I felt a mixture of apprehension and absolute over-enthusiasm when I received my first assignment for Morbid Outlook – an interview with Toronto-based fashion designer Dianna DiNoble. Living in Australia, I was not familiar with Dianna or her work but liked what I saw when I began my research. My nerves had grown considerably when I realized how professional the website appeared. However, I was pleasantly surprised when my stiff, formal email was returned with a warm reply, just days after I had sent it off. Who said professionals had to be scary?

Both of Dianna’s labels were originally designs constructed for her own personal use but due to large amounts of interest shown in her creations, they were made into proper lines of clothing. The name Starkers!, DiNoble’s custom corsetry and romantic clothing line, was chosen as she felt the meanings “stark naked” and “stark raving mad” (“sometimes both at the same time,” she adds), suited the corsetry based style of her designs.

Though Starkers consists of some beautiful pieces, I was particularly intrigued by her more recently released line of punk, Goth and retro babies clothing, Screamies, which was launched February 1st, 2006. As is mentioned on the website, Dianna was inspired to create Screamies when her baby daughter, of whom she affectionately refers to as “Izzy”, started to display a wild personality which did not compliment the cutesy pastels of traditional baby’s clothing.

“Izzy tests all of the fabrics and designs for durability and comfort. I had to be sure everything would still look great after toddler antics and repeated washings.” The Screamies slogan is “for children who want to be seen and heard”, but when asked if she was the type of child she designed for, she confessed she was a rather calm child who would’ve suited cutesy clothing. “Granted, it was the 70s and children’s clothing was quite awful – I still have a hard time with orange.”

Dianna admits she has never had much interest in the “well known ‘fashion magazine’ designers”, believing there is far more talent and imagination in designers like Kambriel, as well as Adriana and Ryan of Plastik Wrap.

“I have a great deal of respect for their design abilities and creativity. Designers seem to lose something when they don’t work closely on a regular basis with their customers. The styles that I have felt comfortable in and identify with have changed a great deal over the years. Since my daughter was born, I’m all about comfort and washable clothing and spend most of my time in Modrobes gear. Modrobes has a unique ability to mesh fashion and easy to care for, functional clothing.”

Dianna attended Sheridan College for fashion design, where she learned the basics of pattern drafting, sewing and “fashion industry tidbits”. At the same time, she worked with a couturier who taught her techniques that school did not. “Clothing design, regardless of style, can be very protective, and secretive. People are often unwilling to mentor or give any information to assist new designers and help them to develop their line. My customers are the ones that have helped to establish me as a designer with their incredible support and feedback.”

So what can we expect from Dianna in the future? Screamies has already had such a great reception that we have already begun working on a spring/summer line! There are also a few new designs for Starkers that we are planning on adding to our collection in the spring. We are excited to see where both Screamies and Starkers leads us over the next year. And I must say I am too.