For starters, where does the name 31 Corn Lane come from?
This is just a fantastic question and boy do we love answering it! You see, the story is this: all Sperber sisters grew up (and Mom and Pops still live at) 31 Corn Lane in Shrewsbury, NJ. (Exit 109 on the Garden State Parkway, turn right at Dunkin Donuts and make a quick left just after Bagel Masters! We love food.)

Since so much of our line ties back to our family history and the sheer magic of Sperberhood, it made sense to pay homage to the very special little house that taught the three of us about the essential Four B`s: Bon Jovi, Boys, Badminton, and all-girl Bike Gangs.

The only downside to the name is that our Dad is bananas, used to be in the army, and thinks using our home address will someday result in an S.S.S.B, Sizable Suburban Security Breech. Howevs, the prospect of a cutie teen girl showing up at our front door to ask for free stickers or a hi-five does not seem quite so daunting to us.

When did you decide you wanted to start a real company?
Starting this company was a total beautiful mistake! We never meant to. We were living in E.S.L.Q, Extra Snug Living Quarters, (4 peeps, 2 dogs, 350 ft sisterly-mountain of thrift clothes ((1 closet - oy!)) and a wellspring of naughty mice - all nestled tightly within 600 square feet.)

We wanted to move into the artist subsidized housing community in the neighborhood that was super cheap, super roomy and for creative-types only! But we need to prove to them that we were big city dwellers trying to live off our art. So we scrambled to try and think of some sort of appropriate "art" and came up with totes because at that time, 1998, very few indie rock ladies were sporting extra cute ones.

So we whipped the totes up, threw `em in our application and ended up not getting accepted into the community, dang! But, we realized soon after that girls wanted to buy them, again and again and again. So we kept going gangbusters on pumping them out and never looked back. Good story, huh!? We totally think so.

Each collection 31 Corn Lane is so wonderful and unique, who or what are your biggest inspirations?
Inspirations for past lines have included but are not limited to the magic of: New Jersey, our house, school days, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Aunt Lonnie, pooches, Badminton matches in the backyard, love of musics, go-getter girls, canoe trips and the Bay City Rollers.

How many sisters work for 31 Corn Lane? Does each sister have a different super power or skill?
Three sisters (Amy and Heather ((Twins)) and Teet (Lil Sis) are the Head Cheezes, although Sis Aim has really taken on the roll of Bossy Boots - as visionary, power broker and payment chaser. Teet is the Queen of All Copy - writing her heart out anywhere that words need to represent our brand, whether it be press interviews, web-site text, or e-mail blasts, etc etc. Sis Heath is Minister of Kickin Back - occasionally making bank deposits, but mostly couch surfing (ie, watching Rob and Big on loop) and taking credit. She will be so mad that I even said that. Shhhh!

Do you enjoy having a family business with your sisters?
We like to leave TONS of room for P.S.B, Potential Sisterly Bickering - so that in the midst of biz we can enjoy occasional swells of drama that includes but are not limited to: tears, stomping, finger pointing, Indian-giving, door slamming, clothes stealing, tattling to Mom, name calling and Internets sabotage. Sperbers Sisters keep it real!

At the end of the day, yes yes, we do very much enjoy keepin it in the family, and are so glad we started this adventure when we did, but boy, if everyone knew what 7.G.B-D.S, 7th Grade Battle-Dome Stylings go into making our supercutie throwback fashions, they would be shocked and mystified. Just ask any of our close girl pals who have been caught in the crossfire. Loops & Pluto, do not ever tell!

What is a Sperber sisters perfect Sunday?
The twins rarely leave their T.S.B.T, Top Secret Brooklyn Tree-House - oft hiding in the backyard - gardening, writing in their feelings journals, bar-bee-cuing and playing with their most awefulest gaggle of yappy pooches. Someone please train those dogs already.

Teet travels incessantly, so no Sunday is ever the same. Depends on what ground is underneath her feet on that specific day! Chowing down is the most consistent part of the equation, natch!

31 Corn Lane makes a quality handbag! In the early days, what were your original bags like? Was the quality as good as it is today?
Oh man, in retrospect it is so so cute to think of Season One totes and the way they were constructed. Not only were they the simplest book totes that ever did exist (no features, no pockets, no zippers, etc.) but they were hand sewn by us - and although they looked punky and stellar, they would fall apart at the sight of a book or anything over 2 pounds. We used to get e-mails from girls being like, "I put my my eyeglasses in my tote and the handles ripped off. Ooof! What gives?"

So we started double reinforcing the handles on our own, but realized relatively quickly that if we were going to maintain our C.P.O.F. L. F, Committed Posse of Fashionable Lady Fans, that we needed to make the jump to a proper manufacturer.

Now that we have done that, we are in this amazing place as far as quality of product goes. You see, 31CL is indie to the bone. Yet our wares are of equal top-notchness to anything that has been produced by a huge company with tons of dough to spend on making sure their stuff sparkles and holds up. In unrelated news, we love Zac Efron!

What is your favorite collection 31 Corn Lane has released?
Teet/Sis Heath: Years ago, prob 5 or 6 six years (!), we made a bag with a silk-screened and embroidered spouting whale on the exterior front pocket - inspired wholly by our 6th grade science teachers favorite pants. Not only was the imagery adorable, but the size, shape and construction of the bag itself was J.A.C.F.O.I.F.P, Just A Crystal Vision of Indie Fashion Perfection. Not too big, not too small, an excellent length shoulder strap and number of pockets. It was available in great classic colors: forest-y green, cherry red or navy blue. To this day, we will occasionally cruise the Graham Avenue strip in Williamsburg, BK - and spot a girl with a busted up, faded, well-loved Whale Tote in tow. It is the best feeling - to know that this bag especially won a long-term spot in many girls brains and hearts.

Sis Aim: Recently we made a line inspired Holly Hobby. It was the biggest in terms of how many different styles we were able to produce - based on what buyers from our first big trade show ordered, which made for really warm feelings in our brains and hearts. We got dumptruckloads of positive press on it and it was an amazing reflection of our favorite 80`s cartoon character. Even American Greetings, the parent company behind Holly Hobby, reached out to us to tell us how much they loved the line and too see if we wanted any free goodies from the Holly Hobby company vaults. Sup!

Where would you like to see 31 Corn Lane in 10 years?
Sis Aim would like NOTHING MORE than to see us as regular talking heads on the Fuse television network. She watches it 36 to 59 hours a day. She knows every show, show time, show host and what 20th wave mainstreamo bands are saturating the playlist on any given week. She is even considering hiring a fancypants publicist just so that we can get some face time on Fuse. It`s ridic!

Teet would like to see us with national distribution and two small supercute storefronts, one on the East Coast that Aim and Heath and their pooches run, and one of the West Coast that Teet and her Shi-Tzu/Chihuahua mix, Neil Diamond, run.

We would also have a sponsored 31CL team of Lady music-makers, actresses, artists, scientists, librarians, athletes, firestarters, etc etc. We would flow them tons of free product in return for them rocking our fashions and modeling our stuffs (on Fuse network fashion specials, hopefully!)

It`d be the coolest. In related news, Okkervil River is the best band evs and 31CL loves you, Loops & Pluto!

See our 31 Corn Lane collection!