“Sometimes the journey is the destination”. A lot of people may believe that it’s a good quote but “Oceanea", our in-house designer certainly lives by this saying. With a heart full of kindness and a mind full of dedication, Oceanea began her journey of a career in fashion design right when she was 11 years old. She started making costumes for her school from that age and loved what she did. She loved contributing her bit as she believed that costumes were a major part of the success of any school show. She grew up in Byron Bay in Australia and comes from an Italian and Scottish background. Her mother is a fashion designer and it goes without saying that having a combination of Italian roots and a fashion design influence , she has fashion written all over herself. She thanks her school “Shearwater Stiener School” in Mullumbimby and believes that it was a perfect fit for her as she was encouraged to try various forms of art along her way and says that she wouldn’t have been directed to this path of fashion design had she not got early artistic education. She sees fashion as a form of art and the body as a moving canvas.
Unlike the generic assumption she believes that the university system is not for everyone and believes that if an individual sticks at anything long enough then he/she can become a master no matter the formal education and also believes that it depends on the an individual’s personality and how their mind’s work.If it works for someone then she believes that university is a good option as there are so many lessons to learn and as for her she says that she loves her uni as she thrives under pressure.
She dreams of owning her own haute couture fashion house and infuse the world of haute couture with sustainable and planet friendly resources production but she also believes in hard work and experience and therefore before jumping into starting her own label she wants to work under renowned designers so that she has enough industry experience.
She also thinks that fashion industry is continuously changing and progressing and says that the past fashion trends had more originality and chance for exploration because in the past, things were new and exciting, which she believes played a role in fashion for that decade, over time ideas get reused and recycled. Each designer in today’s world embodies characteristic of past and present fashion archetypes, appropriating the previous fashion trend to make way for new.
When asked as to what does she want women to feel while wearing her clothes she said that she wants women to feel comfortable, beautiful, radiant, confident and ready to take on the world. Along with that she also says that stigma is outdated and constricting and blames social media fashion marketing conditioning for certain people to think that smaller sizes are more desirable. She believes that healthy and confidant is more beautiful than size or a specific shape.