Fashion has always been very important in my family. Growing up, my parents would dress up for art auctions and gallery visits for my father’s work. We weren’t wealthy, but my parents always dressed very well. I remember my mum telling me that she would save as much money as she could from work to buy fashion; it was something that made her happy rather than an obligation to dress up. I think that was when I really started to understand what the word Fashion meant. It was and still is something that makes me happy, something I have fun with and is never forced.
Growing up, I studied fine arts and eventually wanted to try something that felt less planned, something that I could have fun with. The first thing that came to mind was naturally fashion, so I went with it. My collections have always been very personal. I express myself through design like I used to with painting. Art has always played a big role in my life and has now become a part of my being.
My collections usually start with a single spark of feeling, it might be a word, an image, a sound, a random note that I wrote down. It’s always something that sparks a memory and causes an instant reaction. I then create mood boards, make prints, play with different colours and fabrics and silhouettes. The final collection comes together to echo that initial spark.

I think most of us (fashion designers) want to have our own labels at some point, especially coming out of design school.

Anything that reminds me of my tween years, the idea of play. The starting point of this idea was “We were once all superheroes”. As adults, we tend to not have too much fun, even feel numb towards certain things, and most of us have lost the courage towards things that are supposed to be exciting and adventurous because of responsibilities, stress, life, etc. As a tween, I never really followed the rules, so somehow, I always got into trouble. I didn’t care at all about the consequences though, because everything was awesome and amusing: climbing trees, rolling down the hills on a skateboard...

The colours and shapes are reflections of those days where everything was an eye-opener when I was a Free-Range Kid: when opening Christmas presents was the most exciting thing ever, the cotton candy at a carnival was the most delicious thing ever and telling my friends stories about the elves living in my mum’s garden.

I don’t think it was intentional. As a kid, the Teepee was a place where I hung out with friends and went on imaginary adventures in the backyard.

This was accidental in a way. We made a flower helmet but then I started putting the earrings and measuring tape in it during fittings and noticed that it doubled perfectly as a bag.

Lizzo! She’s just too cool!

We’re in the process of changing our entire development and production structure for 2022. Stay tuned!

Being a fashion designer with your own label is different to most other types of businesses. Some of us don’t just want to sell clothes; we’re also trying to connect with our audiences on an emotional level. We’re trying to tell our stories. The most challenging part of it all is putting ourselves out there, being emotionally naked even when the world is not always kind. Sometimes it gets hard to keep going, physically and mentally. After 6 years, I think determination is important, but knowing what drives that determination is crucial.