Armed with a dream and some sketches on paper, Jade Martine took the plunge in July of 2010 and launched her own fashion label, Jatine. Drawing on her youth as a competitive dancer, when she would design her own costumes, Jade created her debut collection.
“I have always had a love for fashion and styling from a very young age,” she said. “As a result of traveling I have been inspired by a variety of fashion trends and styles from different cultures around the world.”
Now she has her own store in the luxury precinct of Westfield Sydney and will be exhibiting her high-end womenswear range for the first time at Fashion Exposed from 12-14 February at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, 2012.
Fashion Exposed Blog took five with the emerging fashion designer to chat about the inspiration behind the current range, sourcing her silks and fabrics from Italy, and the African influence behind the brand.
How did you come up with the name Jatine?
Jatine is simply an amalgamation of my first and middle name: Jade Martine! I came up with the name Jatine 5 years ago and I have held onto it until I could make it a reality.
It is described as a `luxury women’s occasion wear label’, made in Italy from Italian silks and fabrics – why did you choose to have it made there with these fabrics?
I have always had the approach to fashion of quality over quantity and investing in a few good pieces a season that are classic and will last several years. This is the approach and aesthetic I have applied to Jatine. I wanted to produce a quality luxury product that could compete with other major luxury brands, Italy is synonymous with quality and cutting edge high-end fashion so it was a no-brainier to produce the collection there.
The brand is inspired by African glamour and Italian luxury – can you describe this for us? How did you come to be inspired by such contradicting influences?
I was born and raised in South Africa, my entire family still lives there, Africa is in my blood, its a big part of my culture and very close to my heart. There is so much undiscovered luxury and glamour that exists in African cities and I wanted to bring these influences to my collection. The Italian influence I can’t really explain, I went to Italy for the first time when I was 14 years old and absolutely feel in love with the country, the people, the culture and of course the fashion! The women in Rome have such a flare for dressing and a weekend shopping trip is the ultimate occasion to dress up- I love it! In Italy fashion is a way of life, its a huge part of the culture, the entire nation lives and breaths fashion which is an outlook that resounds with me.
You recently opened up a store in Westfield Sydney’s luxury sector, how is it all going?
The reaction to the brand thus far has been very positive, a lot of my customers are very excited to have something quite different in the market as well as European products.
You are about to showcase the label at Fashion Exposed Sydney in among the French and international brands, why did you choose to showcase your line here?
Although Jatine has been launched in Australia I feel that it is inherently an international brand if you consider the inspiration and the Italian production. I want to promote Jatine as an International brand as I have plans to expand the brand globally in the near future.
To view the Jatine range, register for Fashion Exposed at www.fashionexposed.com