Since founding their fashion label SC103 in 2019, Claire McKinney and Sophie Andes-Gascon have kept things fresh by resisting dominant trends. The pair met while studying fashion at Pratt, where they felt encouraged to “individualize [their] own work” from day one, and were quickly hired by independent New York fashion brands after graduation. They launched their label while working full-time, putting on self-produced runway shows that highlighted their organic and tactile designs as a reaction against the fashion world’s culture of exclusivity.

In 2021, they committed to SC103 full-time, and have since seen their work covered in Harpers Bazaar and Vogue. They hosted pop-up shops in their full-time studio space in Manhattan (before a recent move to Red Hook, Brooklyn), where they produced and designed all of their garments, and where they spoke with Prattfolio last spring about their interest in tangible creative experiences that can be traced back to Pratt. (The duo gave joint responses over email to the following Q&A, which has been edited and condensed.)

A rack of clothing of varying colors, plaids, and prints, and textures
A white studio doorway with handpainted sign reading SC103 Store above bag of flower petals

How did you begin collaborating? 

Claire McKinney & Sophie Andes-Gascon: We met in class and had many of the same professors in the Fashion Department. While we didn’t start collaborating until after Pratt, we began to admire each other’s work beginning junior year. We participated in group gallery shows, shops, and competitions organized by the department and started to see compatibility through these opportunities to share work with each other. While in the program, we were focused on developing our individual skills and visions—our design collaboration began after graduating.

To document a final project junior year, we pooled our resources (our friend as a model, one of our backyards as a shoot location) and served as each other’s shoot assistants day-of, photographing on our own cameras . . . a glimpse of future SC103 collection shoots!

Fashion-fitting photographs pinned up in a row on white walls
Two designers confer at a work table

How did your time at Pratt influence your practice today?

CM & SAG: When we were at Pratt, we were in an environment that really welcomed exploring, and we had the space to bounce ideas off of each other and do joint projects. We got a taste of what it’s like to work with other people.

SAG: I think our teachers at Pratt at the time saw the work that we were capable of. There were some great nudges in the right direction and encouragement to explore. Jennifer Minniti, who was the chair of the Fashion Department, has continued to help us even along the journey into SC103. So we’ve definitely kept a lot of context from Pratt and have tapped into that as needed—we’ve shared a lot of great experiences there.

A box labeled leather spaghetti spills tendrils onto a table covered with printed fashion images
Designer adjusts the fringed lapel of a light blue coat

CM: There was encouragement from faculty to individualize your own work—and they really spoke to us like we were designers from freshman year, which helped us solidify our creative vision. I think that is a huge encouragement, because as a student facing the workforce and trying to figure out where you fit in the industry, you can start to feel like your voice is being muffled a little bit. But I think being spoken to as a designer from the beginning of the program gets you really excited to continue to craft your own vision.

SAG: It’s different from some of the other programs that we know people attended outside of Pratt. Pratt had a big focus on the handwork, making processes, and materiality. To create your own habit of working. Creating our own studio practice started at Pratt, just nurturing this love of making and of designing and creating.

CM: We’ve definitely carried that into SC103. We love our studio time here, and outside of just the business aspects of operating the brand, I think what grounds us is knowing that we still love the design process the most, and getting our hands dirty.

A row of leather-link handbags lean against a white wall with colorful collages
Pulled-back look, from the studio doorway, inside a fashion workspace, with work table flanked by two designers, sewing machine, and samples

What words of advice from your time as a student have stayed with you?

CM & SAG: Take advantage of this time to build healthy work habits as a foundation of your future practice.

Acknowledge the time you have to explore and be guided by your own creative voice.

Work beyond what is required of you, for your own fulfillment.

Photos by Dahlia Dandashi, at the SC103 studio in Manhattan