By: Samara Lookatch
While interviewing 18-year-old fashion designer Charlotte Rose who will be attending Parsons School of Design in Paris in the fall of 2024, I had the chance to listen to her story of how she got into the fashion industry and what inspires her to keep creating new pieces. Through her time designing Charlotte has found a love for sustainable and inclusive fashion. She uses her designs to help people feel beautiful and confident steering away from norms such as one size fits all. (All photos are from Charlotte herself and each photo's outfit was designed and made by her)!
SL: Explain your design process when approaching a piece.
CR: Making a mood board and trying to find the vibe that I’m going for and research other designers and become inspired by something or think of something and sketch it out and see it and it comes together. Find a cool fabric, play around, and experiment with that to find what works and what doesn’t.
SL: What are your goals as a designer?
CR: When I was little I used to want to have a huge fashion empire as of now, I want my designs and art to have a positive impact on people and the planet since clothes can create so much waste I want to focus on sustainability in fashion. I also want to help people feel confident and beautiful about what they’re wearing and for my clothes to have a positive impact on people. I changed my mindset from wanting to have a huge fashion house to focusing on how clothes make people feel and their sustainability and impact on the earth. This shift came my sophomore year in my computer science class where I met this girl who had disabilities and she helped me see that art matters and how fashion can leave such a lasting impact on people’s happiness and confidence.
SL: How does your background impact your designs?
CR: During my time in Israel, it gave me a missing piece to my puzzle and grounded me. I had never been so connected to myself but also connected to my entire family’s past and it bridged a gap between me and my ancestors giving me an overwhelming sense of security being Jewish. Everything I’ve learned about being Jewish and how Judaism teaches people to be and act drives my artwork and designs.
SL: What is your favorite type of clothing to design and why?
CR: Dresses because I can have the most freedom designing them and playing around with the design and structure of them.
SL: How would you describe your style?
CR: Based on the mood that I’m in, outfits solely come from the mood I’m in that day and where I’m going. I like to keep my styler versatile and experiment with cool fabrics and fun-looking patterns and designs. I try to steer away from what’s cool or trending and not let my style be based on what’s trending because being honest something different is always trending if you're changing your style so much, is it your style or is it just trends?
SL: Who is your Favorite designer and why?
CR: Vivan Westwood inspires me in my designs and aesthetically I love the early days of Chanel (30s,40s,50s).
SL: Fashion Do’s and Dont’s
CR: DO: oversized jeans, flat’s trend, maxi skirts
DONT: skinny jeans, jeans with sweatshirts, Jeans with running shoes
SL: What fabrics do you like to use the most in pieces?
CR: Cotton because it's so versatile and easy to work with and you can almost make anything using cotton. I also love using Linen because it’s soft but is a very durable and strong fabric. My clothes also use mostly sustainable materials since fast fashion has had a huge impact on our planet and is one of the leads in Carbon Emissions, it’s important to me to make clothes have a more positive impact on people and our planet.
SL: Who is your biggest personal inspiration?
CR: My mom has inspired me and until I could pick out my clothes my mom was picking clothes out for me. Since I could move and walk I always loved playing dress up and having my mom as a fashion inspiration helped me when I started to shop on my own. Which soon led me down the path of sewing. I started at age 6 and after my first day, I knew I would be a fashion designer from that day on.
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