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Meet The Mother Maker | Svetlana from Plakinger

Meet The Mother Maker | Svetlana from Plakinger
April 21, 2017 Christabel
In Uncategorized

Next up on our Meet The Mother Maker series, we would like to introduce you to the two mothers behind By PLakinger, a luxury fashion label based in Germany with a flagship store in China. Since 2013, Svetlana and her Mother Galina Plakinger have been running their luxury fashion label PLAKINGER together. A luxury brand whose collections now offer adorable young girls fashion too. Svetlana lives in Germany with her two children, aged 6 and 4.

We spent some time speaking to Svetlana about running a fashion label, how she juggles family life and what inspired her to work with her mother on a creative project.

How did yourself and your mother Galina come about starting the label? What prompted you to go into business with your mother? 

My mother is a bespoke tailor. Many clients were coming to her without a clear vision, asking her for guidance and ideas; hence the idea of establishing our own label. We wanted to create womenswear with a cosmopolitan twist. Doing it with my mother was an intuitive business move. We complement each other with our respective backgrounds in fashion and business. And we double-up on creativity and manpower.

Did you have any background in fashion? What has been your career history up until that point and that of your mother? 

My mother studied fashion design, specialising on cuts and patterns. She’s always been thrilled by the details and complexity of a garment. Before we started PLAKINGER, she was running her own bespoke tailoring atelier. I was always involved in my mother’s business and followed fashion very closely; even though I pursued a career in the financial services industry.

Did you already have children when you started the label? How many children do you have? How old are they? 

I have two kids. When we started PLAKINGER, my daughter was 2 and my son not even 1 year old. They are now six and four years old.

What do you think is the most challenging part of being a mother and working as a designer and running your own business?

Achieving balance. Working as a fashion designer requires creativity on a constant basis. Developing a new collection is challenging sometimes when my children are sick or require more attention from me. Running your own business means that work must be done, regardless if it’s at night, on a weekend or during the holidays. I need to find time for my job, for my children, for my husband and for myself. I guess it’s the same for all working mothers.

What has been the most rewarding part of the whole experience? 

Seeing both PLAKINGER and my kids grow simultaneously, step by step. It makes me very happy.

Svetlana’s Spring Lust List

If you could open another concept store where would you like to open it? 

The Chinese market welcomed PLAKINGER with open arms. It’s invigorating. We would now love to further expand in China especially in cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. 

Do you operate a no work/no phone rule when you have the kids or are you always juggling things? 

I would love to have such a rule! Unfortunately, we have so much work that I usually juggle between the calls, the emails and the kids when they are with me. This is very similar to how my sister and I grew up: very often we used to visit my mother in her atelier when going back home from school. We were even allowed to do our homework there or play in between sewing machines or cutting tables.

How would you describe your style? Do you change your style depending on whether you have the kids for the day or at work? 

Versatility is key! Most of the time, when taking care of my children, I wear a white top, jeans and no heels. It’s an easy and comfy look that can be dressed up quickly, with a bright coat and statement jewellery.

However, at work, I enjoy wearing heels and more refined/vintage pieces without the fear of my children ruining them immediately 🙂

Finally, what are you future ambitions for PLAKINGER? Are you working on any new exciting projects? 

We just finished shooting the Spring/Summer 2017 collection and are getting prepared for our showroom presentation during Paris Fashion Week in September. This collection will be very special as there are prints hand-drawn by my daughter along with a jewellery capsule collection made in association with French artists.

We enjoyed meeting Svetlana and look forward to seeing what the future holds for their label. Head on over to their page to see all their delightful collections.

www.byplakinger.com

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