Kara Liu was born in Shanghai into a family of doctors, and moved to Melbourne with her mother when she was fourteen. After school, Liu studied a Bachelor of Design at RMIT where she graduated as top of her class in 2012. Shortly after, she interned with Alexander Wang in New York. Liu remembers always being told she could draw before she could speak. Liu enjoyed sketching growing up and never considered making a career out of it until Year 11 in high school. “I think I was going through a rebellious phase. I decided to not follow the family profession of medicine, but go into the creative industry to try my luck and applied for the fashion course at RMIT,” she explained.
One summer, her grandmother taught her how to sew on an old manual sewing machine. “She taught me how to sew and let me make my own pyjama shorts. I remember wearing them everywhere for the entire summer because I was so proud of myself,” Liu added. Her great grandmother was once a great sewer and would make clothing as well as shoes for the entire family. Liu likes to believe she inherited her genes.
Liu works with oversea suppliers to create her collection, but finds her ideas and concepts are clarified through her sketches. “It is also extremely therapeutic. I enjoy working with my hands even though I don’t always have the time,” she said.
It is important to Liu that Interval’s designs fit seamlessly into her customer’s life and wardrobe. Interval was made to be a highlight in her consumers closets, a favourite jumper or a go-to top. “She shouldn’t have to think too hard about how to outfit an Interval garment. It should complement her, not overshadow her,” Liu added.
Interval shares their sales, marketing, production, customer service and other resources with other brands under the Trend Imports umbrella. Everything else is up to Liu and her design assistant. Liu hopes to expand Interval further into Australia and internationally. Meanwhile, she also wants to launch an interactive website for interval where their customers can not only view the product and purchase, but explore interesting lifestyle content. Interval can already be found in Myer, TOPSHOP Australia, Glue Store and a number of other independent retailers.
