Kane, Robinson team up to debut Maverix clothing line

Columbia Nashville's Christian Kane (who many will remember fondly as the maniacal Lindsey from the television show Angel) has teamed up with stylist Heather Robinson to launch their latest endeavor Maverix, a rock n' roll inspired bikini and lingerie line. 

To celebrate the design duo unveiled their first collection at Nashville's hot spot Lime in June. The packed crowd of industry insiders and fashionistas sipped on sangria as models strutted the unique designs down the runway.  After the show, the festivities continued on into the night with a surprise birthday celebration for Christian Kane, who will also be releasing his Columbia Records debut in the fall.  Designed for women who want to feel sophisticated yet sexy, these coveted pieces will be available on-line at www.maverixusa.com.

Before the show Christian Kane and Heather Robinson sat down with O&AN at Lime to talk about the fashion line and Kane's upcoming release on Columbia Nashville.

O&AN: Heather, as the designer what was the initial inspiration for this line?

Heather Robinson: There is so much lingerie out there that is appropriate for a photoshoot on a girl who weighs 90 pounds wet but it has absolutely nothing to do with real women and the female form. Christian and I did a lot of research and went through every image we could possibly find and what really inspired us most was the 1950s and '60s pin-ups because that was really the height of femininity for women. We wanted modern silhouettes with vintage color palettes and themes such as the bikinis that feature the vintage rock & roll shirt designs from Led Zeppelin and Motley Crue and others. We also incorporated classic T-shirt designs from Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and others. What we really wanted to avoid was it looking like someone had vomited a bedazzler on something.

O&AN: What was it about Heather's ideas that sold you on the project, Christian?

Christian Kane: I’m a lingerie fanatic. I’ve always wanted to do this. The problem is the lingerie I really loved was six or seven years ago. Victoria’s Secret had a really good thing going, but now it’s all about Fredericks of Hollywood. I wanted to bring the class and the romance back into lingerie. I know where I’m going and I don’t need to see it until I get there. It’s not about the thong and what you can see. It’s about what you can’t see. It’s about the mystery and the romance. People may disagree with me but that turns me on more than anything else. I felt like it was time to bring that back and that’s what we were trying to do.

HR: One of the things we talked a lot about was how incredibly sexualized 12-year-old girls are now in our society, and so we decided we definitely wanted to separate woman from child and that is something that is very important to thirty-something women. Sexiness is a suggestion. We really wanted the strength of our line to be that it was as sophisticated as it was sexy.

Christian Kane: The classier and more demure, to me, means more forbidden. To me a black lace tong equals easy access. The forbidden idea really brings back the mystique of lingerie.

O&AN: What are some of the aspects of the designs that really stand out most to you?

HR: As a thirty-something woman I am engaged in a losing battle with gravity. One of the things I really thought of as a real benefit of this line is the soft under support in the bras that help support everything comfortably but is much more comfortable than underwires that can pinch. It is so comfortable that you can actually sleep in it. I wanted these pieces to be something that you can put on any time you want to feel good about yourself but you don’t want to be uncomfortable because of some ill devised contraption strapped to your chest.

CK: Romance doesn’t always have to do with two people. It’s all about having a level of confidence. There is an emotional element to wardrobe that is essential that we hope this line will incorporate that creates a sort of lifestyle choice for people to invest themselves in. These clothes are not made for deep tanned women who put on tons of make-up and tease up their hair to sit by the side of the pool and not get wet at all. These clothes are totally functional, but completely inviting and comfortable to the wearer.

O&AN: What do you feel like was the most difficult aspect of designing this line?

HR: Most people don’t realize how much thought goes into clothing. A Bra has 36 pieces alone. Can you imagine how easy it is to get lost in translation when you are dealing with something that complex? It takes vision and experience and we feel like we have both with Maverix.

CK: Another important element to our line is that t is all 100% made in the USA at all cost.  I think it’s important to keep the work here because we have too many people who need honest work in this country who can’t get it because we send all of our work overseas. I’m proud of American and I like having the flag stamped on our product showing it was made here, not somewhere else.

HR: As a fashion designer, knowing that there are small children living in a third world country who work overtime to create a textile makes me feel horrible as a person. As someone who would die for fashion I would hate to know what it to cost to make. I’d like to know that my fashion comes from someone who is part of the community and has health benefits and when I ask them to work overtime when they mess something up I don’t feel bad.

O&AN: Christian, your single from the new album drops in September. What can fans expect to hear from this album?

CK: The sound that people can expect from this album will be exactly what the fans of my L.A. band Kane have come to expect. I’m working with Jimmy Lee Sloas (Garth Brooks, Keith Urban) and that was one of my biggest things is I wanted to keep my sound intact. It’s definitely country but we aren’t veering from the sound we developed in the Viper Room. There is some definite Rock influence in the music and that’s just the way I wanted it to be.

O&AN: A lot of people have the misconception that you are just now jumping on the country music bandwagon but you have actually been playing country music for a long time now. Can  you elaborate on that?

CK: There is no doubt about the fact that I’m a country boy at heart. I grew up in Oklahoma in the middle of nowhere so believe me when I tell you I know the country well. What nobody really knows is I got my first acting job because I was a country singer. People will always think what they want to think but the truth of the matter is that country music is at the root of everything I’ve done.

O&AN: Are there any other surprises people should listen for on the new album?

CK: The great thing about doing this album is I finally get to include some ballads. When we played at the Viper room we could never do ballads because we’d start to loose the crowd. We always had to keep rocking. The ballads like More Than I Deserve and All I Did Was Love Her will all still rock but they will definitely be ballads. They will just have more Stratocaster than the Telecaster. I’m really proud of them and hopefully I’ll surprise some people.

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