The Petite Edit

Carousel & Bazaar

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

Carousel & Bazaar is a name you will soon be hearing a lot more of – I am sure of it. The insanely sophisticated and distinctive tailoring, cuts, accessories and use of pop colour will have mothers of little girls (and those of little boys alike) dreaming of outfitting delightful little girls in this debut collection. The fashion forward collection and distinctive campaign imagery (truly its perfection) will no doubt quickly garner Carousel & Bazaar a cult -like following.

The campaign images will no doubt start to flood instagram feeds and with today marking the official launch of the Carousel & Bazaar girl range, things are going to get a lot busier for Inge Holst, designer and creative of this infectiously good, high end fashion range for girls aged 6 -12 years.

Inge’s experience across the fashion, millinery design, costume, props and lifestyle arena together with her client scope including Bazmark (Buz Lurhmann/Catherine Martin), Paspaley Pearls, Melbourne Emporium and leading lifestyle media, there would be no doubt that Inge’s debut collection would be so impressive.

It is with great excitement that we share with you the Carousel & Bazaar story so far.

How did Carousel & Bazaar  come to be?

For years and years I’ve wanted to design kids fashion, I’ve toyed with the idea but always got distracted and gone off in different directions. The Carousel & Bazaar seed sprouted about three years ago and I’ve been exploring what it would look like on and off to land with this collection and something I feel confident to show and say this is me.

Who makes up Carousel & Bazaar team?

Carousel & Bazaar is just me, I don’t have staff yet but I’m not alone. I have drawn on some seriously creative and talented people to help me achieve my vision. For example, to make the magic happen and bring my pieces alive in the look book I collaborated with the talented and wonderful Renata from Curated By. She did the set design and photography and did all the important finishing touches styling like sourcing the best shoes to fit with the vision, the Miss Mouse loafers by EFVVA are my favourites! Don’t you think the world would be a better place is we all wore mouse loafers and a crazy hat?!

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

What inspired you to create the debut Carousel & Bazaar collection?

It was really important to me to design something that reflected my own style. I wanted to create shapes and styles that had more structure in them, actually create real fashion for girls. And the colour choice was important. Kids can wear bold colour and graphic black and white. They look great in colour but we don’t really see it. Kids are exuberant and joy-filled why not have clothes that reflect their spirits. I wanted to create fond memories too. I remember my favourite clothes from my childhood and they are in some drawers carefully folded away by my mum. If I can add to girls fond memory of their childhood, that would make me a very happy person.

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

Colour features so heavily within the collection and campaign, tell us about your motivation.

Colour when you look at it you can feel it. When you put a winning combination together it sings, it makes my heart flutter and simply makes me feel good inside. These feelings I hope is experienced by others when they view my collection. I choose fuchsia which has a lot of blue in it, and a royal blue with has a little purple, orange, a pale pink, sky blue and royal blue. All this is juxtaposed with graphic black and white. It’s music to my eyes! For the nail polish in the campaign shoot we choose Mecca Cosmetica, they have a wonderful selection of colours.

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

What inspires you creatively and personally?

Creatively, it’s just simply exposing myself to fashion, art, pop culture and media, travelling, looking at beautiful things, which could be nature, animals or a beautifully designed object. Absorbing an observing my own thoughts and feelings when I look at these things is important and what inspires my creativity and its process.

Personally, kind people, thought-provoking people and deep thinkers inspire me, you know when someone says something to you that is it so profound and on the money for where you are at in that particular moment in time, that it resonates so deeply that you carry those words with you as a guide through your life, those are the inspiring people. These are in my life or have passed through my life to leave me with life’s little gems.

What has been the best thing about being your own boss?

I love being my own boss because my creative process doesn’t understand regular work hours!  For example when I’m ‘designing’ a collection, this part of the creative process requires me to go deep within myself, it’s almost mediative, I need a lot quiet time to explore what’s in my mind. On the inside it’s very busy but from the outside it’s just a lot of pushing around paper, flipping through books and a bit of staring into space and scribbling on paper. Not a good look if you’re being paid by the hour!

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

Tell us about the creative process, how does it start, who is involved, how long does it take to produce one item?

It always starts with a feeling, and in my minds eye it’s a collage colour and shapes. There is a period of daydreaming, and looking at various forms of media to researching and exploring the mood or feeling I have in a visual sense. I then start to look at fabrics and design prints. I find my heart racing at points of the process because it’s so exciting when you realise that you might have just hit on something pretty cool. I can then draw the collection in one go and I draw it as individual pieces as I my mind I know what goes to together in terms of a look that will be shot and begin the process of making the dream a reality. With this collection I wanted to do a lot of it myself, so I did most of patternmaking and all sample making and head wear. Usually I like to work with a sample maker though. The sampling process allows me to refine the design and usually inspires a detail I hadn’t even thought of.

What’s the best piece of advise you have been given?

My dad always did things his way and he nurtured me from a young age to be just myself and to follow my dreams. My mum is a strong and determined women which I find inspiring and has supported me every step of the way. It’s been more lifelong encouragement and being great role models than a single piece of advice. Recently though, I found myself bit stuck around my direction about 4 months ago and my partner reminded me to just do things my way, so I did and this collection emerged.

Carousel & Bazaar debut girls collection. Set design, styling and photography – Curated by.

What are your goals for Carousel & Bazaar in 2015 and beyond?

I would like to establish a solid base for the brand this year. For me that means telling our story, getting our systems in place to manage growth, securing a hand full of great stockists and creating another knockout collection! Next year? I would really love to do a trade show in Europe to get in front of the community there. I am targeting a global market and it’s a natural hub for fashion, big and small. I would like to continue  refining my style and get better at what I do.

Inge’s Petite Edit

What is your go-to resource?

For inspiration, the art gallery, I look at the work of my favourite stylists and photographers, I love how they put different brands together and Milk magazine is a must!

Favourite children’s fashion range

At the moment my favourite is EFVVA. It’s creative and arty and very cool. The designer uses a hands-on approach in the making process and I admire that. I used their Miss Mouse loafers in my campaign shoot. So cute!

Give a shout out to an inspiring business operated by a parent

Renata from Curated By, wife and mum of 3. She dynamic, talented, supportive and lovely at all times. She manages to juggle her work and family life with aplomb!

To shop the Carousel & Bazaar collection visit the website and if you are a stockist interested in stocking the collection please get in touch with Inge Holst via the website.

Oh, and I wouldn’t take too long deciding on which pieces to get your little lady into – Inge has been invited by the uber cool children’s trade show Playtime to exhibit in Paris, Tokyo and New York so if I were you I’d jump online an snap up the collection before International success comes knocking.

*Style notes:Sunglasses worn in campaign are by We are sons and daughters Miss Mouse loafers by efvva