster of paris. The process is a bit like papier mache. The wet fabric has a muddy texture, almost like wet clay, and I draped it over the structures and hand shaped each piece into various peaks and valleys. After that dried, I scraped thicker drywall mud onto the higher points to create a texture reminiscent of worn cave walls.
This was the first time I’ve worked with plaster of paris. It dries REALLY fast and there was definitely a bit of a learning curve. There were times I was working in the space alone late at night, on the verge of tears and loudly cursing a bucket of mud, but working through frustration is part of the process and I’ve gradually learned to enjoy working with the medium.
Do you have any projects on the horizon– or dream projects you are manifesting?I’ve been doing some smaller scale furniture and houseware design lately and I just got a new workspace where I have the ability to do ceramic and stained glass work, so I think I may have some multimedia weird sculptural texture combo pieces in my future!
We know you love Los Angeles– off the top of your head what are your favorite: LUNCH SPOTS, DRINK SPOTS and SECRET SPOT?I love a good cocktail bar! I’m an Echo Park girlie so Bar Henry is my go-to & I love Bar Flores if it’s still light out, otherwise everyone there is 20 years my junior. Then there's the vintage icons, like Taix or The Dresden. For breakfast/lunch, Honey Hi on Sunset is so delicious I almost forget how healthy it is. As far as secrets go, I love thrifting in Highland Park and surrounding areas but I’m not gonna get TOO specific! My fave karaoke spot is Pattaya Bay Thai in Los Feliz, where if no one else is singing, the owner is belting out Amy Winehouse and then calling you up by name when you least expect it.
And final question, have you ever or are you planning on hiring an ETSY WITCH?You know… it never occurred to me until recently for some reason!! Though someone once gifted me an etsy reading from a psychic named Derrek and he wrote to me in one very long run-on sentence that a lot of positive things were going to happen for me career-wise, and so far so good! My experience with etsy spiritualism has been encouraging thus far!
INSIDE: WHEN TWO BECOME ONE
WHEN TWO BECOME ONE started as a few text messages between myself and friend, Andie Casette—owner of LA base RIRIKU. Andie and I have been friends for a long time, through a long connected network, of Capsule Tradeshow days, shared clients, we have been clients of each other, and we share a big list of friends and even a few frenemies at this point! When Andie reached out to me with a text that said…
And the rest is history.
When we started creating and connecting the store, Andie had a vision of a store heavy on texture and sleekness. She sent me boards combining sleek metals, glass brick and textured walls that looked like 1970s inspired caves. I added my feedback and let her know I was obsessed with the direction. The shared space would look very different from any of my past retail projects– and it was this energy and collaboration that made me feel very inspired about this project.
Andie and I then hosted a warehouse sale inside the new space to pay for the buildout which was a huge success—and we put this project into motion. It was during this warehouse sale, that we felt reassured that this neighborhood was ready for a project like this– and that we too could take on the scope of work– to make the vision come to life.
This is when I met Jam Cole—the artist, designer and creative we paired with to create the textured walls that create the dressing rooms, displays, and draw the entire space together. Our store has opened up, soaring ceilings and brick walls, but the work Jam created keeps the space feeling intimate, sexy, well designed and the response from clients is exactly what we wanted!
We sat with Jam recently to talk about all things creativity and below is an excerpt from that chat.
MEET JAM COLE
TITLE: Designer/Builder
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo sun, Leo moon, Aries rising. I’m surprisingly low key. I should be an absolute monster.
HOMETOWN: Sacramento
LUCKY NUMBER: 37
SECRET TALENT: Packing for road trips, starting over in new cities
GO TO BEVERAGE: Coffee/watermelon juice/basil gimlet
SPIRIT ANIMAL: A lion, but I also identify as an angel so probably like a griffin??
When we decided to open our new LA store, we were looking over the inspo decks for store design from our WHEN TWO BECOME ONE business partner and we're struck by the inspo images for the build out. It was in creating this vision that we met, Jam Cole. She spent late nights, and consequently early mornings, inside our store, creating, by hand, sweat, blood and tears the bulk of the displays, the walls and vibe. Jam worked in real time with Andie and I on the space– tweaking and developing the space as we evolved and crafting it to perfection.
