Designer Diaries – Gozel Green

For designer sisters Sylvia and Olivia, strength is their emotion of choice. In their designs for the label Gozel Green, they work to combine the subtleties of feminity with bold colors. In this edition of Designer Diaries, the team at LFDW had a chat with them about their designs, what inspires them and what to look forward to from them in the futur

LFDW: What is your design aesthetic?

Gozel Green: Originality, timelessness, and creativity. Those are the three major things we look into when we are designing. We don’t conform we just kind of go with the flow and try not to copy anybody and be original

LFDW: How would you describe the Gozel Green woman?

Gozel Green: The Gozel Green woman is effortlessly stylish. She is someone who can walk into the room and wow people. She’s colorful, quirky, confident, not afraid to push boundaries, and stand out in a crowd

LFDW: What are some of the things that inspire your aesthetic?

Gozel Green: We get inspiration from our culture and immediate surroundings, but our we are majorly inspired by our father’s work. Before we started Gozel Green, we always said to ourselves that we would use our father’s work to do what we need to do. Our dad was very creative and he was into art, so whatever we’re doing, the first thing we look to for inspiration is our father’s work. If you look at our collections there is always a story and it is based on my father’s work.

LFDW: How do you describe this collection in 3 words?

Gozel Green: Freedom, woman, originality

LFDW: What does fashion mean to you?

Gozel Green: Fashion is an expression. It's who you are, how confident you are, how you want people to see you, and how you want to be treated

LFDW: Is your personal aesthetic the same or different from Gozel Green’s?

Gozel Green: Our sense of style and our brand kind of go hand in hand. We’re introverts, we don’t go out but at the same time, we don’t like to wear simple clothes. We always try to add an extra oomph to our own outfits. Even when we are wearing extravagant clothes, we tend to mellow it down with something.

LFDW: How would you describe your creative process?

Gozel Green: Our creative process starts from our source of inspiration, and then we come up with a theme for a collection. Then we use those things as our guide throughout the collection, and then we start to think about the fabric choice, texture, and design.

LFDW: What should we expect with this collection?

Gozel Green: We are not really into print. The reason we use the plain fabric is that we want to show our unique design. Our clothes are about the intricate details that the clothes come in because you can see the authentic design when it's plain fabric. Hopefully, we can start making our own unique prints

LFDW: What ideas are you exploring for this collection?

Gozel Green: Our collections are always talking about strength and there is always a journey. Because of that, there has to be movement in the clothes

LFDW: Beyond fashion week, how are you looking to retail/stock?

Gozel Green: We have been trying to position our brand at a high level. We plan to push our clothes to more retailers, stores, and online. Some people have reached out to us but we are trying to filter to make sure we stick to our theme and our aesthetic. We are not in a rush.

LFDW: Is there international demand?

Gozel Green: Our international demand balances with our local demand. We have to put things in place before we commit to things, and because we are growing we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew. We are not entirely where we need to be but we’re getting there.

LFDW: Have you done any collaborations with any other designers?

Gozel Green: Not yet, before you collaborate you have to make sure you know where you stand so that you don’t get lost. We also want to work with people who have similar aesthetics.

LFDW: What are you looking forward to during LFDW?

Gozel Green: Seeing other designers and their work. We are also excited to show and learn, and also meet more people from different backgrounds and get constructive criticism.