Dear Creatures is a Los Angeles, nostalgic clothing brand created by power couple Rob Sinclair and Bianca Benitez. After launching their independent label, notable celebrities including actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, Elle Fanning, and Mischa Barton have all boarded the Creatures train. After discovering Dear Creatures for ourselves, we fell in love with the eccentric brand with all our whimsical glee.

Q. How exactly did “Dear Creatures” come about?
BIANCA: I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise in Los Angeles in 2004 and there after worked as an assistant designer to the owner of a clothing line called U.S. Rags. I was helping the owner with some designing [for the brand] as well as helping him operate the administrative end. The owner suggested that I should start my own clothing line to which I have not ever thought of actually doing at that point in my life. But the more I thought about it and the more support I was receiving from the people I was working with as well as my family, the idea of starting my own business started becoming less intimidating. I spoke to my boyfriend and now fiancé, Rob Sinclair, who at the time was running his own business as the co-founder and designer for his own men’s label, Brown Sound clothing. We decided that together we would launch Dear Creatures and in about six months we created a small collection which we debuted in 2008. Once we started getting numerous orders from stores, we knew we had something special and the brand just kept growing from there.
ROB: I’ve had several jobs as Creative Director for other companies before I co-founded and launched the men’s label, Brown Sound Clothing.

Q. Is it ever difficult working with your spouse? Did you think twice before launching the line?
ROB: In the beginning…yes it was difficult at times. We had both never worked with a significant other before, so this brought a whole other level into our relationship and we were learning how to balance working and not letting work effect our personal lives. We didn’t think twice though. We both knew from the very first moment that if we were going to launch a line that we wanted to do it together. We’ve been doing Dear Creatures together for almost 4 years now and we’ve learned so much about each other like one of our weaknesses can be the other’s strength. It’s all about balance and I think we’ve learned how to do that really well. It’s now really fun to get to work with your spouse!

Q. Who or where do you get your inspiration from for Dear Creatures? How would you describe the vibe and image of the brand?
ROB: There’s such a broad range of things that we get inspired from. It can be an iconic figure from the past who we adore such as Jean Seberg or Anna Karina. We’ve been inspired by the folk art of Alexander Girard, Marilyn Neuhart, and Bjorn Wiinblad. We’ve even been inspired by the Disneyland ride “It’s A Small World” and the artist who designed it, Mary Blair. For the most part the vibe of the brand is nostalgic to people and things we love from the past but we always update each piece so that the modern [and average] everyday girl can wear it.

Q. What are the biggest challenges you have witnessed in this fashion industry? Do you ever feel pressured to live up to the hype of the major brands?
BIANCA: The biggest challenge is that I think independent fashion brands today have a lot more competition than they used to back a few decades ago. We have to compete with big corporate stores that have more capabilities and resources to pump out clothes faster and cheaper than the average independent small business can. However, this puts us on our toes and we work extra hard to try to make sure that each one of our pieces is special and unique and we believe that people who are looking for that will seek out smaller independent brands. It would be a lie if we said we didn’t feel pressured to live up to the hype of major brands. But most of those brands didn’t start off big and I really enjoy learning how those brands started small and then grew to the brands they are today.

Q. How has the response been from the customers, celebrities, and press since Dear Creatures launched?
BIANCA: Overwhelmingly positive, especially on the social media side. The fact that today we are able to actually connect directly with our customers over the internet has really been so beneficial to our business. We learn so much from our Facebook and Twitter fans like what styles they want to see come back, which pieces are the most popular, what countries is the brand popular in and people even submit pictures of themselves wearing Dear Creatures, or they will make inspiration boards with how they would style Dear Creatures pieces. We enjoy reading blogs about the brand as well and were pleasantly surprised to see how many blogs on Dear Creatures there were! We adore Zooey Deschanel and she can be seen wearing Dear Creatures from time to time. Elle Fanning and Hailee Steinfeld were also seen wearing Dear Creatures recently. I think one of my favorite parts about my job is being able to see other people enjoy Dear Creatures. That’s really what it’s all about.

Q. What plans do you have in the future for Dear Creatures? Are you looking to expand the brand? If so, how?
ROB: We going to be launching another label where our goal is to sell pieces that retail under $100. It will be a separate division from Dear Creatures but under the same umbrella. This is still in the very beginning stages and it won’t be launching until 2012.

Q. So how would you describe your fall line? Where did you get your ideas from for this line?
We’d describe it as a little more sophisticated than what you’ve seen from Dear Creatures in the past. We did some pieces with silkier fabrics too. The color palette is very subdued and earthy but there are pops of color like plum and blue. We were inspired by a fictional character we made up about a suburban girl in the late 1960’s with long straight blonde hair, perhaps someone close what Marcia Brady from the Brady Bunch or Michelle Phillips from the “Mamas and the Papas” band looks like. On the surface, the girl seems to be living a picture perfect mid-century Americana life however she is curious and mischievous. There’s a dark humor and melancholy underneath it all. We thought of this character when conceptualizing the look and feel of the Fall 2011 season.