Amanda: What was your earliest experience with knitwear?

Aisling: The first time I was introduced to knitwear, well the making of knitwear, was at the Fashion Institute of Technology when I was getting my BA. Probably the first time I saw someone knitting was a rastaman in St. James who used to make and sell hats.

AM: What was your route into design?

AC: It was a pretty unexpected journey. I always liked to draw and paint and remember saying firmly as a child that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. Luckily, I was also very good at math and science and that naturally segued into studying Mechanical Engineering. I happened to work at an engineering firm across the street from FIT in NY, and decided to take some classes there on nights and weekends for fun, to scratch my creative itch if you will. Fast forward a couple years and I started my own knitwear brand back home in Trinidad.

AM: If someone had never heard of Aisling Camps, how would you describe the brand?

AC: It's a technical, textural, sculptural approach to knits.

AM: What is your daily routine?

AC: I wake up at 6:30am everyday now and make two bottles for the twins. Change diapers, make breakfast, play with them for a bit until our nanny comes. Sometimes I squeeze in a workout then I'm off to the studio to run the business. I'm at the office by 10am. Right now we're in the middle of production so we're working tirelessly so we can ship next month. I leave here around 5:30pm and I'm back home and into mom mode again. Make sure babies are fed, changed and in bed by 8pm. My husband and I catch up once the babies are sleeping but we're usually exhausted and crash soon after that.

AM: How long have you been in this building?

AC: I moved here in November 2020.

AM: What means the most to you in your office?

AC: The light! We have 4 giant 10'x10' windows that are floor to ceiling. It definitely boosts your mood to have so much light, even on the dreariest days. Just having the space feels like such a luxury because I ran this business from my apartment for several years. Having a place I can go to that is dedicated to my work has changed everything. The fact that it's also walking distance from where I live makes all the difference as well. Sometimes the twins stop by to say hello.

AM: As an immigrant, why New York?

AC: An opportunity. There's an energy in this city and anything is possible in NY. I had visited when I was a teenager and it was vastly different from where I came from, well where we came from. I was drawn to it immediately. Once I was accepted at Columbia University for engineering school, it was a no brainer.

AM: Tell me what it was like working at Yeezy? What did you learn most?

AC: Well you know I signed an NDA so I can't divulge much, but I will say that I worked with such a wonderful group of individuals. The talent was top tier when I was there and I felt lucky to be in the room with such impressive individuals.

The knitwear team experimented a lot with fabrication, finishing and really thinking outside the box. It was a great creative incubator. Most importantly I got to work directly under Flora Gill who is a knitwear OG and has a wealth of knowledge and experience under her belt having run her own brand, Ohne Titel, for ten years. I got connected with great people in my field while I was there. One of them, Elise Pelletier, still works with me to this day.

AM: What was it like collaborating with Isabella Rossellini and Moda Operandi? Is there anyone else you’d like to collaborate with? 

AC: When I met Isabella, I felt like I had known her my whole life. She picked me up from the Bellport train station and we spent the evening chatting about her chickens and my opera singing parrot over delicious wine and homemade carbonara. It was a bit surreal. It took about a year and a half from getting the wool from the animals to being spun, to design and execution. It was April Hennig, the CMO at Moda, who pitched me for the farm to fashion project and I was so happy she did. We collaborated with Moda to shoot the collection and sold the pieces made from Isabella’s wool exclusively on their site. It was a resounding success. They did a great job telling the story of local wool meeting luxury fashion. I‘d never worked with such a large team and they were a pleasure to work with and made it easy, especially in my condition. I wish I wasn’t so pregnant and tired so I could have enjoyed launching the project more without the swollen feet… but I am so happy to have the photos to show my kids what mommy was doing while she was growing them in her belly. And I'd love to work with Bottega Veneta, I've really been enjoying their knits.

AM: What’s the ultimate dream for you?

I'm a nerd at heart at the end of the day. I would love to spend all day working with experienced knitwear programmers and really take my creativity in knitwear to the next level. Being able to develop with the technicians and programmers at Alaïa would be fantastic.

AM: What music do you play in your studio?

AC: Lately I've been listening to Erykah Badu in the studio. She calms me and cracks me up at the same time.