Kate Pinkstone of Shio Store, Berlin

How did you get into clothing & manufacturing?

I started playing around with my mum's sewing machine when I was about 12, making really basic things like pillows that I’d give to my friends. I’d also alter my clothes to have them fit the way I liked. I was a pretty average student in high school. My grades were ok but didn’t really excel in anything academically. I really enjoyed more creative subjects like textiles, art and drama. For my High School Certificate (years 11 + 12) I pretty much abandoned all my other subjects to focus on my major work for Design and Technology. I made a crazy dress, hat, shoes and bag made completely from second hand materials. My hard work paid off and it became part of the young creator's exhibition at the Powerhouse museum. From then on, I knew it was the only thing I really wanted to do. I had researched the best fashion design course in Australia which was at Ultimo Tafe in Sydney. I really loved the practical side of fashion design and this course seemed the most intense and really prepared you for the industry. They thoroughly covered every step of the design and manufacturing process from design brief to realisation, production drawing, patternmaking, cutting, and sewing. On top there were subjects like colour theory, fashion business, history of textiles, CAD and screen printing. I learned so much in those few years. The final stage of the course was to make a collection and compete to be one of 4 collections that would be shown at fashion week. I decided to opt out at this stage as there was a huge push to be as innovative and Avant Garde as possible. I was really into simple, clean and basic design, which was not going to get me noticed. Every day, comfortable apparel was more my style. When I moved to Berlin everyone was really into Vintage clothing and there was so much cool stuff to be found at flea markets and kilo clothing stores. It was all really cheap and I tried on this style for a bit (even cut my fringe lol) but I always found the design of the clothes too complicated and was constantly cutting them up, removing shoulder pads and altering them to a much more basic shape while letting the vintage print, fabric texture or colour be the focus. Through this I realised what kind of basic shapes I liked to wear the most, that also suited multiple body types. From these shapes the SHIO label was born. Using natural fibres like linen and organic cotton I started producing everyday wear from what I consider to be timeless silhouettes. 

Where do you look for inspiration?

Definitely travelling and nature. When visiting cities, I love sitting at cafes or bars and people watching. Seeing who looks nice and how they dress. I like to ditch my travel bags asap and try to blend in and imagine what it would feel like to live in this city. As I get older though my favourite holidays are somewhere by the beach and/or in nature. Somewhere with good hiking options is ideal. Some stand out trips have been to Morrocco, Tenerife and Italy. I’m constantly inspired by the colours in nature and I use them a lot in my collections (much like Vege threads!). Strong sky or ocean blues, darker greens from the forest or succulent plants growing from deep reddy-brown dry earth, or yellowy-brown and cream clay housing along roads in the desert. These earthy colourways were also very big in the 70’s, which is another big source of inspiration. Darks Browns, bright orangey-reds, and mustard/ochre tones are some of the first you think of in 70’s print design. As well as dark greens and blues in 70’s interiors. I’ve always loved 70’s fitted t-shirts and turtlenecks made from Ribbing, often striped in monochromatic tones. Ribbing is one of my favourite textiles to work with. These days most people only use it for cuffs and necklines but I love using it for entire pieces. It’s so stretchy, thick and comfy.