MBFWA - BACKSTAGE HAYLEY ELSAESSER
Photographs by Waylon Palmer
Interview by Jamie-Maree Shipton
Hayley runs up to me backstage, puffing, we begin.
J: How are you feeling?
H: Ummm, feeling really good, little bit nervous but mostly excited. I just kinda want to get it to happen and come to fruition but yeah excited!
J: OK so let’s start with hair and makeup, what was the vibe?
H: So the collection is inspired by the movies Cry Baby and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, so the main kind of aesthetic inspiration for the styling was the 1950’s but I wanted to bring it into present day. So we kinda have like the female version of the “greaser” hairdo, so it’s like a little victory roll on top thats a bit disheveled with feminine curls and then for the makeup we have a cat eye but in the baby blue colour and a coral lip. I just wanted to keep it really bombshell.
J: So you were saying Cry Baby and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas..what was it about those movies that appealed to you?
H: Well I wanted to bring something that was like totally different together, the only thing connecting them is that Johnny Depp appears in both so it was kinda just a challenge to bring two things together that are totally different and come up with a product at the end.
J: How long did it take you to put the prints together, obviously prints are you thing so how much time do you spend on them from start to finish?
H: So for my process I first start with doing the silhouettes, I just find it easier to do the silhouettes and then totally separate from that I start designing the prints. Then I decide what goes with what, make some changes, make some cuts, do some colour arranging so they actually go together, but the actual prints, how it works, I start off with sketches and then I start drawing them on the computer and then I....
*Loud music followed by models crumping interrupts us*
H: Sorry I lost my train of thought...
J: Oh it’s just the models breaking it down!
H: (Laughs) Yeah so yeah - I’m on the computer and then just put the whole collection together after that.
J: Cool, so it looks like there is alot of separates, is everything supposed to be interchangeable and supposed to be worn together?
H: Yeah for the more daring people - I mean it does vary, but they have items that they can match together, like they have pastels they can put together or can be more daring and match the acid yellow to them, which most people wouldn’t think of straight away but it works. So they are definitely separates they can mix and match or fit into their wardrobe separately.
J: And what materials have you used for the collection?
H: I always like to keep it really natural, especially living in Brisbane, so I like to cater to that kind of climate where you can layer it but it would also be suitable for a hot summers day. So I’ve kept to a lot of cotton and silk predominately and used a little bit of lamb skin leather too. And then you have the spandex for the swimwear.
J: Ohhh swimwear? Was this something you were comfortable with since it’s brand new for you?
H: In Australia you definitely need swimwear, well I believe so, especially because of the climate and its definitely something I wanted to do because my target market is quite young so I felt like they would really embrace that. So it was something I really wanted to explore, and I definitely think it was a nice progression for the brand.
J: So, who is the Hayley Elasasser girl?
H: She’s not necessarily young but she is definitely young at heart. She likes to wear clothing that speaks for itself, she wants to show who she is through her clothing at first glance. She likes to express herself with clothing, she likes to mix print and be bold and eye catching and stand out. Definitely.
J: I think that the Hayley girls are a community, like whenever someone notices or recognises the print it’s that moment where your like “Hey your a fan and follower of Hayley” and you kind of both bond over that. Do you think because you are still emerging it is more of a family brand and your more intimate with your customers?
H: I think so. I think that I have been embraced because I am an emerging designer and I think people like to latch onto new designers and they feel like they grow with the brand so they sort of have this emotional connection with the brand.
J: Finally, what are you telling the models, what do you want their attitude to be?
H: Well we have posted it up for them to see and it’s pretty much good girls gone bad so they gotta be sassy with a bit of a bad attitude.
Interview by Jamie-Maree Shipton
Hayley runs up to me backstage, puffing, we begin.
J: How are you feeling?
H: Ummm, feeling really good, little bit nervous but mostly excited. I just kinda want to get it to happen and come to fruition but yeah excited!
J: OK so let’s start with hair and makeup, what was the vibe?
H: So the collection is inspired by the movies Cry Baby and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, so the main kind of aesthetic inspiration for the styling was the 1950’s but I wanted to bring it into present day. So we kinda have like the female version of the “greaser” hairdo, so it’s like a little victory roll on top thats a bit disheveled with feminine curls and then for the makeup we have a cat eye but in the baby blue colour and a coral lip. I just wanted to keep it really bombshell.
J: So you were saying Cry Baby and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas..what was it about those movies that appealed to you?
H: Well I wanted to bring something that was like totally different together, the only thing connecting them is that Johnny Depp appears in both so it was kinda just a challenge to bring two things together that are totally different and come up with a product at the end.
J: How long did it take you to put the prints together, obviously prints are you thing so how much time do you spend on them from start to finish?
H: So for my process I first start with doing the silhouettes, I just find it easier to do the silhouettes and then totally separate from that I start designing the prints. Then I decide what goes with what, make some changes, make some cuts, do some colour arranging so they actually go together, but the actual prints, how it works, I start off with sketches and then I start drawing them on the computer and then I....
*Loud music followed by models crumping interrupts us*
H: Sorry I lost my train of thought...
J: Oh it’s just the models breaking it down!
H: (Laughs) Yeah so yeah - I’m on the computer and then just put the whole collection together after that.
J: Cool, so it looks like there is alot of separates, is everything supposed to be interchangeable and supposed to be worn together?
H: Yeah for the more daring people - I mean it does vary, but they have items that they can match together, like they have pastels they can put together or can be more daring and match the acid yellow to them, which most people wouldn’t think of straight away but it works. So they are definitely separates they can mix and match or fit into their wardrobe separately.
J: And what materials have you used for the collection?
H: I always like to keep it really natural, especially living in Brisbane, so I like to cater to that kind of climate where you can layer it but it would also be suitable for a hot summers day. So I’ve kept to a lot of cotton and silk predominately and used a little bit of lamb skin leather too. And then you have the spandex for the swimwear.
J: Ohhh swimwear? Was this something you were comfortable with since it’s brand new for you?
H: In Australia you definitely need swimwear, well I believe so, especially because of the climate and its definitely something I wanted to do because my target market is quite young so I felt like they would really embrace that. So it was something I really wanted to explore, and I definitely think it was a nice progression for the brand.
J: So, who is the Hayley Elasasser girl?
H: She’s not necessarily young but she is definitely young at heart. She likes to wear clothing that speaks for itself, she wants to show who she is through her clothing at first glance. She likes to express herself with clothing, she likes to mix print and be bold and eye catching and stand out. Definitely.
J: I think that the Hayley girls are a community, like whenever someone notices or recognises the print it’s that moment where your like “Hey your a fan and follower of Hayley” and you kind of both bond over that. Do you think because you are still emerging it is more of a family brand and your more intimate with your customers?
H: I think so. I think that I have been embraced because I am an emerging designer and I think people like to latch onto new designers and they feel like they grow with the brand so they sort of have this emotional connection with the brand.
J: Finally, what are you telling the models, what do you want their attitude to be?
H: Well we have posted it up for them to see and it’s pretty much good girls gone bad so they gotta be sassy with a bit of a bad attitude.
