Like my 12-year-old daughter has found, fashion clothes that are both on-trend and comfortable are rarely ever in her size. Dillan Blown thought that this was wrong. In fact, it was two years ago at age 10 that he told his mom (a fabric Designer) he wanted to create a fashion label with a difference.
Cool kid
Like most Preteens, he knows exactly the look and fit he wants. Although Dillan could find adult fashion he liked in the men's section of the store, the selection in his size was not his style as most fashion brands tend to put more childlike designs into the larger sizes.
"Dillan came to us with his ideas. They were great, but we were unsure. We sat on it for two years, and when he still kept asking to pursue his first range, we decided we were all in, and we were going to let him have a go," said his mother, Jessica.
With her help, the budding fashion designer sourced some advice from a Sydney-based company, Ampar, which helped them with all the logistics of starting up a fashion range. The new brand, Trix Clothing, is now stocked at Forever Lee in South Australia and has its e-commerce.
Dillan wanted his first range to be about what he likes, and what types of clothes his friends like to wear, not what parents like or what much younger kids go for.
"Our parents buy our clothes for us when we aren't with them.
Mum would buy some things she thinks I would like, but most of the time it isn't what I want to wear," the young designer said. "The range I have designed is in the style I like. The shorts are comfortable and are in a soft cotton tracksuit material that is easy to wear but also has the slim design we want. The t-shirts are black & white and simple.
I like to go to theme parks; I like music, I love footy, I like the beach. This is what the range is about," concluded Dillan.
While 18-year-old Taofeek Abijak has made it right to the top of men's fashion, with a show at New York Fashion Week, we rarely see anyone younger than that designing a range for their age group.
Preteens: Create your look
For now, my daughter is content with the slim offerings in size 14. She creates her own looks, putting together Just Jeans ripped jeans with a Myer shoulder cut-out top and a Kmart fluffy heart jumper. You don't have to be Kim Kardashian (who recently launched her makeup range) to come up with originality in fashion.
Fashion is whatever you want it to be. Whether you design it yourself like Dillan or buy pieces from diverse shops, for a growing youth, putting it together can be creative and fun.
