What inspired the mix and match collection – how did you come up with this great idea?
The idea for the Mix & Match collection came to me when I was in India during the outbreak of COVID-19. It was at the time when each different country started to introduce lockdown laws and I was finding it hard to get a flight back to Australia. Our factories here in India closed and of course their health and safety was at the forefront of my mind so I knew it was time get creative with a ‘new collection’. That’s where the idea of the Mix and Match collection was born!
During COVID, I was heavily inspired by people choosing to slow down and do more at home like cooking, crafts, sewing and DIY’s. It’s the perfect time to be looking into our wardrobes and styling old seasons clothes with new seasons, which is what I wanted to do in our own Boom wardrobe (warehouse).
How did you come up with the collection names for Mix & Match?
It was such a fun process coming us with the individual collection names! I took the collection names of the garments mostly feature in each drop, then cut out each word then played mix and match with that! For example, the first collection is a mixture of garments from the collections, Moonlight and Cactus and Cowboys. With those two names I came up with Moonlight Cowboys!
Cactus flower is a mash up of Cactus and Cowboys and Indian Flower
Home in The Clouds is a mash up of Home Away From Home and Head In The Clouds
Groove Away is a mash up of Groove Is In The Heart and Home Away From Home
Home Somewhere is a mash up of Home Away From Home and Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Rainbow Holiday is a mash up of Somewhere Over The Rainbow and Holiday
I absolutely love that the names don’t necessarily make sense, it adds to the quirky feel of mix and match. Plus, what in 2020 is really making sense?!
Was it hard for you to configure a way to match old seasons with new seasons to create different styles?
When putting the collections together I look at a couple of different key factors:
- Stock levels is so important as I didn’t want to reinvent new styles with minimal stock left for people to buy.
- I wanted each different drop to be unique with the colour and patterns featured. Some drops are brighter with bold prints while others are darker with pop of colours and smaller prints.
- I wanted to show people how fabulously old clothes can look with new styles and how items last longer than one wear. It’s about getting the absolute most out of your garment!
How long did this overall process take you?
It was a huge process! I’m lucky to have such an amazing team behind me who helped me put it all together, without them, I don’t think it would have come together at all.
The first stage of the process was looking at stock and determining which pieces we’d have enough of to use. From there we had to put the styles together, then put the collections together. From there, it was all about working out the logistics of when the launches will happen and how far apart from each other.
We had to organise a whole new studio shoot to help it come to life which is the fun process! Last but not least, we photographed our favourite Boom babes, Jill, Jan, Mick and Jude then it came to life!!
What is your ultimate number 1 styling tip?
Have fun!!!! In my opinion, there’s no rules when it comes to the way you dress. If what you wear makes you happy, then you’ve nailed it.
Do you think we will be seeing more great ideas like this in the future at Boom Shankar?
Absolutely!! As I mentioned above, I have such an amazing team who are constantly reinventing and coming up with new ideas. As scary as COVID-19 has been, if there’s one good thing I can take away from it, it’s that it’s forced us to be more creative and come up with new ideas. In saying that, I’m unbelievably keen for COVID to go so I can hug my friends and family again!!!