This month we caught up with Amber Rixon, the talented pattern surface designer from Still Life and creator of our floral printed linen this season. Amber talked to us about her inspiration, creative process and favourite flowers and fabrics.

Introduce yourself in one sentence: 

Auckland based surface pattern designer… lover of florals.

What was the inspiration behind the floral print you created for hej hej? Where do you begin when designing a new print? 

The brief was a Liberty-inspired disty floral – for me that is an eclectic mix of 50s,60s & 70s florals which is my favourite! I have a stack of vintage floral photographs I like to reference and at the time I watched the 1975 Stepford Housewives film with Katharine Ross which provide endless inspiration. 

Tell us more about the process behind the hej hej floral - do you hand sketch or work on the computer? 

I always start by hand drawing a page of various favourite flowers , I then scan these into Photoshop, clearcut, clean, colour fill and arrange into a repeat pattern. The colourway was directed by Hej-Hej which I think suits the print just dreamily.

At hej hej we are obviously big fans of flowers and daisies…What is your favourite flower? What does it mean to you and why do you love it? 

Oh I love a mix of little flowers, I spent a bit of time by myself in Paris and my everyday favourite spot was the Jardin du Luxembourg, I would draw the primrose, pansies, forget-me-not, wallflowers, dahlias and petunias, they all sit so well together. These are my go to with a mix of daisies. 

We are obsessed with linen...If you could be a fabric what would it be and why? 

Any fabric that has been produced with ethical responsibility and the environment in mind. I love the properties of natural fibres of course,  my favourite fabric would be silk.. but also wool, linen, cotton.. 

You’re wearing the Bright Side Dress, don’t you just love the print? Tell us why you love it and how you plan to style it this season.

I really love the scale and the colourway, I will wear with a mix of my high Sandro suede boots and Veja hightops, a little slip underneath and an oversized coat.

Amber wears Bright Side Dress in Floral Print

We love working with Amber and can't wait for you to see what we have worked on for ouor Summer collection...stay tuned!!