Malene Grotrian - The Interview

Photo by Toranj Kayvon     On a cloudy, cold Wednesday afternoon in Vancouver I made my way along the streets of Gastown. I arrived at the tall heritage structure called the Dominion Building which was built in 1910. I went inside and rode the elevator to the ninth floor. I knocked on the studio door of local fashion designer Malene Grotrian only to find her right behind me in the hall. After introductions, we stepped inside her stylish boutique and I saw her latest season's designs hanging on one side of the room and a couple mannequins displaying her stunning designs on the other side and by the window. The atmosphere was warm, inviting and I immediately felt at ease. I was excited to have my first sit down interview with a local fashion designer and to find out how Malene was successful in the fashion industry. We sat down beside a large window looking out to Vancouver Harbour and I asked my first question.     

SP: What inspired you to become a fashion designer?

MG: The actual inspiration to become a fashion designer…I wouldn’t say I’m consciously aware of it. I have always known I wanted to be a fashion designer. I think what really inspired me was I remember my mum looking at some sketches that I had done when I was a child and her saying to me that she thought that this would be something I would make a living of one day. Where, in my mind I was looking at my sketches thinking how do people make a living out of sketching, like that was my logic but I do really believe that it actually motivated me to thinking that the creativity I have in me could actually lead me to something that I could work with. I never sewed before I was 19, I always was into Fine Arts, creativity and creating even three dimensional and clay. I was doing a lot of fine arts portraits and other perspective three dimensional sketching and things like that. So I always knew I was going to be a designer. I think my appreciation for illustration really transferred into clothes so it must have been an acceptance of my parents saying that was an option.

SP: Can you tell me a bit about your background and experience?

MG: I’m Danish, born and raised in Denmark, lived there until I was 24 then I came here. In Denmark I studied fine arts from couple of different schools. I studied fashion design and I graduated, I came to Canada in 2004 and worked under a tailor in Ottawa where I was responsible for all pattern making, fittings and whatnot. I learned the craftsmanship of designing one of a kind designs and high quality. For two years I worked for a Vancouver local company called Blushing Designs and I learned to work in the actual industry and production in 2008.

SP: What was your inspiration for your most recent collection, Fall/Winter 2011?

I’m always inspired by textures, contrasts, and always have something to do with the four elements in my collections. I think because it balances. I always think about how a chef talks about great food  you have the four elements in something, something sour, something sweet, something soft, something crisp and you can kind of look at a design in the same way. If you have got a really great design you try building several elements or you focus on a simplistic design. If the fabric is very saturated you might want to add a shiny detail. So you will have contrast within the design. Contrast is always something I naturally think about when I start a new design process. Its fundamental, like you will see a jacket  where it has lots of volume in the collar and it has a nice fitted waist. Yet, it has the peplum in the back which also swings out. So contrast and hourglass is a continuous inspiration for me. Different fabrics, textures, colours something that’s vibrant, something that has…again I keep going back to saying the word contrast. I think it’s because it’s so essential it keeps repeating itself in the collection.

Photo by Toranj Kayvon

SP: How would you describe your design or inspiration process?

MG: The design process is always very intimidating before I start. You build up some kind of experience to know ok the designs will probably come this season. But you definitely have some kind of anxiety or preparation fear of what’s coming basically cuz the creativity and design is such a..you can’t hold it before you start; this is what I’m going to come up with. It literally feels like it’s going to come out of nothing. So it usually starts with intimidation of a project that you don’t know how you are going to solve but trust that it’s going to show up. Then I start looking at fabrics and the feeling goes away automatically. I think if you are creative you get inspired, especially myself I get very inspired by materials. So when my suppliers come and show me different fabrics I immediately have thoughts, you know if this is the fabric I’m more drawn too for several reasons then it goes down to the actual selection of maybe six to ten fabrics. It goes into the collection that I end up designing. So when I know what fabrics all go together and I feel it has cohesiveness and or a contrast like they balance each other out. I stick to my fabrics and I start the design process.

SP: You produce and manufacture your clothing line here in Vancouver. What made you want to produce your collection here as opposed to Asia or the States?

MG: First of all producing locally means a lot to me I try to do all that I can to participate in the community in a lot of different ways not in just regards to production. We do a lot of charity events, giving back in regards of donations, involvement, sending out models to do giveaways or help sell raffle tickets. So being part of the community is a big part of who I am and what the business stands for. One of the main reasons why I think the business has been built to where it’s at today is belonging to local network groups. So for me producing locally the definite default, I never doubted that that’s how I wanted to produce my designs. My clients are extremely happy about it and come to me for that same reason that they know that the clothes have been made here in Vancouver.

SP: What was it like to do a show at Vancouver Fashion Week?

