By now, you must all be getting sick of my blatant love of basics. Same goes for Australian labels. So I'll declare it indirectly in a very cool catch up with Alex Trimmer - one of the masterminds behind a label you're all more than familiar with: Sosume [cue sunlight filtering through rain clouds and the such]
Sosume was born after I met Paulina Petkoski in the summer of 2008 at a friends BBQ in Brooklyn, NYC where we were both living. We realised that my degree in Commerce and Paulina's Bachelor degree in Fashion Design were an awesome fit to start building a young fashion brand. As we started to grow Rachel Kozub joined the team and we started to develop the brand together. The first collection was designed in NYC, however I moved operations to Melbourne where the brand launched.
2. In all the pieces you come up with, where does your design philosophy stand?
We design versatile and fashion-forward basics. As a brand we consider our impact on the environment by using natural and organic fabrics. Just because a garment is sustainable doesn't mean it can't be stylish!
3. What would you say is the Sosume 'vibe'?
Sosume is about being modern, versatile, and effortlessly chic. The simplistic shapes of the translucent tops allow them to be easily thrown over jeans, or dressed up with metallic.
4. Anything special planned for 2010?
We've thrown a couple of new sustainable fabrics in the mix for SS10 such as Cupro and Tensel. We're also expanding on our neutral colour palettes to include a beautiful beige tone, and dark blue denim wash.
5. I'm really interested to hear - what kind of work does into designing and developing one piece for a collection?
To develop styles each season takes a lot of communication and people! The collection starts with a concept, and gets broken up into pieces that work with one another. Tons of intial sketches are made, and then we edit down the pieces to decide what will be sampled. We choose fabrication, trims, and finally make a prototype, and of course make corrections to make things perfect.
6. I really love how chilled but edgy Sosume pieces are - where do you find your inspiration?
Thank you! Our inspiration comes from almost everywhere- actually the initial inspiration behind our fabrics was a gorgeous paper-thin vintage t-shirt . We also love the way people interpret fashion trends and add their own personal style.
7. Who's your favourite style icon at the moment?
Alexa Chung, Kate Bosworth, Lady Gaga
8. What's the biggest style trend you see coming through this year?
Layering. Melbourne fashionistas love to layer. Whether it's long sleeve knits layered with a full length cardigan in winter, or a tee and a light vest in Summer - it's all about the layering.
9. What do you think of the new wave of bloggers and street stylists coming through?
We love reading blogs- Tavi, Eszter- . It's a great way to really see what people are into this minute, all over the world.
10. Sue-Ann, designer at Stylestalker, would like to know: McDonalds or KFC?
McDonalds
11. And last of all, what's a random question that you guys would like to ask he next interviewee?
How to you contribute to the environment?
Thanks Alex! And a big thank you to Rebecca Hyde, too!
How amazing are those AW10 lookbook images!!! It's love :)
Check out more of Sosume HERE.
*love*
xx