Sister, sister

1 Rachel Dagdagan // February 2012

Sister, sisterSisters Cyrille and Lise Gulassa talk growing up, separate careers, and the path that ultimately led them to establish an international design house

Sisters Cyrille and Lise have both led successful careers in the fashion and arts industries, but they’re at their happiest when working to-gether. Individually, they have exhibited artwork internationally. Most recently, SistersGulassa vibrant and illustrative designs have been li-

censed by The North Face, Clinique, and Paperchase. Pulling inspiration from folk art, calligraphy and a mutual love for travel,

Lise’s California brights compliment Cyrille’s neutral palette. The results are whimsical, yet grown-up prints that look beautiful on everything from sta-tionary to home textiles. With Lise based in Santa Cruz, California, and Cy-rille in Vienna, SistersGulassa is truly an international design house. Since its founding in 2008, the sisters have built a global client list in both the surface design and trend forecasting fields.

EXPERIENCESConsidering the artistic and com-

mercial success of SistersGulassa, it’s hard to believe that the company was established just under four years ago.

Before founding the company, both sisters accumulated a varied work history. “I started as an Art Di-rector at Saatchi&Saatchi, Budapest, and then quit to start my own life-style magazine, which due to many factors had a short, sweet life,” says Cyrille. She continues, “From there I went on to be the Creative Direc-tor for Connex in Bucharest, and in between working freelance interna-tionally, I was also creating art and exhibiting internationally.”

While Cyrille covered Eastern Europe, Lise worked in California. “I spent years designing for both the young men’s and women’s markets

a sisters gulassa collage with cyrille (left) & lise (right)


SistersGulassa prints spill over the surfaces in the Vienna atelier


for a variety of companies,” says Lise. “My first job out of FIDM [Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandis-ing] was a job for a young men’s com-pany called Saturdays. We travelled quite a bit back then so I got used to travel being an integral part of the design process. I later was freelanc-ing for other companies, and teach-ing part-time at FIDM.”

She continues, “Later I took a job as head designer for Levi Strauss & Co. After a few years I was recruited to Bucharest to start a clothing line. It was there I had the good fortune of working with my sister.”

“We worked together in Bucha-rest, Romania, where she started a very successful clothing line for the company,” adds Cyrille. “When she returned to the states, she got her degree in painting, and began exhib-iting internationally, while still teach-ing at FIDM. I stole her away from that to work exclusively for us! Now, SistersGulassa is full-time for both of us.”

BUILDING THE COMPANYEven though they spent most of their lives working separately, work-ing for the same company in Bu-charest cemented the idea of work-ing together as a career. “When we were working together [in separate departments] in Bucharest, we had this thought: my goodness, we both love travel, we love visuals, art, de-sign, we have complimentary skills, and a familial bond... we should really do something together,” says Cyrille. Lise adds, “After working together in Romania, we knew it could work.”

Sibling rivalry? Not here. If their client list is an indicator, these two know how to collaborate. “We have

knew we could ask our talented fam-ily to contribute and we could have a very interesting collection in a short time. Indeed, we had designs from our mother, brothers, sisters-in law and cousins.”

The pivotal moment came shortly after that whirlwind preparation and show at Indigo. “After our first cou-ple of shows when we had fabulous clients, license deals, and people lin-ing up to see our work. We thought, wow! Maybe we really do have some-thing here. It’s not just our family saying nice work,” says Cyrille.

Three months didn’t provide a lot of time - enough for doing, and not over-thinking. For SistersGulassa, the deadline worked to their advan-tage. “Not knowing a thing and just flying by the seat of our pants, we did show and it was fantastic,” remem-bers Cyrille. “We had an amazing re-sponse; and I think because we were just designing freely without the ex-perience of what it “should” be, our collection really stood out.”

Lise recalls the excitement of get-ting published in the publication Disenos de Estampados - de la idea al print final after their first trade show. “Our designs were published along-side other designers’ work who we respect and greatly admire.”

GROWING UPCyrille and Lise pinpoint their up-bringing as the key to their success. Cyrille explains, “There are so many things we don’t have to explain, we just intuitively know, or it has al-ready been a part of our common background. Our parents are amaz-ing, and we grew up with four über-talented brothers, so family life and family love has been a part of us from day one.”

two skill sets that are complimentary and we understand each other,” Cy-rille explains, “And generally that has remained true. I love working with her - I love her vision, her aesthetic, and the beautiful prints she creates.” Lise adds, “I would have to agree. I feel very lucky to be working togeth-er. My only apprehensions have been about how we can continue to build our story into the vision we have. But I never hesitated for a moment.”

However, the decision wasn’t made until Cyrille was in Paris for a visit to the Premier Vision/Indigo trade fair. She remembers, “It sud-denly all clicked... we could absolute-ly do this!” Shortly after, they got to work. “We had three months to get a collection together and show there. I

stay inspired. fill the well, look

everywhere and find the things that make your

visual heart sing.Cyrille Gulassa

where the design magic happens: cyrille’s desk


Their parents provided the per-fect combination of academia and the arts. “Our mother is an artist, and taught us all about art, color, form, design, and living outside of the box,” says Cyrille. “Our father was a profes-sor who taught us many values; work-ing hard, challenging yourself to be better, and a love of learning.”

INFLUENCES Operating SistersGulassa from two locations gives their designs a global depth and feeling. “We often get at the US shows how unique and ‘Eu-ropean’ our designs feel. Or reverse, in Europe, how fresh and ‘American’ our designs are,” says Cyrille. “I think generally, we do have a more sophis-ticated Euro-vibe.”

As designers and forecasters know, travel is often one of the most im-portant parts of the job - new experi-

ences lend themselves well to new in-spiration and perspectives. “Lise and I have travelled extensively together so we also have these experiences we draw upon in our works. We both are fascinated by folkloric arts, and often use that as a starting point for our collections,” says Cyrille.

She continues, “Right now we are working on our Global Collections, each inspired by places we have been, or places we would like to go to. Trav-el is an integral and interesting aspect of our work and part of what makes us stand out.”

LOOKING FORWARDSo what’s next for this impressive duo? With nearly four great years behind them, the sisters are setting their sights high. “We have just of-ficially opened our European office, expanding our operations [that were

primarily US-based] into Europe,” explains Cyrille. “We plan to put out a SistersGulassa Interior Line this year and begin working more with Interior Designers.”

Not ones to work in just a couple areas, Cyrille and Lise aren’t done yet with what they have planned for 2012. Cyrille is excited for the year ahead: “We have a great collabora-tion with a fashion designer who will put out a line with our custom print designs this year, and our fine art is being licensed for the Brazilian mar-kets. Our goals are to create more license opportunities this year so we can shower you with our lifestyle brand we call Exuberant Living. Get ready to travel vicariously and live vibrantly, jet-lag free!” -r.d.

a sisters gulassa spring 2012 trend collage

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Sister, sister