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Inna Clothing Co. Livens Up Hamilton Ont.'s Fashion Scene

Inna Clothing Co. Livens Up Hamilton Ont.'s Fashion Scene
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By: Marina Radovanovic

Local Canadian designers from Hamilton, Ont., Inna and Kirill are a fascinating new designing duo are working busily behind the scenes creating amazing new fashions. The mother and son team joined forces after spending some years apart to materialize their talent. While both were destined for the fashion/design world, they worked separately until the idea struck them!

Inna, a native of the Ukraine, had already been working on design and developed her own clientele. Kirill, who spent years in Australia, came to Canada to join his mother's business and pursue the fashion industry together. Thus, Inna Clothing Co. was born!

"A while ago, I used to be part of an event planning collective where a lot of local boutiques would gather together and show off their collections, as well as hold small fashion shows for the public," Kirill notes. "My first thought to actually get into the design industry stems from this experience, as I always wanted to improve on our shows and was thinking of ways on how to source the best collections possible."

At the moment, Inna's Clothing Co. is operating online, distributing through their own website and has reached success thus far due to word of mouth. Inna has been very busy designing and creating fashions for her clientèle, which has steadily grown. But that's not to say that one day they just might decide to open a brick and mortar store.

I asked whether they have shown at fashion shows, and Kirill said that they did participate at The Clothing Show last year in Toronto. Even though they do plan other events to showcase their designs, Kirill notes that they are involved in creating artistic fashions at this moment.

"We do a pop-up shop every Saturday at (a) KiWe (King West Kitchen) restaurant called Market on King with a few other fabulous local designers."

They also attend clothing trade shows. Kirill states, "The local media has also been very supportive of us in the past year or so."

I asked Kirill how they incorporate their unique fashions into Canada's multicultural culture, and what makes their fashions stand out? Kirill replied, "We include various cultural influences in our designs; European, North American and Australian, as we have lived on all three continents at one point or another. Canada has been a great catalyst for getting these ideas together."

The elements they use to make their fashions unique include minimalism and use of unconventional materials, including the use of metal, patent leather, plastic and vinyl in their designs. Kirill's inspirations derive from various sources, and he tells me it changes from time to time. Currently he likes Pierre Cardin's fashions due to his unorthodox use of various materials in his couture pieces.

My thoughts on this duo led me to ask Kirill, "Who designs the pieces, Inna or you?" Kirill informed me, "We both design, and it shows quite a bit of how our differing styles fuse together to become a seamless expression of who we are as a collective. Our vision of what a piece should look like is actually quite similar, but we get there in two different ways. I think it adds a good mix to the designs!"

Because of Inna's greater experience with design and sewing; she sews more, but Kirill and Inna then step back to look and decide at the creation and discover what can be reworked or not.

While Inna may still cater to her exclusive clientele providing them with fashions, the mother/son duo are focused on a more mass production business with respect to Inna's Clothing Co.

Apart from Pierre Cardin as Kirill's motivation and inspiration for new creations in designs, he also enjoys the outdoors where he can simply let his thoughts wander. Various eras also inspire the duo, "such as the '60s to the present and beyond!" They both like minimalistic art because "it's simple to look upon, but so much feeling can be conveyed," Kirill states.

Because both Inna and Kirill lived in different countries, it had permitted them to create and maintain a dramatic impact on how they perceive their designs and pieces. Even though they do keep a close eye on trends and what's the current focus on fashion, they have their own unique design style which incorporates cultures, and generations.

Kirill and Inna have been working together at Inna's Clothing Co. for approximately one year now, and they envision a bright future ahead with new collections and clientele. Kirill notes, "Our ambitions include pushing boundaries in terms of accessible, yet unconventional design. We want our collections to stand out, but so that women can also just throw the pieces on and look fabulous and unique simultaneously!"

It seems that this fashion design duo is headed for greater success, as they both are working hard and striving to create and then showcase their collections at various venues.

To visit the exquisite fashion line and collection (including the soon-to-be displayed Spring/Summer 2012 collection) of this remarkable company visit: www.innacc.com .

Photography courtesy of Inna Clothing Co.

Inna Clothing Co.

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