The EA Anthropologie collaborators artist interview series continues with Alexa Pulitzer, designer of elegant and whimsical stationery and accessories. Besides the adorable alphacritter mousepads currently on Anthropologie’s site, Ms. Pulitzer has created a beautiful array of regal designs that are sold at boutiques worldwide. With a mixture of architectural, structural and zoological inspiration, Ms. Pulitzer’s work fits right into the Anthro lover’s aesthetic evoking the kind of understated cool that we scour design magazines for. Suddenly writing notes is the fun way to go again!
I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Pulitzer via email recently, and in reading the answers I thought it best to share this round in straightforward interview style. I loved hearing about her adventures growing up and her inspiring attitude about starting her own business. I not only covet the designs now; I want to grab coffee with this talented artist sometime in New Orleans!
roxy: Growing up, your family owned a textile company. What roles did your parents play in the company? Were you exposed to the business as a child?
Alexa Pulitzer: I was raised my by father, Arthur, who ran the company together with his brother and father, Sam C. Pulitzer (who started the company in 1926, with his brother, Emanuel.) My father was in merchandising and sales and his brother was on the finance end. From a very young age, I was exposed to my family’s neckwear companies, Wembley and Countess Mara and allowed to spend my free time in their art department. At 15, I created my first neckwear design to be sold in the mass market and it never slowed down from there. In my teens, I spent a good part of each summer in Como, Italy together with my father, who generously exposed me to the silk industry (where he would buy silk for the ties.) I was instructed to listen, learn everything and not to talk.
roxy: I saw trips to Italy mentioned in your Facebook bio. Where else did you travel as a child?
Alexa Pulitzer: As a child, I spent my summers in Maine growing a garden, cooking, drawing and discovering The Beatles with my grandmother, Terry – my mentor. As children, we vacationed in San Miguel de Allende and Aspen. As a teen, I spent summers in Europe (mostly Como, Milano, Paris, Provence and London but we also visited the many jazz festivals in Switzerland.) I went to boarding school in New York and spent every free moment in the city absorbing the art in the many awesome museums and collecting music in the village.
roxy: Did those trips inspire your designs?
Alexa Pulitzer: Traveling was my hobby until I had children. Every penny I made I put towards travelling — I had a boyfriend in Vienna for sometime and it was a costly romance! Every trip I have taken has exposed me to new artists, people, architecture, culture, culinary treasures, textiles, cobble stones and flea markets – my favorite!
roxy: Were you raised in New Orleans? If not, where did you grow up and how did you come to live in NO?
Alexa Pulitzer: I was born and raised in New Orleans. I left New Orleans at 14 to attend The Masters School (a performing art school in Dobbs Ferry, NY) but returned home when I was 24 to start my professional career. In my 20’s New Orleans appeared to be a totally different place than what I had remembered as a young person – but then again, I resided in the raucous French Quarter and met all the musician friends that I hold dear to my heart today.
roxy: What kind of classes did you take at DU (University of Denver)?
Alexa Pulitzer: I was a Fine Arts major at University of Denver and took mostly art classes. I was fortunate to study abroad for my Junior year in Florence, Italy and focused on textile design, sculpture, painting, batik, and jewelry. I chose University of Denver because I could do a double major in business and fine art, but upon meeting the business teachers, I ran the other way. In hind sight I wish I had focused my studies on learning what did not come naturally to me, such as finance and business.
roxy: You worked in textiles after college. What made you decide to launch your stationery as a business?
Alexa Pulitzer: After I completed university in 1993, I apprenticed with Ratti Spa, (esteemed printers in Como, Italy) for a year in all of their European offices and then I returned to work for my family’s neckwear company and put my vast experience to the test. Long story short, my uncle (who ran the company with my father) told me that I would never be successful at the family’s company because I was a girl — and my speech impediment (I stutter.) My stationery company was born out of frustration! I took my necktie designs that were not being used in the market and made them into notepad and note-cards. After 9 years of designing stationery “on the side,” I decided to formally launch my company in 2004. My rationale was that if I ever was to become a mother, I would need flexibility in my professional life. I patiently and diligently worked until the right time to make the leap into independence and I did so with no business plan or knowledge of how to run a company.
roxy: Tell us about starting your own business. What were the challenges? Did you have help? What helped prepare you for the beginning?
Alexa Pulitzer: I began designing stationery for myself when I was 8 but my business was born out of the frustration I felt working for my family. My work was not being used and my sills were not being utilized. My little stationery business, which I referred to as “my hobby” for many years, started as a side business – something I passionately worked on during the week-ends and evenings to fulfill my creative needs. I did it all myself and had no help, and I see now that it grew slowly by my taking steady baby steps. Only after many years of doing it on the side did I have the courage to resign from my corporate job of designing textiles. My father always said, “never throw away your dirty water until you have fresh water.”
roxy: Is your company self-run, or do you have other employees?
