KO Designer Feature Bojana Sentaler

Photo: Aleyah Solomon

On a recent visit in the Holt Renfrew Calgary store, I came across a new (to me) collection of gorgeous womens winter coats. The luxury was obvious looking and touching the Sentaler coats, but when I tried them on I fell in love instantly. The sales person explained to me Sentaler coats are made from lightweight alpaca which is why they are so exceptionally soft and maintains body heat very well. As it turned out, the designer Bojana Sentaler has an exciting event coming up this Friday September 25 from 11am-5pm and Saturday September 26, 2015 from 11am-4pm in the Holt Renfrew Calgary store where the she herself will be present! I will be joining her in store to capture the excitement and her dynamic designs.

Bojana designs  her collections and has her showroom in Toronto. A business woman by education, she set out into the world to gain first hand knowledge about fashion design and dynamic materials that would set her coats at the pinnacle of the industry. I love success stories like Bojana’s because they are such an inspiration to other young women with dreams of being both entrepreneurs and making a name for themselves in the fashion world internationally.

KO:What are three words that best describe your brand?

BS:Luxury. Elegance. Quality.

KO:Who is the designer who inspires you the most (past or present)?

BS: Karl Lagerfeld. To this day and at his age, he is still living his passion

and doing creative direction for major fashion lines.

KO:At what age did you decide you were going to design fashion?

BS: I have been passionate about fashion design since I was very young.

However, that passion came into reality only after graduating from a

business school, working in the corporate world and realizing that I

needed to go back to what I truly love to do.

KO:How did you start making fashion?

BS: I was inspired by travels around the world. After exploring the fashion

and lifestyle in many different places I visited, I came across the

beautiful alpaca fabric while in South America. I fell in love with its

softness, high quality, lightweight and warmth features and knew that I

had to do something with this fabric. That is how the first collection was

created.

KO:What decade of fashion has influenced you the most in your own designs?

BS:70’s

KO:What advice would you give future designers?

BS:Get a degree in business.

KO:Where do you create ideas for your designs?

BS: I usually get inspired by my travels. That is when my mind steps out of

the day-to-day projects and new ideas arouse. My creativity usually kicks

in in the evenings. I keep a pen and paper beside my bed to jot down ideas

or draw sketches in the middle of the night.

KO:How has your style evolved?

BS:Since I launched Sentaler, I have always stuck to the brand’s aesthetic,

which is elegance, clean lines and high quality. However, every year, I

introduce a new silhouette, a new color palette and a new detail to stay

on trend.

KO:Where do you ideally see your collection in 7 years from now?

BS: Sentaler has already expanded into the international markets through our

online shop. We are currently shipping worldwide. Our plan in the

forthcoming years is to continue to expand internationally and to become a

household name for coats in the major fashion cities in the world.

Photo credit : Sentaler.com