Hello everyone! How was your weekend? I had the best time at Take 2 Market on Sunday, thank you so much for your support in helping me detox my wardrobe, hope you enjoy all of your new purchases! :)

Recently a gorgeous young Aussie designer found me over the cyberspace and introduced her label to me. Her beautiful look book with Australia flora caught my eye.  The inspiration from Kyla Crozier‘s SS11/12 collection ‘Where the Heart Is’ stemmed from one of her tea towels! Here she graciously answers some questions to satisfy my curiosity about her collection and how she came to be a fashion designer.

How long have you been a fashion designer, and how made you become one?
I think I first started designing when I was 14. I was very excited about the school formal and I remember sitting around the kitchen table with my girlfriends sketching the dresses we wanted to wear. I think that’s when it clicked. I’d always loved beautiful things and was always creating, whether it was through dance or drawing, but it all seemed to make sense as soon as I focused on clothes. Summer is my second collection under my own name so I haven’t been doing this for long at all. I studied at East Sydney and went on to work in the industry as a design assistant so I’ve always been surrounded by design.

What was the inspiration behind this collection? Why were Australian flora used?

The inspiration began with the colour palette. On my way home to where I grew up, I drive through a stretch of national park. The landscape is beautiful, the colours of the huge gums, native flowers, burnt trunks of trees after the summer back burning and the bright blue sky cracking through the tree tops is where I drew the colour palette from. This theme began to grow inside my thoughts but only came to its full fruition when I stumbled across the Australiana tea towels. I took these kitsch Australiana tea towels and adapted these into the Flora print, combining different flora and fauna from all of the tea towels into one original print. Keeping with the Australiana theme I decided to create an original print of my own, for this I looked to the bottlebrush flower. Sketching out sketch after sketch I developed a modern floral print, keeping the colours quite minimal the print became a subtle take on a traditional floral. So in short the inspiration came from home and the environment around me, that’s how I came to the collection name ‘where the heart is’ like the saying ‘Home is where the heart is’.

What are your favourite pieces from your collection and why?

The Flora blouse is my absolute favourite, the print works so well on the soft silk georgette, it’s pretty without being overly feminine. It also has a timeless quality, and I can see myself wearing this for years to come.
I love the Flora Shift Dress and Flora shift top I’m just so happy with the print!
The bottlebrush story is another favourite, the red is so vibrant and the print is very subtle the colours seem to blend together and on close inspection you can see the detail that has gone into the design.

Who inspires you? Do you have a muse or favourite designers you look up to?

My girlfriends are a constant inspiration, I design clothes that I can see myself and them wearing. I like designs that are accessible and classic, I always keep this at the forefront of my mind, I think dressing should be easy. Inspiration can really stem from anywhere, a picture I see in a magazine, a girl on the street, music or film, there is inspiration all around us sometimes it can be hard to turn off. My favourite designers would have to be Isabel Marant and Chloe, both labels offer simple beautiful clothes, Kenzo for their amazing prints. Back home here in Australia, Easton Pearson are always showcasing beautiful prints.

What do you do in your spare time when you are not designing?

Cook, I absolutely love to cook! I find it the best way to clear my mind and relax. Reading is also high on the list, and when I have time I love taking a dance class with friends.

Kyla lent me her blouse for this blog post. I was in awe of the print and the soft silk she used. I hope the photos does it justice. Want to see my full outfit? The next blog post shall reveal all!