Alexa Pulitzer: Recently I hired my first employee but for 14 years I did everything myself: design, prepress, sales, packaging, marketing, tradeshows – you name it. I love what I do so it didn’t seem crazy.
roxy: I was thrilled to read that your products are made in the USA! How does your production process work?
Alexa Pulitzer: “Made in USA by Quality minded Americans” was an impressionable motto that I read daily on a wall of my family’s neckwear factory. This quote has stuck with me throughout the years and I deeply relate to it – now more so than ever. I proudly make my products in the USA. I have walked away from licensing opportunities because the licensor would only produce in China. My wholesale collection and cups are printed in New Orleans. Custom Engraving and Letterpress portfolios are printed in Maine at William Arthur Inc.
roxy: Have your stockists found you, or have you publicized your product to get it stocked in boutiques?
Alexa Pulitzer: I prefer to “advertise” by donating my products to worthy causes. I do not use a PR company nor do attend trade shows. I want to be a kept secret to be discovered.
roxy: Besides stationery, I see you’ve done silk accessories. Have you created other products?
Alexa Pulitzer: I create entertainment products such as embroidered hand towels, cups, beverage napkins, and I recently created a collection of letter-pressed coasters using my newest alphabet, “Hornabet,” which is an assortment of Victorian letters wearing masculine horns. I collect taxidermy and love to draw letters so I put the two together. You can find the coasters at Bergdorf Goodman.
roxy: Tell us about your production process. What kind of press do you use to print your stationery?
Alexa Pulitzer: When I was 27, I bought my first Heidelberg presses, 42” paper cutter and die cut machinery and Katrina took them all away. Today I use a range of US based printing partners who use the mighty Heidelberg’s to create letterpress, engraving and offset printed papers for me. I do not digitally print works sold in my collection because it looks and is cheap.
roxy: We know to look for your creations at Anthropologie. What other stores carry your lines?
Alexa Pulitzer: I create exclusive collections for large retailers such as Anthopologie and Bergdorf Goodman but my wholesale collection can be found around the globe in antique & home furnishing stores, stationery & gift stores and museum shops.
roxy: How did your collaborations with Anthropologie come to be?
Alexa Pulitzer: My dear friend Seema Sudan (creator of Liamolly) designed knits for Anthropologie for years before she moved to New Orleans after Katrina, with her husband and children. Seema fell in love with NOLA (as we natives call New Orleans) and invited Wendy, Aaron and a handful of the amazing Anthropologie buyers to come down to experience the creativity oozing out of NOLA. Being connected here in NOLA, Seema asked for my help to plan their excursion here. They asked for an appointment with me on their initial visit and the seed was planted. My collaboration with Anthropologie has opened new creative partnerships doors and allowed me to grow as a company and I am very grateful for the opportunities they have provided me with.
roxy: Are there any future products we should know about?
Alexa Pulitzer: I have a new collection of 19 animal monograms (letters) that I am making into note-cards exclusively for Anthropologie. This collection will land in stores in August and remain there through the Holiday season. I am also working on a high end boxed set of engraved monogrammed notes with gold gilded edges for Bergdorf Goodman.
roxy: Tell us about living in New Orleans.
Alexa Pulitzer: I can live anywhere and believe me there are times that I seriously yearn for my life in Florence, Como and Paris, but nothing compares to my vibrant life in NOLA. It’s the unique characters and heart pounding, booty shaking music that make New Orleans what it is, on top on the joie de vivre lifestyle, tropical weather, fragrant fauna, and many architectural treasures. It’s sophisticated and refined yet easy to go under the radar – One can be anonymous here.
roxy: It seems like the artist community in NO is growing! Is that your sense as well?
Alexa Pulitzer: New Orleans is a port city which has attracted and inspired artists for decades. It may seem like artists are flocking here but they have always been here. What’s happening here now is a big spotlight is being focused on our little community, because we are having a renaissance. New Orleanians hit rock bottom and are rebuilding everything. Young hipsters and entrepreneurs understood the desperate need for change here and realized they could actually make a difference if they came here and have an amazing quality of life. Who wouldn’t want to live here?
roxy: Your designs have a truly regal feel, and I love the animals incorporated within. Where did the idea come from?
Alexa Pulitzer: Here in my native New Orleans we have celebration and theatricality in our blood and my work reflects that. I often use animals in my work because they are amazing designs in themselves and they project a deep inner strength and personality we humans often identify with. I place crowns on their heads to add a little fun, regality and decadence to the mix. I created my first crowned animal, “King Gator” seven years ago and this motif has become a trademark signature of mine.
roxy: Your prints have sparse use of color. Is this a design choice? Or is because of the printing process?
Alexa Pulitzer: Yes indeed, it’s a choice. My designs are primarily printed in one color because I find it easier to look at.
Be sure to come back later today for a chance to own a Ms. Pulitzer design!
Shop Alexa Pulitzer designs
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