Inside the Designer's Studio: Frank Tell

You've heard the story before:

Kid thinks he knows it all, moves to New York, expects to take over the fashion world, leaves empty-handed. The odds are always extra stacked against those who don't have a lot of money, didn't go to school, and whose last names don't start with an "R" and end with an "Ockefeller."

But Frank Tell is no kid, despite his mint-green age of 21. "I left California saying that I would show my first collection before my 21st birthday. Everybody thought I was crazy - but I did it!"

And since showing his first collection only two seasons ago, Frank's racked up a list of admirers including Teen Vogue's Jane Keltner, Olivia Palermo, Theodora Richards, Julia Roitfeld and Leven Ramblin, who we saw running from show to show in New York this month, fitted in Frank Tell.

His secret to success (so far)? Small, tailored, cohesive collections that make you want to wear a singular dress every single day.

We hung out with Frank and his business partner and confidant, Hector Meza, yesterday, in his super-spare studio/apartment in the LES. We learned about his sewing origins, his cheerleader past - oh, just read it for yourself...

Hector, left. Frank, right.

Ok, first thing's first - where are you from and is your name really Frank Tell? My full name is Francisco Tell Koblitz Iñguez. I was born in Barcelona, and lived there until I was six. Then I lived in Brazil, Mexico and California before moving to New York.

What brought you to the States?I was sent to military school in Carlsbad.

Oh, uh, woah...No, it was nothing like that! My mother just wanted to send me to the best school possible.

What was military school like? Did you have to make your bed tight enough to bounce a quarter on it?No! I did have to make my bed everyday, but that quarter thing isn't true, at least not at my school. But I didn't really like military school - I was insecure and really small and skinny compared to the other boys. I was a good student, though. But I never went to any of the formals, I never had a girlfriend to take - but the boys were really cute!

Do you think you were the only fashion-obsessed kid at military school? Actually, I wasn't really interested in fashion then. I was really passionate about gymnastics, I wanted to go to the Olympics when I was younger. But I fell on my back one day during some flips, and I couldn't feel my legs for ten minutes. I was only fourteen years old! So I was done with gymnastics after that.

Wow, that sounds rough. So you just gave it up entirely? Actually, I switched to cheerleading after that.

What?! Yeah, I joined a private, co-ed team from the area that was pretty good. I was a flyer. The bases were these girls who were probably six feet tall.

Wow, so did you like that? No, I stopped after three months. I didn't like the girls on my team, they were bitchy. They weren't even that good.

So how did you get into fashion design then? When did you start? Actually, I guess I started when I was six years old. My mother sent me for sewing classes, first with my grandmother, then with this lady and her three daughters at her trim shop. I took those classes until I was twelve.

Frank's LES studio.

Were you any good at that age? No, I was terrible! I was really bad when I was a kid. I used to make dresses for my cousins' Barbie dolls.

Aww! Does any dress in particular stand out? No, not really, they weren't very good. I can only remember one, a black and red polka dot dress. But after I went to school and stopped the sewing classes, I wasn't really into it again, I was really into gymnastics then.

So what made you go back to it? I got back into fashion right around when I turned eighteen. My friend started going to FIDM in LA and I thought, 'Maybe I can give this a shot, too.' Right after he told me he was going to FIDM, I just started sketching.

So did you enroll in design school as well? No - I moved to New York.

Frank's cutting table, all folded up, from IKEA.

That must have been a scary decision. Yeah. I moved to New York with $1,000 and didn't know anyone. But just two weeks after I moved, I crashed my friend's car!

Oh no! What did you do? Luckily, I was able to convince the lady who was driving the other car to not press any charges. So all I had to do was worry about paying for my friend's car.

How in the world did you convince her to do that? Actually, I gave her my Gucci messenger bag! It was brand new. She asked me if it was real, I told her yes - and it was, of course - and everything was fine. Then I moved in with my friend Hector who I'd met at a Heatherette show through a friend, and we eventually started our business together.

But you couldn't have just started your own line like that - what happened in between? I first interned at AsFour, and then I worked at American Apparel for a while - I was a Key Holder. It sucked, but I did get to meet Anne Hathaway, Penelope Cruz, Claudia Schiffer and Zooey Deschanel while I worked there - I didn't know who Zoe was when I met her, but it turned out that we had mutual friends. Then I interned for Sue Stemp. That was fun - I played with her baby, Kitty Babe a lot.

Hold on just a second there. Sue Stemp's baby is named Kitty Babe?Yes. She's so cute!

Interesting. And from there? Then I got a grant from my father's best friend, a realtor in Miami. It was crazy. He gave me $15,000 to start my own line, and I was so happy - we were so naive, we thought it was going to be enough. But starting your own business costs way more than you would ever imagine.

