This 19-Year-Old's Designs Have Been Worn By Kylie Jenner and Sofia Richie
Growing up in a small Wisconsin town, Tyler Lambert wasn’t exactly immersed in a fashion epicenter. In fact, the closest thing he had to a designer store — an Abercrombie & Fitch — was 40 miles away. But as true creatives do, the fashion-obsessed teen channeled his surroundings as inspiration to craft his own sartorial world, starting at age 13. By dying, distressing, re-assembling, and re-imagining clothing he bought at local thrift stores and truly making it his own, Tyler fed his love for style while simultaneously (and unknowingly) stitching together the foundation for his future. What started as a hobby soon turned into a passion project and, by high school, it had transformed into the beginning stages of a profitable clothing brand, thanks to Tyler's Instagram account. Now, at 19, Tyler is at the helm of his burgeoning namesake label.
Despite the fact that his creations have recently been worn by celebrities with the likes of Kylie Jenner, Sofia Richie, and Bebe Rexha, each piece is still hand-made by Tyler — a process that he considers sacred and integral to his brand. With an autumn/winter 2017 collection, e-commerce site, and special book project all in the works, it’s clear that Tyler and his line are set to have a very big year.
We got the full story from the designer about how he started and grew his brand as well as what he envisions for it in the future. Ever the artistic genius, Tyler put together an exclusive mini look book for Teen Vogue, which features his friends and models Olivia Forte and Ally Helms. Click through the slides to see his imaginative work — you never know what it might inspire in you.
Photo by: Wayne Scales1/13Designer Tyler Lambert.
2/13Teen Vogue: When did you first become interested in fashion?
Tyler Lambert: I spent a lot of time with my grandmother when I was younger and always looked up to her and her style. We would go to estate sales together and collect crazy stuff like retro bamboo furniture and cheesy Renaissance figurines, as well as different fabrics, curtains, and old clothes, which she would gift to me. At that time — I was around 13 — my mother was really into a sewing phase, making things like quilts. So she started teaching me to sew on a machine that was given to her by her grandmother — it was from the 1920s. I was basically sewing curtains together and reworking my grandmother’s clothes and cutting things apart and putting them back together. I kind of just kept doing that and developed that.
3/13TV: What inspired you to really turn your hobby into a potential career?
TL: I was in a ton of art classes but, being at a more rural public school, there weren’t fashion design classes or anything like that. But I was really close with my art teacher and had another art mentor, who was a prominent artist in the community. They took me under their wings and taught me about things like fine painting and art history. That knowledge, combined with my love of fashion, inspired the brand to grow and it started influencing better product.
4/13TV: When did you start taking your craft really seriously and putting a lot of time and energy in it to grow it into a real brand?
TL: I really started hunkering down while in high school, when I was 14 or 15. I called myself DHS by Tyler Lambert, which stood for Doll House Studio. We only kept that for three years but that was the first real name of my brand. I started doing some custom designs as well as putting out small collections.
5/13TV: What were your designs like? Were they still being made from thrifted pieces?
TL: Oh, yes. I worked at my family’s diner and with the money I made from that, I would buy my materials. I had a vintage twin bike and I would ride it across the river from where I loved to a Christian thrift store. I would spend entire paychecks on things like lace doilies, curtains, cable knit sweaters, high-waisted denim jeans, and flannels — really American staples. I would go home to my studio and re-work it based on what I liked. I wasn’t an internet baby, I came from the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t on Tumblr. So what I was doing was truly my own vision. If other people were doing the same thing, I had no clue. I was just expressing myself.
6/13TV: How did you get the word out about your brand? How did you generate buzz?
TL: A lot of it was through social media. I was taking photography in high school and started scouting models from my friend groups and by searching on Instagram and Facebook. If I found a girl with 500 followers, that was a big deal at the time. I thought they were famous. I'd style them, shoot them, and put their photos up, and I started getting a lot more traction on my page. It was really through social media outlets.
7/13TV: After high school, what was your next move?
TL: I moved to Chicago last August to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, which is where I met my best friends, who now both live in New York City and work in the fashion industry. When I met them, one was working for Rookie and the other for Rosie Assoulin. We were flying to New York on the weekends to attend events and do collaborations and were helping each other out by inspiring and supporting one another. It was a small little friend group of go-getters — I think that’s why we didn’t vibe with college. So, I’m not in school anymore. I’m still living in Chicago, but I’m focusing on my brand.
8/13TV: You’ve had some really huge celebrities wear your brand, including Kylie Jenner. How did that happen?
TL: Yeah, Kylie’s stylist, Monica Rose, put some of my stuff on her this summer. That changed a lot. Celebrities themselves started contacting me, which was really weird. I was also out in Los Angeles last January and was at the Beverly Hills Hotel and ended up sitting next to Kendall Jenner and her friend Shamari [Maurice]. They were like, “Wanna hang out with us?” Next thing I know, I’m at Sofia Richie’s house. She wore one of my chokers after that. It was unplanned and totally random.
9/13TV: Have you worked with any big names since then?
TL: I was just working with Simone Harrouche, who is one of the Kardashians' stylists now, and have also worked with Wilfred Lenov, who has styled a ton of big people, and The Blonds showroom. These are huge names.
10/13TV: How have your pieces evolved? What are your designs like now?
TL: They still are almost always reconstructed. Some are cut and sew. Generally, we have a core line, which consists of the same pieces every season done basically the same way. I’ve been doing a lot of them since high school. It includes an ombré flannel, which was inspired by people in Wisconsin who would wear them — it’s lumberjack cool. I’ve been dipping stuff in bleach since the 8th grade, before ombré everything became so popular. Same with my denim short shorts. I was doing high-waisted stuff before all the bloggers were popping out in the trend. I was taking jeans and making the edges of them nasty and fraying them. These things are inspired by the environment I grew up in. It’s country, it’s rocker-y. There are motorcycles, Harley Davidson is big. Everything is oversized and baggy and street-y. I was re-working that culture into something fashionable again. With our collection, it’s basically those same core items but just amped up a little bit. The 15-year-old Tyler who was trying to make couture pieces is the same Tyler today; he just uses materials in a more edited way.
11/13TV: What is your next big goal for your brand?
TL: I would love to get my website updated and get a real e-commerce site. And put out a collection at New York Fashion Week. There are so many visions that I have in my head all day every minute of every day and not being able to make them happen because of money or time is really difficult. When I find that time and when I’m able to bring other people on my team aside from just myself, that’s when I’m going to cry those happy tears. I’m hoping to show a collection for autumn/winter 2017 and release a coffee table look book that will incorporate the work of other artists I work with.
12/13TV: What advice would you give to aspiring fashion designers?
TL: I know it’s so overplayed, but it really is all about confidence. You have to go into it every day knowing that you’re doing it because you love it. You’re going to be broke, there’s going to be no sleeping, there will be a ton of emails. People are going to throw shade at you for putting yourself and your work out there. So, you just have to be okay with knowing that what you are doing is good — you have to keep making and pushing and making. You have to keep your momentum going. That’s what’s going to persevere, and it’s going to ultimately be awesome and rewarding.
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