The Naven Twins on Separation Anxiety, Fall Trends and Music

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Identical twins Kym and Alexis McClay started their successful fashion line NAVEN in 2007 when they were only 24 years old. Kym, who was always interested in fashion, moved from Canada to Los Angeles right out of high school to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, first attending FIDM and eventually moving forward to get her Bachelors Degree at AIU in Marina Del Rey. It was only a matter of time before Alexis followed in her sister's footsteps.

"In high school I was a total bookworm," Alexis explains. "I always thought I was going to be a doctor. I grew up and realized I didn't want to spend forever in med school." She eventually found herself studying Business Marketing at Pepperdine University before the family-run company launched.

While Alexis focuses on the business side of fashion, Kym heads design and production. We caught up with the girls, who are already planning their spring 2014 collection, at Sustain Juicery near their Downtown LA office to chat about trends, music, and life as a twin.

What are you drinking today?
"We are drinking Nutty Honey. It has banana, peanuts, flax seeds, honey, and raw cacao."

What is one word you would use to describe the other?
Kym: "Nerdy."
Alexis: "Bossy."

Who is the last person you called on the phone?
A: "Kym! I talk to Kym and our dad like, 50 million times a day."

What is your favorite holiday?
A: "Halloween hands down. We love to design haute couture costumes each year. This year, I designed a studded skeleton body suit. The body was a transparent tan mesh and the bones were hand-studded crystals from my fingers to my toes. It was the bomb!"

What is the best part about being a twin?
K: "Being a twin gives you a unique perspective on life; you learn to be selfless because it's never just about you, it's always about your twin's wellbeing before your own. You also learn how to love and share the best times in life together. We really feel like that what life's about, so it's a true blessing!"

What is the worst part about being a twin?
A: "The only bad part about being a twin is twin separation anxiety. It seems silly but when we are apart, it literally feels like a part of us is missing. We get sad and start to fear for the day when that might actually happen. We would never want to imagine living without each other; it's our biggest fear in life. We pray every night that we will grow to be old grandmas together, still besties, and still laughing at each other's stupid jokes."

Maxi dress or mini skirt?
A: "Mini skirt."

What is the most inspiring book you've read?
K: "The Hunger Games trilogy brought back childhood memories for me; the food, the woods, the archery, the love story. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and spent a lot of my time camping, at summer camp shooting arrows, outdoors in the woods by our creek imagining adventures in my head as a child, just like in the novels. In a way it was nostalgic to me."

What upcoming trend are you most excited about?
A: "Fall is always a fun season to design for because the colors are rich, the styles are bold, and we incorporate fun layering pieces; you really, as a designer, get to showcase your abilities. This fall, one of the trends we are most excited about is the military theme. We are obsessed with structured pieces, and armor-like frames. We will be posting sneak peeks on our NAVEN Facebook page starting January so tune back in to see NAVEN's interpretation of the military theme for fall 2013."

What music do you listen to when you're getting ready to go out on a Saturday night?
A: "We love electronic music to get ready to, work out to and design to. There's something about it that evokes creativity. We love artists like Above and Beyond, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia."

Beer or wine?
K: "Wine."

What is the last movie you saw?
Both: "Cloud Atlas."
A: "I left after twenty minutes. I couldn't take the fake accent!"

What are some things you could not live without?
K: "The essentials, Alexis, Meeka [our Australian Shepherd], and eyebrow gel. We have some wild and untamed brows first thing in the morning!"
A: "Kym, Meeka, and my guitar. Since I picked it up for the first time a few months ago, I'm addicted."
· Naven [Official Site]
· Inside Naven's Super-Sized Spring Runway Extravaganza [Racked]