BY THE ALIMOCHE TEAM
12 DECEMBER 2022
Kelly Oozageer is an independent designer, whose collections unravel tales of her Mauritian heritage, as well as the importance of family, love, female empowerment and genderfluidity. In this exclusive interview with Kelly, the ALIMOCHE team discusses the story behind her brand, CASSINE, in addition to her Passion, Love, Pain ss23 collection exhibited at London Fashion Week 2022.
Kelly [left] is an emerging creative force as a designer within the fashion industry, having exhibited her collection for ss23 at London Fashion Week 2022.
Alimoche: Tell us about your roots as a designer- how does your Mauritian heritage shape your design choices? Kelly Oozageer: Since school, I had always taken an interest in designing, creativity and art. I then started to find out what I needed to do to gain a career within these categories. Then, my uncle introduced me into his fashion world, this inspired me a lot. He showed me the designer he is working for which is Alexander McQueen, when at the time he was still alive, he met him, spoke with him, worked with McQueen. I was amazed at how much work was put in as a Fashion Designer, all the fabrics, patterns and content that goes into it till the Catwalk show. I thought to myself “I want to do that, I want to be this”. I then began my search and listed the subjects I needed to study and learn when I reached college and university.
Having been born and raised in Croydon, and having a family from Mauritius, I got to know my heritage a lot growing up, from the language to the cultural food and music. Mauritius is such a tropical island, with incredible dance, music and food. These really inspired me into my heritage, roots and how the fusion of other crosscultural mixes we have like Chinese, African, Indian, French, Spanish etc have a big impact into my design choices. This is how Cassine was formed.
Alimoche: What is the backstory behind choosing the name Cassine? Kelly Oozageer: At university while studying for my MA, within our research to develop our business plan, we had to find very catchy/inspirational brand names which will shape our brand's future, whether creating our own fashion label or showing how we can establish a brand when working for another company. I then have family and relatives from my heritage to help me figure out which name would best describe my fashion label relating to where I am from. I also did a survey of the names I came up with which came from Mauritius in addition to what represents Mauritius and then narrowed it down with a final vote on the most popular name which then got the recognition of CASSINE. The meaning behind the name is “Cassine orientalis, known locally as bois d'olive, is a tall canopy tree endemic to the Mascarene islands of Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues. In its native islands the tree has been severely over-exploited for its valuable reddish wood. Adults reach up to 20 meters in height. The fruits resemble small olives, from which the local name derive”. So I decided to name my brand CASSINE because of the significance of the brand's multi-diverse culture and its passion on gender fluid clothing. From the influence of my multi-heritage of Mauritius, I found out my surname “Oozageer” originated from South Africa called Kwa-Zulu and is now home to many people in Mauritius.
The tropical Mauritian heritage of the brand is echoed in its logo; representing the island roots infused into every detail of CASSINE.
Alimoche: What is the significance of the repeat layered tulle motif in the SS23 collection? Kelly Oozageer: The repeat layer tulle dress has been an impactful motif since I launched my brand. I was chosen to showcase at an exhibition show which helps creatives showcase their work in one space with one theme: “Passion, Love, Pain”. Since then, I thought of the research into the theme and also using my brands identity within the theme, how can I come up with 3 looks representing these three words? The tulle dress represents Love, the passion for love and how we express ourselves through love, which brought a twist of CASSINE’s brand authenticity. Once I showcased at the exhibition show produced and curated by Frame Perfect, I then launched my first SS23 collection at London Fashion Week, which then showcase the tulle dress.
Alimoche: What were the main challenges in organising and running your runway show at London Fashion Week earlier this year? Kelly Oozageer: I didn’t think of it much, once Fashion Show Live came to me asking to showcase my very first full runway for London Fashion Week, I was so excited because it was my dream to have my own runway. The challenge towards the show was making the collection throughout the summer, which was one of my toughest yet, organising a 12 look runway, usually big designers take a whole year to organise and make the designs, but I took the whole summer to get this organised. As my brand is all about sustainability, I had to represent this within my collection as well. As a designer, you would know even until the night before the show, you would still sit in your studio finalising outfits till 5am to make sure everything is how you want it to be. That was my biggest most challenge to date. My hard work and dedication to that runway really showed and I know there might be mistakes along the way but it was my first one and not my only one, improvements you learn along the way for the future.
The first runway show was a magnificent landmark for Kelly; despite its challenges it is also a testament to perseverance as a new designer breaking into the industry. A one-woman show, these pieces are a source of both pride and inspiration.
Alimoche: What piece was your favourite to design and why? Kelly Oozageer: My favourite design was my first design as part of my Unity collection, with the wide-leg printed trousers and one panel printed suit jacket. I loved working on this collection, which I also had help from my uncle who works within the industry. This design shows the heritage of my culture and what CASSINE is all about. The love and passion that went into it has now grown into such a favourite piece, now I am receiving requests to see more and make more designs from the Unity AW collection.
