Swimwear designer takes different line
The go-to swimwear brand for models, fashion bloggers and celebrities, Skye & Staghorn, is making big waves in Australia and overseas.
Loved by A-listers such as former Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovic, model Nikki Phillips and TV presenter Renee Bargh, the label was created in 2012 by Fremantle designer Dakota Gilbert.
Gilbert told Access All Areas she loved to see women wearing her designs.
"It's a great feeling when people love the collections," she said.
"I work a year in advance, so by the time the collections hit the stores I'm personally a little bit over them. You almost forget that they're good by the time they come out."
Coming from a background in the business side of the fashion industry, Gilbert launched Skye & Staghorn on a creative whim and has been blown away by the positive response she's experienced.
"I moved home from London where I worked in wholesale and I wanted to start a swim label so I just did it," she said.
While many swimwear designers opt for colourful floral prints with frills and ruffles galore, Gilbert's design aesthetic has a focus on modern, sports-luxe-inspired styles.
Her latest collection, Ilmenite, blends the lines between swimwear and activewear.
"I don't want to do what everyone else is doing, I try to be different," Gilbert explained. "Ilmenite is a dark, more grungy collection."
Though her label has been featured in Sydney's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and has been included at showings for Miami Swim Week two years in a row, Gilbert said the experiences were hard to top the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival.
"I had a great response from TPFF last year I didn't think it was going to be so great," the 24-year-old designer said.
"Everyone thinks Sydney is the place to go for fashion week but Perth is really upping its game and there are a lot of really good labels over here now."
