etnies plus

melbourne, australia artist beci orpin designs her own line called princess tina, consisting of t-shirts and accessories, some of which are made with her own hand-printed fabrics. she sold hankies in collette in 2001, and her t-shirt line is currently sold throughout australia, new zealand, tokyo, new york, san francisco and london.

what was the inspiration behind your etnies plus shoe graphic?
i love nature themes, nighttime and silhouettes, so i guess it's a combination of those three things.

what interests you in footwear, and more recently in your collaboration with etnies plus?
i had a long-time trainer obsession, but i never got to do anything with it creatively (unless you consider retail therapy creative), so it's been nice to transfer some of my artwork onto shoes.

how does fashion influence you?
i have a love / hate thing with fashion. i don't consider the work i do fashion (or design or art, for that matter), it's just stuff i do to make myself happy. but, i do like shopping and buying clothes. i guess fashion influences me in that i design stuff i want to wear for my line (princess tina), and try not to design stuff that is already out there. i like labels that cross the art / fashion border to create something else that's neither art nor fashion, like pam, silas, bernhard wilhelm, undercover (from japan) and tonite. all of those labels are on their own tip, and i appreciate that.