In Conversation with Designer Gail Sorronda
Community
May 11, 2020
It’s time to become acquainted with creative, designer and local trailblazer Gail Sorronda of her eponymous label.
James Street (JS), Gail Sorronda (GS) – Owner of Gail Sorronda
Heralded as ‘someone to watch’ by the late Karl Largerfield, Gail designs with vision and devotion. Each collection a homage to striking silhouettes and a dark style of romanticism. To ensure the highest level of craftsmanship, all of her pieces are made in Australia and Italy, at Tom Ford’s former patternmakers no less.
With her flagship boutique on James St, Gail is frequently found in-store amongst her creations and on hand to offer unparalleled style advice. Gail’s work has already left a legacy in the Australian fashion scene, serving as great inspiration for budding Brisbane designers, just like she once was.
We spoke with Gail, about her design process, philosophy towards trends, legacy and more.
JS: Gail, how did the label, Gail Sorronda, come about?
GS: I decided that I would like to try and sell my graduate collection in my final year of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fashion Design at QUT. I was selling handmade accessories prior to different stores locally and it felt like a natural transition. I won Mercedes-Benz Start Up Award with that graduate collection “Angel at my Table” which allowed me to show at Australian Fashion Week and since then have been designing and selling collections.
JS: Can you describe the Gail Sorronda aesthetic in three words?
GS: Ethereal, dark romantic.
JS: What is your design process?
GS: I’m inspired by a feeling. Often, I get fixated on a detail that I explore like a study. I prefer toiling and arriving at an idea, on a mannequin.
JS: Do you enjoy the beginning or the completion of the design process the most?
GS: There is often a bit of anxiety attached to the beginning of the process but once there is a spark, I’m able to go into that flow state. Completion is like giving birth, an offering, such a sense of relief!
JS: How has the Gail Sorronda label evolved?
GS: Each collection is a different chapter to the narrative that is the label. It has grown with my journey, my body, my spirit. I am lucky that I able to share the manifestation. There is still so much work to do!
JS: What is your philosophy towards fashion trends?
GS: I prefer for pieces to be timeless. That is how I value good design. I think major trends can echo what is happening in society at the time just like music and other modes of the arts can. I just have a problem with fashions ceaseless cycle of replacement operating on planned obsolescence, artificially inducing trends, in a unsustainable and economically insatiable way.
JS: As a trailblazer for local design in Brisbane – what do you hope for the legacy of your label?
GS: That people enjoy the pieces they own.
JS: Who is your design icon?
GS: Mother nature
JS: As an innovator through creative expression – where are you most inspired?
GS: Where my shadows meet the light. The intersection of duality. In nature, in my dreams and with those closest to me.
JS: What was your first fashionable memory?
GS: Photos in the garden in front of flowers.
JS: Who is a fellow Brisbane designer that we should be following at the moment?
GS: Practice Studio supports many emerging Brisbane designers that we should be following including many QUT alumni.
JS: What does support local mean to you?
GS: Thoughtfully buying locally designed and made product.
