MISS SEPTEMBER 2008

REBECCA EDWARDS

Photo by Aubrey Edwards.

She’s done some modeling and looks like she’d be a pinup, but this Las Vegas beauty isn’t one exactly. She has a movie coming out in December, but she isn’t an actress either. No, she doesn’t shy away from cameras; her calling just usually has her on the other side of them. Her name is Rebecca Edwards and she is a fashion designer.

Her story goes something like this: Shortly after graduating the prestigious Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Rebecca was working as a freelance costume designer when she created her clothing company Poison Candy. She was living in the other Sin City, New Orleans, at the time. But by 2003 she moved across the country to Las Vegas and set up shop in Nevada’s city of sin.

With her fall collection coming this month and her debut in Keith Mosher’s revenge film “One Long Day” premiering right around the corner, PollyStaffle.com asked Rebecca if she would be our Miss September 2008. Always the trooper, she gladly accepted and we got the scoop on her career, answers on how her mailman got her involved with his film project and a bit on the modeling she has done. Rebecca also talks puppies, sewing, “C.S.I.” dead bodies, Halloween and more in this delicious, yet deadly edition of Polly’s Pinups.

SWEET & DANGEROUS

CCF: I want us to talk about your clothing company right off the bat. Poison Candy is dubbed “fashion for outlaws.” Tell me a bit about what that means and what Poison Candy is all about?

RE: Poison Candy is a combination of retro inspired pieces with a modern, edgy feel. I chose the name back in 2001 because it represented the balance between something very sweet and unassuming paired with something dangerous and volatile. The tagline “fashion for outlaws” was born out of my boredom with what I was seeing in the stores and magazines. Mainstream fashion seemed so cookie cutter and safe. When I compared my vision to what a lot of the large brands were doing, my customers seemed much more rebellious, fashion outlaws.

Photo by Lesley Slenning.

CCF: I see. Your site says you’ve been in love with fashion your entire life. So did you actually come out of the womb a fashionista?

RE: My Mom had incredible style and I remember all day shopping trips with her as a little girl. I liked all of the outfits that she bought me, except for the fancy dresses with the crinolines that my sister and I used to have to wear to church. It’s funny to me now that I hated the dresses so much since I often wear grown-up versions of them.

CCF: (LOL) Any particular stories from the early days like fashion shows for the neighborhood or anything like that?

RE: When I was a kid, I had a small sewing kit and scraps of fabric collected from random places that I would use to make clothes for my dolls. In a way, sewing became my outlet for a lot of the anxiety of growing up. The act of creating something beautiful has always given me a way to express myself. I liked to shop the thrift stores for old clothes, then change and reconstruct them into something completely original. My grandmother used to watch me hand sew and give me tips as I worked. She had this old Singer sewing machine that she used to repair all of my dolls’ torn up clothes. I thought she was a magician for repairing all of the little tears and holes so effortlessly. In many ways, sewing is a lost art that was much more appreciated in her day.

CCF: You are right. Sewing is very much a lost art. So when did you start Poison Candy and how did that come about?

RE: Poison Candy officially started in 2001 while I was living in New Orleans. I was designing a lot of costumes for people I knew, since in the Big Easy, there is always a costume party around the corner. Once people began seeing my work, I got offers to do small fashion shows and boutique owners wanted me to make stuff for them to sell in their stores. I thought about designing under my name, but it just seemed very boring to me. While walking through the French Quarter one night, the concept of Poison Candy just hit me. I ended up moving to Las Vegas in 2003, and the name Poison Candy followed me. Las Vegas was the perfect city for me to get serious about my career goals, and everything just seemed to fall into place. My website went online in September of 2005, and the rest is history.

CCF: You mentioned New Orleans, is that where you are from originally?

RE: I grew up in Southern California and lived there until I was 18. I moved around a lot before I came to Vegas. I was in Austin from ‘95-‘98, San Francisco from ‘98-‘99, Los Angeles from ‘99-2001, and New Orleans from 2001-2003.

