Inge Holst is the uber-creative founder behind Carousel & Bazaar, one of the most divine childrenswear lines we've ever seen. The chic fashion line is designed for the discerning, modern girl between the ages of 6 and 12 years...
Holst recently launched her new spring/summer 16 collection entitled Game. Set. Match. We caught up with the talented designer to find out more about her inspiration and why Carousel & Bazaar is so unique in the market… Photography: Hayley Sparks Hair: Darren Summors Styling: Inge Holst
Can you tell us about your new spring collection?
My new spring/summer 16 collection, Game. Set. Match., is a luxe sport and style-themed collection which courts tennis, badminton, track and soccer influences. I didn’t want it to be overly sporty though so I added ruffles, a floral and tutti-fruiti-like colours mixed those with crisp white. I love working with colour, kids look great in bold sophisticated colours and its suits their spirits too!. The tutti-frutti colours felt feminine and floral was a striking and perhaps unexpected contrast to the sporty theme. It’s important to create something unique, so the photographic floral print that we created was inspired by my love for blue and white Danish porcelain, which seems at odds with the theme but works beautifully together.
Why is Carousel & Bazaar so unique in the market?
I don’t think there are many directional fashion brands for children that build a strong narrative for each season. I’m quite driven to tell a visual story and I’m trying to create a new world for kids and teens. I tell the story through bold campaigns which have a fashion editorial feel to them. I have a costume background so it’s always about the drama of something and it’s important to evoke the mood to tell your story.
Can you tell us about the process behind each piece?
The collection always starts with a feeling and a flash of an idea, some colours and shapes. There’s a period of daydreaming, and looking at various forms of media to research the theme and explore the mood or feeling I have in a visual sense. I then start to look at fabrics and design prints. I find my heart racing at points of the process because it’s pretty exciting when you realise that you might have just hit on something pretty cool. I don’t need to do evocative sketches as I have the feeling already so I prefer to do sketches that reflect the technical aspects as this is required for the patternmaking process. I like to be very hands on in the pattern making and sampling process as it allows me to refine the designs, ensure the fabric is working well and the correct choice and usually inspires a detail I hadn’t even thought of.
Can you tell us about your background and how you came to launch Carousel & Bazaar?
I studied fashion design and after spending three years abroad undertook post graduate studies in Costume Design. I was incredibly fortunate to have be taught by legendary Costume Master of Opera Australia, Bill Patterson and celebrated costume designer Tom Lingwood amongst others. My path has taken many creative twists and turns from costume to fashion and millinery, from furniture to lighting and from homewares to soft furnishings also encompassing being at the for front of cutting-edge digital textile printing. For years and years I’ve wanted to design kids fashion, I’ve toyed with the idea but always got distracted and gone off in different directions. The Carousel & Bazaar seed sprouted about three years ago and I’ve been exploring what it would look like on and off to land on something I feel confident to showand say this is me.
What keeps you inspired?
Creatively, it’s just simply my interest fashion, art, history, pop culture, travel, looking at beautiful things, which could be nature, animals or a beautifully designed object. Being open and absorbing and observing my own thoughts and feelings when I look at these look and experience these things is important and what inspires my creativity and its process.
Were you always creative growing up?
Yes! I was always drawing and making things in different mediums. I desperately wanted to be a cartoonist when I was small and while I was still in infants school I wrote to collage, providing them with some of my work asking if I could please do one of their courses. I received a lovely letter back saying that was too young but that I should keep drawing as my cartoons were very good. Hilarious! I’ve been drawing and making things ever since.