So how did that first collection go? I made just five dresses at first, then I made ten more. Then we shot our look book at Milk Studios - we got the studio gratis through a friend - and sent a copy to everybody in town. We got a bunch of calls just from that first line, and our first preview was with Teen Vogue. Jane Keltner loved our first collection, she's a huge supporter of the line. After that, WWD wrote about us, and from there we got calls from press and buyers to see the spring show.

God, that happened really fast. So, part of the buzz around your Fall '08 presentation was that Julia Roitfeld designed your invitations. How in the world did that happen? Did you know her previously? Not really. I met her through Keegan Singh - he styled my Teen Vogue shoot. He asked me one day if I wanted to come to a birthday party in Chinatown with him, and I said I'd come along, even though it was actually my own birthday that day, too. It turned out to be Julia's party. We arrived before anyone else had really shown up, and we just started talking about what we do, and about being Scorpios. I later got an e-mail from her asking if she could design my invitation. And of course I said yes.

That's great! Yes, well, the invitations are actually a funny story. Oh wait, is this weird to tell? [At this point, Hector nodded to give his approval.] Well, Julia's original design for the invitations was amazing, but would have cost around $10,000 to print. And that was our entire development budget for the collection, so just that much for invitations was out of the question. So Hector and I had to go to Pearl Paint to experiment and figure out another way to make it work.

The invitations designed by Julia Roitfeld.

Why was it so expensive? And how did you replicate it just by going to Pearl Paint?With the exception of cutting each invite and the foil stamping, we assembled every part of the invitations ourselves. We hand-glossed each invite - there were 600 of them! We had an assembly line in the studio. We worked with our interns on them for two days straight. Every flat surface in the place was taken up by an invite. But in the end, Julia was very, very happy with them.

So what brought on your latest collection? I don't see any inspiration boards anywhere in here! I hate inspiration boards! My mind changes every single minute, so having an inspiration board would be really hard. But my inspiration for this season was mainly Penelope Tree. I'm obsessed with her. She's amazing. She's the inspiration for the whole collection. I just think she's so unique looking. Models always look the same. But there is one girl at Ford named Marta that looks just like her - so cute. So there's a shoot from Vogue in the '60's with Penelope that I just love. In it, she's wearing a huge white coat, kind of like the one in my collection.

Do you have a definite aesthetic? Like a Frank Tell "girl"? No, I'm too indecisive. There's no Frank Tell girl, just me.

Ok, so, no inspiration boards, no girls. How do you get your ideas going for your collections? I sketch a lot. I always first sketch just to sketch, then I throw it all out and start over. Then that's when I really start designing. I tend to do a lot of last-minute additions.

So what are you working on right now?I've started brainstorming for a small Resort collection I'm designing for '09 - very small, just nine looks. I'm experimenting with the use of porcelain, using this Spanish porcelain company called Lladró. I want to test a new idea, using little shapes of porcelain maybe for applique. I think it's really great - it's not really that flashy or extravagant. It's glossy, that's all there is to it. The collection is going to be slightly older, also for women in their 30's, but still young. I just want more women to be able to wear it.

Do you already have ideas for Spring? Just that I think there will be more separates. It's really about the finishes in my clothes. I really want the finishes to be perfect. The little details make the difference so much - it's the big difference between older and younger designers.

What about men's? It really doesn't tickle me, not yet. But I don't leave it out of the question.

So do you think you'll blow up and be like a lifestyle designer? With bags and shoes and little leather accessories? I'm not sure, maybe. Right now, we're just focusing on building what we have, little by little. I want to be around for a long, long time. This is definitely my life. I just want to keep going, maybe after I die.

Frank, left. Hector, right.

Ok! Time for the Semi-Proust Questionnaire:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD?
I don't have one, and if I do, it's kind of dirty... Mierda? [Translation: Shit.]

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WORD?
Um, I don't know! I doubt I don't have one... Can it be bad? No, cheat! I hate "cheat."

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND/NOISE?
Uhhh, mmmm. Hmmmm. [Massages face.] I'm boring, I'm sorry. Uhh, the kettle maybe? It calms me down, actually.

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SOUND/NOISE?
The dog downstairs! That barking...

WHAT PROFESSION, OTHER THAN YOURS, DO YOU WISH TO ATTEMPT?
Painting.

WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU NEVER WANT?
To be a doctor. I don't think I would have liked it so much.

WHAT MAKES YOU INSPIRED?
Beautiful things.

WHAT MAKES YOU NEVER WANT TO WORK AGAIN?
Fake people.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SWEAR WORD?
Fuck. I also love the "c" word.

IF HEAVEN EXISTS, WHAT DO YOU WANT GOD TO SAY TO YOU WHEN YOU DIE?
I don't know... That's really sad! And I'm not religious whatsoever, and it's sad. I guess that he was really proud of me. That's all. ...I think the question should be, "What would the devil say?"