Good design solves problems but what about good fashion design? Doubtful? Then meet Roxana Khoshsokhan the designer behind the brand Beerox. Roxana wanted to provide the women of her native Iran with a fashionable alternative to the head scarf. Fresh out of the George Brown College Fashion Design program, she designed the beautiful infinity scarf featured in the lead image. She sells them online, through friends and word of mouth in Iran.

Recently, I had coffee with Roxana and we talked about fashion and design.

mc: What inspired you to become a fashion designer?

RK: I studied car design at the Domus Academy in Milan, Italy but I was always watching the fashion students and what they were working on.

mc: Car design? How did that come about?

RK: My husband and I were interested in studying in Italy. We had some basic understanding of the Italian language and felt that if we studied together as a team we could help each other and both succeed instead of struggling individually in different subjects. We are both creative so we chose industrial design and went to Rome.

mc: Wow. So then how did car design come about?

RK: One of our professors recommended us to the Domus Academy in Milan and we received a scholarship.

mc: How did your transition into Fashion come about?

RK: I’m really interested in accessories -specifically bags. A friend of mine recommended I take some courses to learn how to sew. Now I apply my skills as an industrial designer with my sewing knowledge to create bags.

mc: Now I’m excited. Tell me about your latest project.

RK: Well it’s a briefcase. I designed it with my husband in mind but also wanted to capture the colour ways used in Italian Fashion design. Italians are not afraid of colour like Canadians.

mc: How so?

RK: I did an internship at Roots and one of my projects was to choose the colour ways for their argyle socks. The design lead said my colours were too wild for the Canadian market, in fact she said we’re not Italians. Canadians would never wear those colours. Although since then I noticed Roots argyle socks are a little more colourful than when I was working there.

mc: What designers inspire you?

RK: I love Gucci. I think their bags represent Italian luxury and design. I also love Chanel and Louis Vuitton. The manufacturer I am working with on my briefcase told me that a Louis Vuitton bag still takes hours of work to produce and is produced at the highest level of workmanship. Parts of the process are automated but some of the finishing is still done by hand.

mc: With so much fashion news and access to runway shows online, do you think printed fashion magazines are still relevant?

RK: As a student I referenced magazines a lot but fashion blogs are also important and provide a lot of information about fashion.

Here are some photos of Beerox designs. Modacarta wishes Roxana all the success possible with Beerox and we’ll be checking back with her on future projects.