MG: Vancouver Fashion Week was my very first fashion week, that was in 2009, and it opened up some doors for me. It essentially opened up the doors to be invited to New York Fashion Week which was in 2009 as well, later in the same year. It was the entry to be seen on a more international stage and it was great I got the first standing ovation which was great, good feedback from that show. It was the first time designers had shown more finale gowns, I made some very large dresses to create the finale. I think that in itself was something that was quite new to the Vancouver fashion scene where it had been up till then and I think still is sporty street wear. So the designs were different that way so it was a great experience and opened some good opportunities.

SP: You did a show for New York Fashion Week. How did it differ from Vancouver Fashion Week?

MG: Very different, Vancouver Fashion Week it was a.. well New York is very competitive and it’s hard to compare because New York is a fashion Mecca so people come there to buy and to place orders and the whole meaning with it again is to get into stores, which was what I did at the time. Just the attention that a place like New York Fashion Week gets compared to Vancouver Fashion Week is a huge difference. For myself, we got a couple of full page articles at the National Post and Vancouver Sun, some great, great media from the fact that I had participated in New York Fashion Week. So there is recognition when you participate in such an international event and yeah again I don’t know if I really saw that prior to participating..it definitely is what came out of it.  I almost didn’t do it because I had only had my business for about 6 months at that time and I thought I wasn’t ready and yeah it was one of those things where if I go am. I ready for this? It felt like a bigger event, but you know you work hard at it and become ready.

SP: Dr. Samra will be wearing your designs on the Million Dollar Neighbourhood show on the OWN Network starting on January 22. What was it like to dress her for the show?

MG: She is pretty amazing a very, very generous woman. She actually approached me to ask me if I was interested in dressing her, she seemed to feel that it was a good fit and was quite interested in the collection and wearing it and having it represent her. She looks amazing in the collection so it was..I always find it interesting when something comes your way, you know when someone who is a TV celebrity comes and asks you if they can wear your designs. You know what, they are humans like you and I and looking to look and feel good. So there is not much difference from her and anyone else that I dress. You are looking at the same thing and trying to find something that will look good on her and enhance her best features. She’s you know a very beautiful woman, it’s not very hard to dress that way but we all have our style and to try to match the style and personality..its always something that I really enjoy.

SP: What would you say is the main difference between the fashion industry in Denmark and here in Vancouver?

MG: Denmark is small there are only 5 million people; there is still a huge difference. The fashion scene in Vancouver is very small; Denmark is literally the most visited fashion week, the Copenhagen Fashion Week of Northern Europe. So fashion is a big part of the culture, unbelievable, you see it as soon as you plant your feet at the airport. You will see men with fashionable glasses and scarves, which is just what you wear. Everyone follows the fashion so that is not the case in Vancouver. It is more laid back and not much of a history of paying as much attention to it, but I guess it’s changing, Vancouver is still a very new, young city with a lot of different cultures here. To come up with what is a Vancouverite the first thing people would say is very relaxed, sporty. So it does have that feel to it where most European cultures first of all very old, have a lot of history and style, architecture and design has an extremely high value to it because of the countries’ history. So the fashion is extremely different and it takes a certain level of fine arts to give you an example to even get into the designs schools, it’s just very competitive and its highly acknowledged, it’s quite acknowledged in design, much more so in Denmark than it is here where the creative side to life I think has been a little bit more appreciated cuz again I think of our history.

Photo by Toranj Kayvon

SP: What fashion designer inspires you most?

I don’t spend a lot of time searching what other designers are doing. So I don’t necessarily look for other inspiration in other designers however that doesn’t mean I don’t find other designers are incredibly talented. I definitely do. I like the clean lines of Karl Lagerfeld, I love the contrast of Vivian Westwood and maybe that is the good in between that I have ended up with in my line is a combination of a more minimalist expression Vivian Westwood patterns and textures. Those are the ones that come to my mind when I think about designers. I don’t follow other designers or trends or what people are doing. Of course you watch and see what’s out there I try not to but I find it more interesting to search and find something more original within a design.

SP: What advice would you give someone wanting to start out in the fashion industry?

I would say if you want to start your own business as a fashion designer, truly understand what it is that you love to do and make sure that the business that you are creating allows you to do just that. It takes a lot of work to build a business and if you are interested in the type of style of business like I have done the actual designing probably tends a maximum 10 percent of the time, a lot of the others are meeting the clients or building the business or doing administrative work. So which thankfully I love as well, I think if you really enjoy the design process and you don’t like anything of the other things you know maybe starting your own business..it could be something you do and then you find someone else to do the admin side of the work or maybe you would be better off working in a design company where you can get to be more creative or work more with the patterns. There is a lot of hats to be worn as a business owner and it’s also a very competitive industry so you have to really understand that it is going to take time and hang in there.

If you want to check out more of Malene's gorgeous designs you can go to her website at http://www.malenegrotrian.com. Everything is 25% off right now until the end of February. You can book an appointment at her studio Monday to Thursday. Or if you don't want to make an appointment you can visit the studio Friday from 11-5pm and Saturday 11-4pm and a stylist will be there to help you out. Check out her website for further details!