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COLLECTION 3ICON.IC(AL)

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F R A N Z Z Z

aroline Bosmans is the creative mind behind the kids collection FRANZZZ. I have to say that this is the best children’s collection I have seen in my life. As a mother of 4 children herself she’s been passionate about kids fashion for a while, starting 5 years ago at the fashion department at SASK, Belgium and FRANZZZ is her 5th collection. A special mention from the fashionjury (represented by Jurgi Persoons, Enya Vandenhende, Tiany Kirilo! and Raf Vandersmissen) is just the "rst step for her unique designs. I had the pleasure of having a little chat with Miss Bosmans, and I am convinced she’s Belgium’s upcoming fashion star.

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143KALTBLUT: Congratulations on your stunning kids collec-tion FRANZZZ. It is maybe the best children’s collection I have ever seen! Where did you get your inspiration from and what does the name FRANZZZ mean?

CAROLINE: #anks! #e collection is based on the novel ‘Die Ver-wandlung’ by Franz Kafka, in which a man metamorphoses into a bug. I focus on the di!erent parts of the human body and transform them into a bug… and "nally it all will dissolve. #e name FRAN-ZZZ refers to Franz Kafka, I felt like the name represented this col-lection.

KALTBLUT: As a mother of 4 kids and a psychotherapist by day your career as a fashion designer is very unusual for the fashion world. What drove you to start studying fashion design at SASK Belgium?

CAROLINE: As a kid I was already very interested in fashion. When I "nished high-school I wanted to start an education at the Fash-ion Dep. at the Antwerp Academy, but in the end I ended up doing something completely di!erent. #e fashion bug never went away. When I became a mother, the passion moved to kids fashion. #en I "nally decided to do something with it.

KALTBLUT: How old are your little “monsters”? Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t really have any connection with kids, though looking at your designs I’d de"nitely want to dress mine with your work! Do you think that the fashion market is ready for your designs?

CAROLINE: My kids are between 10- 12, and 3 - 5 years old, and the youngest one is 1 month at the moment. It’s lovely to have kids of di!erent ages. #ey are my biggest inspiration, and also my biggest fans! #ey love my work!

I still have the impression that current children’s fashion always needs to be sweet, childish, colorful, clean with no risk, but I don’t agree. I’m not sure if the market is ready for this kind of innovation yet, but I hope it will be someday.

KALTBLUT: Do you dress your own children in your de-signs? I guess some “regular” mothers are not getting it. How is the feedback on the fellow mother front?

CAROLINE: My kids wear pieces of my collection and I love it! I would like to design more pieces for them, but but I don’t really have enough time.

#ey do stand out in school. Some mothers love it, but only if other kids are wearing it. But most of them "nd it weird or don’t under-stand it.

KALTBLUT: You also got a special mention from the SASK jury for FRANZZZ. Are you proud of that? What does it feel like? But more importantly: Where can we buy your collection?

CAROLINE: I’m very proud! It’s great when you get positive feed-back from great people from the fashion industry! It feels great when someone like Jurgi Persoons likes your work! Currently the collection is not for sale. I will start working on a new collection in September and hope to bring that one out.

KALTBLUT: How do you work? I mean, your collection looks like it needs a lot of commitment to produce. How long do you need for one piece?

CAROLINE: On the collection FRANZZZ I worked almost 6 months. It’s a long process that starts with drawings , prototypes, till the "nal pieces like you see them now. I used di!erent techniques that

made it labor intensive. #e piece in Smyrna took over 150 hours to complete. Combining work, kids, taking care of the household and being pregnant means that I have put blood, sweat and tears into these pieces.

KALTBLUT: What are your plans for the future? Will you go on surprising us with your designs? I really hope so, you are a true talent.

CAROLINE: Plans are to release a commercial collection soon. I hope that everybody else will like it as much as you do! THX!

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A COLLECTION BY Caroline Bosmans, Interview by Marcel Schlutt, Photography by Kurt Van de Velde www.kurtvdv.be, Special thanks to de Malt www.demalt.be And special thanks to the kids models Leonie, Jules, Dries, Boaz and Nio.

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A COLLECTION BY Caroline Bosmans, Interview by Marcel Schlutt, Photography by Kurt Van de Velde www.kurtvdv.be, Special thanks to de Malt www.demalt.be And special thanks to the kids models Leonie, Jules, Dries, Boaz and Nio.