Caroline meets Stine Goya

Danish designer Stine Goya is in Stockholm promoting her collection for Weekday that's in stores today. I got the chance to meet Stina and ask her all the stuff that you and I really want to know. Did you for example know that Stine Goyas nickname is Musseberg (?!?), that she has worked as a fashion editor for Danish magazine Cover and that her ex boyfriend is Danish designer Henrik Vibskov? Read my interview with Stine and then go check out her collection at Weekday online or in store!

C: Tell me about the collection you made for Weekday.
S: The influences are taken from my old collection and I also looked in to Weekday and what they stand for. You can see a lot of references from my old collections with the zippers and with the signature prints with the lines.

C: Describe the essence of Stine Goya the brand.
S: I would say quality, playfulness, prints and colors.

C: What garment do you prefer to design?
S: I like to do dresses. We have a lot of them in the collection and dresses go really easy with prints.

C: How did you get discovered as a designer?
S: I went to Central Saint Martins for five years and then I went back to Denmark where I got a job as a fashion editor for Cover magazine and I was there for a year. I got my network together there, I got a lot of connections. And then I decided to do my own brand and then I just started it, it was kind of a hit or miss thing you know. And it worked out!

C: Who is your muse?
S: I don't have a particular muse actually, but I always find some kind of person, when I'm doing my collections, that I get inspiration from.

C: Who inspired you for this collection?
S: For this collection I get inspiration from The Grey Gardens, it's from a tv documentary, about two ladies that I think they are some kind of connected to the Kennedy family, and they lived in the Hamptons in the 70's. They inspired me quite a lot.

C: What made you go in to design in the first place? When did it start?
S: Actually it started when I was very little, because I was going to this after school activity center. There I was sowing so much, I was sowing all my own clothes and to my parents. I really enjoyed it. Now I never sow. But I enjoyed it very much. So it started when I was nine or something like that.

C: Tell me about your educations.
S: I did one year in Denmark before I went to London. In London I took a one year foundation course where I studied creative areas like 3D and sculpture and things like that. Then I did a portfolio for Saint Martins, then I was there for four years and then I did one year of work experience for Eley Kishimoto and Jonathan Saunders. Central Saint Martins help you out a little bit with connections. It was a really good experience because you learn how it was in the real life and not just in the school way.

C: Do you have any advice for aspiring designers?
S: I think you should enjoy the school time because it's really different from being at a company. If they are opening their own brand maybe they should also do some business courses before they start.

C: Who influenced you to be a designer?
S: I think it was myself who really wanted to do it. And of course I had people backing me up!

C: What do you like most about your design?
S: I like the way of mixing things, with colors and prints.

C: Are you good friends with any designers?
S: I'm pretty good friends with Henrik Vibskov of course, because he is my ex boyfriend, and we are actually neighbours in Copenhagen. Most of the Danish designers are friends because it's quite small and you want to be a part of eachothers lives. I'm friends with most of them. And abroad I'm friends with the headdesigner from menswear Balenciaga, he is another kind of friend because he lives abroad.

C: Do you have a nickname?
S: Musseberg! Like mouse berg. Well it's like... some kind of word with mouse... (laughs).
C: Ok, we'll leave it there...

C: What do you like to do in your spare time?
S: When I started Stine Goya I have been working the whole time but now when we had the company a few years I really enjoy being with my friends and family. Just being social again is quite nice. I also like being active and I do a lot of running.

C: What book did you last read?
S: It's the Swedish ones, the Stig Larsen triology.

C: What kind of music do you listen to?
S: Right now I really like Bat for Lashes. I like electronic music.

C: What city in the world would you say is the fashion capitol?
S: I guess it's Paris but I really love New York.

C: What thing do you never leave home without?
S: It's this ring. I always have this ring. I got by my good friend Sofie, she made it and it's really special to me!

C: Do you get inspired by any designer?
S: I try not to look too much but I really admire Nicholas from Balenciaga. He is the one I mostly look up to.

C: What was your first job ever?
S: Oh, I did so many things. I did babysitting, I think that was my first job.

C: What is in your bag and can we see it?
S: This time it's really boring, I have vitamins for my health, my wallet, a Stine Goya mirror, my iPhone and some papers.