The finished product of the store had already garnered endless compliments and design attention and we wanted you to meet our collaborative design partner, Jam. Please fall in love.
What is your background in art and design? While working with you we saw you building, sculpting, painting and planning– what is your back story? My mom taught me how to sew when I was pretty young, which kind of molded my brain to think spatially. I made my own clothes in high school and had a little indie clothing line throughout my 20s. There was a cute scene of indie designers in Sacramento and I used to organize fashion shows in dive bars with my friends as models. Later on I began collaborating with photographers and makeup artists on more conceptual editorial shoots and got more and more interested in textural detail in the pieces I was making. I think I was always a little confused by my own goals when I was younger, because I had thought I wanted a career in fashion, but what I was actually seeking was a career in the design and construction of shapes and textures, and the arrangement of space.
In my 30s I ended up dating someone with a construction background and I learned along the way as I helped him build out an entire 1940s house that had been completely gutted - like when I first saw the place, it didn’t have flooring or interior walls. Planning the interior and seeing it progress into a real home was so fun and rewarding for me and it made me realize that bigger picture building work is more my niche.
What brings you the most inspiration?I’m obsessed with Mediterranean architecture - especially places built into cliffsides where you almost can't tell where the earth ends and the structure begins. I love weird sculptural buildings - organic shapes reminiscent of rock formations and ice caves.
I’ve also always been a big fan of couture, my absolute favorite being Christian Lacroix, whose collections were so eccentric, decadent and impractical that the label basically went under. I can relate to this on such a deep level- I have zero interest in function over form. Function is of course incredibly important, and I find great satisfaction in building strong stable structures, but if I’m not able to sculpt the finished product into something unique and visually striking, I have no desire to start the process at all.
Clients are obsessed with the walls and structures you created in the store– what is the process? It was a similar process as the big alcove wall I built for RIRIKU’s old storefront in Highland Park, now occupied by Whimsy + Row. I framed the basic structures out of 2x4s and used plywood to kind of sculpt the shapes I wanted. On top of that I layered drywall and chicken wire in some places, followed by fabric dipped in plaster of paris. The process is a bit like papier mache. The wet fabric has a muddy texture, almost like wet clay, and I draped it over the structures and hand shaped each piece into various peaks and valleys. After that dried, I scraped thicker drywall mud onto the higher points to create a texture reminiscent of worn cave walls.
This was the first time I’ve worked with plaster of paris. It dries REALLY fast and there was definitely a bit of a learning curve. There were times I was working in the space alone late at night, on the verge of tears and loudly cursing a bucket of mud, but working through frustration is part of the process and I’ve gradually learned to enjoy working with the medium.
Do you have any projects on the horizon– or dream projects you are manifesting?I’ve been doing some smaller scale furniture and houseware design lately and I just got a new workspace where I have the ability to do ceramic and stained glass work, so I think I may have some multimedia weird sculptural texture combo pieces in my future!
We know you love Los Angeles– off the top of your head what are your favorite: LUNCH SPOTS, DRINK SPOTS and SECRET SPOT?I love a good cocktail bar! I’m an Echo Park girlie so Bar Henry is my go-to & I love Bar Flores if it’s still light out, otherwise everyone there is 20 years my junior. Then there's the vintage icons, like Taix or The Dresden. For breakfast/lunch, Honey Hi on Sunset is so delicious I almost forget how healthy it is. As far as secrets go, I love thrifting in Highland Park and surrounding areas but I’m not gonna get TOO specific! My fave karaoke spot is Pattaya Bay Thai in Los Feliz, where if no one else is singing, the owner is belting out Amy Winehouse and then calling you up by name when you least expect it.
And final question, have you ever or are you planning on hiring an ETSY WITCH?You know… it never occurred to me until recently for some reason!! Though someone once gifted me an etsy reading from a psychic named Derrek and he wrote to me in one very long run-on sentence that a lot of positive things were going to happen for me career-wise, and so far so good! My experience with etsy spiritualism has been encouraging thus far!