Daniel Mu
CAITLIN JAIN
FOUNDER, LOLA&LUXE
JULY 22, 2017
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL
Melbourne Designer and lola&luxe Founder Caitlin Jain speaks to us about all things life and her exciting new online fashion boutique.
INTRO.
Tell us a little about yourself?
I am a creative person with a positive attitude. I love to laugh. I love food, music, travel, adventure and fashion of course. I worked in fashion retail for about 8 years, moving from Sales roles into Management and Visual Merchandising roles. I eventually completed my Advanced Diploma of Fashion Design and Technology at the Centre of Fashion at Kangan Institute.
WORK.
How did you get your start in the fashion industry?
In the final year of my fashion course I was lucky enough to land a Design Internship at adidas, in their Melbourne office. Which was amazing and such a great introduction to the industry.
My first full time design position was Head Designer and Design Manager for Engine Swim. Which was a great role. I later became a Swimwear and Apparel Designer for All About Eve which was so much fun! More recently I was Accessories Buyer at Cotton On Group for their youth brand Factorie. Which was another great role. When that contract ended, I decided it was finally time to do something of my own.
Now here we are 7 years on from graduating and I have launched my own fashion business, lola&luxe online boutique!
What does a typical workday look like for you?
I love that every day is so different! When you work for a big company, things can get a bit monotonous doing the same job every day. But now I work on every aspect of my business. So I can focus on what’s inspiring me at the time. I usually work on the online boutique in the morning, chat with customers via email and on our socials during the day, then post the online orders in the afternoon. Some days I meet with suppliers to pick out future ranges. Some days I work on my own designs. Other days I work on photoshoots. It can get a little hectic staying on top of everything, but for the most part I love it!
Tell us more about your new online boutique.
lola&luxe is an Australian online fashion boutique bringing women the must-have pieces of the season. We focus on Australian owned and designed brands with ranges that are fair trade manufactured. We hand pick only the best styles and trends. To create the ultimate capsule collection of flattering fashion items. We choose to have smaller ranges and update them frequently, to keep things new and exciting for our customers. We pride ourselves on building affordable, fashion-forward clothing ranges. Proving that you don't have to spend the earth to look luxe.
Our obsession with on-trend prints and colours is obvious. While our high standard of quality and fit, keeps us at the top of our game. It is our mission to provide our customers with their perfect fit every time. So each one of our beautiful pieces is measured on a fitting model before it is manufactured. Whether it’s a day event, a festival, or a night out, lola&luxe is the perfect go-to boutique.
I personally never used to like shopping online. So I have custom designed this online boutique for girls like me. We pick styles that are easy to fit, easy to wear, well made and bang on-trend. We also have open and easy communication with our customers every step of the way, to ensure they are always left happy. As we are here to serve them!
What’s your main source of inspiration in fashion?
It is actually my customer who inspires me the most at the moment. I ask myself: What would she want to wear to her next event? How does she want to look when she steps out during the day, or heads out for a nice dinner? She obviously loves to sport the newest trends, but above all they must be flattering to her figure.
We select silhouettes that show off a woman’s shape in the best light possible. To bring out her natural beauty and make her feel comfortable in her own skin. When I am out and about out in Melbourne or wherever I travel, that’s when I get inspired by my girl. I love to find her next favourite fashion item for her!
Any key influences or themes?
lola&luxe is all about helping our customer play with both the feminine and edgy sides of her personality. We love to encourage her to experiment with how she puts outfits together. That’s why when you approached me about the lola&luxe X Mud & Matzor shoot, I thought it would be a perfect fit! It was a great opportunity to showcase how to style our cool outerwear pieces with our new active items. Creating ath-fash outfits perfect for heading to a Pilates class, or for running errands in style.
Of course we look to runway for the latest trends in colour, print, fabrication and silhouette. But we always filter that with our own aesthetic which is: pretty VS edgy… And our ethos which is: flattering fashion items that are versatile and easy to wear.
What motivates you?
At lola&luxe we believe that no matter how big or small a business is, it's always important to give back. We donate $1 from every order made at lola&luxe boutique to a variety of special originations. It helps keep us motivated knowing that the better we do, the more we can support the causes we care about.
Currently the organisation we are supporting is Fitted For Work. They are dedicated to helping women experiencing disadvantage get into work and keep it. They know when women have hope, confidence and economic security through work that the flow-on effect is transformational. We encourage our customers to donate any old clothing that would be suitable for a woman in need to wear to work. We utilised our recent launch event to raise extra contributions for them, which was a great success. To find out more about the awesome things Fitted For Work do, please check out: www.fittedforwork.org
What’s next for lola&luxe?
We are so excited to have just dropped the gorgeous new Belle Body Co active collection online! It’s über-cool and goes back with our outerwear pieces so well, to complete the capsule collection. We are due to drop a few more new brands in the coming months.
Our blog is launching soon, so that will be the best place to find out all the latest lola&luxe goss’. Also stay tuned for details about our next exciting Pop-Up Store Event coming to Melbourne.
Is there a dream collaboration you would love to do?
Hmm… There are so many. But I have always loved Sass & Bide and Alice McCall for their gorgeous, bold and directional designs. So designing for or with either one day, would be a dream!
Hmm… There are so many. But I have always loved Sass & Bide and Alice McCall for their gorgeous, bold and directional designs. So designing for or with either one day, would be a dream!
LIFE
Describe your style?
Tricky. I think I’m a bit of a chameleon. I changed up my style a lot growing up. I’ve gone back and forth between ‘girly girl’ and ‘tomboy’ many times. I think I’ve finally found my true personal style only now. Which is probably a fun mixture of both worlds… And that is what lola&luxe is all about actually!
Describe the perfect weekend.
My weekends are a pretty mixed bag! They are always quite busy. Sometimes I’ll be out and about in Melbourne enjoying the incredible bars and eateries. Or out at a gig or festival. Other weekends are busy with birthdays, engagements, weddings… It never stops. I love catching up with family and friends as often as possible.
My ideal weekend evolves a bit of fitness, some relaxing, some fun, great music, a few nice drinks and a lot of great food!
And finally, What’s on your ultimate playlist?
Ooohh! How long have you got? …It would be another mixed bag including: A Tribe Called Quest // Pendulum // Tame Impala // Ousgier // Camp Cope // Alt-J // Hermitude // Hilltop Hoods // Tash Sultana // The Smith Street Band // King Giz and the Liz Wiz // Mosé + The FMLY // CityWide // Opio // Kodiak Kid // A.Skillz // Krafty Kuts // Beyoncé // Destiny's Child // Nirvana // Portishead // Led Zeppelin // Jimi Hendrix // The Doors // Bob Marley // ELO // Creedence // Fleetwood Mac // etc // etc // etc... Haha! xx
Mud and Matzor recently teamed up with lola&luxe in an ath-fash inspired photoshoot. Check it out!
We thank Caitlin for her time and sharing the lola&luxe story with us. Please check out the latest lola&luxe news and range online.