Recently I did a collaboration with adorable Anda to model our new “Doll Heads” dress! Her style and artwork is super inspiring so it seemed a great time to interview her and share that with you. 🙂
How would you describe your personal style? Are there certain eras or subcultures
that inspire you?
My style right now is mostly inspired by Harajuku fashion styles and subcultures like
Lolita fashion, yami kawaii, fairy kei, cult party kei, larme and even gothic too
sometimes! In addition, eras like the rococo period and vintage fashion in general really
inspire me. Personally, I love pastel colors the most and I like mixing them sometimes
with contrasting elements like darker themes and colors.
How did you get into alternative fashion? How has doing so changed your life (if it
has)?
I’ve had a big interest in fashion since I was a child. In middle school I wanted to be a
fashion designer! I explored many different styles as I grew older, but it was hard to truly
express myself because I have strict parents, so I’d say I really started wearing alternative
fashion around 2014 (kind of grunge, and dark colors) and then really moved on onto
pastel and cutesier alternative fashion around 2016. I feel very lucky that I am able to
express myself through fashion now and I think its really making my life just more
enjoyable. Its something that truly makes me happy, and it also made me connect with
other cool people I can relate to.
You’re from Montreal, what’s the alternative fashion scene there like these days?
I know there are many people with different styles in Montreal and communities, like the
Lolita one. There are some stores in the city that sell alternative fashion but sadly some of
them have closed, so it’s a bit hard to find a lot of stuff in the city. We also have
Harajuku fashion walks once a year (when there wasn’t a pandemic haha) and a gothic
picnic. So, its great to see alternative fashion events like these and to see that people of
various ages enjoying alternative fashion are still present and will probably keep
growing.
I see you also create some adorable artwork! Do you have favorite mediums? What
sort of artwork are you inspired by these days?
Thank you! I used to draw a lot traditionally but in the recent years I’ve mainly been
doing digital art (painting or drawing on Photoshop) and some watercolors. Most of my
favorite artists do digital as well, I just love how you can do so many things with only a
software, a pen, and a tablet. I used to draw portraits a lot but recently I’ve been loving to
do fashion illustrations and I think this is really what I want to focus my art on and what
inspires me the most right now!
Your profile says you’re studying industrial design! What’s that like? I know it as
the “mathy” version of design people took when I went to art school, lol. 😛
Industrial design is challenging for me because although more technical stuff can be fun
when you know what you’re doing, I am not really a “mathy” person haha. However,
what I really like about it is how vast this field is, we have many classes about different
things and so it’s easier to find what you really want to do in the future because you can
try different sorts of designs like furniture, graphic, clothes, user interface design…
Do you collect anything?
I’d say that I collect Lolita dresses! I’ve been into Lolita fashion since 2016 but got my
first dress in 2017. After that, I’ve got a few more dresses but it’s only recently that I’ve
been investing into collecting more of them. I’m hoping to get more pieces especially
older ones! I just think it’s so cool to have rare dresses, it really makes it more special.
What’s your process for planning an outfit? Do you plan a look ahead or just as you
get dressed?
For my photoshoots, I like to draw the outfit beforehand. I start by drawing one piece of
clothing/accessory and then I think about the rest of the outfit and draw it. When I don’t
feel like drawing, I also do flat lays on my bed and although my room looks like a mess
at the end, it really helps me to visualize the outfit on myself.
Are you working on anything fun you’d like people to know about? Any upcoming
projects?
It’s a slow process but I hope I can have a store in the future. I want to start small to see
what it’s like, like selling some things on Depop, but it’d be nice to have an online store
and sell clothes and accessories I make, as well as art prints.
Where else can we connect with your work online?
Except for my main Instagram, I also have my art account @andalinart where I post my
drawings. I also post outfit videos on my Tik Tok @andalinaa !
Thank you so much for participating in this interview!
-Tae
Gloomth & the Cult of Melancholy 