Interview: 2/14/07

DARK INDUSTRY CLOTHING

Dark Industry specializes in, but is not restricted to: Clubwear, cosplay, evening wear, outerwear, and daywear (goth, industrial, cyber, and period) for mens, ladies and will do some childrens clothing.

The innovation and creativity that goes into every piece is inspirational. With the newest line of steampunk inspired apparel about to hit Convergence 13, Dark Industry is about to show the world fashion's darker side.

The designer was kind enough to answer a few questions fro sepiachord.

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1. Please tell me a bit about yourself and what got you interested in fashion design.

I've been really particular about my clothing, even as a child. I also began sewing at a young age. My mother was a great influence in this way, supporting my self-expression through fashion, and teaching me the fundamentals of sewing, starting when I was old enough to sew thin perforated pieces of press-board together with a large plastic needle and strings of yarn for thread, I might have been 3 or 4. I found out about
making clothes for profit from my favorite cartoon at age 10: Beetlejuice. Lydia Deetz opened her own shop in the local mall (with the help of the Ghost with the Most) called the Spooky Bootique. She, of course, peddled gothic style clothing. This was also my introduction to the goth aesthetic. My drawings of clothing began to take a darker turn, and have stayed that way ever since.

2. What was your first show like? when was it? What did it feature?

My very first show was a disaster. I was one of maybe 20 different student designers in the almost entirely student run fashion show for the school of fashion I attended. It was 2001 at the EMP Skychurch in Seattle Center. The show started out ok, showing each students' designs one after the other, but the models were not very experienced and went way too fast, and the dressers backstage couldn't keep up with them, causing huge pauses between sets (sets? What sets!?) and the poor fashion director, as Mistress of Ceremony, was left trying to fill up the visual silence with color commentary "why, this is a lovely pink dress" and so on. It was painful. By the time my pieces showed, I just wanted to leave, but the horror continued. I had three outfits, none of which were up
to par with anything I make now, in fact, they looked like hokey Halloween costumes next to the bridal gowns and funky ensembles shown before them. It was all made worse when I saw they had outfitted my models with long black witch wigs (complete with silver streaks in the front, yikes!) to make them look more "goth", yeah, it didn't work. Needless to say, I learned a lot from the mistakes of that show, and continue
learning with each show that I do.

3. What has been your biggest fashion design challenge so far?

A wedding dress I made for a dear friend. It was her big day, I couldn't screw it up, and I was challenged to design the entire dress around an antique cameo broach. It took me nearly a year to get it together. I made my deadline, but it was too close, even for me. I was showered with praise, but after all that time, I really began to resent that dress.
I'm just so happy that she was pleased with it, though, that was the most important thing.

4. Who or what has influenced your designs the most?

The past has been my biggest influence. A lot of my designs are based on historical pieces. I spend a lot of time pouring over costuming books and fashion plates, or searching websites for antique and vintage fashion. Then I do the mental check "how will this look in black?" and then I begin to draw my own interpretations. A lot of it is selfishly based on things I like and things I want to wear, or want my significant other to wear, or my best friends. This is technically not a mark of a good designer, who should design for their customer, but I'm not in this to make money (at least not yet).

5. What do you see as the main goal for the Dark Industry fashion label?

This changes every year, and evolves, as I get older. At first I wanted to make it my bread and butter; my main focus. Outfitting the community and making enough money to support myself, but this pipe dream was over before it begun, I think. Then it became trying to just make clothes on the side for people, via web-based sales, and for my friends locally. This too had to die, because my fashion industry career/day-job began to bud and I had more and more responsibility put on my shoulders and less and less time to sew. Now I'm just designing to design. Being creative with my only boundary being my own budget, and allowing myself to create new and different garments instead of just sewing the same things over and over again. Where it goes from there? Time will tell, but I think the goal has always been for me to have a creative outlet outside of this cubicle-filled world.

