UO Love Stories: Bam and Lanie Barcena
Written by Patricia Manlucu for Urban Outfitters Space15Twenty (2017)
We love love! This month, we're featuring some of our favorite UO Love Stories in Los Angeles by sharing glimpses of modern love in every sense of the word. Today we visited the home of dream team Bam and Lawn Barcena to talk about how they met, how they designed their home, what it’s like working together, and more.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves!
B: I love music!!! Almost everyday you’ll hear me play the same rotation of genres, from Jazz to Punk to Hip Hop then back to Jazz. More than likely you’ll hear The Clash, Miles Davis, Diggable Planets, The Cure and may be even a some Kanye. Music is my core and major inspiration for everything I do. It’s a part of my life process. I can’t forget the Arts, I’m a big proponent of the FLUXUS movement and what it embodies… experimental and strange, I’m all for it! Lastly I love design and the idea of problem solving. I’m currently the Creative Director at the menswear brand ROKIT, and partner with Lanie at HLZBLZ and LABISM Studios.
L: I’m the Creative Director & Co-Founder, along with Bam of the female streetwear brand, HLZBLZ. I’m short and I’d say sweet, although I’m not so sure Bam would describe me as that, haha. I have a love and appreciation for design, graphic, apparel, furniture, architecture… really anything that serves a purpose to make life better and easier BUT manages to be aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Oh, and I’m obsessed with dachshunds and low-key wish I was a magician.
How did you two meet?
L: Ok, this is where our answers may differ… I first met Bam, way way waaaaay back in the day. I believe I was 15 years old at the time and word on the street was, a new DJ from Okinawa, Japan was in the same DJ battle competition as my sister’s boyfriend, at the time. Bam was this like this mysterious guy that all the other DJ’s from my part of San Diego seemed to be intimated of… needless to say, he killed it (obvi), ended up beating my sister’s BF and won the competition. Afterwards we met briefly and that was that…
It wasn’t until a few years later where we met again, through mutual friends.
B: I met Lanie through mutual friends. She was basically the younger sister that everybody wasn’t supposed to date. Me being the rebel I was, that didn’t stop me.
What were your first impressions of each other?
B: I remember her pulling up to the studio in my friends car with her legs on the dashboard sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. First thing I noticed were her denim jeans and the fit, It looked really good on her. They were actually Diesel jeans that were kinda poppin at the time. That sparked our awkward conversation about fashion.
L: I mean…. He had to have made some sort of impression on me because years later I read a journal entry I had written from the night of the DJ competition and I briefly mentioned him. I just thought he was cool and unlike any other guys I knew from where I was from.
Tell us about your first date, versus your most recent.
L: Oh god… well, let me pre-face by mentioning that Bam and I were good friends for a long time prior to us dating, which I actually believe is the best way to start a relationship. That being said, our first date was actually a double date and we weren’t each others dates. Bam was on the date with my best friend and I was on the date with his best friend… long story short… Bam ends up accidently spilling cranberry juice on my shirt that my BFF was wearing. I got pissed and said he owed me for it… So, he offered to take me out to a dinner and movie, which became our first REAL date… The rest is history.
Now as for our most recent date… That’s gotta be this past Valentine’s Day. Bam surprised me with a candle lit dinner at our home, while an Ed Sheeran bootleg (lol) sang and played us our fave tunes on the guitar. It was the sweetest thing Bam has done for me to date.
B: Our first date was not really a date between us but in many ways it was. We went on a double date to a rave, I know what you’re thinking that’s already weird. On top of that I was on a date with her best friend, while she was on a date with my best friend! Then I spilled my drink on her BFF who was borrowing one of Lanie’s shirts… Needless to say, she was pissed and that’s when our connection started and both of our worlds linked in a weird way. Again, it was through an article of clothing that we connected. I later offered to take her out to dinner and a movie to make it up to her.
Fast-forward 15 years later to Valentines Day 2017… I decided to surprise her with a special dinner and live acoustic performance in our living room. I hired this amazing musician who paid homage to Ed Sheeran. He basically was a bootleg version. I had this dude performing in the dark next to our lit fireplace… it was kinda awkward but amazing. I had candles everywhere and cooked shrimp scampi.
