Meet Indigo Craane | Business Owner & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Indigo Craane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Indigo, what inspires you?
The intricacy of marionettes. Nosferatu vogueing. Long-haired daschunds. American McGee’s “Alice: Madness Returns.” Jan Švankmajer. Adrienne Lenker’s “Songs and Instrumentals” studio album. 2014-2016 Youtube. Morningside Park on 111th Street, New York. Gothic & Lolita Bible issues. Lace and cement. RPG Maker horror games (my favorites, “Ib” and “Mad Father”). Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is publicly seen through my clothing brand, Dollgarden. It is simply more than just a clothing brand– Dollgarden blends a mix of the eerie beauty of early-age web culture with vintage aesthetics.

Dollgarden was something I had started up as a passion project in my senior year of high school, screenprinting my favorite internet memes onto thrifted clothing. However, as I became more fond of the process of screenprinting clothing and experimenting with textures and layering images, I fell in love with remixing digital fragments into clothing pieces. That was the most authentic I could be as an artist or as a clothing brand; reworking internet imagery, personal poetry, or language into each garment is like reworking a part of myself into each item. Dollgarden is more than just clothing to me– it is a way I can visually portray the landscape of my mind.

I look forward to how I can branch out within my work, both in and outside the studio. My partner and I have recently launched a curated pop-up called “Mortem Market” in West Los Angeles. We try to include some of everything here, so typically there are booths ranging between European designer and archival fashion resale, handmade artisanal clothing, flash tattoos, accessories, photography, etcetera. One winter market, we had a maid cafe– which was pretty cool. My partner and I have been working on a multi-media fabric project together that we will hopefully launch at an art exhibit come summer. It’s exciting, I look forward to seeing it in its finished stages.

Aside from that, I am ecstatic at the prospect of the future, both in terms of terms of fashion and in my artwork. I know that this is only the beginning– with time, I know that the creative landscape of Dollgarden and my mind will only continue to expand and flourish.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Let’s see– if someone were to visit Los Angeles, I would tell them to primarily lurk in the downtown area. I always love roaming through the Fashion District and Arts District, there is always something good to find over there. You can find a lot of beautiful jewelry or artwork if you are looking for it.
But! I would likely take someone to Little Tokyo for a day trip. It’s always so fun– I was just there last weekend for the Square Enix pop-up. I usually go there when I am looking to add to my figurine collection (over fifty Sonny Angels and counting, to someone those are rookie numbers). I love going to BOOKOFF in that area as well, there are always some crazy collectibles circulating in there.
Or I would take someone to Sawtelle in West Los Angeles. It’s just this three or four-block strip of kitsch stores and restaurants. I like popping by in this store and gallery there, Giant Robot and GR2. I appreciate how they feature the works of Asian and Asian-American artists or pop culture. If we got hungry, I would go to Anzu across the street. Best karaage ever.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to shout out my mother. My business would not have started had she not gifted me a heat press as an early high school graduation present ^__^

Website: https://dollgarden.shop/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d0llgarden/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mortemheart

Image Credits
David Nikolic