6. How would you describe your style?

I don't want to pigeonhole myself into specific "looks" but I tend towards a cleaner-industrial look. Sturdy fabrics like cotton canvas and twill mixed with metal trims like zippers and studs, but all in moderation, and nothing ripped or torn, unless distressed on purpose. I like things that are symmetrical and balanced. For example, I like big boots worn with big hair to balance it out, otherwise it looks bottom-heavy!

7. What do you see will be the next big trend in alternative fashion?

Alternative fashion, as a market, seems to have a hard time keeping up with the latest and greatest trends. I can't speak for every alternative fashion company, but just from shopping around, it seems like the same stuff is just re-designed and re-presented to our market. So, more often than not, I go the same route of many fashion-savvy goths and shop the mainstream stores and buy what I can in the black version.
In mainstream world (from the goth perspective) the 2006 trend was very
1800-1900's military based. Especially those Dragoon inspired jackets, I see them everywhere! (In fact, I'm doing a couple in my new line!). I think that military trend will stick around for 2007, but WWII will be the war that will inspire the fashion.
For a number of reasons, alternative fashion retailers will be slower
to pick up on these exact military trends. As you've noticed the idea and aesthetic of steampunk is coming up more and more often on the tongues of the goths. It's Victorian, it's Edwardian, but yet it's INDUSTRIAL! Industrial Revolution! How can we go wrong?! So that mainstream 1800-1900's military trend of 2006 should be pretty strong in this
upcoming year with its close ties to steampunk. I just hope it lasts!

8. What would you advise people who make their own clothes for themselves?

Just to warn you, I'm going to sound very drill sergeant, because that's just how I am about this craft. I always encourage people to be creative and try new things, but really, when you get right down to it:

-Try not to work too much outside your skill level, at least, not at first: If you're a beginner, start with the basics and work your way up, otherwise you might frustrate yourself right out of DIY. Save that corset for after you've made a few dozen A-Line skirts.
-Be precise: Unless you know the rules well enough to bend and break them, don't. Follow instructions to the letter, and be fastidious. This is what makes a garment look professional.
-Know your tools: so you don't have a couple grand to drop on that industrial machine, that's ok! but your little Singer home model isn't going to go through that canvas, better stick to lighter weight fabrics
-Don't give up: Sewing is hard, I'll be the first to admit it! If it was easy, everyone would do it. I remember giving this exact speech to a classmate of mine in fashion school when her waistband wouldn't fit into her pants, also mentioned how much we were paying to learn something not everyone can do, and it made us both very sad; that school was expensive! Sorry, digressing: keep working at it. Every mistake you make will make you that much smarter for the next time.

9. Every style of music seems to come with its own style of clothes and how they wear them. How much do you think fashion has influence on a genre? Or conversely, how much influence does music have on your fashion designs?

I think mirroring is the number one reason fashion and music go together. The "rockstars" wear their duds for their shows and inspire the crowd to dress akin to that. Then those fans do their own things with those styles (heaven forbid we all dress alike, even though we do!). And the band gets inspired by the crowd, and does their own thing, and so on and so on. So, following this theory, it's equal parts when it comes to influence, but then the real question comes into play: what came first, the chicken, or the egg?
When it comes to the music itself, it can be inspiring in how dark it is, or how poppy it is and so forth, but the literal interpretation in clothing form, that's really up to either the band or the fans to decide, and that's where the mirroring begins. I think Stromkern is the only band in our genre I've seen lately, that doesn't follow this formula!

10. Where can we see some of your work in 2007?

I'll be showing my new steampunk inspired line at Convergence in Portland, Memorial Day Weekend 2007 in their official fashion show. Also, I want to work with Seattle's go-getters and do my part to help put together a bigger and better fashion and arts show under the "Gothique" name. The Seattle Gothique fashion show in Seattle has featured
several local designers over the past few years, and has always been a lot of fun to attend, as well as participate in, and we would all like to see it get resurrected in a much more community-involved form.

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