We’re on a Canadian kick this week with the Designer Interview Series. This interview comes from Toronto based label d a g g and s t a c e y. Designers Karen and Stacey give us some insight into why their label has been such a success as they get ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary this year.

Paper-Doll: How did you get into fashion design?
d a g g and s t a c e y: We started our partnership in the early fall of 2001. We were working together at a vintage store, designing one of a kind pieces out of second hand clothing. Something just clicked and we decided to jump in with both feet. We started d a g g and s t a c e y that October after only knowing each other for a few months. We used to think we did it on a whim but so much about fashion and design is instinct and timing and now that we look back on it, that’s what we think happened … there was no question, we should be designing together.

What is the first thing you designed (personally or professionally)?
When we were starting out we designed mainly re-made knit wear. We labored for hours over these crazy sweaters that were all done by hand.

When did you launch your own label?
We launched d a g g and s t a c e y in October of 2001.

What inspires you / your work?
Like most designers and artists, we are inspired by so many different things. We often feel that what we do is storytelling. We take bits and pieces from things we see, hear, and experience and translate them into a collection. We design with a mood or feeling in mind, our story always tells how to feel rather that how to look.

Describe your SS’11 Collection.
Our Spring Summer 2011 collection is inspired by life by the sea. We just fell in love with the idea of the way that things are changed over time by the ocean and the elements. The seaside resorts, boardwalks, and homes that were once so pristine and picturesque made beautiful by the wearing of the sun, ocean breeze, and sand. It was such a visceral image for us that we had to explore it.

What is your favourite piece from your SS’11 Collection?
Stacey: My favourite piece from Spring Summer 2011 is the Evelyn Dress. It is a simple clean design but the shape is amazing. I love the washed tencel fabric and how easy it is to wear in so many ways.
Karen: It’s a tie between a lot of things, the Kate blouse because it is our first collaboration with an artist and Kathleen Weich did such an amazing piece for us. I love the way it makes me feel. I also love the Hampstead Trench and the Brighton T, actually all the designs in that silk print are great!

Did you have a personal soundtrack or a favourite album that you listened to while working on SS’11?
I think our personal favourite from that summer was a song called Koop Island. It fit really well with our mood, kind of quirky and day dreamy. It’s always an eclectic mix in the studio. We try and get into the right space for designing so of course we were listening to sixties Brits like the Kinks, fourties jazz and new stuff like the National.

What area of your work do you enjoy the most?
Designing is our passion. It posses the biggest challenge and results in the best reward. It’s so exciting to start a new season and reinvent what we do every six months.

What is the most difficult aspect of your job?
Designing, we hope that’s not weird to say but it’s true. It can be so difficult sometimes. The way you see something in your head and the way it is in actuality can be two competing things. Our process is very visual and hands on so it is not as simple as sketching out the collection and then handing it off. Our designs often change on form.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened to you as a designer?
That is a difficult question to answer. Perhaps it is the place that we are in now but we can’t just chose one thing that has taken us by surprise. The whole of what we do is surprising. That we can do what we do everyday and be celebrating ten years of doing it is our answer.


If you could collaborate with any designer / artist / musician / etc. on a single project, who would it be and what would you do?
We’d like to continue collaborating with artists to create prints and specific pieces for our collections. Our friend Dorian Fitzgerald is on our list. It would difficult to say what we would do as his work is very large scale but I’m sure we could come up with something interesting.

If you could design a wardrobe for any one person (past/present/real/fictional), who would it be?
Stacey: Annie Hall, Francoise Hardy, Nick Cave, Jack Kerouac, Tom Waits.
Karen: Desmond Richardson, Princess Leia, Helena Bonham Carter.

How would you describe your own personal style?
Stacey: I always feel a bit miss matched but somehow everything seems to work.
Karen: Anything I can pull together in ten minutes or less with as many layers as possible.

What is your favourite item in your personal wardrobe?
Stacey: I don’t have an all time favorite but right now I’m really into my Dotti Dress from this spring season. I chose the coral, which is not a typical colour for me but I love pairing the super saturated hue with solid neutral toned tights and my Rachel Comey booties.
Karen: I have this blue vintage raincoat that I was lucky enough to find among someone’s deadstock. I also have a necklace that was my gandmother’s that doubles as a magnifying glass that I love,

Where do you shop for clothes when you're not wearing your own?
Stacey: I don’t really shop for clothes much, it’s not something that I enjoy because I have a hard time finding things that I like. I do shop for shoes and I pretty much keep my eye out for a new pair all the time.
Karen: I like vintage and thrift store shopping, and church bazaars for great finds.

What is on your current fashion wishlist?
Stacey: I have been looking for the perfect pair of flat leather boots for years now and no luck. Hopefully this season will be the one. Oh and a pair of Super Lucia Sunglasses in horn.
Karen: I have also been on the look out for a certain pair of shoes for a long time. Mine are the quintessential old man loafers, preferably woven leather with tassels.

What fashion trend would you not be caught dead in?
Stacey: I’m not into adopting trends in general but one I could never get into is leggings, I’m sorry to all those who love them but as a designer of tailored clothing, they are not pants.
Karen: The resurgence of parachute pants or harem pants, not for me.

What is the one item that every woman should have in her closet?
Menswear, its always part of our inspiration. We love the gamine look.

What is your favourite thing about the city you live in? (Toronto)
Stacey: That it’s always changing and growing but still somehow remains the same.
Karen: Its multiculturalism.

If you couldn’t be a fashion designer, what other area of interest would you like to explore?
Stacey: I think I would make an excellent pastry chef. I’d have to go to Paris to study so it would be lovely.
Karen: An archeologist.

What is next for your label?
Celebrating our 10 year anniversary this Fall!

Visit: d a g g and s t a c e y.