We couldn’t be more excited to reveal our new series focused on friendship between creative and inspiring women. These aren’t just everyday friends — they are instead those rare and magical connections for which we reserve that most exalted title: BFF! We met up with talent buyer Brooke Wirth of C3 Presents and Michael Kors store manager Jessica Kerndt during South By Southwest to talk about style, music, and their fun-loving friendship that spans over 20 years:
photos by Bill Sallans
Jessica (right) and Brooke (left) hang outside the downtown Austin bake shop and beer garden, Easy Tiger.
Where are you both from?
Brooke and Jessica: Iowa!
Brooke, what are some favorite venues and events you’ve worked on as a talent buyer at C3?
I am a lucky girl, I get to work on a lot of fun things — Loufest, Counterpoint, Surf Lodge, Belly Up, HOB’s… I get to work with so many fun people to make badass shows happen.
How did you two meet?
Brooke and Jessica: Indoor swimming pool!
Jessica: We were eight,
Brooke: Jess was standing on the steps and I was treading water for, like, fifteen minutes while we talked.
Jessica: Then Brooke came over to spend the night,
Brooke: …for five nights in a row.
(laughter)
Brooke, what’s your favorite thing to do with Jessica?
Honestly, I could have fun with Jess hanging out alone inside a cardboard box… we laugh constantly and with little or nothing happening around us. But if I had to pick — we are great travel buds. We thrive as a unit when we don’t know the language and have no grip on the currency.
How would you describe Jessica’s style?
Brooke: Jess’s style is crazy hip — the girl can literally rock anything. Bright colors, crazy patterns — she will pull it off. The funkier, the better where Jess is concerned. She always nails it!
Jessica, who now works at Michael Kors, studied product development at FIDM in LA. Her shirt is Phillip Lim for Target:
Jessica: I love the pattern of the shirt. It can be worn so many ways and the colors make it fun. It’s always great to find a designer piece at such a steal.
Tell us about Brooke’s style.
Jessica: Brooke’s a badass. She’s very much into the details. She seems to typically have statement piece with other pieces that compliment it well. She looks great in everything and always likes to try something new.
Brooke purchased her Line & Dot dress to wear to the annual private SXSW party she hosts:
I always buy a new dress to wear every year. I found this bad boy on DailyLook — was a total steal!
What are you excited to see/do this week for SXSW?
Brooke: There’s just so much. Spotify House has some great stuff, Stubb’s is always good… and of course, my party!
Jessica: Her party’s amazing.
Brooke: It’s pretty fun.
Wait, you both have bedazzled iphone covers? Did you plan this?
Brooke and Jessica: (laughter) NO.
This is totally why you’re best friends.
(more laughter)
Jessica, what’s your favorite thing to do with Brooke?
I love doing anything with Brooke. Honestly, we laugh constantly regardless of our situation. I probably mostly enjoy grabbing dinner with her and catching each other up on our day.
The girls each wrote down 5 words to describe one another while enjoying a selection from the 33 draft beers on tap at Easy Tiger.
Okay, what is the story on these amazing sweatshirts?!
Brooke: Just when I think we couldn’t possibly out-dork ourselves with best friend accessories, we always manage to find something. These sweatshirts were the latest edition… I can barely wait to see what we buy next… do you think they have best friend cars yet?
