Bunny's World: Inside the colorful, sexy, super fun, ethical, sheer mind of designer Bunny Holiday

Story / Augusta Gail

Photos / Kristy Benjamin

As if Valentine’s Day couldn’t get any cuter, try celebrating it by hanging out with Bunny Holiday.  We’re talking cuteness overload.  When Bunny walked out to meet me for our interview, she was dressed in a pair of velvet pink leggings (her own design), a white tee, and white sneakers with glitter hearts painted on the front.  Her waist-length, brunette curls were tied in two ponytails, and brightly colored hair jewels shimmered pink and blue and gold in the sunshine.   Not only did she look adorable, she looked familiar – which I soon realized is because I’d seen her face on mega huge ad campaigns.  She used to model for American Apparel, and does most of the modeling for her current brand, self-titled Bunny Holiday.  We met up to discuss her fashion line – a colorful, sexy, super fun collection of sheer dresses, mesh body suits, vinyl skirts, and more (all made in the U.S. and made ethically!).  We talked about her time with American Apparel, the importance of girl-power, social media’s impact on the fashion industry, and wearing swimwear to parties (because, why not?).

Are you a California native?

No, I’m from Canada!

Oh!  I love Canada – there are so many awesome people from there.  How long have you been in LA?

I’ve been here for 8 years.  I came to work at American Apparel, because I was working at one of their stores [as a sales associate] in Canada.  And I actually got discovered, because I was wearing a pair of leggings, that like, I’d altered myself, and Dov randomly came in the store and said, “You’re not wearing American Apparel!”  And I was like, “I am, I just altered them.”  And then we made the high-waisted leggings!  So yeah, then he shipped me to Los Angeles and I started working here.

Oh how cool.  What were you doing?

Kind of like, product development and graphics….and I learned about the sewers, I had to go to stores and do all the merchandising.  And I did the online merchandising, I was basically trained all around.  And then I started modeling at the same time.

Would you say California has influenced your style and your line?

Oh of course!  My line with American Apparel was actually called Cali Sun & Fun.

Oh my god *having a girly freak out* that’s your line??  I LOVE that line – I have so much stuff from Cali Sun & Fun!

Oh I’m so glad you like it!  *we have a several long minute discussion about our mutual love for spandex and swimwear*

How would you describe your line?  If you had to pick a couple of words.

It’s kind of like if Barbie went to an outer space rave!

I love that.  Coolest Barbie ever.  Okay, who are your style icons?

I love Vivienne Westwood, she’s one of my favorite people.  I love Cindy Crawford. Oh and Paris Hilton!  There’s actually a picture of her in my clothes in Galore Magazine, which I was stoked about.

What’s your favorite style era?

I go between…it’s like I combo 60s and 90s/early 2000s.  It’s like I slam them together!

Those are both such great eras, and I can totally see the influence from both.  What’s your favorite part of designing clothes?

The initial sampling and creating of something.  And I love looking at fabric, and when I see a fabric that I get excited about, I love the feeling of like, ooohh, what am I going to do with this?

It’s so cool that you’re hands-on with everything.  I don’t know how you stay organized.

I try to keep the wheels on the track.  *laughs*

Social media – what are your thoughts on it in regards to being a creator?  As a designer and a model, how do you feel about it?

I mean, you have to do it to have a brand right now.  I don’t love it, but it’s part of my work.  Sometimes it can be fun.  But it has taken over the industry.  If you don’t have the followers you can’t make the sales.  You really have to create that following and you have to dedicate the time for it.  You have to have your stuff on the girls who are big on Instagram.  Which is great!  It’s a great platform for people to see your stuff.  You can use it to your advantage, but it’s also highly competitive.

Have you wanted to be in the fashion industry ever since you were little?

Yeah!  Totally.  Since I was a child, I’ve been dreaming of having a store.  When I was little, my aunt – who does a lot of sewing and knitting – we would make Barbie’s outfits together.  She totally turned me on to crazy fabrics.

I was looking at the bio on your website, and you describe yourself as being full of girl power, and I just wondered what does that – feminism, girl power, etc. – mean to you?

I guess, I mean, just being powerful as a girl and as a woman.  Like, you have to stand your ground with guys sometimes.  And in this industry, even fabric vendors, all that stuff is run by men.  And I’m constantly having to haggle and stand up for myself with these dudes.

And you’re like this tiny, adorable person.

*laughs* And yeah, I want girls to feel confident and good about themselves.  I want them to wear what they feel like, and not be afraid about reflecting their personalities and their styles.  You don’t have to hide.  When I moved here [to LA], I realized you don’t have to feel restricted – I mean, I always dressed kind of crazy, but then once I came here I was like, ‘I’m wearing swimsuits to parties, as if I give a fuck!’ *laughs*  That’s amazing.  That’s totally how it should be, so thank you for creating a line that allows girls to feel that way. 

Okay, so what do you do when you’re not working?

I do work a lot!  But then when I’m not working I host the party Bouncy Castle at The Lash.  And that’s super fun – it’s like rave music.  And then sometimes I make music on the side, and I love styling young artists too.  Ooh and I love baking and cooking.   And exercising!

All of the good stuff!  So what’s next?  What’s in the works right now?

Right now I’m working on spring/summer.  Working on knocking out some new swim, and I’m going to do some…I get a lot of requests for some of my old styles from Cali Sun & Fun.  So I might update those a bit!  Oh!  I’m also trying to break into Japan.  I love Japan and I love super kawaii, I’m very influenced by that too…and it’s pretty cheap to get a retail store there, so I actually might get a store in Japan before here!