Miranda Vidak is founder and designer of clothing brand MOODYTWIN. She is born in Split Croatia and she moved to New York to study on a prestigious university of Fashion Institute of Technology. In the last five years she has been living in Los Angeles. Miranda is very well known for her breathtaking look but what is more intriguing for us is her edgy style and her design that kind of shows her personality – a bit dark&edgy&rebelish, or at least that’s how we see her. In this interview she talks about her beginnings, inspiration and why she releases smaller lines more times a year.

What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion shows me lots of things about people, the ones who buy expensive things to show status they have or want to have, tire me. I can’t look at those. I like people with style who have no, or little money, but they know how to put it together so brilliantly. I also like people with money and status who dress very casually but hip. Overdone people who walk around the street in gear like they’re on red carpet make me utterly nervous, but when I walk into a Californian biker dive bar, or some rock lounge and see all the leather, chains, beat up boots, and the softest and coolest T-shirts in the world – I feel happy and content. So you can say that fashion and what kind it is puts me in moods. It’s the way of life.

How did you get into fashion design?

I didn’t get into it, I was more born to it. My mom was making clothes since before I can even remember. All the clothes that my sister and me wore until we were teenagers were the clothes she made for us. She also knitted like a champ, so I was always around it, always watched her saw, always played (and ruined :)) her materials…. But what was a hobby for her, we all figured out it’ll be much more serious for me. I started collecting favorite fashion show intakes when I was really really young, taped all the shows I watched on TV and later analyzed. I could draw a serious fashion sketch before I even started going to school, and I knitted my first sweater when I was 12. We all knew design is going to be what I’ll end up doing. I designed my first line of leather jackets when I was about 18 and dressed some Croatian singers before I moved to New York. Then I did Men’s line while still in college and the line of corsets the following year. I set up MOODYTWIN in 2008. It’s been a very long and hard process.

Have you always wanted to be a designer?

Never really thought about anything else. I knew I’d be in fashion, just wasn’t sure in what form; either to design, style, work for a magazine, run my own online magazine. I let my life lead me to the thing I should be doing.

What is your educational background?

I finished graphic design in high school, then I went to Textile & Technology College in Zagreb and then I transferred to Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.

How do you get inspiration for your label?

Well it wasn’t easy, I examined myself a lot, I searched a lot. I did couple of small lines before, because I was always afraid to commit to a name and one brand – “what if I don’t like it in some time, what if I change my mind, what if I want something else?” I’m the person who moves on quickly and I get bored way too easily with things, so I just could not decide on it. And then I figured out I’ve gotta suck it out and make a decision: something that will sometimes go on your nerves is better than nothing to go on your nerves. Plus I was older and a bit wiser, so I knew what I wanted more. And that was my process, I had to mature to know what I want. I was too all over the place when I was really young. I moved to New York by myself before I was even 20 years old. My life was hectic, but when I moved to California, that calmed me down, focused me more on what I wanted to do. So I started a brand, MOODYTWIN, and what I wanted to do is “take” my love for the dark, alternative, “moody” fashion that is basically haute, the one you see on the runways, but then try to “take” it to the street. Take the influence of it, but give it broken down Hollywood street ease. I considered what I like to wear, and what I can not find in stores, and that’s always street clothes who would have a bit of dark/goth/biker influence to it, a simple but specific piece. That’s the brand I wanted to create. Not just clothes, but bags, jewelry and home accessories, all with same vibe.

How do you intend women to feel when wearing MOODYTWIN labeled clothing?

Absolutely cool & a bit badass, all while being way too comfortable.

When you create something, what goes through your mind?

I get inspired with everything that’s has dark, deconstructed vibe to it, because that’s the vibe I’m going for with my designs. Sometimes it’s not even clothes. I get inspired with objects like furniture, jewelry, I get inspired with mood, just everything around me. This is what I can register, but most of the times it’s subconscious. I get an idea out of the blue, I don’t even know why or where it came from. Most ideas come to my mind when I go to bed, just before I fall asleep, so I end up writing it all down in my phone so I don’t forget by the morning. There’s this one design, actually a print on one of the shirts I did in the previous collection, a phrase, and people just go ballistic over it, they buy it like crazy. When my boyfriend asked me how I came up with that, I had no idea. I literally could not remember how I thought of that. The only thing I remembered is putting it down on paper.

What is target audience of your brand?

