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So, next week is the much-anticipated Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town from 30 July to 1 August. And yes, of course we are going!
Her whimsical designs has won her many fans over the year and her pieces are basically known as wearable art. We are super excited to see the talented Lara Klawikowski's show on Saturday, 1 August at 4pm at the Waterfront.
Diarise, diarise people!
WIN! We are giving away 5 double tickets to her show in Cape Town on the 1st of August. Read to the end to find out how to enter...
Here, the lovely Lara tells us about her incredibly busy, but balanced, daily routine just before her latest collection hits the ramp next weekend:
05:45 Alarm goes off. Snooze for 15 minutes.
06:00 Alarm goes off again. If it’s extremely cold or raining, I get ready for yoga. If the weather is fine, I lie in bed checking emails / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest/ Psychology Today on my phone and thinking about everything I need to do today.
At 7:00, when the sun starts rising, I go for a run around the neighbourhood till 8:00. I have a habit of listening to all the music that’s inspiring the mood of my collection on repeat for weeks in advance. Being in this repetitive sound bubble relaxes me.
06:25 If the weather is terrible, I drive to Yogazone. Eat yoghurt while driving and list everything I need to do today over and over again in my head.
07:00 Hot yoga, meditation / listing and re-listing everything I need to do today in my head.
8:00 Shower, get dressed and drive to the studio.
8:35 Arrive at studio. Eat instant oats. Get set for the day.
09:00 Seamstress and everyone else arrive at the studio. I hand my seamstress the sample we’re working on. We’re usually working on about 3-4 samples at once, where garment construction techniques overlap. We constantly fit and re-fit new samples while we’re constructing a new design. Given the intricate nature of my designs, we can spend most of the day doing just this – sewing, fitting, re-fitting, adjusting patterns, unpicking, re-sewing. We don’t stop until it’s exactly the way I’ve imagined the design.
Images: SDR photography
09:20 I like to be totally involved in the garment construction process, so I constantly check on the sewing being done. In between, I check emails, all pertaining to fashion week – hair and make-up choices / model pool selection – as well as answering interview questions. I sip water all day.
10:00 Fabric store visits – no matter how well we plan, there is something we need from the fabric store every day when we’re working on new designs.
11:00 Snack – fruit / nuts or if I am still in the CBD dashing between fabric stores, I love getting a smoothie from Orchard on Long.
11:30 Back at the studio, I check on what my seamstress is working on - check the fit on the mannequin again and adjust the pattern. Check emails again.
12:00 Cut another pattern for another style. Hand to seamstress and sew/fit/re-fit/adjust...
13:00 Lunch - I usually pop by the Salisbury deli on the corner near my studio for a take-away wrap/salad/sandwich. 3 doors up the road - it’s the closest.
13:15 Eat lunch at the studio, while checking emails.
13:30 Seamstress is still busy with the previous sample. I draft more patterns. Cut more samples. Hand to seamstress - sew/fit/re-fit/adjust... all afternoon.
16:00 Juice/Chai latte break - I go to the deli on the corner. Get out the studio for 10 min. See the sun.
16:10 Check emails. Check on seamstress. This is the time of day when my perfectionism kicks in. I start feeling more stressed about the amount of work we’re gotten through during the day and start becoming particularly pedantic about the finest details. A lot of unpicking and re-sewing happens around this time.
17:00 Seamstress leaves. I evaluate the work we’ve done and work out what still needs to be done today. Check emails again.
17:45 Leave studio.
18:00 If I didn’t go to yoga in the morning, I do now.
19:30 Go home, eat supper.
20:30 Return to studio. I draft more patterns. Cut more samples. Re-sew everything I was unhappy about earlier – sew/fit/re-fit/adjust... Drink a cup of tea almost every hour. I find the later it gets, the more I find myself stopping and staring at everything. I’m constantly evaluating if I like how the collection is progressing. I often change my mind about styles, sometimes eliminating a style and having to replace it with a new one the night before the show.
00:00 Start getting tired. Prepare the first thing I need my seamstress to sew in the morning.
01:00 Go home. Stop at 24 hour BP for a treat / chocolate. HOME AT LAST – SLEEP. The closer we get to fashion week, the later this time becomes. Running / yoga / snoozing in / smoothie, juice, latte breaks / snacking / going home to eat supper - all fade out completely. I am glued to my studio. For Cape Town Fashion Week 2013 and 2014, I slept about 1-2 hours every night in the days leading up to my shows - both times, I stayed at the studio all night till the sun rose on the day of my show. Fortunately, I had time later in the day to nap for an hour or two before the show. My goal with every fashion week is to manage my time as carefully as possible and have a healthy balance so that the process remains enjoyable. It is more difficult than it seems.
WIN! We are giving away 5 double tickets to Lara Klawikowski show in Cape Town on the 1st of August.
To enter, tell us about the BEST part of your day. This can be at work, at home with your kids or even just a moment you enjoy by yourself having a quiet coffee or yoga class.
Competition ends at 5pm on Friday, 24 July 2015.
