Lisa Brochu and Lauren Walker have one advantage over the contemporary market. Brochu Walker’s two designers have lived on and studied the East Coast, West Coast, and the Midwest, and their mobility is reflected in their three year-old collection. Creating their lines with versatility and climate-adaptability in mind, Brochu Walker is ideal for the woman whose work brings her across the country week-to-week or the woman whose style wavers between sophisticated and cozy, buttoned up and laid back.

Originally from New York, the pair connected in L.A. when Lisa was working at Joie and Lauren was working at Ya Ya. With Lisa’s background in design and Lauren’s in merchandising, the two struck a harmony between their pasts and their visions for the future at a dinner for a mutual friend. We recently talked to Lisa and Lauren about their stints at Joie and Ya Ya, why sequins are integral to any wardrobe, and how Brochu Walker’s aesthetic has the edge and classic feel of Chicago.


What were there things that you picked up at Joie and Ya Ya that you carried into your own brand?

LB: There are definitely fabrications and similar silhouettes but the DNA of the brand is so different from Joie and Ya Ya. Joie has a hippie-boho vibe and that is very different from our aesthetic. Both of those brands are L.A. brands, founded by women in Los Angeles that have a particular style. Lauren and I have a much different, East Coast style. L.A. is more laid back in the way that they dress everyday and NYC is a little bit more proper.

LW: One of the reasons we started Brochu Walker was because we were both working for very contemporary brands. We grew out of that aesthetic and were ready for something more.

What is the Brochu Walker style?

LB: The Brochu Walker style is about layering. It’s neutral and earthy. It’s a sweater-based collection so we do a lot of little tee shirts and layered sweatshirts for a climate like L.A.’s, where you can layer up in the morning and shed throughout the day so you’re in a tee shirt by the afternoon, and then a sweater with a scarf [by evening]. I have a much more classically-defined style, and Lauren has an edgier, eclectic style so the brand reflects that.

Which pieces from the spring collection are mainstays in your own wardrobes?

LW: We did sequins that can be taken back to a white tee or a light-weight sweater that will jazz that up with a pair of jeans for a night-and-day sort of vibe. I think that will be a very integral part of my closet for spring, because of the climate in L.A., and even the climate in the Midwest and the East Coast. [Sequins] can be taken through seven or eight months of the year. Those are going to be staples in my wardrobe.

What did you enjoy about your stay in Chicago?

LW: The biggest thing to me is seeing the leaves, because seeing the reds and the foliage is something that we don’t really get in California. It’s a beautiful city and I love the architecture.

We have a lot of friends there, and I lived there for about a year. I moved to be with my husband, who was then my fianceé. He had lived there for 10 years and had been a Mark Shale shopper forever, so the store has a lot more meaning for me. I used to go shopping with him there all of the time [and] we just saw the store and it looks amazing. We’re really excited to be in it.

How would you encapsulate the Chicago style?

LW: Chicago has a really nice diversity. All of our customers are very different. There can be that classic woman who wants a beautiful sweater in the foundation of her wardrobe, and there can also be a funky girl in Bucktown who’s wearing our sweaters with tie-boots and a tee shirt. Chicago has an edge, but there’s a classic story as well.


-- As told to Marissa Muller, Marketing Coordinator