Poppy Lissiman’s creative flair will light up the catwalk when she teams up with Bridgette Gale of Amore + Sorvete as part of the 2013 Perth Fashion Festival! I caught up with the Perth designer to find out what she has in store for PFF, and to find out a little bit more about the woman behind Poppy Lissiman Addition (PLA).
Taking place this Saturday at Fashion Central Forrest Place, Amore + Sorvete with Poppy Lissiman Addition is set to give WA shoppers just a peek in the exciting new things coming to the Times Square Claremont store.
“Perth Fashion Festival will have just a taste of what we will be stocking for the upcoming summer months,” said Poppy.
“We have a really high turn over of stock at Poppy Lissiman Addition, so the clothes we will be showing on the runway will be a small portion of the collections we will have in store for the first part of the season. I have decided to give the styling a bit of a tumblr/internet vibe because I'm really liking that as a sub-trend at the moment.”
If you haven’t stepped into Poppy Lissiman Addition at Times Square Claremont then you are missing out! Stock ranges from costume jewellery, to gowns, to edgy up to the minute pieces with big patterns and bright colours.
“I suppose a lot of shoppers get used to walking into shops and being met with greys and blacks in Winter and then they get a bit of a colour shock when they walk into my store.
“Individuality is something I hope people experience when they come to my store; many of the labels we stock aren't available in WA or Australia so when you buy something from PLA you won't expect to see every other person around town in it.”
Poppy Lissiman Addition is home to brands from around the world including Threefloor from the UK, exclusive to PLA.
“We are stocking Proudrace from the Philipines, Mara Hoffman and Lovers + Friends from the US, Emma Mulholland, Lottie Hall, Skye & Staghorn, Le Specs, Cast and L'America by Kym Ellery all from Australia. Plus we have a tonne of younger labels from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, which do really well for us. We also still have the Poppy Lissiman label accessories which are made here in WA.”
And while you peruse through the racks at PLA you will even find Lissiman’s own designs! After being taught how to sew at the age of 10 by her mother, Lissiman began to design and create her own pieces.
“I made a lot of terrible clothes when I was younger but the first pieces I designed and made that I was actually proud of was when I was living in Auckland for a year and made friends with a lovely group of girls who were also into fashion and I got quite serious about sewing; I was about 15 at the time and made a lot of frilly skirts and bags and purses out of vintage jeans I'd bought from Op Shops.”
By the age of seventeen, Lissiman had created her own collection for Brownies in Claremont and then began to turn sewing into a career in the fashion industry.
“At the time I was working for Zomp shoes and was working with a few designers (Daniel Romanin and Marie Mazzurra of One Fell Swoop) they helped me a lot in the initial stages of my business.”
“Fashion is my business and what I have devoted my entire working career to since I left school. Its something I think about from a business point of view but also something I personally enjoy on a day to day basis. I can't imagine working in any other industry.”
Describing her style as colourful, (though admitting finding herself in head to toe black for this interview) Lissiman loves buying for her store, and keeping her loyal customers updated Facebook and Instagram.
“I do tend to get drawn to a lot of prints and colours. I do dress for comfort a lot and I hate wearing heels but I make up for it by wearing lots of costume jewelry all the time. I go through a lot of phases with fashion although I can pretty much see in retrospect that the common thread has always been lots of colour and clashing prints.”
And what is next for Poppy Lissiman Addition?
“I am in the embriotic stages of planning to open an online PLA store; in recent months we have been getting more and more enquiries for purchases from the eastern states, the UK, USA and and Europe so I now know the time is right. Hopefully it will be completed before Christmas. In the mean time I have a few little projects happening out of China.”
Amore + Sorvete with Poppy Lissiman Addition show, Fashion Central, Forrest Place Sept 14, 1.30pm - free.
Article and photos by Holly Johnsen, Fashion Writer for Times Square Claremont
