Have you ever given thought to what goes on behind that piece of clothing we buy for ourselves or our kids? How long it took to make, what the process was, and if safety was even a factor when putting it together. I’m a quick shopper and often don’t give much thought to design and the way it fits or looks, which is why I thought it would be cool to chat to someone behind the process and the clothes, someone who plans for months in advance and considers aesthetics and comfort.

Emre Louw, a girlswear designer at Naartjie, answered some of my questions. If there’s anything you’re still curious about after reading this, please let me know here and I’ll forward them to Emre.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What you do at Naartjie, and how long you’ve been doing it?

I am 28 years old, I did a bit of a detour to get to fashion designing. First studied a Bcomm marketing degree at Stellenbosch, but always wanted to be a fashion designer so after my 3 years at Stellenbosch I studied fashion designing at Elizabeth Galloway school of fashion design which is also in Stellenbosch. Before I started at Naartjie I worked for a fashion company where I designed both ladies and men’s ranges. I have been with Naartjie now almost one-and-a half-years.

Are you a mom?

No, but I have a very, very, very young little sister- so I can easily relate to what little girls like and would wear.

Tell us a bit about the design process

The design team consist out of a whole group of creatives that would all work together. In the girlswear department we are two designers and two artists who brainstorm ideas with the creative manager and buyer. All of us work closely together and bounce ideas of feach other in the conceptualising phase.

After conceptualising we would have reviews where the designer presents the range with all the garments, prints, trims and artworks. This is where everything gets visually approved and then with the help of technical designers and patternmakers the range gets prepared for production.

How far in advance do you design?

It can vary from three to nine months – it all depends.

How many other designers work at Naartjie, and how is the design work divided, i.e. does each designer have a certain range?

We have a girlswear department with two designers, a boys’ department with two designers and a layette department with one designer. The designer works closely with an artist and would focus on one range at a time.
Each designer would do every second range, except Layette designer would do every range.

What or who inspires you when designing?

Overseas trends, magazines, Pinterest, personal blogs, kids clothing ranges, ladies clothing ranges, trendy street style, furniture designs, home wear, accessories, exhibitions, fabric designs – basically anything- the sky is your limit. That is the great thing about working in such a creative environment, you can design anything as long as it is pretty, comfortable and every little girl’s dream. We always try to find something “viby”, unique and fun to make each range special and different.

How often are you designing new stuff?

We do 10 ranges a year (five ranges per designer)

Every year your ranges are new and fresh? How do you do it, so that not one year looks like the next?

We travel overseas a lot to different places all over the world and get inspired from literally anything anywhere…we don’t only focus on kids stuff, we would look at home wear, stationary, wrapping paper- literally anything that is pretty, funky and fresh.

Do overseas trends set local trends here?

Yes, but not all of it- we need to “Naartjiefy” it quite a lot and only add trends that the Naartjie mom can relate to.

What are your favourite Naartjie items this winter?

I love the Goblin (pink) jacket with its fluffy lining and lace styling. It is such a nice and cosy layering piece that you can have fun with and create cute and trendy outfits.

What is your favourite design this winter?

I like adding characters to my ranges, almost like a little fun imaginary friend- therefore me and the artist had much fun designing the stretch fleece top with its fun odd-looking character. We called her Sisi- and just loved dressing her from her knitted dress to her heart shaped shoes.

How does it feel seeing kids in the street wearing your clothes?

It’s really amazing- especially when they have put their own little trendy twist to it.

What can we expect from Naartjie for spring and summer?

Beautiful fun ranges filled with retro pretty florals, luminous bright polka dots, sparkly mermaids and pops of fun colours.

What has been your least-favourite kids’ clothing trend?

There are a few trends that I felt were too grown up and serious, but a fun new silhouette trend that I really like for kids is the peplum top. It is pretty girly top that looks really sweet with leggings or fitted jeans. We have got a few peplum tops in store, from plain colours to prints.

What is the design ethos at Naartjie, and do you design around safety primarily?

Safety, comfort and “play friendly” are very important. Kids should be able to have fun and not be restricted by what they wear- so we make sure that our fabrics, trims and designs are safe, comfortable and very cute.

What is the one thing you’ll never design…

Anything black – Naartjie girls don’t wear black; they need happy colours.

And tada… Some of Emre’s design work, from the current winter collection…