Most fashion brands outsource specific jobs to balance heavy workloads and offset costs that are often incurred during the production process. Developing prints and textiles are no exception to this trade…unless your name is Paula Daza. This talented swimwear designer collaborates exclusively with renowned artists that have meaning behind their work to develop her vibrant, psychedelic prints unique to Lumé Swimwear. Paula believes that style shouldn’t be sacrificed for sustainability. Combining principle and design, this luxury swimwear brand is able to create one-of-kind products while giving back to the community- our global community, Earth. Each season, Lumé unveils a new exhibition of eye-catching swim and beachwear collections featuring fresh patterns and designs. Their commitment extends beyond the creative process to include fair trade practices. By paying manufacturers wages that are competitive, they give back to the people and communities that support their work.
Fashion Editor Kevin Leo managed to nab Paula right after Lumé’s SS17 runway show on Friday, July 16th, 2016 and asked her a few questions about the source of inspiration for this season’s collection.
Salutations Paula, it’s nice to finally meet you. Congratulations on your collection- it was stunning!
Thank you.
Okay, so let’s get right into it! I noticed that your collection was filled with colors. Lots of vibrant, psychedelic colors. What inspired this collection and what was your favorite part of creating this collection??
Well I work with artists so every painting becomes a print and I’m inspired by- it’s a very organic process. I get inspired by the artwork and then I make the styles. And my favorite part about it? I’m in love with all of the pieces because I’ve chosen and worked with every single artist and they all have a beautiful meaning behind them. For example, a graffiti artist from England, Art + Believe, travels the world painting these incredible murals in the poorest neighborhoods. We’ve taken those murals and we’ve made then into the prints featured in this collection. For example, we also collaborate with another incredible artist who believes in reincarnation and lots of the energies, and he puts those meanings behind in the prints as well and so you see that. I wish I could show you some of the pieces but they’ve taken them all away. There’s a lot of meaning behind each of these pieces so it’s not just another bikini.
So you collaborate with other artists to create your own motifs that eventually find themselves onto your garments? I’d even go a step further and suggest that these collaborations transcend traditional swimwear because of the meaning behind each textile design.
Paula: So yes, we work with them. I meet these artists, and they show me a bunch of their paintings and we work together. They tell me which ones are their favorite, I say which ones are mine and then we collaborate together in a very organic-fusion way. First, comes the art and the inspiration and then comes the design.
Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you and again, I really enjoyed the collection! One of my favorites of this year’s swim week.
Thank you for the opportunity and I hope to see you again this time around next year!
You definitely will.
For more information or to place an order, please visit http://www.lumeswimwear.com./
For more information about ART + BELIEVE, please visit http://www.artandbelieve.com/