Interview by Nancy Bulalacao

Nicole Noselli and Daphne Guttierrez were both students at Parsons School of Design. After working in the industry for a period after school they decided in 1995 to come together and start a design venture called Bruce. Phrases that float around the team: pitch perfect, the new establishment, quiet showstoppers. Among a number of honors and credits, last summer they won the prestigious CFDA Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent in Womenswear. Recently having moved into a spacious Chinatown studio, Nicole and Daphne are finding themselves stretching out, maturing, and growing a bit more fluid. We chatted with the engaging pair for a short while about how they got started and how things.

AP: Could you introduce yourselves? I know you met at Parsons and you started Bruce in 1995.

Nicole: We started about 2 years after we graduated. Both Daphne and I were working in the industry. We did two small collections: one [collection] just trying to figure out how to work with each other. [The second collection] actually gave us our start. We showed it to some people, started working with a stylist and he recommended us to his friend who works at The Face. They were doing this article about up and coming people and they included us. That was like our first start. Things just kind of started to happen from the first show. We started getting orders and lending out clothes for shoots.

AP: When did you start to get more solid and get your own space for Bruce?

Nicole: (laughs) Honestly since we moved into this space it feels more real-because before, for the past five years we've been working out of our apartment. We shared an apartment because we needed to save the money. We worked like that for five years (which was horrible). I mean we did it and I'm very surprised we were able to do it because I don't think most people could. It was really hard because at a certain point, we were never making a ton of money, but we were making some money. And then we stopped having an income. And then you live and work in the same place seeing the same person everyday and the space kept getting tinier and tinier.

Daphne: Not to mentioned having interns, people coming every day-you really have no personal space at all.

Nicole: Daphne and I would switch rooms. The front was the work room and at one point that was my room and then it ended up being Daphne's room and you know people are sitting on your bed! It was hard! I think both of us kind of realized you can't live like that. You know we were finally able to get this space and things feel a bit more real.

AP: Can you talk about your process? How you approach a season and how you work as a team?

Nicole: Things we don't like to do, which are the press and production, that we each have our own jobs. I'll maybe handle more of the press or ordering fabric and dealing with the fabrics. Daphne might deal with more of the construction of it. Those kinds of things we just found which one we do better but you know when it comes to design its really split down the middle.
Its been changing over the years how we work. Its been easier in a way because you kind of start getting on the same train of thought. We each know what we've done in the past. We work off of we've done previously. Before each collection we just get together and talk about what we want to do, then we research things on our own, sketch on our own, and then come together and talk about it to figure out what direction we should go in. But we realize we need to change things a little bit, the way that we're working. We're trying to be more together now on what we're designing.

AP: What's your favorite part of your new collection?

Daphne: I think the new collection, what I like about it, it sort of leans in the direction we've been trying to get to. It's more of a looser take on things. Definitely an emphasis on construction, but a more relaxed feel.

AP: Has the CFDA award done anything for Bruce?

Nicole: It probably has but we can't see it now. People definitely look at us differently and I'm sure people know who we are who wouldn't have. We've also become honorary CFDA members. I think the most important thing about it, is it sort of validates you for an audience who didn't know who you were.

AP: What kind of things do you enjoy doing outside of designing for Bruce? Do you work with other art forms?

Nicole: At this point neither of us does anything else because there's no time. Tell you honestly that's what it been like the past five years. We work a lot. We haven't really had time to do anything else. Both Daphne and I pour all our energy into this. All our free time is spent on this. I obviously have other interests. I ride my bike. I play tennis I don't do other types of artwork though. If I weren't doing this I'd do some other sort of design.
Daphne: I know what I wish I could do. I would actually like to get back into drawing again I have this thing where I always jot down the ideas that I have for drawings. I'd actually like to go back into fine arts maybe not necessarily make a career out of it. Then again treat it the same way I treat this.

AP:What do you like to read?

Nicole: We're very evasive (laughs). I really like reading about travel-because its something we can't do.