Carly Hunter Exclusive Interview with AnyOneGirl

Carly Hunter caught my attention with her latest Autumn/Winter 2013 collection entitled “Escape Into Reality”. Based on the concept of dreams; the subconscious mind being able to assist the awakened mind, the collection is a representation of a form of escape from what some might call, “the real world“.

Creating beautiful photographs for her collection’s campaign images (all done in half an hour!), they include symbols such as a glass pyramid, botanical gardens and warm, filtered light – “its like a beautiful oasis in the middle of a busy city”.

I think Carly Hunter is an AnyOneGirl through and through. I wanted to know more about the Melbourne based designer who makes me swoon so bad for her blue wool coat, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask her some questions… Enjoy!

-Hi Carly! Where did you grow up?

Perth, WA, Australia.

-Do you think this influences who you are today as a person/designer?

Yes and no. Everyone used to say ‘Perth is so isolated from the rest of the world and its so behind in terms of trends and whats cool’, but its really not the case because we had the internet and we saw what was going on  everywhere else! That being said I have never wanted to follow the ‘key trends’ in my designs, but I do acknowledge them.
The only other thing I can think of is that in Perth the weather is really good for most of the year and its very warm so there was a lot of sheer fabrics and skin showing in my collections to begin with, even after I moved to Melbourne where the weather is cold and annoying.

-Where do you work from now?

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

-Do you have any teachers/mentors/people that have influenced you and your work that you would like to acknowledge?

I definitely had some interesting teachers that influenced me when I was studying fashion at CIT in Perth. The designers who influenced me when I was studying were ones like Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Martin     Margiela. I still love Chalayan and Margiela but try not to pay too much attention to other designers now. Instead Im influenced more by film makers, artists and photographers.

-When did Carly Hunter the brand start?

In Perth in 2007, I entered a tiny collection into the ‘New Gen’ category of the Perth Fashion Festival. I won and was lucky enough to be asked show my next collection at the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2008.

-What was the motivation to start a fashion brand?

I took a year off after I finished studying fashion but felt the urge to start designing again so I made a really small ‘capsule collection’ I guess you would call it?. And I showed it to my favourite store at the time, Periscope on King Street in Perth. And luckily the owner loved it and ordered almost every piece. I suppose that kind of recognition where someone who I respected liked my work enough to buy it, motivated me to actually start the label.

-How would you describe the “Carly Hunter” girl?

I see so many different types of girls wearing my clothes I cant really put them into a group. I guess girls between 18 to 40 – maybe even older? Who have a job or some kind of income, who think for themselves and prefer quality over quantity.

-What music do you love?

(Just had to check my itunes collection)  Industrial, dark ambient, classical, metal, rap, hip hop, pop, punk, post punk, trip hop, techno, neo psych, new age…..so everything really! At the moment on rotation is Grimes, Phil Collins and Frank Perry …I used to be a lot more particular.

-Who/what influences you?

Im always influenced by photography and celebrities from the 90’s, things I grew up with and saw in magazines. Also new tech, art, films, interesting articles and text. Im obsessed with tumblr and love getting lost in visual research for the next collection.

-Tell us more about the relationship between your recent collection “Escape into Reality” and Freud’s description on dreams and real life.

The collection ‘Escape Into Reality’ is about ‘Work/Corporate Life’ versus ‘Retirement and Leisure’ – how one escapes from the stress of their jobs or their everyday, mundane lives be it by taking a holiday, partying, gardening, through sleep and dreams or retirement. I wanted to combine the two in a way so designs appear both extremely comfortable and luxurious but at the same utilitarian and a bit up-tight. I’ve often heard people say after they take time out from work: “time to get back to REAL life or the REAL world”. I found that excerpt from Freud and thought it fit perfectly.

-Your AW13 campaign images are beautiful. Can you tell us about the reason to shoot where you did and why the focus was on jackets only?

It was actually done really quickly after the lookbook shoot because I had to catch my flight back to Melbourne, I thought the tropical centre in the botanical gardens was perfect because of the symbolism of the pyramid and because that garden is a perfect example of escapism – its like a beautiful oasis in the middle of a busy city. The coats were used because they were my favourite pieces in the collection and easy to change in the time frame we had, which was about half an hour.

-How important is the imagery for the brand? How do you monitor this?

It’s very important to me because it ties each collection together and is an overall representation of my label. Im very specific when it comes to what I want on the website and how I want the campaigns to look for each collection and what photographers and models I want to use for the look book.

-How do you find online/internet/blogs etc has been for your brand? Both creatively and commerce wise?

I think online media is great if its used well and thought about. Its a great source of pr and advertising because its so immediate and the reach is so large. We get a good response from people who view the website and its nice to hear that feedback, and having an online store has opened the doors to international buyers who cant find the label in their country, its been really nice to send packages to customers overseas.

-Tell us about the team that works for Carly Hunter- who are they? 

I do majority of the pattern making and first samples with production of garments made by local companies in both Melbourne and Perth. My partner Kane Ikin does most of the online stuff and the website and then our sales and PR is based in Sydney.
Im very involved in all aspects of the label, both the creative and the business side. I like to be present during all photo shoots, have my say in the styling etc. Im a bit obsessive and protective about it.

-What has been your proudest moment so far?

Each new collection.

-Where can we find/purchase Carly Hunter?

You can find a list of stockists on the website carly-hunter.com and also now online via our own e-store and through JASU.com.