At Swim, One Designer: Carla Johnson

Enter Carla Johnson, a Clontarf native who has fused intricate print work, expert craftsmanship and a dark and sensual aesthetic to create MONA, a swimwear brand taking the fashion world by storm. Johnson has always been fascinated by art, design and fashion, and says her grandmother taught her to knit aged seven. “From then on, that was what I did instead of playing with dolls. I was constantly cutting up and customising my clothes as a teenager for myself and my friends, and putting my own take on everything I bought.”

While studying Printed Textile Design at NCAD in Dún Laoghaire, Johnson began work on a swimwear collection, but as she readily admits, it wasn’t quite as polished as her irresistible new collection. “It was horrible!” she laughs.

But Johnson learned quickly, and her work earned her the ‘Designer of the Year 2016’ award at the Irish Innovation Awards in Galway, as well as the overall ‘Most Innovative’ award the same year.

The accolades are well-deserved; Johnson’s designs are elegant and combine tactile fabrics, flattering silhouettes and evocative prints that transform beachwear into statement pieces, perfect for the beach and for daywear.

Speaking of her design process, Johnson says, “I love designing prints that flatter the female form and make women look elongated with accentuated curves. I love the combination of swimwear, which is obviously tight to the body, with voluminous and floaty silk cover ups. As a print designer, silk is the nicest and most rewarding fabric to work with and I think I will be working with it a lot more in future collections.”

Johnson’s recent collection, Exousia, combines flattering retro silhouettes and ultra-modern prints. The swirling patterns evoke a land of icy seas, rough tides, desolate beaches and dramatic, rugged coastlines. Johnson says she continues to be inspired by the intricate beauty of marine life, which informs vivid, abstract prints – shining fish scales, cool damp sands, iridescent flashes – all in an ultra-wearable, almost monochromatic colour.

“The prints are heavily inspired by the Atlantic Ocean and what’s in it. I love to make chic patterns from quite surreal subject matter. The prints from the Exousia Collection are generally inspired by different kind of sea skins such mackerel, the polka dot patterns from the cheek of salmon, and also seaweed which is more abstract.”

Johnson is now in the process of designing for her Spring/Summer 2017 collection, and she’s just about to launch a MONA SWIMS for Men Capsule collection end of July in Ibiza.

The EXOUSIA SS16 Collection is available to buy in Brown Thomas, Dublin. It’s also available to order online monaswims.com