Today (Happy Friday!) I’m delighted to share a chat I recently had with Anna Nordqvist, the designer behind the Swedish children’s brand Lobilo.
Anna, I’m so happy to talk to you about your clothing brand! When did you first get the idea to start Lobilo?
Anna: The idea started when my daughter was about two years old. She, as many other children, was very decisive with what she wanted to wear: only clothes with prints. I did not really liked the ones I found in stores, so I started at first to hand paint on some of her clothes. She liked them, and so did many others, and that is how Lobilo was born.
I’m curious, is there a story behind the name Lobilo? What does it mean?
Anna: It´s actually a secret…but I guess I can tell ;) I tried to teach my husband to say “I love you” in Russian. But he could not say it correctly, instead he said “Lobilo”, and it become our way to say “I love you”.
That’s so great! I always enjoy hearing what goes into a name.
You describe Lobilo as “play, love, and a lot of fantasy”. I see the playfulness — how did the concept of fantasy influence the autumn collection?
Anna: I guess fantasy is in everything I do. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been very imaginative and I think I still am. Children’s imagination is so fantastic and it is something that should be encouraged. The autumn collection is called “Secret Friend”; the influence is from the children’s book and movie The Secret Garden (written by Frances Hodgson Burnett). The children in this story keep a lot of secrets and the story is very inspiring for your imagination. I hope that the prints on my clothes can do the same: inspire children to fantasize more.
Can you share your design process? What inspires you as you design clothes, and where do you get your ideas?
Anna: Before I start to design a collection I go and think about it for weeks, but the time to sit down and draw it never seems to come. So when I do have the time, the collection is almost already finished. In this collection, the shapes on the designs are inspired from the clothes that are worn in the movie mentioned above. The one thing that takes the most time is the prints…I do them over and over again.
I get inspired of a lot of things that I see around me like art, movies and sometimes even things like dust ;) You never know when the inspiration will hit you. But something that is very important for me in the process and that inspires me are feelings. What I mean by that, is, for example — for this collection secrets are a main issue, and how it makes you feel to keep a secret, and share a secret with someone.
Oh, it’s been so fun getting to know more about Lobilo. Where can readers purchase your clothes?
Anna: At Lilla Mode. They ship worldwide, and soon Lobilo will open its own web shop.
Thanks, Anna! Readers, check out these links — and head over to Lobilo’s Facebook page to leave Anna a comment!
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