Some of the best things happen by accident. We were on a US road trip, staying in a 70s-inspired Airbnb, when the wallpaper stopped us in our tracks - spectacularly psychedelic and designed by the person who owned it, Erin Cadigan. A designer, illustrator and fashion professor.
From tour posters to textiles, Erin's work spoke to every creative influence that had built The Hippie Shake from the ground up. She was invited to design for the brand and seven years later, she still creates all of our prints to this day.
About You
Can you tell our community a little about yourself and your background as a designer?
I grew up always drawing and sewing. When it came time for university, I was torn between illustration and fashion. For years I had been going disco raving at the famous NYC clubs like Limelight. My parents wouldn’t allow me to go for fashion in NYC afraid I’d spend all my time clubbing. Instead I went to University of the Arts in Philadelphia for Illustration and Printmaking.
During university I started touring after the psychedelic rock band, Grateful Dead. Upon graduating I continued to do so, selling hand-sewn dresses and items. Eventually I started a t-shirt line and sold my work on the parking lots of Grateful Dead, then Phish concerts, until 2004.
When Phish broke up in ‘04 I moved to NYC, interned for a few fashion brands, and then got a job as head designer for an accessory firm. This really pushed forward my understanding of textile design, something I wasn’t trained in. Eventually I left that job because of what I saw as the toxic problems in fashion (environmental issues, workers rights, corporate business practices). I became a fashion professor at Pratt Institute and restarted my sustainable t-shirt line.
In 2013 I moved to Woodstock NY and conceptualized, designed, and built a small psychedelic rock and roll hotel. A number of years in, Naomi and Ben came to do a photoshoot at my place. They saw all my wallpapers and textiles I had designed and asked if I’d partner with them. It was a match made in heaven. Designing textile art for The Hippie Shake is a very joyful part of my career.
What's your favourite thing to create?
Honesty? Anything. I’ve designed buildings, books, products, fashion, textiles, posters, graphics, packaging, and branding. For me it’s all about the conceptualization, and ideas behind creation that get me going. On the other hand I really don't like to create content. I hate Instagram. My account shows a fraction of my work.
We know you’re always up to something exciting! What other projects are you working on at the moment?
I always have a million projects going but the BIG one right now is the launch of my cannabis brand, Illuminated Leaf.I have been working on it for a couple years. It’s a concept product in the industry. Illuminated Leaf blends cannabis with other smokable botanicals that push forward the entourage effect but leaves a manageable high. High but functional. My first offering are 4 pre-rolls, each based on the energy of one of the 4 elements. All are created with whole flower cannabis, strain specific, chosen by me. The other botanicals are also fresh, whole flowers. I’m a legacy operator and my supply chain is either woman owned, or legacy run. Due to US laws, available in NY but hopefully California by year's end.
We’ve now worked together for the past 7 years (which has gone so fast!) and it is such a pleasure & joy to get to create with you and bring the ideas to life together. What drew you to initially working with us at The Hippie Shake?
I love fashion. In my teens, 20s, and 30s it took me hours to get out of the house. I dressed in almost all vintage clothes and every day was like a costume. With The Hippie Shake I’m basically helping design clothes for my younger self. Though of course I wear them now too!
I really did back out of fashion because of ethics. Working with a small, woman owned company, one I see consistently striving for the right choices in a toxic industry has allowed me to be involved in one of the great passions of my life again.
Music has always been a huge part of your life, who are your top 3 bands? Who are you listening to at the moment?
Grateful Dead is number one, both for listening and seeing live. Phish has impacted my life in so many ways. I’m hitting my 450th live Phish show this July. Because of the extreme amount of time I’ve spent touring with them, most of my friends, my husband, and aspects of my career are due to them. But I almost never listen to them at home. Other than that I cycle through punk, metal, disco, yacht rock, classic rock, some hip hop. I don't really do pop at all, or other jam bands.
6. We’ve always loved how you style yourself. How would you describe your personal style and how has that changed over the years?
I’ve just always put on whatever I feel attracted to. Often the louder the better. My mom called me the “hand-me-down kid” as a child. For some reason, second hand anything has always meant more to me than first run items. I’ve been shopping thrift since way before it was cool. When I was 14, I dressed almost exclusively in vintage men’s suits and had a shaved head. When the priest at the church down the street passed away, the other priests called my mom and “donated” all his clothes to me. It was 1987, and as a girl I was running around on a skateboard with a priest collar on.
Inspiration
Where do you usually find inspiration?
Design items. Functional art. Anything that is both useful and designed well. Ancient pottery. Posters from the last century. World wide textile. Comic books.
Are there any particular eras, artists, places or cultures that influence your work heavily?
The big 1960s psychedelic poster artists, particularly Mouse and Rick Griffin. Salvadore Dali and Andrew Wythe for fine artists. Comic book art. Alphonso Mucha, Maurice Sendak. Graphic and packaging design from the 20th century.