Tell us a little bit about your spaces. How did you put together your home and design studio?B: We have two amazing spaces. Our design studio is based in Downtown Los Angeles. It’s mid-century modern inspired with a few details inspired from Frank Lloyd Wright and also the Eames office in Santa Monica. The studio houses most of our design archives, artwork and libraries of fabrics and books. It’s a space that I’m proud of. Our home is a 1950’s Mid-Century Modern. Clean lines with a mix of period correct furniture and splashes of modern art. We really wanted to make our home clean and simple. A place we can hit the reset button and escape the chaos that sometimes happens at the studio. But for the days we have to work from home, we access our secret design studio behind our bedroom.
L: Thank God, after 15 years together we’ve finally come to a point where have similar taste in the interior design and layout of our home AND we can finally agree on how to create spaces that work for both of US. When we first got together, his style was very typical “bachelor” with tons of electronics and no sense of organization. Then there was me… I didn’t know what I liked BUT I knew I wanted more feminine yet clean touches, whether it be through accent pop colors or pieces.
Fast forward to now and as Bam mentioned, we both have a love for mid century architecture and design, which is prevalent in both our home and studio in DTLA. We also love and collect knick-knacks from our travels and flea market finds.
How did you get into collecting records? If you had a theme song for your relationship, what would it be?
B: I’ve been collecting records since I was in 6th grade. That’s 26 years of collecting. I have a temperature controlled storage room in San Diego that houses most of my vinyl collection. It ranges from Disco, Soul, Punk, Folk, Rock, Electronic, Jazz and Hip Hop. I’m hoping one day to pass them down. In a weird way my music storage is a time capsule for me. The theme song of our life is “Ribbon in the Sky” by Steve Wonder. Every time we hear it, it brings us back to the essence of our relationship, which is LOVE.
L: Growing up I enjoyed breaking out my parents old record case and listening to their records… That continued on to my teenage years and growing up with my older sister and cousins who introduced me to new music and so on, continuing with Bam who has amassed such a huge collection - a collection so big that we can’t possibly ever fit into our home.
With Bam, music has become one of the main ingredients that make us, us. We LOVE music. Our house is always filled with music… Jazz, 90’s hip hop, R&B, reggae, ska, classical, oldies, lots of oldies and occasionally lots of Selena, (guilty) lol. Because of all this… it’s difficult to come up with one theme song BUT if I had to choose one it would be “Ribbon in the Sky” by Stevie Wonder. It was the first song we danced to as husband and wife so it has a lot of sentimental value and ‘til this day makes my heart so happy when I hear it.
What’s it like working together?
B: Working together is not an easy task but in the end you know that it’s real. From the responses to the critiques of the work we produce, there is no sugar coating and it’s totally transparent. The most important thing is to respect each other especially in the workspace. For the most part, I really can’t complain… I get to work with my soul mate. It might not even be considered work. I’m there to collaborate, curate and inspire my wife and team that works with us. I’m really thankful for them.
L: This answer can change depending on what day you ask me… However, Bam would probably say it depends on what time of the month you ask, lol… For the most part, we’re really good at working together and knowing when to push to get the best out of each other or when to pull back to prevent the other from jumping off the edge of a cliff. As you know with most couples, it can be quite difficult to work with each other. I mean, 24/7 contact is a lot for most. I’m not saying it isn’t ever difficult for US, believe me… It can be BUT the reason why we work well together is because we respect and trust each other so much. I know that at the end of the day, what he says, he truly believes is for the better of the company and for the betterment of me as a designer, boss and colleague… and vice versa. We appreciate and welcome each others feedbacks… That doesn’t always mean we agree but it’s knowing that we can have that open dialogue that makes us the perfect team.
What do you two like doing for fun? What’s a typical date night like?
B: Dinner and then live music
L: Eat… We LOVE to eat and there’s nothing better than bobbing your head to good music at the same time.
It seems like you two love to travel! What’s been your most memorable trip together?
B: The first few trips to Japan and Hong Kong when we first started the company.
L: Yes, those were definitely the most memorable. Prior to having our brand together we did a lot of traveling with our previous jobs but there’s nothing like being able to work and travel with your partner in life and business… It’s the ultimate mix of business and pleasure and those earlier times travelling together were great. We got to show each other our favorite secret shops & restaurants from our previous work travels.
What do you value most in your relationship?
B: Communication is our key to happiness and the key to life.
L: I’m so thankful that Bam and I have open communication… That’s what I value most. We tell each other when we’re mad AND why. We tell each other “I love you” all the time BUT show it even more. We agree to disagree and it’s ok because we respect others opinions.
Any relationship tips for our readers?
B: Fellas… best tip ever… just say, “yes babe.”
L: Remember you’re a team… love, support and respect each other.
