Over the holidays of 2001, fred flare had a "wrap" session with Heath
Brockwell and Stephen Michalik of Endicott Five to get the scoop on how to
make holiday gifts glamorous and fun.
How did you start designing wrapping paper?
The seed was planted 14 years ago when Heath saw a picture of Candy Spelling
(wife of Aaron, mother of Tori) in her custom built wrapping room at the Spelling
Mansion. It was the hottest concept! No custom build-outs for our wrapping room;
we opted for custom paper.
How would you describe Endicott Five's style?
Retro-futuristic with one foot planted in the 60's and the other foot firmly planted
in the newstand of the future.
Which designers do you admire?
Henry Dreyfus. He re-designed the most mundane objects like the telephone and
the thermostat but brought them to a whole new level.
Got any tips on how to wrap a chic gift?
If you have a strange-shaped gift to wrap, put it in a box and your troubles have
been cut in half. Artists tape in bright colors and pictures from magazines also makes
for fun wrapping supplies. People will be so impressed you made it yourself! It doesn't
matter if you can't wrap well, people will be so excited that you took the time to wrap,
rather than hand them something in a gift bag.
Ok, we've heard Christmas is a pretty major event over at E-5. So we want
to know, how would you describe your Holiday motif for this year?
We are thinking Atomic because of the new tree topper we scored in Pennsylvania this
summer. It's a 3-D star with light and will set the theme perfectly.
Secret Santa! What's on your wish lists?
Peace on Earth for the world and an iPod (Apple's new MP3 player) with Dusty
Springfield's entire catalog uploaded.
What's going to be on your Holiday soundtrack?
" Robert Goulet's Wonderful World of Christmas" will be on heavy rotation.
Any tree trimming tips you'd like to share with the audience?
Lights go on first then a well-curated ornament collection.
What's your favorite thing about New York City during Christmas time?
We pick an evening and tour all the department store windows. At the end of the night
we debate the merits and the flaws on the bus ride home.
Looking back...What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment since starting you own business?
Having an original idea and seeing it through to completion. We are so proud of the
trilogy of wrapping paper we've created.
Looking ahead...Any particular goals or resolutions for 2002?
Making more homemade beef stock, having Endicott-Five expand into other forms of
media, and sending more post-cards via snail mail.
Please share with us in one sentence your review of 2001, Phew!
This year we saw that everyone reacts to change differently. More change will come in
2002, but we are optimistic it will all be good.
