There's no need to present the Wildfox Couture brand, as we're all marked forever with the print of their
amazing knit sweaters. The skeleton, the love potion, the giant smiley face... it's simple :
WE WANT THEM ALL !!!
It's been a while that we had this project : finding an inspirational fashion designer that would give us answers and let us share them with you ! We immediately thought of Wildfox Couture, a brand that we can relate to, that speaks to us
in terms of pop culture and that inspires us each time they produce a lookbook. Plus their story really is a dream
to a lots a girls. Emily and Kimberley were childhood friends with one big dream : creating a fashion label
with the perfect pieces they couldn't find in stores. So they created Wildfox Couture !
Today, we're interviewing Emily (picture above)
Hi Emily, can you describe yourself and tell us what was your dream job as a child ?
I'm a California girl from Santa Barbara, a
photographer and a fashion designer, traveler and lover of summer
and
pink lipstick. My dream job as a child was to be a famous movie star or a
singer on broadway.
How did you become interested in fashion and design ?
I
remember my friend in 5th grade had those Barbie Fashion Plates, and I
borrowed them for fun and carried them everywhere making cheesy
outfits. I studied illustration in college and always loved fonts &
pretty packaging...
so design was a huge passion which naturally fell
into place when I started working in fashion.
What was your first job and how did you make your way into the fashion industry ?
My
first job out of college was a design assistant at a clothing line in
Los Angeles,
I worked there for a year and decided to leave to start
Wildfox!
Where do the ideas come from in the first place and what are your inspirations ?
I find inspiration in everything!! I carry around a scrapbook to tape in magazine pulls and write out ideas.
Things
that are inspirational: Beautiful movies & colors in films, nice
text layouts, minimal and
white washed interiors, happy songs and palm
trees, vacations and polaroids.
What do you love about the fashion industry ?
I
love designing a line around a specific theme and really getting into
it. Also I find fashion similar to theater...
the way you can change
your look and pretend to be somebody else for fun.
Can you explain how Wildfox Couture started and how did you decide to work with Kimberley ?
Kim
and I had an epiphany in my bedroom in 2007 and realised we could make a
clothing line of things
we loved and couldn't find anywhere else. We always borrowed our boyfriends vintage t-shirts that were paper
thin
and felt so flattering. We couldn't find anything in stores quite
like the vintage tees and decided to make them ourselves!
Who's the Wildfox girl ?
She is
confident and fun-loving, always ready to have a party, make cookies in
her underwear, dye her hair pink.
She loves her girlfriends and always
has a crush, loves kittens and ice cream and lives life like a fairy
tale.
How big is the Wildfox staff now ?
Can't even count !!!
Wildfox started with knitted sweaters and tshirts and now
you produce a
denim line, kids, jewelry, swimwear and so on..
How did it happen and
what's next for Wildfox ?
We started with cotton tees, then fleece and our
"vintage varsity" fabric. What happened next was us brainstorming about
what we dreamed of making and we were able to get in contact with people
who could make us beautifully knit sweaters with sequins and intarsia.
From that we created our "White Label" collection that I had always
planned on adding... then denim, sunglasses, swim, shoes with Jeffrey
Campbell, and kids, which was kind of my pet project :)
We heard you're working on a major project now, but how was it to work with a close friend ?
It was
fun to collaborate, our ideas always complimented the other. It can get
hard sometimes to work so closely to someone, especially a best friend,
but we always got through the hard times and were very proud of our
work!
There's never a typical day but how do you manage your work daily ?
When
I worked at Wildfox it was always different. Sometimes it was a normal
workday and we would leave around 6pm,
but a lot of times we stayed well
past 10 and usually during photoshoots we worked weekends and till
midnight
making sure everything was perfect!! Those are actually fun
times to look back on, creating the
best outfits for the models and
gathering props from around Los Angeles.
What do you think set your designs apart ?
Well, I think it's the lifestyle we portray and the love we put into designing the clothes.
What advice would you give to young people aspiring to work in fashion ?
Work every day and power throught the tough times, you can do anything you want, really !!!
We hope you had fun reading this interview and we would like to thank Emily so much for her honest answers !
her new one for major inspiration :
www.coconutrosey.tumblr.com
On September 6th, Emily will launch her new website, and of course, we'll keep you posted :)