CCF: Lot of great places to get exposed to various fashions that’s for sure. By the way, where do you get your ideas for the pieces that you design? Any particular inspirations - movies, music, people, eras, places, etc.?

RE: I am inspired by everything from classic films and vintage photographs to the urban fashion of Tokyo. I adore the retro cuts of the 40’s and 50’s, back when women would flaunt their curvy shapes and cinch themselves into wasp-waisted corsets. I have a very dark side to my personality that often comes out when I design. When something is looking too prim and proper to me, I can’t resist the urge to add a spider broach or make it using a fabric covered in skulls. The style groups from our fall collection were inspired by some of my favorite female movie characters. If you share my taste in film, you will probably recognize them. I think that the names probably give it away.

Photo by Mark. K. Hollinger.

CCF: Cool. And speaking of your fall collection, it is coming out this month. Any particular items that you are excited about that you think will be the most popular?

RE: I am always excited about every style group, so it’s hard to narrow it down. I’m really loving the “Wanda” jacket and the “Satine” dress is something that I have had in my sketchbook for a couple of years.

CCF: And besides your site PoisonCandyFashion.com, where can people find these clothes?

RE: We currently wholesale to over 50 boutiques, both domestic and international. There is a list of our authorized retailers on the “about” page of our website.

CCF: Fair enough. At the end of August, you teamed up with the Suicide Girls and had a fashion show here in Vegas. How did that go and how often do you have events like this?

RE: I had so much fun working with Suicide Girls. Missy from SG was a wonderful help to me with the planning and our SG models were fabulous. I love putting on fashion shows and have many more in the works. Iconoclastic Entertainment set the whole thing up and I look forward to working with them in the future on more wonderful projects.

CCF: You’re not a pinup model, But you have done some modeling, right? What type of modeling have you done? And are there any Suicide Girl-type photo shoots in your future? (LOL)

RE: I started posing for shoots back in 1997 when my sister was studying photography. Over the years I have done a little fetish, pinup, and product modeling. When Poison Candy first started, I had a difficult time finding models, so I would often have to model the clothes myself. These days, I have the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing ladies in the business, so I seldom shoot anymore. I always like to have a portrait done every few months, usually with one of my pups. People really like to see photos of me. I think it’s mostly because they are curious about what the girl behind the PC brand looks like. As far as Suicide Girl style photos, I’ll leave that one to the professionals.

CCF: (LOL) Okay. Switching gears, you recently did some acting for Keith Mosher’s movie “One Long Day.” How did you get involved and what was that experience like?

RE: Keith Mosher is my mailman. One day he asked me if I would be interested in acting in his movie. I thought that the project sounded cool, so I agreed. As far as the experience goes, I’m not really sure how to describe it. I had a lot of fun most of the time, although I think that I was asleep for a lot of it. I am nocturnal by nature, so the early morning call times were tough for me. A lot of the scenes we filmed had last minute script changes and I didn’t find out until right before we began filming. I was like “What now, I thought I was saying (blank)? Now I’m saying (blah, blah, blah) and shooting a gun?” We had a lot of stuff to film on location in a very short time, so there was a bit of pressure to hustle through the scenes at a fast rate. Most days I was just doing my best to remember my lines and hoped that my hair looked decent.

Photo by Mark. K. Hollinger.

CCF: I haven’t seen any completed scenes yet, but I am sure your hair is fine. You said Keith was your mailman. So had you seen him before off and on delivering mail, etc. and then one day he asked about the movie or what exactly? Also, at the time he approached you were you thinking, “What is this guy some pervert that wants to shoot a porno or a snuff film?” (LOL)

RE: Keith was always pretty nice to me. He would bring outgoing mail to my door if I forgot to stamp it, give me my mail if he saw me around the neighborhood before he made it to my house, you know, thoughtful mailman stuff. We would talk a bit when I saw him. I would imagine that the mailman would know a lot about you by what kind of magazines you subscribe to and such, so there were plenty of topics to chat about when we ran into each other. I think he just asked me one day if I did any acting (standard L.A. pick-up line). I told him that I had done some modeling here and there over the years, but was a fashion designer by trade. Keith mentioned that he had been looking for someone to play the Nikki part in his movie. Honestly, he seemed a little nervous, kind of like he expected to get slapped, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He emailed me a scene from the script later that evening, and I figured it would be fun a fun project. I have always supported small business and respect the entrepreneurial spirit. So my mailman wants to be a filmmaker? Why the hell not?

