WHEAT was founded in 2002 by a Danish couple Charlotte and Peter Galsgaard. Charlotte is Wheat's chief designer and the creator of the beautiful collections of clothing available for boys & girls. Today we sit down with her to find out what inspired her when designing this season's looks, as well as what some of her favourite things are about the design process.
Kat: Spring! A breathe of fresh air. Tell us, what would you say most inspired you when designing the 2014 Spring and Summer Collections?
Charlotte: The inspiration for Spring/Summer 2014 was the Scandinavian summertime. With this season comes long summer days, the sun, flowers and berries. I was also inspired by the circus and camping, and also bounty beaches in Hawaii. I have been sailing since I was a little girl and the sea has always been important for me.
It is always amazing to start up a Spring/Summer collection, I love the spring when everything starts to grow and the forest becomes light green and the forest “floor” is a soft green carpet with flowers.
Susan: What do you look forward to most about designing for Spring each year?
Charlotte: The wonderful thing about designing Spring and Summer collections is that you can choose light fabrics and colours. I love pastel coloured drawings and prints on fabric. Also the garments are often easier to work with on a Spring collection since the demands and functionality are less this time of year. You can be more “playful”.
Kat: When you're designing Spring outerwear, what are some of the things you like to keep in mind to ensure the most comfortable, versatile fit for various environments? Like in Denmark, we in Canada can certainly feel the difference between the four seasons.
Charlotte: The outerwear lines are very different in Scandinavian culture even compared to the rest of Europe. As you mention, similar to Canada, our children are outside playing a lot and since we have both rain and the temperatures changes, it's important to design clothing that can be functional in all of these types of weather conditions. Water pressure and breathability is very important. The seams have to be taped, and we need to ensure that the clothing is, comfortable and has, a good freedom of movement so the children can play.
Susan: Did you use any new fabrics this season? If so, which is your favourite and why?
Charlotte: Yes. I used a new woven bamboo fabric, which is very soft and falls beautifully, creating ,nice designs for the girls clothing in particular.
One of my personal favourites is a woven 70% bamboo/30% cotton with flower print in purple colours. I
also like the woven Chambray in 100% cotton which I have used to design, garments for both boys and girls it is one of my one favourites
. This fabric is so elegant and I love the colour.
Kat: How do you choose your colour palettes for each of the colour stories? It must be so hard!
Charlotte: I try to keep a close eye on the trends and I also attend different trend seminars throughout the year. It is a natural process. When you start a new collection you already have a lot of pictures and colours mapped out inside your head.
Susan: What do you love the most about Spring?
Charlotte: One of the things I love the most is to run in the forest and see from day to day how it gets greener and greener. I love when it is time to plant in my greenhouse and to see all the flowers is growing in the garden. I love our long bright summer nights – Spring and Summer are, are magic :)
Kat: Magic indeed! We would love to hear anything else you have to say about your design process or Wheat! Any closing thoughts?
Charlotte: Every time a new season nears, every time I am traveling ore going for a walk in the nature every time I visit Copenhagen I can find new inspiration. Every day I can go to work and design prints ore garments for children - I feel that I am a very lucky that way!
Kat & Susan: Wonderful! Thank you so much for your insight. Always a pleasure catching up with you.
Canadian WHEAT fans, if you have any questions for us or our designer, let us know by writing to hello@wheatcanada.ca and we'll be sure to share our findings.X
