Dominique Kral - Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award winner!

Interview by R.M. team, photography by Lin Vitali.

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Dominique Kral - Northbrook College
Winner of Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award
Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) 2011

Retox Magazine: What was your inspiration behind this collection?

Dominique Kral: The inspiration for my collection came predominantly from photographs I took in the woods while camping, in my Zandra Rhodes teepee tent, I might add, in the New Forest.

Retox Magazine: Tell us 3 interesting facts about your collection.

Dominique Kral: A large percentage of my collection was constructed with a hammer, pliers and glue. Everything smells of resin, which has now made my entire flat smell of resin, mmmmmmmm… I had never knitted anything before I started my collection; I only learnt to knit at the end of October with one 10-minute lesson.

Retox Magazine: How would you describe your signature style?

Dominique Kral: A little bit punky, a little bit rock n roll, sophisticated but with an edge. Feminine but not girly.

Collection by Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award winner Dominique Kral.

Retox Magazine: Do you think your style will change in the future?

Dominique Kral: I think it will stay similar but will develop, grow and mature as I do.

Retox Magazine: If you could compare your collection to a cocktail, what cocktail would it be, and why?

Dominique Kral: An Absinthe Minded Martini, because I can often be found away with the fairies (not necessarily green ones) and a little absent-minded and my collection is surprising and in some ways bizarre with the combinations of fabrics and textiles I have used but at the same time warm and cosy.

Retox Magazine: Who would you like to see wear your clothes, celebrity-wise?

Dominique Kral: I think Jessie J would look amazing in my leather trousers, maybe Emma Watson, Amanda Seyfried, Keira Knightley.

A stunning collection by Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award winner Dominique Kral.

Retox Magazine: What was the most disastrous moment during the design and construction of your collection? (We wanna know all the gory details!)

Dominique Kral: The leather I used was discontinued before I got to buy it! Luckily there were leftover skins of the green but there was meant to be blue too! Another disaster was when somebody stole the speakers from our studio, which meant no more Harry Potter audio books. Working without story time with Stephen Fry just wasn’t the same.

Retox Magazine: With so much music out there, how did you decide on the track for the catwalk?

Dominique Kral: It took me forever to actually find the song I used. I spent weeks on Spotify flicking through literally thousands of songs before I came across an Adam Freeland remix of a Sex Bomb by Spinnerette, one of my fave bands, at 11.30 the night before our final choices had to be made. When I found it I knew it was right, it just took a while to find it.

Retox Magazine: What was the most interesting thing that could be found in your rubbish bin during the time of designing and constructing your collection?

Dominique Kral: A burning ball of resin with too much catalyst in it, whoops that hole wasn’t there before!

Retox Magazine: What was the most fun part of studying fashion?

Dominique Kral: Meeting so many lovely people who I got along with so well, the crazy fools.