Plastic Skyline: Interviewing Dani

You may remember the feature I did on Plastic Skyline a few months back. If not, it is an online vintage store run by a couple incredibly talented girls who just happen to be seventeen. In my opinion, since I had last mentioned it, it's definitely exploded. They have a new website, a new look, and a whole new outlook. You may recognize the twins from Lookbook's hot page, or have already visited the store (and if not, you definitely should!).

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of eating waffles with Dani, of the Plastic Skyline duo, and doing an interview with her.

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I'm interviewing you for A Side Order of Style about your online boutique Plastic Skyline. Tell me about it.

Basically Plastic Skyline is an online shop dedicated to vintage and secondhand wear. I guess the target market is to the young fashionable woman. It's run by me and my twin, Bianca Venerayan, and was started in September of 2008.

At the moment, we are in the process of our grand opening of our new site "plasticskyline.com."

Why did you decide to start Plastic Skyline?

To be honest, it was entirely because we needed the money - we were broke! - and we thought that opening a shop would be a good way to get involved in the fashion industry.

Have people been following up and become really interested in Plastic Skyline? Has it become more than a money-making tool?

Yeah, at the beginning, we weren't that successful, but I guess that as time has gone on, a lot more people have learned about PS through careful advertisement on Lookbook.nu.

At the beginning, it was a bit of a rocky start, but as time went on, it's definitely more than just aa job. It's more of a hobby, like something we enjoy doing.

Do you think you see yourself continuing to do this into the future?

I definitely think that we'll be continuing the business at least another year or two. It's a good way to pass the time, but also, we've learned a lot of things. Like we've improved our sewing skills, web design skills, etcetera.

Are you looking to get into this industry yourself as a future career, or is it just going to stay a side past-time?

I'm not really sure. I'm considering going to Ryerson for Fashion Communications [in Toronto] next year, but if I don't end up going, I probably won't end up pursuing a career in fashion. Probably more along the lines of illustration or graphic design. [Since the time of the interview, Dani has chosen to attend Ryerson University.]

Is all the illustration and graphic design on the website done by you?

That is correct!

Have you always been interested in clothes, fashion and shopping?

Yeah, from a young age, I would always go shopping with my parents on the weekend, and I guess it's become second nature to shop and be a bargain hunter, thrift, etcetera.

So you've found most of the things you're selling at thrift stores and bargain-hunting?

Yeah, pretty much. We basically look for interesting pieces that we think our consumer might be interested in. And in the case of our "Remix" section, we take extravagant vintage pieces and re-construct them to make them more marketable.

Tell me about the "Yours Truly" line. That's new, right?

Yeah, that's a brand new section, or collection I guess from the old Plastic Skyline. At first, we wanted to stick to a specific colour scheme - it was navy, cream, peach - like really girlie, whimsical colours. As time went on, we decided to just go with it. We're not really inspired by anything I guess - whatever we think looks pretty and whatever is fairly challenging, but not too time-consuming.

Do you have any favourite designers yourself?

Yes. I am a big Marc Jacobs fan, but as far as Plastic Skyline goes, I would say our biggest inspirations for the "Yours Truly" line come from Betsey Johnson, Miu Miu, basically anything that has volume and a touch of girliness, but also something stylish, modern, and wearable.

Do you own any Miu Miu or Betsey yourself, or is it just an inspiration-type-thing?

I personally don't own anything from Betsey Johnson, Miu Miu, or any designer for that matter, but I would like to! [laughs]

And what is your favourite fashion item you currently oin your closet that you're not selling?

Oh that's a hard question...I don't think I can pick one thing that I love the most, but I do have a few things that I consider basics.

Okay, what do you think are a few basics that every girl should have?

Black tights, a good pair of heels, a nice roomy bag, and cardigans - slouchy cardigans. And a pencil skirt.

And where is your pencil skirt from?

H&M, it was on sale for $5. In New York.

And that's is why she has a store! Okay, last question - how did you come up with the name "Plastic Skyline"?

This is a funny story. Basically, me and Bianca were on MSN one night near the beginnning stages of planning. We were like, "Okay, we need to pick a name." So we wanted to pick something that was kind of relevant to our vintage concept. We were picking words like 'retrospect' and lame words like that. But after like 20 minutes we couldn't decide, so we went to band name generator website and started typing in random words. Once again, like 'retrospect', thinking something interseting would pop up. But, no. So Bianca was like, "Whatever, I'm just going to type in random words". I don't know where she got 'skyline' form, but she put 'skyline' in and "Plastic Skyline" popped up and we were just like, "Yeah, that's it!"

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So there you have it, from the immensely talented, smart, articulate, and not to mention stylish Dani of Plastic Skyline! Definitely check out the store, and you can follow them on tumblr and twitter too. Happy shopping!