moose yaks: doris Q
Hong Kong celebrities from the likes of Miriam Yeung, Charlene Choi and Gin Lee are customers. Fashion Editors can’t get enough of her. She’s stocked on fashion websites like Nasty Gal and Urban Outfitters. And she’s graced the pages of ELLE, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan. We’re talking about Fashion label Doris Q of course. Before you ask ‘Doris who?’, read on to get the skinny.
// the Doris Q story //
I come from a family completely unrelated to fashion, but I started sketching clothes and shoes since kindergarten, and my mum said I started picking out my own outfits when I was 3. I went to UTS for law school, but on the side I did part-time studies at East Sydney Tafe, and went to St. Martins and Parsons for short course and did tons of free work. From very early on I already see fashion as a lifestyle art form; it is the only art form where you can directly influence and improves someone's life. The feeling of putting on a dress that makes one feel confident and beautiful is what I'm striving for, and combining that with artistic techniques like print, embroidery, silhouette, form and structure is what I love doing. So it's more like I got myself into fashion because I love it so much. I got an investor to launch my select store in Hong Kong, and coming from a fashion background, I did a capsule collection for the store, and it just got sold out so quickly. So that' was how DORIS Q started.
// the Doris Q aesthetic //
It's a more casual aesthetic. I want to create clothes that girls want to wear, that makes a girl look young and beautiful, but with a touch of tailoring or innovativeness. For this collection I've draped the more stiff fabrics like neoprene and thick mesh around the body to make the silhouette more sculptural, but at the same time keeping the pieces light-hearted and easy to wear. I've also used reflective printing techniques on the oversized Tees, the same way as those road worker uniform, so if you go party, those pieces are so much fun.
// the spring summer 2014 collection //
It's called Chasing Ice because the collection is inspired by the documentary of the same name, led by an environmental photographer James Balog with a band of young adventurers, to record the chilling evidence of climate change with hauntingly beautiful imagery. The team was literally chasing ice, and they were so courageous. After seeing the documentary, I kept on thinking and rethinking about it, and ended up using it as my inspiration for the collection; and I combined it with the sporty ski/snow sports elements and used stretched denim, tencel, quite a lot of mesh and scuba-diving neoprene in the collection. For me it's an interesting mix. Then all things just fall in place: the graphics (bird view glaciers and deep-sea dinosaur print), the colour ways (blue, white and black mostly), the techniques (various types of pleats as inspired by the layers of glaciers) You can see the trailer here.
// the media //
It's quite unbelievable to see my collection on WSJ and Vogue.IT, and subsequently on ELLECHINA.com and quite a few online media. I really feel extremely appreciative of these editors being so supportive and relieved that they get my collection and my inspiration and the messages I'm trying to convey.
// the strategy //
For me, it was about creating something innovative yet easy to wear and makes a girl look good. A good PR and marketing team definitely helps a lot, because they help me to get my messages across.
// the advice //
I think be mentally prepared to be a problem solver and expect all the possible things that could go wrong, will go wrong. But also know that at the end of the day, it is the most incredible feeling to see your collection come down the runway, and see them going into stores and people wearing them. It's hard work, but really worth it.