Alimoche: What piece posed the greatest challenges in creating and why? Kelly Oozageer: When creating the repeated layered piece from my SS23 collection. This created such challenges as this one took the longest, as there was so much layers and majority of this piece were hand sewn. It took my about nearly 2 weeks to make before creating the other 2 designs for the Passion, Love, Pain exhibition.
Passion, Love, Pain. Tulle is a core motif of this collection, and effortlessly glides over the form of the garment, creating an ethereal yet passionately yearning aura of female empowerment.
Alimoche: How does your creative vision and brand ethos clash with rampant microtrends? Kelly Oozageer: The competition is tough out there, as my creative vision and brand ethos grows within the year. There are definitely some clashes with other brands and microtrends. It clashes greatly when your creative vision is out there and other people see it and try to manipulate your visions into their own or make it a trend to others on social media. But this does not stop me from broadening my creative vision further.
Alimoche: Who are your biggest design inspirations and how have you incorporated them into your own collections? Kelly Oozageer: Definitely Alexander McQueen and Balmain who’s creative director is Olivier Rousteing. They both have bold silhouettes, structural clothing, textured fabrics and their shows are an inspiration to watch. Olivier Rousteing was also able to bring his heritage into his recent collection which was also very inspirational for me who uses their heritage into their designs.
To Kelly, design is a fluid process. Designing in 2d to transfer to a 3d mannequin is less of a labour and more of a love; with her uncle's guidance via working with Alexander McQueen, her designs are only limited by the imagination.
Alimoche: What are the main challenges in transforming a 2D sketch into a 3D design? Kelly Oozageer: Main challenges for me I say is the silhouette and the structure of the garments. Making sure that whatever you designed in 2D has really shown whatever it is in 3D. But, my vision for design always has an alternative, especially if you're working on your own designs and making them on your own. There is always an alternative to transforming a design if one part of a design doesn’t go to plan, especially in a short amount of time.
Alimoche: How do you incorporate genderfluidity into Cassine? Kelly Oozageer: When I was studying throughout my time at university, I have studied a lot into gender, genderfluidity, sexuality and about female oppression and how some designers use these examples into their collections or brand identity and why. All my research has always gone either deeper or just keeps going, and it doesn’t really open your mind a lot even opening your eyes into the bigger world. When I was studying about genderfluidity and how genderfluidity has not been shown enough within my culture, I really wanted to express this a lot as within our generations to come, society now is changing in a better way than we expected it to be. There is no right or wrong within this predicament but there are also right or wrongs in other subjects. Fluidity needs to be expressed and I incorporate this within my designs, who wears them and how they express them in their own way.
Genderfluidity is a core element of CASSINE collections; these are all about inclusion and diversity, and celebrating the crosscultural blur made possible through self-expression.
Alimoche: What are the main barriers in sourcing sustainable materials? Kelly Oozageer: Sourcing materials is so easy when you don’t have a limit to what you need to get. When it comes to sustainability, you really need to research and see what is affecting our planet and why. This is where you have to limit what you use, well you don’t really, as long as you know what you source is recyclable. For example, when using polyester or mixed-fibre fabric, you need to be careful on how you use it and how the consumer can recycle it in a more efficient way. Also, using ethical practices within your design process is important as well as being sustainable too. There are always barriers in what you do within design, but sourcing fabrics like natural fibres which can be recycled or can be composed within our soils, using recyclable materials or materials that can be recyclable limits the chain of consumption. It is all about researching and knowledge of where all our products go and how we can use them, what does it do to our planet, will it affect it in the near future or generations to come.
Alimoche: What is your favourite styling technique for photoshoots and how have you developed it? Kelly Oozageer: Before every shoot you have to set out a moodboard. My favourite part when am shooting is playing around with accessories that works best with the model and the look. Also playing around with props as well is one of my favourites. Also developing poses with the model, when working or collaborating with other creatives or photographers, we all have our own creative input that works amazing in the shoot. Developing a certain style as a designer is really fun and really helps with your creativity.
Alimoche: What is your future vision for your brand? Kelly Oozageer: I hope in the future my brand can reach internationally and then in a more global scale afterwards. I really hope to break into the industry and hope that others or anyone within the industry can see how much I have been working hard to be a designer and how much work is put into my designs, I hope that this gets recognised. I also hope my brand can develop its sustainable practices which can help the environment and I hope to one day help those in need as well.
Florals and tulle and sustainable materials, oh my! The exquisite combinations of colours, shapes and textures in the ss23 collection not only allude to the Mauritian roots but also to the importance of protecting the environment.
CASSINE by Kelly is one of many brands within the ALIMOCHE Family! To learn more about Kelly and her brand, check out her links on our brands page!
Special thanks to Kelly from Cassine- wishing you a warm welcome to the ALIMOCHE Family!
Image credit: Kelly Oozageer (CASSINE).
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