In the fall of 2002, Lola Schnabel, an artist and friend to Natalie’s partner Enrico, travels to The Shoals, and Lovelace Crossroads to collaborate on a collection of one-of-a-kind shirts in what would become the first of many collaborations between artists, designers, photographers, and the artisan stitchers of Alabama. Lola’s drawings and collages are applied directly to individual tops and interpreted with hand-embroidery and embellishment in collaboration with local artisans.
This trip and the subsequent collection lead to many other collaborations over the years. These diverse partnerships expand opportunities and offer new spaces for creativity across disciplines and geographies. On August 18, 2002, T Magazine runs a piece about this first collaboration titled “Whatever Lola Wants”, written by Horatio Silva.
"I knew from the outset it was not going to be your typical trip," Schnabel says in her global-citizen accent, over lunch in Manhattan. She's wearing a Sophia Loren-style floral dress made by her friend Zac Posen. "The flight itself is only two hours, but it's about a six-hour journey in total, and in that time I managed to meet all sorts of characters, including a Mesopotamian guy, who was an expert in Armenian cooking and designed spaceships for NASA." —Horatio Silva for T Magazine, August 2002
This trip and the subsequent collection lead to many other collaborations over the years. These diverse partnerships expand opportunities and offer new spaces for creativity. (Read an entry on the Lola Schnabel @ Project Alabama collaboration here)
Look for a full list of collaborators coming soon.
Learn more about Lola Montes Schnabel and follow along in her adventures @motherfuture.
Read “Whatever Lola Wants” here.
Read more great pieces by Horatio Silva on The Gentlewoman here.
Contact us to plan your trip to the Shoals.
Slide 1: Necklace made from collected beads and teeth by Lola Montes Schnabel, inspiration for the Lola Schnabel @ Project Alabama collaboration, 2001, photograph by Robert Rausch
Slide 2: Production documentation photos of the Lola Schnabel @ Project Alabama “Fly Away” shirt, 2001, photograph by Robert Rausch
Slide 3: Polaroids of Lola Montes Schnabel, photographed by Natalie Chanin at Lovelace Crossroads during the execution of the Lola Schnabel @ Project Alabama collaboration. Lola painted and marked the polaroids, and Natalie inscribed quotes from Lola: “first love is something everyone knows,” and “the sunset has the same color as apples”, photograph by Robert Rausch
Slide 4: T Magazine article “Whatever Lola Wants”, from August 18, 2002, written by Horatio Silva, photograph by Robert Rausch