This news segment is fully dedicated to put a designer in the spotlight. We've asked them about themselves, their creations, their process and their inspirations. This spotlight is for and by Jopie!

Let's introduce! 

Hi! Jopie here! I’m a dreamer: always thinking up new creative projects and crafting stuff in a desperate attempt to distract myself from my busy brain. Gosupermodel has been my way to escape during a big chunk of my life. I remember myself during high school, staring at the walls pretending I was playing WC, being obsessed with designing in the design tool, drawing up new outfits and posting them on my blog. So nothing has changed really 😉

My process often starts with one item that has caught my eye, either online or in real life. I then build my designs around aspects of that item. For example I might have seen an item with grommets incorporated in it. I will then use multiple references to craft my own design featuring these grommets. After that I’ll start filling up the empty spaces with items I think compliment the ‘base item’, while keeping colour coordination in mind.

I’d say a big part of my process is learning about irl fashion: garment construction (I practice this by sewing my own clothing), fabric blends, fabric weaves and textile upcycling and recycling. Understanding how clothes are made can have a big impact on your designs! I’d recommend any (aspiring) designed to learn more about this. To get started I’d really recommend watching the videos of From Carly B and Kristine Vike on YouTube.

I also enjoy inspecting the designs of other gsm designers. Auxiliary for example inspired me to let go of my softer design style and try out more pixelated designs (I’m never going back now). She also inspires and encourages me to keep pushing the boundaries of fabric texture and prints on a small pixel canvas. I often zoom in on the work of Victoria. Triptych, Libelle/LinaSophie and St4rlet to admire their incredibly detailed shading and understanding of fabric draping. I’ve had the joy of yapping with scry about the importance of upcycling fashion by crafting (their passion for fashion makes me happy everytime). And I have a big love for designers with a noticeable aesthetic like: no body, no crime, Goblinbazooka, Leni15 Yuuni, Alomnia and Ellie. Honestly there’s so many more people… but I’ll stop here to keep this a short-ish read.

The designs I am the most proud of are ‘Funky’, Helena Bonham Carter’ and ‘70’s’. I think because they are most close to my irl style or have some patterned/textured items I’m very proud of!

I just finished another design featuring stripes and grommets, after that i think I’ll take a short break to focus on irl clothing mending and making 🙂 (it's in shop now!)

I’d like to end this thanking all the people who have supported my creative endeavours by buying and styling my designs! My heart is glowing from all the lovely feedback and I’m so glad people like my funky stuff haha ❤️

Jopie's: goSupermodel profile, goSupertools profile, design page 

Thank you Jopie! for this amazing interview and sharing your process with us! The goSupertools team appreciates the time and effort you've put into the interview. We can't wait to see what you'll create in the future <3 

Do you want to be featured in one of these spotlights? Contact one of the goSupertools staff members and we'll have a chat.