MULTI-FUNCTIONAL FASHION: INTERVIEW WITH AIMEE NIELSEN

http://catherinecrouch.com//images/mod_config.php Aimee Nielsen obtained a Fashion Design degree at one of the worlds’ foremost fashion design schools, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, New York.  With an eye for design, Aimee also obtained a UI/UX  Product Design Certificate from the Pratt Institute out of Brooklyn, New York and a Motion Graphics Design Certificate also from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Aimee is additionally a licensed attorney in Florida and the District of Columbia.

After releasing her first collection in 2018, The Deco Collection, she was selected to showcase her  designs at two New York Fashion Week runway shows, that were recommended by the New York Times. She was also selected to showcase her designs for Raw Artists and FIT Runway 27.  Her collection ‘A Tempestade’ was shown at London Fashion Week. 

Aimee specializes creating unique designs for men and women utilizing activewear and knit textiles. Her prior training and experience also involves the use of a wide range of textiles and special techniques such as bridal, embroidery, couture, avante-garde, pleating and draping, menswear and womenswear. Aimee maintains a couture & RTW  mixed line, Aimee Nielsen, and an active/sport line, Nielsena Sport.

Aimee enjoys pushing the boundaries of what can be done with different textiles in fashion design and in fashion in general. Her design aesthetic is shaped by her love of architecture, lines, geometric shapes, art, patterns created by nature, and history.

http://columbuscameragroup.com/category/new-products/lighting-and-studio/ INTERVIEW WITH AIMEE NIELSEN

When did you first realize you wanted to launch a your own label?

I realized I wanted to create my own label approximately six years ago. I had certain design ideas in my head that I could not shake. I had many dreams I was meant to share my design talent with the world.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing before beginning your career what would it be? 

If I could tell myself one thing it would be to believe in myself. I had a number of years where I doubted my talents and allowed myself to be swayed by others’ opinions who were entirely wrong for how my life should be. Your life is yours, no one else should be the driver. Life is so short, be yourself, do what you love, and don’t waste your talents.

How do you want your clients to feel when wearing a your brand pieces and in what occasions can be worn?

I want my clients to feel free, happy, and the best version of themselves. I want my clients to feel inspired by the designs I create. Ultimately, I want to be a source of positivity in people’s lives when they are wearing one of my designs. 

Can you tell us how your collections makes a difference to help more the environment?

I don’t subscribe to the idea of ‘fast fashion’ which I feel contributes to so much waste and environmental distress. I generally design my collections as the ideas come to me. Lately, I have been enjoying the creative process in making a new large collection once a year. That’s not to say that I don’t have other projects I work on in that year also.  I just don’t necessarily support to the idea that a designer needs to be creating a multitude of collections in one year to be sucessful.  My designs are also made to order and custom which minimizes the negative environmental impact. Also, I aim to use fabrics that are recycled to decrease the impact to the environment.  I think the idea of ‘slow fashion’ certainly reduces the environmental impact that I feel us as designers have a duty to uphold. 

There is one important person, in your life, who pushes and motivates you to believe in yourself?

My grandmother who passed away in 2017, right after I began fashion school in New York. She will always be my forever inspiration and guiding light. She was my best friend and always told me to never give up and to keep working hard even as she was battling Alzheimer’s. I miss her every day. I wish she could attend my fashion shows and see what I’m doing now because I think she would be so proud. It is honestly weird to experience life without her now, but I always hold her in my heart and keep designing in her honor. My family, my sisters, and close friends (they know who they are) are supportive of my goals and push me to keep going even when things seem difficult. 

Describe us you as a creative in your personal life and how your feelings influence the creativity process?

I would be lying if I said that my personal life was not an inspiration in my creative process. Just as much as abstract ideas and other inspirations take a role in my creative ideas, I also draw many times on my personal life and how I have felt in certain situations (good and bad) as inspiration for designs. Just as anyone, I have experienced extreme dark and good times. Generally, as a designer I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve so to speak as to certain emotions I have felt in my personal life which I have then translated into my design work.I am human just as everyone else and I strive to convey the human experience (good and bad) through my design work.

Would you like to involve other creatives in your future projects and what do you think is the main mission of the CO-BRANDING concept? 

I would absolutely love to involve other creatives in future co-branding projects. I see the opportunities as limitless as far as collaboration opportunities with artists no matter what kind of art they are involved in; music, visual arts, architecture, interior design, fashion, etc. I believe that when creatives can come together and be supportive of each other’s art opportunities can become limitless. 

What is the slogan of your brand? 

DIFFERENT.

What are the next steps for your label, in order to grow up more?

The next steps for my label are to continue to create and show my designs to the world with the hopes of continuing to expand and grow my brand. Ultimately the goal is for my designs to be in certain luxury retail stores and in due course store fronts one day.

SHOP AIMEE NIELSEN: https://aimeenielsen.com/