Through the Looking Glass with Poppy Lissiman

Looksie here!

In absolute contrast to yesterday's B&W post, today's installation in our Through the Looking Glass series features a very colourful person indeed - the one and only resident cool-cat of Claremont, Poppy Lissiman.  If you've been reading LF for a while, you'll know that we are indeed big fans, as featured in our archives here and here.

We hassled poor Poppy into pausing her hard work to bring you these answers, so put aside your substandard sea-punk collages and read on below.  Because Poppy's psychedelic pictures will put yours to shame, all the time, every time. 

Roll Call:

My name is Poppy Lissiman and I am a Perth-based designer.  I also own and operate Poppy Lissiman Addition, my retail store in Claremont.

When did you start PLA, and what do you hope to offer the folks of Perth with your retail space?

PLA opened in October 2011 - I had always hoped to offer new and unique brands to Perth that were previously not available here or in Australia.  The main ethos behind the store is colour, individuality, and prints, so when I look for new brands or am doing my buying I try to keep these 3 points in mind.

Three words to describe PLA:

Bright, visual, unique

Apart from being the coolest shopkeeper in town, you're also a designer by trade.  Could you name a few influences on your aesthetic & style?

Again, colour is a huge influence for me.  I have found in the past that even with the shop if I order a garment in a colour, say like red or something, and also black, the black doesn't sell.  We have become quite well-known for being a store that you get really colourful pieces in.

Other influences come from street style & Asia.  I'm a really big fan of Asian fashion; we stock a lot of labels from Korea, HK and Japan, so I have enjoyed trying to introduce their unique style and water it down a bit to suit the Australian market.  Other than that, my influences change a lot.

Unfortunately, you've had to cut back on production of your own label for now, but we hear China could be your new manufacturing hub?

Yes that's correct, I've put production on my label on hold for now out of Australia, but I plan to restart it again out of China when the time is right.  I have a few other smaller projects on the go at the moment with some manufacturers in China and I'm testing the water a bit with these before I jump in the deep end with China and my clothing label down the track.

Name 3 people who influence your personal style:

Hmmm that's a tricky one...  No-one in particular; I usually just dress according to my mood.  My boyfriend does have a bit of an influence sometimes but only because we try and out-dress each other so if I throw together a crazier outfit than him he gets jealous, so that sometimes spurs me into wanting to dress more "out-there".  

Favourite hair colour you've had so far?

Oh God haha, that's a hard one...  It's hot pink/baby pink balayage at the moment, which I quite like...  It was listerine mint blue/green for a couple of months last year, which was probably one of my favourites - wouldn't mind going back to that colour actually...

What is one interesting quirk about you?

I'm obsessed with cats.

Your favourite kind of tea?

English breakfast or caramel tea.

A sketch of yourself:

 Cheers Poppy for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be quizzed!

If you're feeling particularly enticed by the colourful wares she's alluded to in this post (think Threefloor dresses, Mara Hoffman, and her trademark tassel earrings), you can find all this and more at Poppy Lissiman Addition - Shop 16, Avion Way, Times Square Claremont.  There's also a fabric sale currently running, so get there quick & don't miss out!


Poppy's Instagram, Tumblr, & Facebook


xx S & T