Why Iacoli & McAllister Work So Well Together
He’s a Capricorn; she’s a Virgo—even astrologists can vouch for their compatibility.
McAllister (left) and Iacoli.
Jamie Iacoli was about done with Seattle in 2007 when she met Brian McAllister, who was studying industrial design at University of Washington. “Brian knew how to weld, and I said, ‘You should bring me over and show me how to weld,’” Jamie recalls. BOOM. With those magic words, a beautiful artistic partnership was born: They moved into a studio space together stat and figured things out from there.
Another Iacoli & McAllister piece: a matte-black powder-coated step ladder with pink washed oak treads and brass hinges.
Once they determined what this new project Iacoli & McAllister should be—a furniture and jewelry outfit driven by a clean-lined ethos—how did they figure out how to work together so well? “We sketch an idea really poorly together, and then Brian does a modeling of the concept on the computer—I art-direct over his shoulder. Then I create quarter-scale models of the design. Brian doesn’t really have the patience to build the models,” Jamie explains. “But our skills really complement each other. I’m the brains; he’s the brawn. He’s the one who figures out engineering and production, and I’m the front-of-house.”
The duo inspiration-hunting.
And to answer that question you’re definitely asking in your head: “No, we’re not a couple. We were a couple, and it shows just how well we work together that we still get along after that. We’re like brother and sister now. We’re done with that,” Jamie laughs. Impressive—almost as much so as the design magic they make.