Do you keep an inspiration archive or mood board? What's currently inspiring you?
Right now I’m looking at a lot of vintage High Times, Rolling Stone and MAD magazines, both articles and adverts. I’m attempting to create branding for my cannabis line that is modern but feels like that cut and paste, done by hand, magazine layout.
The Design Process
What does the journey from initial idea to finished print look like for you?
Well Naomi is brilliant with the concepts and mood boards for each drop. So the initial spark is handed to me on a silver platter. From there I generally do a bunch of pencil sketches that we discuss. Once the general direction is decided, I do a final pencil and we both sit on it a few days to make sure, it's exactly right. Then I ink it and choose a color way. After this stage has been discussed, I color and put the art in repeat. Then we decide on the sizing for the work. Naomi and I work so well together. She consistently only makes my work better. This has not been my experience with other “art directors”. Many folks don’t have my same art aesthetic but Naomi really gets it.
What tools do you use for your process or designing prints & embroideries?
When we started out I only worked with HB pencils, mirco pens, tracing paper, bristol, and light boards. I did color work in Photoshop. For embroideries, if machine done, the art needs to be vector and so I would incorporate Adobe Illustrator, tracing elements from the prints and creating repeatable icons. These days I still do all that but I also use Procreate for sketching and occasionally inking. It saves on time and paper. Everything is all by hand though.
What's the most challenging part of the design process?
All of it? None of it? I love designing, and I love a challenge.
Where do you spend most time creating, we know you have a studio. Is this the space you like to be when creating your art? Do you have anything particular you like to do for getting in the zone like listening to music, lighting and incense or setting up your space in a certain way?
It was 5 below all winter in NY. I moved out of my drafty studio and into my home’s dining room. My poor husband. I am not a neat artist. I can and will create anywhere but there's always a trail left behind.
For as much as I like music and spent my life out at music events, I like complete silence while I create. I find anything else distracting.
Is there anything you have learnt over the past 7 years which has been invaluable as a designer?
It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly you learn when creating consistently. I think my work for The Hippie Shake has gotten better and better, more complex over the past 7 years. That's the outcome of doing anything with regularity.
Do you have any advice for designers / artists starting out?
Get ready to pivot if you want to lead a creative life. Have the dream goal. Couture designer. Famous poster or comic book artist. Solo gallery shows. But also decide. Is that your end all for success? It’s a small stage. For me? I will learn anything, create anything, as long as I control my life. I don’t do 9 to 5. What’s your values as a creative?
Working with The Hippie Shake
How do you approach creating designs that feel true to The Hippie Shake aesthetic?
Basically if The Hippie Shake existed in the 80s, 90s, and early aughts. And influencers existed then, I probably would have been one of your models. The Hippie Shake designs work because the era’s that inspire it have always inspired how I personally dress.
What do you think makes a great vintage-inspired print?
It has to be hand done. Nothing can mimic it. You can’t really automate and rely on computer programs. But also I think it has to be true to who you are and what your artistic output has always been. An artist can’t fake their aesthetic.
Is there a specific The Hippie Shake print or embroidery you've designed that you're particularly proud of?
The collection with Pamela Des Barres stands out as a personal career highlight. I bought her memoir I’m With the Band when it came out in the late 80s. I read it probably five or six times through my teens and early 20s. Seeing a creative adult living a free-wheeling rock and roll lifestyle was finding myself in the pages of a book. I’m honored to be able to have been part of reinterpreting her iconic style for today's generations.
How do you balance staying true to vintage influences while creating something that feels fresh?
Honestly? I don’t know. It just happens that The Hippie Shake is one of the perfect vehicles for my art.
Personal Favourites
Do you have a favourite print or embroidery you've created for us & why?
My top three prints are probably AW 23 Galactic Peter Max inspired. SS 23 Across the Universe words print. SS 24 Kaleidoscope Butterfly. Always the most psychedelic and colorful prints.
I always loved the small floral from AW21 Hendrix being put into an embroidered repeat for the Penny Lane that collection. I love the Zodiac Blue Velvet jacket because it combines all my occult passions with fashion. And the Moonflower Penny Lane from Paint It Black is my all time favorite.
Overall I love the fact that we are transitioning away from brown and orange towards black because I’m much more of a rocker than a hippie.
Which current The Hippie Shake piece would you most like to wear yourself?
I’m so excited to receive my Ophira Green Embroidered Maxi. It was a lot of work and it came out stunning.
If you could bring any vintage trend back into fashion, what would it be?
Dressing for yourself. I’m an analog person, born in the 70s, raised without social media. Just wear what you want and don’t worry about who sees it or if they like it. Joy and Freedom.
Is there a dream project or design idea you'd love to create one day?
I mentioned my cannabis brand above. The full plan though is to create a side life-style brand based on “what’s the environment you smoke your weed in?” Wall papers, floor pillows, lounge wear, housewares. Really the dream is just to always be creating.
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...