Designer Profile 2023: Caroline Chael

In preparation for the upcoming MODA Show, I sat down with returning designer Caroline Chael to discover more about her collection and how she operates as an artist. Read the transcript of our conversation below!

Nadya: So, my first question is what made you want to join MODA, and what made you want to join the designing portion specifically?

Caroline: I learned how to sew when I was in high school during COVID, and I really just fell in love with the simplicity of it. I did quilting first, so it was really fun and easy and very meditative. Then I found out more about MODA and the fact that you can just make outfits and have people see them and there’s a lot of community involvement as well so I wanted to do that.

That’s super cool! Are you self-taught with sewing or did someone teach you?

Yeah, I’m self-taught!

Wow! Did you just learn that from YouTube videos?

Yeah, I saw a couple of videos, but I sort of just figured it out on my own with trial and error.

Very cool. So since you’re a returner, what do you find is different about this year compared to last year? And looking back on your design journey with MODA, what have you learned so far?

This year is a bit different. Last year was my first year designing and I had been thinking about outfits I had wanted to sew for way longer than I had been in MODA, so I had super clear ideas of what I wanted to do. This was the first time I was able to make the outfits that I wanted to. This year, my ideas are a bit more eclectic and I don’t have the best idea of what they’re going to look like yet. I have a lot of inspo but my vision isn’t as clear. The process is also different. I think a big part of that is that the show is earlier this year than it has been for me since I’m a third year, so the past two years have been in the spring. So it’s just a bit of a different timeline I’m working with, but hopefully things will get done in time!

Yeah, that makes sense. I haven’t been to a MODA show since my first year so I’m super excited for this one! So, what would you say are your main inspirations or influences for your collection?

I’m not very good with actual designers. It’s a bit Vivienne Westwood-inspired especially since she just passed recently. I spent a lot of time looking at her collections. It’s a bit circus-themed, like Shakespeare. It’s still coming together though, so we’ll see what it actually ends up being.

What is your design process? How do you start out thinking of a design and creating it?

Usually, my ideas come from anything I’ve seen. A lot of it is from Pinterest as I’m scrolling, and just being on the internet in general there’s always so much information that you’re given. There’s usually one image or one outfit that another person has designed that I’ll see and think is really cool, and then I start thinking about how I would make it more of my own. Like this year I saw someone make a really lacey corset and that was super cool, and then I was like “Oh, I’ll continue on the lace front.” Then I ended up seeing someone on Facebook Marketplace who was selling a bunch of lace curtains for really cheap.

Laughs

So I think a lot of times I’m more inspired by the fabric and the actual process than I am by designers. Once I get my hands on the materials things start to come a lot clearer to me than they are super nebulously. My drawings never look like my actual outfits because once I get the fabric I end up changing my idea on how to make it work better for the outfit.

I’m just curious, have you been taking any inspiration from the recent fashion shows like Schiaparelli that have been going viral on the internet?

Not really, I see them and I think they’re cool but a lot of them are super avant-garde, at least the ones that I’ve seen. They’re much more difficult in construction than what’s in my wheelhouse.

Laughs

Fair! If you had to describe your collection in three words, what would those three words be?

Hmmm. Lace, circus, and…..

She ponders for a while.

Hearts, I guess?

Great! What are some challenging and rewarding moments for you?

I think the challenging moments are always when you make something and it doesn’t quite turn out how you wanted it to turn out, and you have to restart. That happened to me already on my first outfit that I’ve been working on. I almost got a finished product but then I put it on my model and I was like, “This wasn’t the vision that I had.” So rather than just trying to alter it I just said, “Scrap it, we’ll start again.” And after I did that, I was much more happy with the result than I was with the original one. So I’m very happy, but it was a bit disappointing and a little anxiety-inducing to see something you’ve spent so much time on – it doesn’t look bad per se, but not what I wanted it to look like.

The really rewarding thing every year is working with the models themselves. I learned how to sew by myself during COVID, so it was very much just me in my room for hours on end sewing, which was really fun at the time but it’s just so much nicer having people see what you’ve done, put on your outfits, give you feedback on what they think you can do better, just interacting with the models. They’re always so happy to work with you and are super helpful in the process so it’s just so nice to work with other people, especially the models that I’ve chosen this year since I’m really fond of them.

Aw, that’s so sweet. I don’t really know how it works, but do you work directly on the models?

Yeah, it depends on the outfit. One of mine is a dress, so it was very easy to do without her there. But one of them is a skirt that fits her body perfectly. So I actually can’t finish it until the day of the show because she can’t take it off since it’s fully on her.

Oh, wow.

She can lift it up if she needs to go to the bathroom or anything -

Laughs

- but I have to make sure it fits her really well and that it’s not going to fall off. So it’s currently waiting until the day of the show before I actually finish it.

That’s actually really interesting. Lastly, do you have any fashion advice for first-time show attendees?

Oooh, ok. I think if you’re going to go for it, go for it. Like, if you want to dress fun, this is the time to do it. I know I always take it as an opportunity to act like it’s my own fashion show even though I’m not wearing my own designs. It’s just a really great time where everyone is super interested in fashion and anything goes. So, wear what you want to wear, have a good time with it!