Darling Jane Is Building the Creative Community We’ve Been Craving
By Natalie McCarty
Darling Jane unfolds like a familiar feeling. The team describes it as living in the in-between moments—friends gathered around café tables, laptops open, conversations drifting between focus and distraction, someone pulling out a piece of art mid-sentence just to share it. It feels lived in. It feels personal. That intimacy isn’t accidental; it’s the result of a vision that was always rooted in connection.
Provided by Darling Jane
From the beginning, Eisley Hull, founder and creative director of Darling Jane, approached the project less as a product and more as a place to gather. What started as a vintage shoe shop quickly revealed something larger. “When I was starting the vintage shoe iteration of [Darling Jane], I had a ton of my super talented creative friends who wanted to help out with designing, photography, styling, etc.,” Hull says. “I realized that [Darling Jane] could be a space where they could show off their talent and a space that would be more fulfilling than just selling shoes.” The project expanded organically, shaped by the people around it rather than a rigid business model.
Eisley Hull; Provided by Darling Jane
That evolution became unmistakable with the launch of the Darling Blog. “Once I launched the Darling Blog and saw the response of people who wanted to write and collaborate, I knew there was a real opportunity to fill a gap in the market,” Hull says. What emerged was a platform that sat between private creative practice and public visibility, offering space to artists who often struggle to find access early in their careers. “Breaking into the art and creative world is really difficult, and marketing yourself as an artist can be really overwhelming,” she explains. Darling Jane responds by centering up-and-coming artists “who are making a difference/bringing a fresh perspective to their fields,” while also sharing resources beyond features, including internships, residencies, and submission opportunities. “Creating a space for everyone to access these opportunities and network is so vital for the success of fresh artists.”
That ethos is felt immediately by those who work within the Darling Jane orbit. For contributor and writer Avery Wilson, the platform exists as a shared memory. “When I think of Darling Jane,” she says, “I think of memories with my friends where we’re laughing at coffee shops, trying to focus on the work we’re doing, or my friend showing me an art piece she just made.” What resonates most is “an overwhelming sense of pride and happiness for Darling Jane,” and watching it grow into “a creative community, which is desperately needed.”
Avery Wilson; Provided by Darling Jane
Wilson has been present since the early days, when Darling Jane’s focus was still centered on vintage shoes. “I remember the early days of Darling Jane, when the main focus was on selling vintage shoes and being excited about all the photo shoots Eisley was sending my way,” she says. When Hull shared her idea of expanding Darling Jane into something more communal, Wilson immediately understood the potential. “I was so excited because I love working with Eisley and would jump at any opportunity to do so.” Over time, that small circle widened. “Our small community has grown into a large network of insanely gifted and creative people, more than I’d ever imagined,” she reflects. “I’m super proud of what it’s grown into.”
For Wilson personally, Darling Jane has offered creative range and validation. “It’s given me a place to express my love of pop culture, fashion, film, and history, and to reach people who care about what I have to say and who share similar tastes,” she says. Before Darling Jane, that kind of connection felt elusive. “It’s always been a struggle to connect with people in the real world who share the same creative interests and have them taken seriously.” The platform changed that. “Having this space has brought so much benefit and joy to my life that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to receive.” Just as meaningful, she adds, are the relationships formed along the way.
Some of Wilson’s most defining experiences have come through collaboration. “I think the most meaningful thing I’ve gotten to work on with [Darling Jane] has been our collaborations with Leche,” she says, citing the joy of working with a local business she had admired for years. “Any opportunity to collaborate with someone that you’ve admired for a long time is always exciting.” Interviewing and collaborating with Leche’s Camilla felt like a full-circle moment, and one made possible by Darling Jane’s connective framework.
That same sense of creative permission has shaped their graphic designer and collaborator, Addie Jensen, and her relationship to her work. Before Darling Jane, Jensen describes her practice as “a relatively quiet and solitary practice.” While that solitude had its strengths, it also left her craving something more communal. “I quickly came to realize that I was wanting for the messy art classes and critique circles I had been involved with before,” she says. Darling Jane reintroduced that collective energy. “There is so much inspiration to be found in privacy,” Jensen explains, “but being involved with Darling Jane allowed me to tap into a creative side that felt less intimidating, more carefree, and connected me with a wide variety of people that fed my imagination in new ways.”
Addie Jensen; Provided by Darling Jane
Her role within Darling Jane grew naturally. While her first contribution was “a little nametag to introduce the new Darling Jane,” one project stood out as defining. “The first design that cemented my direction and position in the brand was the graphic to announce the launch of our website, which doubles as our profile pic,” she says. Seeing it live was transformative. “It was the first time I looked at something I had made, and I felt fully proud of everything I had put on the page.” The feeling, she says, was simple but profound: “I felt nourished.”
That confidence is rooted in a lifetime of creative exposure. Jensen credits her family and childhood—museums, historic houses, summers filled with glue and paint—as foundational. Darling Jane arrived at precisely the right moment. “Darling Jane miraculously fell into my lap right when I felt keen to create again,” she says, recalling that it happened “in the aisle of an antique store, looking at old cross-stitch lettering.” Since then, the platform has allowed her to pull from every influence she’s collected while rediscovering playfulness in her work.
Provided by Darling Jane
Importantly, that freedom is protected. “While there is definitely still structure to the graphics I put out, Darling Jane doesn’t have any sort of intimidating rigidity tied to the things I am asked to make,” Jensen says. The impact has extended beyond the screen. “It’s been overwhelming and beautiful to me the number of people who will wave me down in public and say something like, ‘I know you from the work that you do for Darling Jane.’” Knowing the work resonates has become both motivation and inspiration.
Looking forward, Hull remains anchored to the same principles that shaped Darling Jane from the start. “What I hope for the future of Darling Jane is something centered around connection and creativity,” she says. “I love seeing people become friends and fans of one another, and I hope to see creative partnerships/mentorships bloom.” Above all, she wants contributors to recognize their own imprint. “I want people to look back on Darling Jane and feel proud of their own role in helping the platform, and the community, grow.”
In that way, Darling Jane feels less like something to consume and more like something to belong to that’s guided by intention, shaped by collaboration, and sustained by the people who continue to build it together.
Provided by Darling Jane
