The term "house" is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the great fashion houses of the past. The designer had a house – a building – where everything happened.

Since our move to the Meatpacking District, we’ve had this huge place nearly to ourselves. Except for the actual manufacturing of the product, everything happens here; we are, for very good reason, self-contained. We create the ideas, products and the packaging; we work with the labs and have a huge art department. We take our own photographs, write our own copy and create Hair Stories Magazine. We have in-house PR, marketing, sales, fi nance and of course, education; there’s nothing we don’t do ourselves. We think that we know ourselves better than anyone else, and we know that we can do a good job. And it’s an unusually creative company, so we can do that. We’ve had a 30-year rehearsal, and we’re finally starting to get good. It’s a work in process.