Kiwi designer claire bloom embraces ‘Fiesta’ clothing range

February 24 2014

Kiwi designer claire bloom embraces Spanish life for new ‘Fiesta’ clothing range

The Kiwi designer and owner of clothing label claire bloom is embracing her newly-found relaxed Spanish lifestyle with the launch of her summer 2015 line titled ‘Fiesta’.

Designer and label owner Claire Brinsley says the latest collection takes its name and inspiration from the designer’s temporary home in Valencia, Spain where she moved five months ago to enjoy a year’s sabbatical and “a new creative journey”.

Enjoying the Spanish lifestyle with her husband and two children, she says it has taken a little time to fully adjust to her new life but she believes the move was “truly the right one”.

“It’s given me a new lease of life and an intense amount of new ideas and creativity,” she said.

“Despite a few bumps along the way things are working wonderfully.

“The factory that makes my garments closed its doors, which has been quite challenging to say the least. I’ll be making an announcement soon about who I’ll be working with going forward, but I’m pretty excited about it!

“It’s been an exciting five months and a steep learning curve, balancing family life with running a successful business from afar. It’s been very rewarding though and the family is happy and the business going really well.”

Claire has embraced the challenges thrown her way and used them as an opportunity to take a fresh look at the business.

“Sometimes a new perspective is great and you can look over your business with fresh eyes, see the strengths and weaknesses and how you can do things better.

“My creativity has blossomed. It’s always a risk deciding to take some time out, but it’s worked out so well and has been a real win-win.”

She describes her new Fiesta collection as one which embodies colour and bold prints, lots of deliciously soft silks, and “gorgeous” detailed flourishes in crystal and colour.

“It’s a perfect marrying of my design tastes and influences, my love of New Zealand and the wonderful Spanish lifestyle.”

She has also appointed a new New Zealand agent – Katrina Kruze of Kruze Control - to grow the claire bloom brand and showcase the label across the country

“Katrina simply loves claire bloom,” said Claire.

“She has a wide knowledge of New Zealand retail and she’s genuinely inspired to introduce claire bloom to other boutiques around the country.

“She approached me at the same time one of my valued stockists recommended her, so it was meant to be!

“I find her a joy to work with, very personable, she has strong family values and is super organised, which I love.”

Claire described the inspiration she was getting in Spain as “wonderful”.

“I think it will be evident in my future collections, to be honest – I think the best is yet to come. I’m working on some pretty exciting ideas.

“I plan to do a fashion course in Milan this European summer which will certainly add yet another interesting dimension to my designs.

“I’m just so excited to show my up-coming line and with the help of Katrina I believe even more people throughout New Zealand will see the results of our Spanish inspiration.

“A change really is as good as a holiday.”

claire bloom biography
claire bloom is a lovingly-crafted fashion label created with passion, offering women of all ages quality garments that exude an exclusive, effortless and timeless style.

Designer and label owner Claire Brinsley grew up in Wales in the UK, where her talented seamstress mother first taught her to sew at just 12 years old, igniting a lifelong passion for creating feminine styles with a twist.

Twenty years ago, on a backpacking trip to New Zealand, she fell in love with the country and now-husband Andy and made Queenstown her home.

In 2005, with no formal training but after more than 30 years’ honing design skills creating garments for herself, she decided the time was right to launch claire bloom, using a nickname coined by her father.

As stockists have proliferated around the country and her fan base has grown accordingly, she has enjoyed sharing her unique style with many fabulous women.

Designing “from the heart” and following her instincts to create beautiful feminine garments which will bring the women who wear them much joy, she takes inspiration from a variety of sources including cultures, countries, books, films, the Central Otago environment and life experiences.

The claire bloom Wish List:
• I wish for claire bloom garments to make you feel beautiful, not ordinary
• I wish for friends and even strangers to tell you “you look stunning”
• I wish for your claire bloom garments to last beyond their time and be worn for many years
• I wish for claire bloom to be a fashion leader and not to follow trends all of the time
• I wish for your claire bloom to feel absolute and exclusive, due to the small numbers that I make

About Katrina Kruze, Kruze Control
With a background that has always been in sales and business development, Katrina’s sales agency business has had a rather organic start since she returned back home to New Zealand two years ago after living in Australia where she and her husband had the management rights for a resort in Queensland.

As a sales agent, it’s important for Katrina to “love what she does” and a big part of that is loving what she sells. Katrina works with companies that have an ethical ethos and a strong sense of integrity – right from the design process, to manufacturing and how they deal with customers. Her agency is a collection of gorgeous things that she loves “wearing or adorning herself with, as much as she loves to see others wearing them”.

ENDS

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