I’m so excited to feature two creative and fun loving sisters today, Whitney and Remi. Whitney is the designer behind Sonnet James, playful dresses for playful moms. And Remi is the photographer for the brand. They even have their sister in law, Jen, involved as model and head of customer service (talk about keeping it all in the family). Whitney and Remi grew up in Arizona and have had adventures that have taken them all over the globe.

Keep reading to hear about who was the “mean” sister growing up and how they get along now…

Photography by Ashley Thalman. Produced by Ashley Aikele. Stay tuned for a Sonnet James giveaway on my Instagram this week!

Whitney studied in Europe, lived in Hawaii and has explored every ridge of the Rockies. She rides motorcycles, loves to play the guitar and is on a life-long journey to find the world’s best chocolate chip cookie. She currently lives in Palo Alto, CA where she runs her fashion company Sonnet James and is having a blast raising her two adorable little boys, Satchel and Eero.

Remi is a photographer, certified yoga instructor, artist, designer, and avid DIY-er. She lives in New Mexico and is currently creating a micro-farm on her one-acre property with her sweet husband and two rambunctious little boys, Smith and Captain.

Remi, what kinds of things did you like doing together when you were growing up?
We LOVED watching Mary-Kate and Ashley movies.  Everyone thought Whitney looked like them and I was super jealous.  We also were in a singing group together most of our childhood so we’ve always sung together. The older we got the more fun it was to harmonize to songs Whitney wrote and play the guitar together.

We spent most of our summer’s roller-skating to Amy Grant on the hot driveway in Arizona, then we would jump in our pool. Repeat that for 6 years and that was our childhood. We were carefree and dreamers during our early years.

Whitney, what kinds of things do you like doing together now?
Mostly, we love seeing our kids play and adore each other. We also like to watch viral videos and hallmark movies and reenact SNL skits. We’re super weird.

Remi, were you close growing up? Are you closer now or then?

We spent most of our summer’s roller-skating to Amy Grant on our hot driveway in Arizona, and then we would jump in our pool at the end of the day. We had a few sweet years doing this and being dreamers and so carefree. Always dreaming.

Whitney, describe Remi in three words.
Hilarious
Enthusiastic
Heart-felt

Remi, what’s a quality or skill Whitney has that you really admire?

How would you describe your sisters style?
Remi: Whitney’s style is classic with just enough flare that it keeps it current.
Whitney: Remi’s very indie to me. Like someone who lives in New York but grew up in LA going to Cochella every summer, you know what I mean? She’s got a lot of dark colors going on lately. A lot of skinny jeans and flat shoes and flop hats. And she knows what shapes and colors work for her skin tones and body. She’s good at that.

 

Whitney, how did Sonnet James come about and when did you decide to work together?
I started Sonnet James in 2013, armed with nothing more than a sewing machine and a few books about pattern making. I stayed up every night until 2am after the boys were in bed, pattern drafting, sewing on the kitchen table and writing to fashion bloggers, begging them to look at my dresses. I used my sister as the photographer, my sister-in-law as my model in my kitchen, built my website on a Thursday night and launched the next morning. Design Mom said she loved the concept and posted about it Monday morning and I had 150 orders in just a few days. It has been a whirlwind ever since!

Remi was the obvious choice. She’s super talented and has been taking pics of me and the boys since Eero was born so we were already super comfortable. And we have the same vision and artistic style.