CCF: That’s a great story. Now, in the film you play the character Nikki Skars. What’s she like and how does she fit into the “One Long Day” world, which is predominately filled with males, guns and violence?

RE: I think that Nikki has a lot in common with the guys as far as the guns and violence go. I wasn’t told much about the character other than how I should dress and deliver my lines. To me, Nikki considers herself an elitist and a bit of a badass. She has a job working with men that she feels are just bullies and beneath her standards. Nikki has a big chip on her shoulder because she doesn’t like the fact that most of the guys she comes in contact with are misogynistic and underestimate her capabilities. She has a very cruel and sadistic nature. Working for Tony Revario allows her to be evil with some sort of purpose. I think that Tony is probably the only man that she has any respect for, so impressing him is important to her.

CCF: As far as acting, is this something you’d like to do more of? If so, what type of roles interest you?

RE: I did some theatre acting in high school and enjoyed stepping into the shoes of the characters I was portraying. I don’t have any plans to really pursue any future acting, although I wouldn’t turn a project down if I thought it was interesting or the price was right. I would like to play a horror movie Scream Queen at least once in my life and being a cadaver on “C.S.I.” would be really neat.

CCF: I got to play dead during a fight scene in “One Long Day” and to tell you the truth it wasn’t that fun, but it was pretty hot and we were in the desert… I hear you are a big dog lover. How many little puppies do you have, what types do you have and what are their names?

RE: I have three Chihuahuas. Salvador and Priscilla are rather big, around 20 pounds. each. Lola is five months old and weighs in at three pounds.

CCF: I brought up your pets because one of the things that Keith said inspired him to make “One Long Day” was his love for animals. The main character in the film has his dog killed and that sends him down his vengeful path. Although the film is on the comical side, did that aspect of the film connect with you?

RE: Once I read the script, I really liked the concept of Gruff seeking revenge for the murder of Fluffy. I consider my pups family and I take the responsibility of caring for them very seriously. One of the things that was fun about playing Nikki was a scene that I filmed with my dog Priscilla, who plays one of Tony’s dogs. Nikki is pretty hateful, so she doesn’t really care for cute, furry little creatures. Every time we filmed the scene I had to act rather disgusted by Prissy, but in between takes, I would be kissing her and telling her that she was a star.

Photo by Lesley Slenning

CCF: (LOL) Lastly, Halloween is rapidly approaching. We here at PollyStafle.com are huge fans of the holiday. How about yourself, are you a big celebrator of Halloween?

RE: I have always loved Halloween. My Dad says that I was crazy about it even as a little girl because I got to dress up however I wanted for a night. My Grandmother made me a witch costume one year and I remember putting it on every day after school and riding my bike around the neighborhood like the Wicked Witch of the West. Some of the first costumes I ever made were for me and my little sister. My parents and Grandparents had always made my costumes when I was a kid, and I took over the tradition as I grew up. Homemade costumes are the best because they are completely unique and the whole process is so exciting. I try to bring that same kind energy when I do custom work for my clients... It feels wonderful to wear something stunning that no one else has on the most awesome night of the year.

CCF: So true. Store bought costumes are such crap. That’s why I am telling everyone I know to have you make them a costume. Think you can sew me a giant armadillo suit to wear? (LOL) Anyway, thanks for talking with me. I’ll probably see you at the “One Long Day” premiere.

- CCF, September 2008