Each of our summer and winter collections feature many different, enchanting prints. Whether it’s horizontal stripes, graphic dots or spring time florals, there are no limits to our creativity. But how do we choose among the infinite amount of beautiful prints? Our colleague, Gundula, is just the right person to talk to about design and prints and offers an exclusive behind the scenes at Olsen. What is your job at Olsen?
Hello, my name is Gundula and I’ve been a textile designer at Olsen, creating prints for our garments for the past 17 years. Within our design team, I develop prints in collaboration with my colleagues. It is my job to implement and prepare production of the prints.
What does your normal work day at Olsen look like?
My normal work day mainly consists of creative work, which I love! I’m at the very beginning of the production chain when a new collection is due. First there is a big meeting where our upcoming collections are determined, based on researched trends. For this meeting, we use prints that were purchased at trade shows as a guide. At this time, colours for the different spring/summer and fall/winter collections are picked, which in my opinion, is the most difficult task in the whole process. All further steps are based on the selected colours so they have to be “”on point””, because they can’t be changed afterwards.
Then it’s time to develop the prints – but before that, three questions need to be answered: Which prints do we need? How many of these prints should be designed? And what kind of motifs do we want to have in the upcoming collections? I also draw some of the prints by hand! After the creative process described above, we move on to the technical work. This is when we work with graphic programs. In this step, we capture all creative details using these programs and create print templates from them, which are then sent to agencies all over the world. In the next step, the artwork is sent to selected printers, who then print all the fabrics. From there, the fashion pieces of the collections are created in the final step.
What do you enjoy the most about your job?
To be honest, I can’t say what I enjoy most about my job – I love it all very much and I never get bored! The best thing about my job is that I never have to do anything I don’t like! That’s why my work doesn’t feel like work. Even though I’ve been at this job for a very long time, I’m still very enthusiastic about it!
Where do you gather inspiration for new prints on an ongoing basis?
I gather a lot of inspiration online from different trend portals. Of course, we also visit fashion and fabric fairs to get inspiration. However, when it comes to gathering inspiration for new prints, teamwork is the key – and that’s something very important here at Olsen! Thanks to the creativity and different perspectives of our colleagues, the best ideas and designs for our new collections are made.
What is your favourite print from the spring/summer season 2022?
The print on the shirt on the left is my absolute favourite from the spring/summer 2022 collections. The print is close to my heart because I was able to let my creative imagination run wild here. I designed all the motifs that can be seen on this print by myself. This print has such a special meaning to me, which is why it is my favourite print of the last spring/summer season. I would wear this shirt with white slim pants and my favourite sandals as it’s the perfect outfit for warm summer days!