TORONTO – Global News caught up backstage with Joseph Mimram, the designer behind the highly-successful and affordable apparel brand, Joe Fresh.
The label closed out Toronto’s World MasterCard Fashion Week on Wednesday with its fall/winter 2012 collection.
Global Fashion: How has the preparation been for fashion week?
Joseph Mimran: I feel great. It’s always a hectic build up to the show, lots of work goes into the show, a tremendous amount of preparations, lots of samples get made and fitted and today is really a combination of all of that. It’s an exciting day, lots of last minute tweaking, hair, makeup, but everything is looking quite good.
GF: Speaking of hair and makeup, what kind of look do you have planned for the models to showcase the line? What can we expect from the hair and makeup styles?
JM: Well, the hair is loosely based on the movie Blow Up and Verushka and it has a little bit of teasing, a little bit of height in the front and then sort of modernized by getting pulled back with a little bit of a Joe Fresh clean look to it and then a little bit of a smokier eye than we usual do and then very clean lip.
GF: What can we expect on the runway? Is there a theme?
JM: Well, you’re going to see a lot of mixed media, you’re going to see a lot of mixing of materials- tweeds with faux furs, and you’re going to see a lot of mixing of different types of patterning and colour. The use of colour is really fun this season and then we finish with black and white this season because of that 60s influence. And then there’s a little bit of shine, some hand knit sweaters and we always love to do some hand knits. There are some great silhouettes and some modern fabrications just thrown into the mix.
GF: What colours can we expect for fall? Give us the inside scoop on what we can expect, on what’s hot for fall and winter?
JM: Well, I think on the runway shows you’re seeing a lot of wine colours mixed with red. Red is really important. We’ve done this mustardy colour, which is the yellow; the more acidic yellow to go with it which I think looks really really good. The orange has gone a little bit more pumpkin, so a little bit more fallish and then you’re going to see a lot of black and white. The classic black and white seems to be perennial.
GF: I’ll be attending your wife’s show and also interviewing her for Pink Tartan. Tell me, how has it been for you two in the house, is it really hectic?
JM: Yeah, it is really hectic, like crazy hectic. We’ve got our daughter that we have to shuffle back and forth and early morning interviews, and dinners we have to go to and meeting with people from out of town, so it’s been a crazy run up.
GF: Do you plan on collaborating any time soon?
JM: Well, I think we’ve done that quite well… Our daughter is probably our best collaboration so far.
REVIEW: Joe Fresh brings back the 60s in f/w 2012 collection. Read it here.
GF: What can we expect in the future for Joe Fresh?
JM: It’s interesting because we’re constantly moving the needle on the brand and trying to keep it interesting and exciting, never taking anything for granted, never assuming anything about how the customer will respond and you gotta earn their love every single season which is what we got to do.
GF: And you guys have been doing that because you bring great quality for a very reasonable price.
JM: Well, we hope so. That’s our mandate, that’s really the underpinning of our entire brand essence.
GF: Joe Fresh had recently opened on Queen West so how has that been?
JM: Queen and Portland has been amazing. It’s almost like that market is made for us, it is really tailor-made for us, it’s great to be back on Queen St. and you know, that’s where the hipsters are and it’s right up our ally.
GF: How can you explain Joe Fresh in just a few words?
JM: Well, Joe Fresh is always looking to take the trends of the season and putting our own spin on it and I think that’s what we do and we bring it to the consumer with our filter on it. We edit in a way that’s very wearable so it’s essentially kind of our thing.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed.
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