The Beauty Curse - Frock Paper Scissors

paula walden
WORDS Lucy Slater
PHOTOGRAPHY Nat Lynn
FROCK. paper. scissors
Showcasing a collection at fashion
week is something of a dream for
many designers. For Paula Walden this
dream became a reality, at only 26. Walden’s
designs were recently showcased as part of
George Wu’s and Riot swimwear’s collections
at Brisbane’s 2009 Mercedes-Benz Fashion
Festival.
When asked about her rise in what’s
normally a cut throat industry, she says,
“Oh I don’t think of it like that, I mean,
everything is just growing organically. I just
try to keep on top of things”.
Paula began her career straight out of high school when
she was accepted as a jewellery apprentice. The three year
apprenticeship initiated her appreciation for detail and keen
interest in the reasoning behind a piece. “I’m very concept
driven. I come up with words or imagery before I start to
design. I can never go backwards either, some people will want
me to recreate a past collection for them but I can’t, I hate that.
I always want to make something new,” she says.
Walden attributes her creativity to her carefree childhood
in Papua New Guinea. “When I was growing up we would
go to the beach... It was on one of those perfect beaches most
people see on postcards and I could do what I liked. Lots
of the things I did, looking back, were quite dangerous, like
chasing wild pigs and going swimming with sea snakes... I
don’t think a lot of people understand what it was like, but it
was magical to me.”
Walden gives Brisbane credit for embracing its young,
creative, new artists. “There is a different vibe in Brisbane,
people want to support you not cut you down. I don’t think
you find that in many other places,” she says.
Walden’s latest endeavours, both in jewellery and fashion, look
at shape and form. “I have been thinking about jewellery and
clothing not only as an expression of the self but also as an
extension of the self; those objects we choose but that literally
project 3D into space, and then the forms around that; the
silhouettes that are created and the negative space that is left, is
endlessly fascinating for me,” she says.
Walden says the most important thing to remember in the
fashion industry is to follow your passion and not let yourself
get discouraged by what others think. “You might fail whilst
trying new things but if you produce what is already there
then nothing new will ever happen. Change and creativity are
interlocked; you can’t have one without the other,” she says.
When asked, what the future holds for Paula Kyle Walden
brand, she just shrugs, “anything is possible”.
WX