Up Close … with up and coming fashion designer Natalie Lavigne |15 November 2016

‘I want my style to be unique and exotic’

In this week’s Up Close column we take a moment to introduce you to a fresh up and coming talent.

This creative Arian (someone born under the sun sign of Aries) comes with an exclusive and unique fashion line like none has seen before on our small island.

Twenty-year-old Natalie Lavigne, who grew up in Copolia (a sub district of Plaisance) with her mother Astride Seeward, father Egbert Lavigne and big brother Reuben Lavigne, is the creator of Violet Designs.  Her passion is fashion designing and she follows punk/emo trends. She held her first fashion show of six collections in September at Eden Plaza.

Education

Born on March 22, 1996, Natalie went to school at Mont Fleuri primary and secondary. After that she attended the School of Visual Arts for three years where she obtained advance certificates, a diploma and A-Level certificate in Fashion Design.

“Now I am currently studying to be an art teacher at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (Site),” Natalie says.

Fire behind the passion

Natalie has had an interest in fashion for quite some time and decided to further her own personal goals by studying it for three years.

“During my last year at the School of Visual Arts, I wanted to create my own fashion line based on the type of fashion I love which are goth, punk, emo, grunge and then localise it. Then I pitched the idea to one of my friends Maryse Camille and later on we started working on the designs little by little. Since then so far we have done only one fashion line based on six collections, designed by myself. The idea behind it is to introduce new style of fashion in Seychelles and to be able to spread the knowledge behind those fashion styles, and bring forth flair, uniqueness and creativity,” she says.

Violet design

Expounding on the name of her fashion line, Natalie says ‘Violet Designs’ was one of many names that she and her colleague chose out of a long list.

“We chose Violet Design because violet is our favourite colour and a way to describe our kinds of fashion. The goal of Violet Design is to come up with unique designs and styles,” she says.

“Our first ever fashion show at Havana Lounge Bar, Eden Plaza on September 30 was a success despite challenges. It was based on my first ever six collections which included a blue collection, two bikini collections, a casual collection, a boy’s collection and the last one was an evening collection,” adds Natalie.

Being a fashion designer

For Natalie, her favourite part of being a fashion designer is brainstorming fashion wear ideas, then bringing them to life with her own hands.

“The results always make me smile,” she comments. “For me, being able to implement my creativity through unique designs, clothing styles and constant innovation and portraying that by using fashion models, is just the best feeling.” According to Natalie, her greatest strengths are her ability to design and sew, but her challenge, which repeatedly presents itself, is the lack of materials, for example quality fabrics, sewing machines and designing equipment, which she notes are expensive to acquire.

About her

Natalie has a distinctive way of seeing the world and her personal style is emo punk.

“I’m not one for traditional Creole music or attire, you’ll mostly find rock, alternative, pop and dubstep music in my playlist and my wardrobe just can’t get enough of dark gothic colours and patterns,” says Natalie.

“My accessories are basically the same as well, and I just love spikes! In Seychelles there is this tendency that if there is a new style then everyone rushes to do it but I rather do my own thing. I want my style to be unique and exotic,” she adds.

Hobbies

Besides creating designs, in her spare time Natalie also enjoys hanging out with friends and doing make up either on herself or her friends.

“I sometimes also get gigs to do make-up on models before a show,” she says.

“My favourite piece of makeup would definitely have to be eyeliner because I die for Egyptian, cat and winged designs,” she adds.

Brands she prefers are Mac, Sunkissed and Jeffree Star cosmetics.

Advice

As a fashion designer Natalie thinks that work ethics are very important in order to manage oneself.

“Ethics I believe in are time management, learning strategies, critical thinking and management of material resources,” she says.

Inspiration

According to Natalie fashion is a way of expressing how one feels, one’s emotions and how uniquely one wants others to see one through one’s fashion styles.

“Therefore I draw inspiration from my favourite fashion designer, Alexander McQueen, ongoing fashion trends and the beauty of my island home,” says Natalie.

“I’m always on the web looking for what’s out there so that I can keep following different fashion trends, new brands, social media and other people’s opinions to brew my own designs,” she adds.

Her views about past and present trends

Natalie believes that modern fashion, despite being almost completely different from past trends (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s), can be found to have been inspired from or sometimes completely brought back as something new, refined and modern from those past relics.

“I believe that fashion follows an everlasting innovative circle and encompasses simplicity the further it modernises,” says Natalie.

Future goals

The areas of design Natalie wishes to work on are women's day and evening wear, men's day and evening wear, modern teenage/millennial style wear and accessories.

After she graduates from Site, she wishes to further her studies in designing if the opportunity presents itself but till then she says she will be a full time art teacher and create this business on the sidelines until she gets her own brand and shop.

“In the next ten years I want to accomplish my personal goal of becoming a well known and successful fashion designer. Seychelles should look out for more brilliant and exotic creations which I will be unleashing in the near future,” says a confident Natalie.

By Ralista Hortere