Julia Valle

Recently, I got to know a young Brazilian fashion designer (graphic designer, writer and many more) - Julia Valle. Julia worked for several companies, and started to show her own collection during Rio Fashion week. It is interesting that young designers can do it all, so that became one of the main themes in my interview with Julia.

You started your education in the humanities. Why did you decide to turn to fashion?

Despite being graduated in Social Communication, I took part of the course at the Fine Arts Department, which led me to a very visual/aesthetic study of communication. I entered the course with the intention of becoming a fashion or music journalist, which was soon given up. My first job was as a Graphic Designer at this fashion company called Alphorria. I was already quite interested in clothes and fashion design, and working on the field made this interest grow more. Thus, I decided to take further education more specifically in Fashion, and applied to Designskolen.

On your web site you write that Juliavalle explores “the contemporary aesthetics and relevant political matters”. Could you tell more about that?

That was specifically on one of the projects, called BADgeNews. It takes contemporary aesthetics, and you could even say ‘fashion’ aesthetics, as an excuse to deviate attention from relevant matters, specially in Brazilian politics. It’s a funny way of showing how Brazilians relate to such things as corruption going public, and other facts of true importance. We usually tend to forget things quite quickly as long as there is something prettier to look forward to. Now living in Rio de Janeiro this behaviour becomes even more clear, the city is full of absurd happenings, violence, poverty, famine, corrupted police, politicians, mafias, but in the end everybody is happy only for the fact that the city holds this amazingly beautiful view.

I understood you have been working with Henrik Vibskov, making graphic design and textiles for him. How did you meet, and what exactly have you been doing for him? Is he a fun person to work with?

I already knew his work and quite admired it. When I knew I was going to study at Kolding I started contacting him to ask for the possibility of taking an internship at his studio. We ended up meeting at the school, when he was one of the counselors evaluating the students there. It was a very short period of time, but also very fruitful for me. I was used to a very different kind of company, he changed my mind in many ways on how to relate to fashion and was an amazing person to deal with.

You make styling, you edit journals, you make graphic design and fashion, etc. – how does it work together for you?

I guess I have always been someone that moves into many different fields at the same time. As a child I took piano, electric guitar, classic ballet, French, English, swimming lessons, etc, all at the same time, and I was very much interested in every single bit of all of it. I like discovering new fields of knowledge, I like being able to perform each part of the processes, that’s possibily the reason why I moved from journalism to graphic design to fashion design. Today I am very focused on making clothes, but I still do enjoy writing my releases, doing the graphic design part, pattern cutting, sewing, etc.

Do you plan to concentrate on your own label now, or would you like to continue doing cross-disciplinary projects?

I love doing cross-disciplinary projects. I would like to do more of it even. By now I am working on my own projects and also design for this brazilian brand called MaraMac. I have been lacking some free time, but if I could, i would certainly go into any other cool project I could embrace.

As I understood you use conceptual approach in your creative process. Can you give some examples, what does it mean to work conceptually?

Everything involves some kind of concept, in one or another way. What changes really from one creator to another is how much time does he input in it.
I enjoy spending time on working on the concepts of a project. Thus, I can say my creative process is a lot based on a more conceptual approach.

Who helped you to get started and make seasonal collections?

I think my employers are the ones to thank for the most, for teaching me so much on how to develop a commercial collection, even though that is not my aim with the authorial projects. At the beginning I did everything pretty much on my own, and now my mother helps me a lot, with receiving the clients, checking the pieces, etc.

Where do you search for inspiration? In music, films, fashion, literature, old art, contemporary art, geometry, etc.?

Anything. And that is the good part of fashion : )

How do you imagine a woman, who wears your cloth?

Very simple, bold, delicate still strong, interested in creative forms of expressions. One who stands out more than the clothes.

What would you like to achieve in 10 years?

I think I am a humble person. I do not hope so much more than I already have achieved. I would like to take my masters and doctoral studies. I would love to start teaching at a school. Continue doing my authorial work. And take time more smoothly.

To see more Julia's work please check her web-site www.juliavalle.com

All pictures are from www.juliavalle.com