I absolutely don’t have a target audience. The experience showed that people I would never ever say they would wear something like the pieces I make, ended up buying it and loving it, so who am I to say who needs to wear what? Anybody that sees themselves like someone who should or wants to wear something that’s a bit dark in the mood, monochromatic in colors, a bit of rock/goth with splash of biker influence – is more than welcome to wear it.

Which stores carry your line?

CLAN in Zagreb (Frankopanska 4), SUPERMARKET in Belgrade (Visnjiceva 10), THESAURUS in Hvar (Groda bb) in the summer time, couple of stores in LA and in San Diego. Online shop will be available this month also at – www.moodytwin.com

What do you hope to achieve with the label?

I want to be known as a brand with a dark, moody vibe, weather it’s the clothes or whatever I decide to design. I like and support a certain aesthetics about things, and everyone that likes the same thing, I want them to buy my stuff. It’s not just buying stuff, I want to “gather” the whole community of people on my site, so we can all keep track on all alternative visual identities we love, fashion, style & design related; exchange ideas and get inspired. That’s why I also blog about all of those things, and search for pieces, designs and inspirations of other people and gather it on my site, so people that like the same can find everything in one place. Who ever is interested can check it out @ www.moodytwin.com/blog

When we can expect leather looking T-shirt to be in sale?

It’s not one shirt, it’s the small capsule collection of few designs called WANNA BE MY LEATHER Collection, and it’s going to be released in about a month. In spring time there’s also going to be a new T-shirt collection, a knit collection, a pant collection, a kids collection, bags, and I’m playing out with some jewelry pieces right now. The thing with me is that I don’t like to do seasons 2 times a year. I like to do smaller collections through out the whole year, as my inspiration goes. I don’t want to be stressed out about deadlines, which kills the creativity and is impossible for me since I’m carrying my business on both continents and travel to LA and back constantly, so I like to just release smaller lines, more times a year.

Who would you like to see wearing MOODYTWIN now?

Adam Lambert, Trent Reznor, Pink……just people who appreciate alternative clothing.

Which are your favorite designer labels?

One & only Rick Owens who’s clothes I die for, and then Olivier Theyskens, Ann Demeulemeester, Costume National. I also die for Rock Republic jeans, but they had some business troubles and are not selling right now, and who knows if they will anymore, and that’s tragic for me. I own about 40 pairs of their jeans.

What are the things you love to do when you’re not “at work”?

I’m always “at work”, which is pretty messed up when you don’t have work hours. When you can work when ever you want, you loose sense of what is work time, and what’s not, so I end up spreading what I have to do through out the whole day. It’s not just designing, I run 3 sites, write 2 blogs and contribute writing to 2 online mags, then I do my own graphics & print, do my own web design and edit my campaign photos. Now I also want to start shooting models for my campaigns myself, so a photographer friend is teaching me techniques, and it’s just a lot of things to do in a day, so I really don’t have time for much. I don’t mind it because I was a pretty wild child, so I’m not deprived of anything; I’ve been everywhere, I’ve seen it all, now I can just work, I don’t mind. Most importantly – all the things that are work for me are the things I love to do, even if it’s not work.

What’s your advice for young fashion enthusiasts that would like to follow in your footsteps?

Just make a piece of clothing you designed. Everything has to start there. Don’t plan your whole career before you even made a piece. Lots of my friends ask me how I got from making one piece to having it in a store, and as I try to explain it, I see them not really understanding the process. The process doesn’t have to be understood, and yes, design is not the only thing. Lots of it is going to depend on who’s business savvy and knows how to place their design. BUT I know for a fact that people that make it happen, like designers who make pieces they want to sell, not just talk about it. It’s important to have something to show. Even if you don’t have any money, you can always make few pieces, even if you have to use your bed sheets. Lots of people don’t even try to start their careers because they cannot imagine the process, so they get discouraged. And that’s a mistake, I know from my experience. I guarantee it – just make few pieces, show it around, and if it’s a good product, you will find the way, and you will understand the process as you go! You’ll make mistakes, and that’s how you’ll learn. Never ever get discouraged, and don’t listen to anyone that says it’s not possible. We don’t know what’s possible or not, before we try it. Think about it, who will refuse a good piece of clothing?! No one.

[Show as slideshow]

To visit her official website, go to MirandaVidak.com
Follow Miranda on Twitter @moodytwin

Vesna Filipović for Fashionela

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