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Woman Shaping Design: Alana van Heerden

Alana van Heerden is a fashion designer and co-founder of GROEN luxury wallpaper

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By Arthur Mukhari, Esihle Mngini | August 10, 2022 | Interiors

From moveable exhibitions to curating, nail art and illustration, this year’s cohort is a multifaceted representation of women visionaries conquering the design space on the African continent and abroad.Here, we speak to the fashion designer and co-founder of GROEN luxury wallpaper.

Tell us about your background briefly.

I'm a fashion designer and co-founder of GROEN luxury wallpaper. In 2011 I started my business of creating custom-designed wedding gowns after completing my BA fashion design degree and working as an assistant designer to Marianne Fassler. Sharing in the wonderful and exciting journey of dressing a bride for her special day, is an incredible experience. I meet the most amazing women every day, women who inspire me and who often become dear friends.

In 2018, together with my husband, we launched GROEN. We designed and produced our own wallpaper to spruce up our living spaces, and what started out as a hobby, soon emerged into an exciting new business venture. With Jan's 20 years of experience in the printing industry and my design background, we have harnessed and combined our respective skills to produce custom-designed, made-to-measure wall coverings for a wide range of applications.

What advice would you give a young emerging artist/curator/designer constantly facing barriers in an attempt to get their work recognised?

Getting recognised doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow process of giving it you're all every single day, creating with an unwavering belief in your craft and providing the absolute best experience to your clients.

Jan and Alana co-owners of GROEN

What inspires your design approach?

We find most of our inspiration from things in our everyday lives: a beautiful nature scene, the colours and textures around us, a sunset at the beach, and conversations with clients. It's also important to remain in touch with what's happening in your industry, what fellow creatives are up to, emerging trends, developments on the textile front, and consumer behaviour.

How would you describe your design style?

We don't really follow any rules when it comes to our design style, we do what comes naturally and what we love. One could perhaps describe our style as 'eclectic', because we love using design elements from a vast array of eras and genres.

What are the most important aspects of your creative process?

When you're in the process of creating something new, especially when it's a custom design for a specific client, it's important to have a clear vision. The brief should form the main source of guidance, and from there it's a journey of conceptualizing, fleshing out ideas, tuning and fine-tuning, and having fun. One needs to remain open to feedback and change and finding creative solutions for problems that arise.

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Interior design