Insider Interview: Lady Gaga's Dress Designer, Vera Thordartottir

There has been quite some buzz about a new talent in the industry that has caught the eyes of Vogue and the fashion monster herself, Lady Gaga. Just a couple days after graduating design school a dress featured in Vera Thordardotti's final student collection was seen worn by Lady Gaga in a performance at Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball. What amazing exposure for Vera! One thing is for sure, we will hear a lot more from this amazing designer in the years to come. Get to know her now with this Privy Find.I loved this story so much PrivyDoll was excited to have an exclusive interview with Vera about her inspiration and how such a young talent feels to have Lady Gaga sport her design!


PrivyDoll: The collection that is catching the eyes of many is a very interesting collaboration. The dresses remind me of the suffering cold here in Chicago. Where did your inspiration of the line come from?


VERA: The inspiration for my collection was drawn from how frost affects the elements. I originally sourced pictures of cracked stones, ice that forms in puddles and the northern lights. I initially played with different textiles and materials. I found silicon a very interesting material to work with and combined it with silver wires and Swarovski crystals to make a frosty looking textile that is soft and could be sculptured around the body. I went on to developing a way to construct my garments from the textile without using any stitches but would sculpt the pieces out of silicon and wires in mathematic consideration of the body. Other fabrics used in my collection were sheep leather, silk duchess and fish leather. I developed patchwork from the fish leather, which gave a rough surface that reminded me of the pebbles in frozen puddles. The northern lights inspired the colors of the collection which was sponsored by Swarovski and Atlanticleather

PD:How would you describe your designs?

V:I love playing with texture, structure and innovative material. I seek lots of inspiration from the nature and they different ways we experience the world around us. I like to take these different elements, combine them and make something magical.

PD:Your graduate collection is getting a lot of press since Lady Gaga wore a dress from the collection. How did the style icon see your collection?

V:Gagas team saw pictures of my graduation collection and called in the pieces for Elton Johns White Tie and Tiara Ball where she wore it whilst performing. Then later she wore a skirt I sent to her whilst presenting Nick Knight with a selfmade artpiece.

PD:and how does it feel to be so recognized nearly days after graduating?

V:It was an amazing feeling to be recognised by a style icon like Lady Gaga. It was a dream come true seeing her bring my pieces to life.


PD:Gaga also wore just undies under the sheer dress (fitting for her) not so much for the average PrivyDoll. What suggestion would you give for undergarmets under the collection with such sheer overlays?
V:For my runway presentation the model wore a fishleather corset and trousers with the show piece.


PD:What other celebrities would you love to wear your line?
V:I would love to see Bjork wearing my designs one day, we are from the same country, I respect her as an artist and a visionary. I also feel like she has this quirky, daring dress sense.



PD:So the classic question is, what is next? Are you going to continue designing under your name or what other projects are you working on?

V:I am launching my new line during Reykjavik Fashion Festival in the beginning of April 2011. I have also got fun collaborations going on that I will keep under the wraps for now but I keep regular updates on my Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/verathordardottir.fashion