Palace is excitedly waiting for more Nina Maya spring/summer stock to arrive any day now and was delighted to have the opportunity to sit down with Nina Maya during her visit to Perth this week to discuss the inspirations behind her current collection and have a sneak preview at what she has in store for winter 2011.
Nina’s background is in textile design and she always starts her collections with the textiles and prints. Nina was inspired by a combination of modern Aboriginal art and French impressionism for this year’s spring/summer collection.
‘Coming through on the catwalks of Europe were lots of nude tones and pastels so I looked to Monet’s Waterlilies Series for inspiration and I actually got out a canvas and paints and painted for a couple of days until I had this washed, brushed artwork that I was happy with and then I turned that into a digital print for the chiffon dresses.’
‘And the aboriginal inspiration was from their modern line paintings rather than the dot artwork and again I painted a canvas with line prints which I then turned into the Stripe Out Mini.’
The Stripe Out Mini was one of Nina’s favourite pieces from this season’s collection because, ’it has the great bold shoulder, the black contrast, an amazing silhouette and you can wear it day or night’ and she also loves the Fancy Free strapless jumpsuit as featured online at www.stylepalace.com.au because of its versatility.
Nina’s passion for textiles and fabrics were developed early in her career when she spent time working for a textiles firm in London and a high end fashion house in Italy.
‘I think the thing I learnt most over there was an appreciation for quality fabrics because I had access to the best fabric houses in the world so I have really kept that at the forefront of my designs and I am constantly collecting and sourcing unique fabrics.’
Nina has beautifully adapted her international experience to her Australian designs but her love of European fashion and style is evident as she speaks of the difference between designing for the European woman, compared to her Australian clientele.
‘I think Australia is a lot more casual than Europe and because we don’t have such strong seasons we are very trans-seasonal.’
‘ In Europe they have very strong winter collections with wools and furs, felts and fabrics that we would never consider using for the Australian market and I think they also have a much higher level of dressing for events, theatre and dinner whereas we are much more relaxed,’ said Nina.
Nina has achieved so much since launching her label in 2006 and believes it is the youth and energy of Australia’s fashion industry that sets it apart from the rest of the world.
‘I think it is young, and fresh and really quite individual compared to the rest of the world. We take inspiration from the international catwalks and we have a very unique lifestyle that I think really stands out in our designs.’
Despite Nina’s obvious love for the international fashion industry it appears she has aspirations to expand her brand in Australia with plans for her first flagship store in Sydney.
‘We had a pop-up store a couple of months ago which did very, very well so now it’s a matter of finding the right location and investing in that,’ said Nina.
Nina’s creativity and drive are inspiring and Style Palace was also delighted to find out Nina shares an extravagant approach to shopping. ‘I originally stayed away from online shopping because I am really quite an extravagant shopper but now I mainly buy accessories, shoes, jewellery and lingerie online.’
Nina also has some great style advice for customers of Style Palace who are in the process of buying their new spring/summer wardrobe.
‘I think it’s good to get a base of the key looks for the season such as the nudes, textured whites and then also pick up on the accents as there are a lot of bold colours. For us it was the watermelon. And have fun at night time with the metallics, the sequins and the beautiful bronze colours.’
And keep your eye on Style Palace in anticipation of our next delivery of Nina Maya spring/summer items due any day now! To shop Nina Maya visit www.stylepalace.com.au
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