Fashion Fringe: Q&A with Vita Gottlieb

Yesterday I blogged about how I am going to focus on British Designers throughout the month of September - perfectly timed to coincide with the start of LFW this Friday.

My month of special brand focuses kicks off with an Q&A interview I had originally done for WWB magazine with 2012 Fashion Fringe Finalist Vita Gottlieb who I asked to explain the inspiration behind her collection.

Q:What is the inspiration behind your Fashion Fringe collection?
A: S/S 13 is inspired in part by Paul Poiret's 1911 party 'Thousand and Second Night', where guests were asked to wear Persian dress and indulge in dancing in the moonlight. I love the idea of layering Eastern influences into Western ideas; some of the prints are inspired by and use motifs from Georges Barbier's early twentieth century illustrations. I also thought about moonlight as a mood and infused some of the colours of that hour, just after dusk.

Image Credit: © Nilu Izadi for Fashion Fringe

Q: How did you get into design?
A: I came through film-making after a history of art degree and gradually travelled through an MA in fine art, printmaking, into freelance textile design and naturally, this led me into fashion. I’ve always wanted to work with my hands and in a sculptural, 3-dimensional form. 

Read More of Vita's Q&A after the Jump

Q: Tell us about your Fashion Fringe ‘journey’ so far.
Vita Gottlieb: It’s been incredible, an awe-inspiring experience. I’ve learned so much from the mentoring sessions, become re-invigorated creatively, met some amazing people and most importantly, I know absolutely that this is what I want to be doing with my time! I still can’t quite believe it’s happening to me, really.

Q: What do you hope to achieve in the future?
A: I’d like to build a successful, well-regarded and creative womenswear label, branching out with a diffusion line, travel lifestyle and perhaps lingerie. One day I’d love to open a boutique eco-lodge with programmes for designers and young creatives to come and feed their minds. I’m interested in collaboration with other artists and creative professionals, making fashion films, happenings and shows, and see the future as a very exciting thing.

The Fashion Fringe journey ends on Tuesday 18th with a catwalk at 6:30pm. To find out more about this year's finalists check out the website here.