About
The Cassette Society
Katie Boyd and Tania Rickards recall that moody grey winter's day all the way back in 2006, when they breathed life into their pastone-coloured,quasi-eighties but paradocically neo-futuristic label, TCS...
(Note: BEWARE OVERUSE OF WORD, BITCHIN')
Katie: Sooooo, Tania, y'remember when we kicked off?
Tania: Honey, you were already a lil locomotive and hence The Cassette Society had already been birthed. But, you know i loved your energy when we talked about me being the sales gal, it quickly turned into a partnership. Within a few weeks we had registered the business and were racing to get that first collection designed and sampled. Whats your memory of the birth?
Katie: An Israeli god guided me at the right moment when a dream job was offer. One minute i was selling fabric to designers, the next i'd became one.
Tania: Cassettes are cheap, they hiss and they unravel. How does this relate to a label that isn't super cheap, doesn't hiss and, darling, you know how good our quality control is, certainly doesn't unravel?
Katie: Because we're all eighties gals at heart. And, in the eighties, it was all cassettes. So it's just felt fitting, y'know? And, if you want me to take some of that truth serum, GP's Jetti Lyons actually came up with the name. It just slid off his tongue during a brainstorm sesh.
Katie: Tania, how about we help out the world and put ourselves in a pigeonhole. What's our niche?
Tania: GOOD TIMES!
Katie: I'd write, BITCHIN!
Katie: Tell me about the Cassette Society girl?
Tania: A lil bit confident, quirky, tomboyish and utterly sexy.
Katie: She's unpredictable, daring at times, youthful. She's got sex and is feminine yet shes's also androgynous. She's also a little grunge.
Tania: Grunge? Yew! Say, y'know of any famous humans in our stuff?
Katie: Gillian Wilkins. NYPC. Teenagers in Tokyo. Our mums, My bro - Mikey Boyd, Prince (That could be a lie).
Tania: How bitchin' is fashion! Who's driving you, inspiration-wise?
Katie: Its bitchin' because it's so expressive. You can be whatever your mood desires. It's like painting a picture. Inspiration-wise: Siren super heroine power dressing at the moment. Think shoulder pads on a power trip. How about you? What are your five favorite pieces in our new range?
Tania: Okay, One, Heroines electric dress, our homage to eighties prom dances. Two. Flashish blazer. Black with silver studs which is totally Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. Three. Lilac rose lycra dress. Low back boned bodice, Whitney Houston would have danced with anyone in this little number!
Katie: That's Three baby, but who's counting? I'm choosin' the Flashish blazer, sexpolit jeans, that heroines electric dress, bobble emperor knit cardi and the Snakey superhero mini. How bitchin' are our names?
Katie: Its bitchin' because it so expressive. You can be whatever your mood desires. Inspiration-wise, Alice Dellal's definitely got a mad thing going on, even her ma Andrea's bitchin'. It's a look that's inspiring Cassette, f'sure. And pretty Agy Dean, she's always influencing our designs. What else? Maison Martin Margiela, Vivienne Westwood, moods like being loveless, all help us create a collection.
Tania: A little bit of psychoanalysis, honey. What were you born too late for?
Katie: The psychedelic sixties. And you?
Tania: The wicked seventies. My parents have told me some wiiiiiild stories.
Tania: Tell me your five favourite movie scenes...
Katie: One, when Edward kisses Bella in Twilight, Two, the love scene in Joe Black, Three Boogie Nights when Dirk says: "I'm a big bright shining star", Four, same movie when Bill shoots his whoring wife in the head - intense but she was rank and, Five the opening scene of Barbarella when she meets Dildano. Wanna make it six? i love the bath scene in The Dreamers. How about Seven? Any scene with that mad old party fiend granny in Studio 54.
Katie: What's your favourite Andy Warhol quote? Mine's, "Your're the boss, Apple sauce!" Love it, love it and love it.
Tania: " I never think that people die. They just go to department stores."
Katie: You're the sales queen, where do we sell our stuff?
Tania: The beloved GP. Pixie Market in the US of A. And selected boutiques Oz-wide and NZ-ed and Japan. * Yup, an asterix. Dive way below to reveal what's so important.
Katie: What's the wildest thing ever to happen to us?
Tania: That we are still in business. Now, you tell me, what one woman represents The Cassette Society?
Katie: Maybe Agyness. If only she knew!
Tania: Is it our job to make girls look awesome?
Katie: You got it.
* Tania: Our stockists are everything so please be kind to these darling people. Click on the Stockists tab for a full detailed list!
