Every month Ragtrader pairs RMIT fashion and design students with an established designer for a professional one-on-one. In this edition, RMIT graduate Gabriella Ferrante asks George Gorrow, co-founder of iconic local label Ksubi, for his advice.
George Gorrow
Gabriella Ferrante
Where do you find your inspiration for your collections? Are you more inspired by the streets, or overseas markets, or something more personal?
It’s more personal, its really inspired by the evolution of youth, the streets, music and art, and fashion too, it’s all really linked. We look locally as our main point of inspiration but its not totally blocked to international influence; from travel friends and contributors and from surfing the world wide web, we like trying to keep the inspiration as local as possible though. If you’re going to live on an island you may as well enjoy and embrace its benefits, keeping distance and difference is really important for us.
Ksubi experienced a takeover a couple of years ago. How has that affected your business and creative process?
Despite the world’s cold we are happy and healthy, business is much smoother and simpler now. Having a good business run in synch with creativity is extremely important and to have both respect each other was a vital change needed for us.
We see the words ‘Made in Australia’ less and less in fashion these days. Do you think that there needs to be more support from the government/legislation, or do you see another solution?
We have actually returned to making a little more in Australia for the past two seasons. The ease of making things home-grown is great and it can escalate your product as you have more control when it’s being made near you. It’s sad that is happening to Australia, I’m not going to comment too much on it though, my dealings with politics etc is very limited, I never read the news or watch TV, I don’t trust much of what they say anyway, I’m a bit of a conspiracy theory guy.
Fashion and sustainability/ethical trading: is this the future?
Great ideas, all green and ethical ideas are generally great in their thinking and their morals. The practicality gets stone-walled by bulls**t agenda and politics I guess or we’d all be living in a much different place. The world is coming into an age of enlightenment and peoples awareness to sustainability and ethics and such topics is really starting to awaken, fingers crossed.
What has been the most unexpected lesson that you have learnt in your years in the fashion industry?
Lessons, hmm... I could write a book. Stay true, stay focused, don’t take anything for granted and enjoy the ride – probably the most important. That sounded terrible, I should get a job as a bad copy writer for a bad advertising company.
Gabriella Ferrante recently graduated from RMIT in Fashion. In her time at RMIT she was awarded Most Outstanding Student RMIT Diploma of Fashion and Technology Brunswick 2010, as-well-as winning The Boroughs Manhattan Fashion Competition 2011.
Ferrante is currently gaining industry experience at Maggie T and Cylk.
Menswear collection: Lost and Found 2012.
Womenswear collection: Mascherata 2012.