SOPHIE HALLETTE : Where and how do you find your inspiration?
Renée DE GUZMAN : I seek my inspirations from my personal experiences and also through my observations of struggling artists. How each well-known artist in this world have their own touch of madness. It was amazing to see how artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, and even Frida Kahlo delivered the best writings and art pieces of all time. In fact, I correlated myself to that of Vincent Van Gogh’s struggles of depression and seizures because that was also my form of madness, which led me to making this as my topic for my collection.
SH : Why did you choose to use lace ?
RDG : I wanted to challenge myself and use a different medium of fabric. Moreover, I aimed to prove a point that lace was definitely not just for eveningwear or for light garments but also for Fall/Winter clothing. Of course, it was also along the ideas of lace being edgy and loud as SH : How did you you work the lace ?
RDG : For the lace, I did weaving of velvet cords and fur strips. I also managed to do embroidery and worked with fur in the process. Aside from that, I made it a point that I paired the laces with the right colors to really show the pop of color.
SH : What did you want to express through your creations?
RDG : Through my creations, I aim to express that fashion is bold. It seeks for attention, to enable curiosity to know the story behind the design. Moreover, I seek for my garments to compliment the wearer and to also deliver a person’s character.
SH : What are your future projects?
RDG : As of now, I’m slowly coming up with a new collection to sell. But, I definitely want to start a label very soon.
SH : For you, as a young designer, what is the future of lace in fashion ?
RDG : I feel like the future of lace in the fashion industry will be exciting given how several designers would want to challenge the idea of lace being such a beautiful and feminine fabric just like how I did. Moreover, I also feel that with how fast fashion is growing, more and more lace designs will come along the way that will really step up the fashion game not only in the garment industry but also in the lace industry.well.
