It’s always exciting to find a new designer to obsess over and here at the YCB HQ we’ve found a strong contender for any new additions in our Spring Summer 2016 wardrobes.
Viktoria Chan is a Swedish designer with Chinese roots, and has been designing collections since 2013 which have been worn by everyone from Swedish royals to our favourite fashion bloggers right now. We love to sharing our favourite designers on YCB so we’ve narrowed down the top 10 reasons as to why we admire Viktoria.
#1. As well as having a talent for designing, she clearly has a pretty good business head on her shoulders. Having studied Organisational Management at Lund University in Sweden, Viktoria is a more than just your average designer.
#2. ‘Started from the bottom now we’re here’ is a phrase we can all appreciate. We can always find a space to champion a hard worker, and Viktoria is no acceptation – She started like many aspiring designers in the fashion industry in sales at a department store. Even now, her work days rarely finish before midnight!
#3. She likes Suits and House of Cards, enough said. When asked about finding inspiration for collections Viktoria said: “I love architecture and I get a lot of inspiration from the nature, series such as Suits and House of Cards, or people I see on the street. For me it’s about creating clothes you either want or can identify yourself within a context or a lifestyle.”
#4. Each piece in her collection has purpose… as well as being beautiful. All the pieces can be styled separately, dressed up, dressed down, you name it. Her particular favourites of the AW15 collection are the Flintstone Long Coat, the Amber Set and the Pebble Dress.
#5. We love her personal style! “My style is very classic, simple and sophisticated. Normally I’m dressed in something basic such as dress pants because they are almost as comfortable as sweatpants styled with a simple t shirt, knit pullover and cashmere scarf.” She told us.
#6. Viktoria is all about empowering women through her designs, something we can really get behind. We asked about what she envisioned for the brand when launching the Viktoria Chan label, and she said: “My goal with the label was and is to make women feel beautiful and powerful, to provide timeless clothes with quality, unique designs and cuts.”
#7. And when we asked about who is the woman she is designing for, well, she described every YCB lady! “I am designing for the fashionable professional who’s sophisticated, independent, strong minded and who’s living an active and enjoyable life. Women who want to dress up for themselves, cares about details and want to achieve something in their lives. I guess I’m designing for the woman I want to be!”
#8. Hard work reaps rewards as Viktoria know all too well but what we were really impressed by when speaking with the designer was how humble she is. When talking about her biggest achievement to date, it was obviously mentioned that she had the honour to design dresses for the bridesmaids at the Swedish Prince wedding, but Viktoria also said: “I still think that the biggest accomplishment is that people have got the faith in me by putting their maybe most important and meaningful dress in my hands – the wedding dress.”
#9. Learning from mistakes is one of the most important lessons we can accept in all aspects of life. Viktoria of course admitted to making mistakes during her first couple of years of running the womenswear label but that overall, the biggest lesson has been to understand the market and the importance of doing your research before making any decision. This lady knows what’s important in business! We also asked about her first design to which she responded: “It was horrible! I made a blue and white dress in a silky material, I think I was 10 at the time. But I remember how proud I was and it hung in my wardrobe for a long time. It looked like a dress for a Disney character!”
#10. We always love someone who can kindly give people an insight or advice in their industry, which Viktoria has done. When asked about advice for aspiring designers, she said: “Depending on what the goal is as a designer, whether it is starting an own brand or designing for another brand, I strongly believe that you have to love what you do. The competition is fierce because there’s a lot of talented designers out there, so to be able to keep doing what you want to do, you have to be persistent, patient and love it. You have to have a solid business plan and a unique standpoint.”
Shop the collection here!
