Dreamy + Vintage Items: Introducing the Vivienne Mok Photography Shop (+ Interview)
Q: Congratulations on launching your beautiful e-shop! How would you describe the items you sell in just 3 words?
A: Thank you! I would say: Feminine, romantic and playful.
Q: We understand that your shop is filled with stunning items which are either vintage or handmade by yourself. You are very talented to be able to create such gorgeous garments! How long have you been designing and sewing clothes for your photo shoots?
A: I have always love working with my hands and I have been stitching garments and making accessories since a long time, long before my BFA studies in Fashion Design. After graduating I worked as a designer in a French fashion house, and on the side in my free time I was making clothes for myself or friends. This is actually one of the triggers that led me into photography. I imagined how those garments could look like in certain situations and setting, a sort of story. So that's how I started my first 'fashion' pictures. In the beginning I made every single garment for a each shooting. That however requires a lot of time and as the photo sessions became more and more frequent, I couldn't keep up with the pace so I started borrowing garments from designers and hunting for more vintage and antique clothing...
The clothes and accessories in my e-shop have been either self-made or collected for the purpose of my photoshoots. Some of the clothes are almost new, some of them have been pre-loved as they are vintage. I love them all but I can't keep them all and I am happy for them to find a new home and if they can be useful for other people. Like this things keep moving...! I am really so excited every time someone buys something from my e-shop, it means a lot to me.
Q: What are some of your favourite pieces available in your shop?
A: Here are some of my favorite pieces in the shop:
Self-made short blue tutu (below):http://viviennemok.tictail.com/product/pastel-blue-short-tutuOne of my favorite items to make are tutus, inspired by the world of ballet.
Frilly white lace top (below left):http://viviennemok.tictail.com/product/romantic-white-tulle-topA very girly and innocent looking item.
Pink vintage silk teddy (below right):http://viviennemok.tictail.com/product/lovely-vintage-1930s-pale-pink-teddyI love antique playsuits and this one is from the 1930's.
Upcycled 70's Laura Ashley PJ set (below left):http://viviennemok.tictail.com/product/upcycled-1970s-laura-ashley-top-bralette-and-shorts-setThis is a PJ set which I made from a 70's vintage Laura Ashley summer dress.
Vintage 1950's garden dress and bolero (below right):http://viviennemok.tictail.com/product/wonderful-1950s-garden-satin-dress-setThis a beautiful set from the 1950's
And here are some "previews" of favorites of what's to come soon (both featured below):
- Pastel Lilac 1970's cape
- Lovely Pink 1950's lace dress
Q: How would you describe an average day in the life of Vivienne?
A: My main activity is photography so most of my time is spent on things happening around photography, ie: shooting but also mostly organizing photoshoots, location scouting, booking models, installing indoor sets/backdrops, looking for/choosing/or sometimes making clothes to style each shootings, e-mails, editing lots of images etc... The shop is more something I do on the side, it is also quite time consuming, but it is a project I love and I put a lot of effort and time into it.
Q: What advice would you give to others who are wishing to start their own e-shop?
A: I would say, go ahead and try! The good thing about opening an e-shop is that you are pretty free and flexible. For instance as I travel a lot I have to close the e-shop for some parts of the year, and that is very convenient with an e-shop. For those who are starting I would recommend platforms such as Tictail or Etsy (which has a big community) which are very easy to use and if you do not want to make an e-shop from scratch. Also I think packaging items or receiving a little signed thank you note are little details that customers love. I would also say that although it seems pretty easy to have an e-shop it is also quite time consuming, between taking product shots, listing and measuring carefully each item and packaging and shipping items frequently... So you have to take that into account.
We want to thank Vivienne for taking the time introduce her shop to us and for answering our questions! We encourage you to see more of her stunning items for sale by clicking here. You can also visit Vivienne's website or follow along on Instagram to see her dreamy images.