Designer DETAIL - Kate Hurst

Clean Lines, Bold shapes. Kate Hurst 2007 Spring Summer collections strikes a high note.

For Sydney based designer Kate Hurst, inspiration is drawn from her own memories, passions and curiosity in people and events from her life. As the self-titled label suggests, her garments are authentically personal and therein lies their charm.

Creative to the Core

The Kate Hurst label has seen five seasons of stellar collections with its genesis at the weekend markets. From the outset Kate has relied upon, and been inspired by, personal contact with the shoppers and lovers of her clothes. This grassroots inspiration, the human touch, is something Kate works hard to maintain, limiting her production to a point where she can develop the best possible collection, both conceptually and technically and she makes a point of assigning herself pure play "creative time".

"I like to get out of the studio, go to art galleries, spend time in nature and see lots of films. I have to remove myself completely from the day to day running of the label to get the creative juices flowing."

Spring Summer 07-08 Diamond Life collection sees Kate Hurst play with 90's influenced lines and fabrics as she brings to life the allure and style of one its most loved and enduring vocalists.

"I was inspired by 90's pop icon Sade who I always listened to as a kid. I found her such an enigmatic and inspiring woman and I wanted to reflect her in the latest collection. The collection is a slight departure for my usual girlyness but I am really proud of it. It's a little sexy and very strong for a confident girl who doesn't like to take herself or her fashion sense all that seriously."

An avid fan of music and film, Kate loves the idea of creating aesthetics for a story and there is usually a character inspiration for each collection - she imagines how this character feels and how she would want to be dressed in the scenario and admits "there is a bit of me in all of it".

An admitted perfectionist Kate understands that it's the little things that count. In a rare and admirable practice, Kate Hurst gives all her garments a personal once over before they head out the door, and as a result her clothes are celebrated for their quality, fine tailoring and limited in release at exclusives boutique nation wide.

This quality is reflected in the colours and fabrics of her range. Diamond Life features Kate's beloved black and white palette with the addition of lemon, cobalt and indigo denim and fabrics such as pure linen, silk cotton voiles, stretched denim, soft cotton knits and metallic leather.

An impassioned artist, Kate doesn't limit her creative expression to just one medium "I paint and draw as much as I can and love to cook, food at the moment is a real creative outlet." A graduate of the College of Fine Arts in Sydney Kate majored in Photo Media and undertook electives in Costume design and jewellery before focusing on clothes and accessory design.

And like the rest of us lovers of fashion, Kate also finds joy in dreamily following the styles and creations of other great designers " I really love the work of Japanese Designer Tsimori Chisato, I also love Emma Cook's designs and Aussie label Romance was Born are always inspiring to me."

For a complete stockist listing and more information on the label, check out www.katehurst.com to find the stockist nearest your reach.